The National Tenant   Voice                                                                                                                                

Cook your Best!

In March and April, Great Baddow residents took part in a six-session beginners’ cookery course put on by the Area Forum.

Designed for those who had not had the opportunity to learn to cook before, the course took place in the relaxed and informal atmosphere of Hatleys, a sheltered unit in Barclay Close.  Tutor Sandra Rolfe ensured the students enjoyed themselves - and they certainly worked hard!

They learned how to shop wisely and produce nourishing, tasty and low-cost meals.    They also learnt essential food preparation skills and after each session took home the food they had cooked – perhaps the best bit!

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Longmeads House is a large Victorian building with grounds, and an important feature of the village. It was built by Robert Woodhouse in the 1880s and remained in the family until it was acquired by the Seabrooke family in 1930. The estate was acquired by Essex County Council in 1950 and is now the village's community centre.

Funding for Longmeads House

One of the hidden gems in Essex is in Writtle. Longmeads House is the Community Centre for the village, meeting place for the Parish Council, and a wonderful but ageing building. After all, it was built in the 1800s.
Old buildings have the habit of falling apart, don’t they? Well, the good people of Writtle don’t want this to happen to Longmeads House, so they have an ongoing programme of maintenance. They came a little unstuck a while ago, running head first into fire regulations. Until the fire regulations could be met, no more work could be carried out.

That was where CRF came in. We donated £500 to help Longmeads complete the work to meet the regualtions.
On 5 May 2010 Christa Bringloe was called out of retirement to present the cheque.

Christa (Centre) presents the cheque to  Alan Wilson (Chair of Writtle Community Assocation)

behind him hides our own Fiona Sterling, and behind her is Jennie Labous, her husband Paul is on the right.

 Members of the forum enjoy a glass of wine before the presentation.

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Sid Grover

Many people have suffered a severe loss in the last few weeks, Sid Grover, family man and Forum member passed away on 8th April. Chairman of Broomfield and North Chelmsford Area Forum, Sid, 75, was popular with all; he always seemed to have a smile on his face. All his local and Central Forum friend’s will miss him very much.

He and his wife Iris were both born in Greenwich and married in Lewisham. He was in the Royal Military Police, a builder and decorator by trade, and to top that lot, a Bingo caller. He retired in 2000, and they moved from their home in Bury St. Edmunds to Chelmsford.

He was a keen golfer, playing over in Little Waltham at the Regiment Way Club. His arthritic ankles unfortunately put an end to that. Sid joined the Forum in 2004, and gave much of his energy to it. Being from the building trade, he was always helping out his neighbours doing odd jobs.

He leaves four children, six grandchildren and six great grandchildren who he adored. He will be missed by all that were touched by his life.

Sid (left) with Gary Noble at this years EGM

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 Flaternaty Easter Fun

In 2009 the Central Forum had an idea.  They had experienced a really stressful year.  What with the new framework to work on, and the day-to-day running of an organisation that represents over 7,000 residents, things were coming to a head.  They needed to think.  They needed the time and the place to do it.  So it was decided that they would have an Away Day at Five Lakes near Tiptree.  It was somewhere to think and work together.

Please don't forget that CRF are volunteers.  They don't get paid for what they do.  That's quite a job, but worth it for the benefit of our communities.

They decided to have a day out to work on the agenda for the next 18 months.  They were lucky to have the presence of Ray Canham (Resident Involvement Manager), even if he didn't start his official job until the following Monday.  Thanks, Ray.  There were so many things to work out, so many changes in the air.  And it worked.  This last year has proved it, if you noticed.  Just take a look at the new framework.  You might be surprised.

Getting away from the day-to-day environment and going to Five Lakes was a brilliant idea.  So good, in fact, that they did it again this year on 26 February.  They met again at the same place, out of the committee environment, and planned for the next 18 months.  Wait unitl you see what a little bit of creative thinking can achieve.  Just watch this space !

Brains working overtime! L to R: Colin Rolfe, Mick Hill, Ruth Jarvis, David Stevenson, David Lazarus and Christa Bringloe

Working together, David Lazarus and Christa Bringloe                             

                                       

                                      

                                               

The 'posh' table ponders issues.                                                        David, on the 'workers' table makes a point.

