Community News: #SpringCommunityExpo18, the big RedShift Quiz plus Crewe Gang Show & a DriveMe Supercar Review

Liz Gives a WI Talk

Last week I was invited to give a talk about RedShift to the Haughton Faddiley & District Women’s Institute who meet at the Goodwill Hall on the second Tuesday of each month. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the ladies and finding out about their club.

#SpringCommunityExpo18

We have been putting the finishing touches to the schedule for our Spring Community Expo at Rookery Hall on Thursday 19 April. We’ve introduced a later start and finish (11.30 am - 5.30pm) which will hopefully allow for people to work in the morning and then join us in the afternoon for a few hours.

Also new this time are our panel discussions, one called “Commercial and Community: Working Together” and the other called “Business Essentials” which will help anyone starting up, or already in business. We have our usual Speed Networking, Exhibitors and Keynote Speakers. The event is sponsored by Hibberts Solicitors and Rookery Hall who are once again providing a super buffet lunch. Delegate tickets are just £15 and available from our website under the RedShift Events section.

RedShift Annual Quiz: Fri 23 March

Our Annual Quiz THIS FRIDAY is at Nantwich Town FC. We are raising funds to buy ourselves some new football commentary kit and run training course for new commentators over the summer. As always, our fabulous quiz master Paul Boniface has put together a super quiz with our signature “live” music round. We have space for four more teams, so please call 01270 440 750 if you would like to join us.

I spent the latter half of the week down in Surrey visiting old haunts and catching up with friends ahead of my wedding in May, so as I have been away, I thought I would ask a couple of RedShifters to share with me some of their local “Out and About” activities this week.

Crewe Gang Show

Firstly, Kelly-Ann Davies, our Wellbeing Weekly presenter and longtime volunteer who has been very involved with the Crewe Gang Show and local Scouts for a number of years. Here’s what Kell had to say about the impending 80th anniversary of this vibrant, dynamic and creative showcase of local young talent ...

“From 2 - 5 May, over 100 children, teens and adults take to the Lyceum Theatre to stage the fabulously entertaining Crewe Gang Show.

 supercar, blast, 

The cast of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Leaders  is a polished and professional show with lots of laughs, and a few tears. There will be well-known songs, brilliantly choreographed dances and hilarious sketches.

The Gang Show is a nationally recognised Scouting event and Crewe has had its own Gang show since 1938. It is produced, promoted and performed completely by volunteers - just as Scouting is - and dozens of people have given their time to create something memorable for audiences and the youngsters involved.

It really is something special to be part of ‘The Gang’ and you can see this on the faces of the performers. Support from the community for this very special 80th Anniversary is encouraged in the form of sponsorship, raffle prizes and above all, audience participation! Please do book your seats by contacting the Crewe Lyceum Box Office on 01270 368 242 or book online via crewelyceum.co.uk.”

Review: DriveMe SuperCar BlastOur second contributor this week is 12 year old presenter of Musical Monday, Daniel Achterhuis

Dan Achterhuis presenting at RedShift

who is not only carving himself a career in radio broadcasting with his cousin Ben Davies, but also as a supercar driver or commentator. Here’s Dan's report on his DriveMe Supercar Blast.

“After winning a Facebook competition with DriveMe, yesterday I finally got a chance to drive six sensational supercars!

As I arrived, I could hear the aggressive roar of the engines and see the mile-long circuit infested with dream supercars. One of DriveMe’s flagship cars and my dream car is the Lamborghini Huracán!

I got to drive it and WOW does it go fast! Much to my parents' horror, I got up to 90mph in falling snow! While I was in the very-American Mustang, snow started to fall fast, but I still managed to get up to 70mph and I’m still alive to tell the tale! All in all, the day was a dream come true and I can recommend DriveMe to any Automotive Enthusiast …

So there we have it, I never would imagine myself being able to give a review of a SuperCar drive in my Out and About! Thank you very much to Kell and Dan for your contributions this week.

This article first appeared in The Chronicle on Wednesday 21st March 2018. If you would like to get in touch with RedShift, please call 01270 440 750 or email hello@redshiftonline.org.

Community News: Nantwich Museum's Spring Quiz Night

Nantwich Museum's Spring Quiz Night in aid of museum funds will take place at 7.00 pm Sunday 15 April at Crewe Vagrants Sports Club, Willaston, CW5 7EP.

Always an enjoyable evening, the quiz will be overseen as usual by museum volunteer and popular quiz master, Wyn Jones and will include a raffle.

Entry is by ticket only which costs £5.00 per person (including refreshments) and are available from the museum.

Teams of four are ideal but not essential and could be made up on the night.

For tickets and further information contact Nantwich Museum:
01270 627104
enquiries@nantwichmuseum.org.uk 
www.nantwichmuseum.org.uk
www.facebook.com/nantwich.museumoffical
twitter.com/NantwichMuseum

Out & About: Interviewing Laura Smith MP at UTC and RedShift's #BigBroadcast

It’s been more “In and Around” than “Out and About” this week: I have enjoyed staying close to home and studio, avoiding the grotty weather and thanking my lucky stars that I have not had to do much travelling in the snow this week.

I did venture to the Crewe Engineering & Design UTC to interview MP Laura Smith during her visit to the University Technical College. It was also my first tour of the full site since the final phase of the build and what an incredible facility it is.

Having an education establishment here in Crewe that offers such a broad range specialist STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) training opportunities with industry standard equipment is quite remarkable.

The UTC has harnessed very strong links with local and national organisations such as Bentley Motors, Air Products, Arriva Trains and Siemens, all providing ongoing support and training to students with a specific desire to follow a career in STEM subjects.

You can hear my interview with Laura Smith and the students on Friday morning between 9-10am as part of #SunnySideUp, our new breakfast show hosted by yours truly and Jasper my trusty companion.

#BigBroadcast

On Monday we began our #BigBroadcast which is a 28-day trial of full time broadcast output (8am - 11pm everyday) until 31 March. As an internet station we have always respected the fact that listening to us has not been as easy as if we were on traditional FM radio.

Now however, with the arrival of wifi speakers, wifi in some new cars and mobile apps supporting our streaming, tuning into your local community radio online really has never been easier.

We are trying really hard to reach out to our community and ask you to give us a listen and give us feedback that will help us to keep improving. Already for this month's #BigBroadcast we have over 70 guests booked in and four key themes. Our theme until Sunday is #ApprenticeshipWeek, followed by #LocalMusic week, then #LocalSport week and March wraps up with #HomeGarden week.

I should mention perhaps, for those who may not use or know about social media, my use of #hashtags is relevant to the way we promote and discuss our programmes and themes in the online world.

On my #SunnySideUp show I will be joined by various RedShift presenters all ready and able to teach me a thing or two about music (I am rubbish at remembering names of songs or bands!)

I am also looking forward to having guests Barry Ellams and Andrew Cain from the Chronicle join me every Wednesday between 9am and 10am to talk exclusively about the news they have published.

Following SunnySideUp each morning, Helen Gregory will host a #FeelGoodDaily show from 11-midday. Helen will be keeping listeners motivated with great music and interviews with people from our community, as well as tips and tricks for feeling the best you can every single day.

Steve Bebe will steam into another new show, an extension to his #WhatsHappening show that he usually presents on a Tuesday, which now becomes a daily programme between 12pm and 2pm.

With the usual programmes and varying guests and themes, I feel confident that we appeal to lots of people in our community, so please give us a listen and let me know what you think. My email is hello@redshiftonline.org and phone number is 01270 440 750 if you would like to get in touch and share your views.

RedShift Annual Quiz

Finally, our Annual RedShift Quiz takes place on Friday 23 March at Nantwich Town Football Club. We are proud of our unique style of quiz that includes food and a LIVE music round for just £8 per person.

To enter your team, please visit redshiftonline.org/redshiftevents and click on the QUIZ link. This year we are raising funds to run another Football Commentators' course and replace equipment so we can train more commentators to support the club with home and away commentary.

Final mention this week has to go to my sister Poppy Philiben to wish her happy birthday and my Mum to wish her Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday!

Out & About: A Plethora of Guests on #LoveYourCommunity Month and a Shout Out for Support for CRY for Matthew

Love Your Community Month

#LoveYourCommunity has been a weekly theme at RedShift over Valentine's Day for a few years now. This year, as part of our #ListenOnline2018 campaign, we have made a whole month #LoveYourCommunity, as we believe there are hundreds of ways in which we, as a community radio station, can share and promote our superb community here in South Cheshire.