They all had a great creative day The ideas for progress were inspiring. This is the way to work. At the end of the day all went home tired, but happy. It's good to know where you are going in the next 18 months. So a big thanks to all. We hope that the plans work out. CRF Chair, Peter Coleing, announced that he will be stepping down this year. That means more changes to deal with but with the members of CRF working together like this, it's only a small hill, not a mountain, to climb.

Here they are! (l to r) Mark Shaw, Colin Rolfe, Ruth Jarvis, David Lazarus, Elizabeth Walker, Fiona Sterling, Karima Ali, Christa Bringloe, Tim Hatcher (front), Mick Hill and David Stevenson.

___________________________________________________________________________________           A Busy Month for Funding                                      (Above) Ruth and the Connexions Team at work                The winners are! Lee Mc Dermid and Ruth with the team. Well, March has been a very busy month for organisers, delivering cheques to groups who had applied for funding. It started on the 11th. with Young Persons Group organiser Ruth Jarvis helping the Connexions team judge her competitions for youth groups who had made DVD's to get funding for their projects. There will be news of this project on the Young Persons Group page on this website. The winners will be announced there. Next up was North Avenue Youth Club in Melbourne on the 15th. What a great little club this is. The organisers work very hard for the youth of the area, to give them a safe and fun place to spend there evenings. They had £278 from the Forum. Vice Chair of CRF Mick Hill made the presentation. A pleasent and happy visit. Above, Mick Hill and members of North Avenue Youth Club Lastly, on the 20th. the Swallows Gymnastic Club recieved £1000 for buying new workout mats. Because they don't have their own premises, all the equipment has to be put into storage between sessions. This adds to the wear and tear, so the cash was gratefully recieved. The Group works out at the William De Ferrers Sports Centre in South Woodham Ferrers. As you can see, what a fantastic sport, and what talented kids.The team work together without an augument or crossed word. Good luck to the future of the group.                                                             Below, A member of Swallows flying over the new matt.      Swallows Gymnastic Team with thier cheque and CRF's Mick Hill ____________________________________________________  A Tale Of Two Walthams We seem to hear much about our inner city schools. It is easy to think that all of our children attend them.But tucked away in our villages there are little gems - village schools. Walk into one of these and you can feel the atmosphere, something like happy learning. Well, CRF’s Young Persons’ Group, led by Ruth Jarvis, was asked to fund two projects at Great and Little Waltham Schools. Of course, all projects like this have to be given a close look at. These two schools got the funding that they needed.   Great Waltham received £500 for a special bench. The bench is for kids who want to sit and think, away from all the hussle and bustle. A great idea. Little Waltham School needed help for running their swimming pool - expensive, but a vital thing to provide. They recieved £180 for the pool's maintainance. Funding of this kind of project is a pleasure. The CRF believes that helping our children will help future communities. I think you would agree, that's a worthwhile aspiration.                                     _____________________________________ EGM APPROVES CHANGES TO CRF CONSTITUTION The Central Forum has worked hard for several months to bring the CRF Consitution up to date and in line with recommendations of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA). Members and interested residents were invited to an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 18th February at Chelmsford City Football Club's social club to consider and vote on the main proposed changes to the Constitution.  Thank you to all who turned out on such a rainy night. The most significant proposed changes were that: officers of the Central Forum, ie the Chair, the Vice-Chair and the Secretary would serve three years in office instead of one; no more than two officers would come up for re-election in any one year; election of officers would take place at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) every November. Members unanimously voted for these changes.  Full details of the amendments made to the Consitution will be found in the minutes of the EGM, which will shortly be posted on this website.  Click on 'On Your Doorstep', then Central Residents' Forum.                                               Colin Rolfe and Peter Coleing chat after the meeting                    CRF Officers Mick Hill, Peter Coleing,                                                                                                             Fiona Sterling  and CHP Resident                                                                                                             Involvement Manager Ray Canham                         Below: It was a good time for socialising.              Above: The disscussions went on happily after       (L to R) Sid Grover and Garyick Noble                                             the meeting was over. _____________________________________________________

 

Self Help for people with Bi Polar Disorder

Central Forum member David Lazarus and others have recently formed a self help group for people with Bi Polar Disorder.