Already this month we have interviewed artists, performers, faith groups, charities, a chef, a food blogger, a pre-school, a hula-hoop instructor and a singer. We have also interviewed the Mayor of Cheshire East, Cllr Arthur Moran; the ex-Mayor of Nantwich and now Chairman of the Food Festival, Christine Farrall; the High Sheriff of Cheshire, Sarah Callander Beckett; the owner of Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Shop, Steve Lawson; Michelle Shipman, owner of Offbeat Brewery in Crewe and Mike Lenz from the Crewe Heritage Centre.

Guests due in over the rest of our #LoveYourCommunity month include Camille Renaudon from Hibberts Solicitors, who are one of our longest supporting sponsors of both RedShift and numerous other community organisations; Peter Mascarenhas talking about the Primary School Enterprise Challenge; Chris Edwards, Dairy Trainer and new member of the team at the International Cheese Awards and Georgina Lamb, fundraising managhttps://www.mixcloud.com/RedShiftRadio/playlists/fresh/er for the RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute).

We are also running a competition each week of February to win a Google Mini speaker so you can listen to RedShift all around your home or office just by saying “Google, play RedShift Radio”. Please visit www.redshiftonline.org/google to enter the very easy competition.

Most of our programmes are made available via our Listen Again service found via our website: www.redshiftonline.org/listenagain. Hopefully this sample of diverse guests will inspire Chronicle readers to tune in and catch some of our community programmes which are all produced and presented by volunteers.

During March we will be hosting a #BigBroadcast month, this means that instead of our live programmes starting at midday and running until 10pm, we are going to be broadcasting live for an additional five hours a day. I will be swapping my night owl habits for early starts to present a daily breakfast show and Steve and Helen will pick up the baton with a daily mid morning and lunchtime show to take up through the day.

If you would like to join me on the breakfast show (or indeed, any other shows), please call 01270 440 750 and we can book you in.

Shows at Crewe Lyceum

Last week I experienced two very different moods when leaving the same venue. On Sunday 3 Feb, I took my mum and fiance Michael-John to Crewe Lyceum Theatre to see Totally Tina, the most superb Tina Turner tribute act (MJ is a big fan!). I have to say, she was brilliant and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and left the theatre on a high and singing our hearts out to Simply The Best.

Two nights later, last Tuesday, the three of us were back at the Lyceum, this time to see Birdsong, an adaptation of the WW1 story by Sebastian Faulks. This was a very powerful play that really hit home the horror of war. Needless to say, we left the theatre in a much quieter and thoughtful state than after Tina Turner!

CRY for Matthew

On Saturday night Michael-John and I ventured over to Oswestry to attend a dinner-dance in aid of CRY for Matthew, a charity that we have supported since our friends Sue & Chris Dewhirst lost their son Matthew to an undetected heart defect five years ago. We had a super evening, and although I fell off my extended “Dry January” wagon and had a few vinos, it was well worth it! I am not sure of the total raised but the raffle alone brought in £600 so that was great.

The charity is looking for corporate sponsors as well as raffle prizes for their Gala Ball to be held on Saturday 10th November at the Chester Grosvenor. If you can help in any way, please visit the website where Sue's contact details can be found.

Radio Stoke's Louise Stones on RedShift Radio

My final mention of the week goes to Louise Stones from BBC Radio Stoke who very kindly made time for our presenter Caroline Taylor-Mullington to interview her about her career in broadcasting. I gate-crashed as I had not visited Radio Stoke before and was overwhelmed with how welcome Louise and her colleagues made us. The interview on Caroline's show, Fresh, will be available very soon via the Listen Again function on our website.

Community News: Dance and Dementia project hosts monthly tea dances

Residents at Pickmere Extra Care in Crewe are enjoying monthly tea dances led by Cheshire Dance therapist Shirley Brocklehurst. At the last dance in December, residents donned their finest outfits and Santa and Mrs Claus also took time out of their busy schedule to pay them a visit.

Some residents are reviving their dancing skills whilst others are learning new moves. A couple of residents have even been out and bought new dancing shoes. The residents are benefiting from the dances through exercising and also by having fun and socialising.

The daughter of a couple who recently moved to Pickmere and have attended all the tea dances asked staff at the last tea dance “What have you done with my parents? We couldn’t get them out of the house before but since they moved here we can’t keep them in!”