When Bi Polar is managed there is hope of a stable and fulfilling life. The newly formed Chelmsford MDF branch is an informal self help group that meets monthly.  Meetings provide the chance for sufferers, carers, families and friends to meet and share experiences and to devise and improve coping stratagies.  Meetings offer the chance to give and recieve help in managing the condition.

Chelmsford MDF meets in the confrence room at Chelmsford CVS, 47 Broomfield Road (Press button D to enter) on the fourth Thursday of the month between 7 to 9 pm. Entry and membership are free.

For futher details visit http://www.essexinfo.net/chelmsfordmdf , email chelmsfordmdf@hotmail.com   phone 0845 439 4472

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Shop Mobility Christmas Dinner  

On 17th December around 60 people gathered in the Chelmsford City social bar to enjoy a dinner funded by just an organisation CRF. And they had a great time! 

Shop Mobility is providing wheelchairs and electric buggies in the town centre for people with mobility problems. It has become something of a social club. Well, we all need friends, and the office in Riverside has become something of a meeting place. They do great work there and deserve the £1000 given by CRF and the Disability Action Group.   

                                                                                                                                   

                          

                                 

      

John Blackwood presenting the cheque for £1000 to Evelyn Mochrie.  Everyone enjoyed good food, a great quiz, and some great prizes. __________________________________

One for your Diaries Following the success of our recent AGM and Conference we have already booked the Essex Records Office for the next one! The venue seemed to meet with satisfaction from all, and luckily, there is much more space there that we can use. So let’s make next year’s event even bigger.  The date for your diaries is 13 November 2010   You can book a place now if you wish,   Contact Resident.SupportOfficer@chp.org.uk or phone 01245 61307

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Harvest for the Hungry

                                               

On the 1st. September 2009 Peter Coleing, Chairman of Chelmer Residents and other members of the Forum took part in the media event at Chelmsford Cathedral. All the great and the good were there. Peter was there because CRF had donated £1500.00 for the production of the boxes, full of essentials which will soon be heading out to the parts of this world that need a little help.          

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Goodbye Old Friend!

From 1 September 2009 our old, but wasteful, friend, the standard light bulb, over 60 watts (and all pearl bulbs) are no more. They are banned. Although you will see them in some shops for a while, when they have been sold out they will not be replaced.

There’s no need to explain the reasons for this, I’m sure we all know about Global Warming by now, and the new low energy bulbs have been widely available for years, (If you are like me, you have a cupboard full of them). The price and the quality have improved over time. Don’t forget, they save around 80% of energy to the equivalent old style bulbs. If you have a dimmer switch, bulbs are now available that will work with them.

                                                             Worries?

Many people are worried about warnings that the new bulbs contain Mercury. They do. But then again, so do fluorescent tubes and they have been around for years! The bulbs contain a tiny amount of Mercury but unless you are breaking them several time a day it‘s not likely to do any harm. Just sweep a broken bulb carefully, into a plastic bag, and it can be disposed of at the council recycling site. Over the next few years all old style bulbs will be withdrawn.  Not before time!  Save some money and in a small way, the planet!

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The ‘Goose Oak’ Planting Kamila Ali was the runner up of the fancy dress competion held at the Goose Fair in Writtle in July. Part of her prize was planting a very special Oak Tree in the grounds of Longmeads Community Centre in Writtle. We have proudly called this tree ‘The Goose Oak’, inspired by Jean Cakebread’s children’s books about Godfrey the Goose.

                                                                                                                     

                                                 

So, on Saturday 12th September in glorious sunshine she was there to do the planting. The volunteer gardener Paul Labous had prepared the ground, so Kamila didn’t have to do any heavy digging in her pretty dress! The tree was presented by CRF Vice Chairman Mick Hill.

Mick Hill and Christa then placed the ‘Goose Stone’ complete with a brass plaque to commemorate the occasion. Christa wishes to thank Longmead Suppoters Jennie Labous and Marie Wynn for their help in making this event possible.

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The Seal of Approval   You may not have seen this before, but you will be seeing it more in the future. As you can see, it’s called - The Seal of Approval. So what is it? The Seal of Approval has been developed by Chelmer Residents Forum and CHP to make sure that all the information that you receive from CHP is understandable. Information can be confusing, hopefully no more. The agreement is that all information received by residents is clear, concise and understandable. Then it gets the seal. We hope that it works. If not, please let us know.                                                             ______________________________