For more information, call Shirley on 07760 428 554 or email her shirley@cheshiredance.org.  More details can be found on her website cheshiredance.org
.

Community News: Invitation to Consultation Event - Transport for the North, Strategic Transport Plan

Earlier this month, Cheshire East Council launched its draft Strategic Transport Plan, which sets out how they want to drive economic growth and create a more successful North through improving transport connections.

For the first time, the North is speaking with one voice on what is a transformational vision for the region. To ensure that the Plan continues to meet the needs of everyone across the North, there will now be a 13-week public consultation.

Members of the local community are invited to a consultation event in Crewe on Monday 19 February where you can find out more about the recommendations and provide feedback that will influence the final Plan before it is submitted to Government later this year.

Strategic Transport Plan Consultation event – Crewe
(Crewe Alexandra Stadium)

February 19 @ 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Crewe Alexandra Stadium, Gresty Road, Crewe, CW2 6EB

For more information about the event and to register visit the consultation event website.

A full list of events and more information on the consultation are available here. Please do register your details via the website to be kept up-to-date.  If you have any questions, please do get in touch.

Out & About: The First of Liz's Two-Part Look Back Over Her Hectic 2017

Battle of Nantwich

It's that time again of the year... my two-part special looking back at my highlights of 2017.

January always starts with the Battle of Nantwich, an event for which I have been on the committee for five years. This year I have taken on the role as Chairperson following in the footsteps of the fabulous Keith Cafferty. Last year, as every year, the Battle was fought on Mill Island between the Parliamentarians and Royalists. If you don't know who won then be sure to come and support the event between 10am and 3pm on Saturday 27th January. 

We are doing a recruitment drive for volunteers so if you would like to help, please sign up to our Volunteers Briefing on Wednesday 10 January at Nantwich Museum.

February was the month I braved the slopes and experienced skiing for the first time. I can think of other ways I would prefer to spend my hard-earned holiday time, but with my other-half being a very serious (if not slightly kamikaze) skier, I felt I owed it to him to have a go!

March saw the first of my Kilimanjaro training walks up a very dank and dismal Snowdon but it gave me a good opportunity to meet some of my fellow walkers and determine my baseline level of fitness!

April is when my calendar entries begin to multiply like rabbits, beginning with the Nantwich Show Luncheon and the annual RedShift Quiz which this year raised £600 for our #ClimbKili2017 fund. 

Donkeys at St Mary's, Nantwich

We took donkeys Betty and Anne to St Mary's Church for the Palm Sunday service and we always enjoy the Bluebell Walk at Combermere Abbey. 

Beans, Berries & Beer Festival

New this year was the Beans Berries and Beer festival at the Crewe Heritage Centre hosted by the super team at Offbeat Brewery.

Our Spring Community Expo, sponsored and hosted by Rookery Hall, was the best one yet and featured an interactive demo by our resident Science Ambassador Chris Ridge from Air Products who hosts The Big Bang Query - a unique show on RedShift Radio all about STEM (Science Technology, Engineering & Maths). We are delighted to be heading back to Rookery Hall in April 2018 and are taking bookings for exhibitors and sponsors now.

Highlights for May would have to be the hilarious Spamalot at Crewe Lyceum featuring past and present RedShifters Chris Ridge, Adam Goode and Ben Stubbs. We also hosted our first Hustings event which was attended by over 100 people, all keen to hear what the local political candidates had to say about why we should vote for them.

Also in May, the #ClimbKili2017 training continued with a Zumbathon organised by walker Lydia Sharkey and led by ex-RedShifter Sharon Burrows. I can safely say I tried my best, but in the words of my sister “our Southall bottoms are not made for this wiggling malarkey!”

Cry for Ceri Abigail

With the RedShift RoadShow out at Middlewich Makers Market, the Young Farmers Rally at Reaseheath, a tea dance for the over 70s in Alsager, we certainly covered a few miles! I also attended a super fashion show in aid of CRY for Ceri Abigail and my nephew's first Communion which was just lovely.

We began June with a great event that I am hopeful to make an annual affair – Whose Wine is it Anyway?, hosted by Rodney Densem Wines at Residence in Nantwich. We has a great time and raised over £600 for our #ClimbKili2017 target. Speaking of which, a second walk up Snowdon saw a distinct improvement in my fitness (and the weather) from just a few weeks before.

Fig Pie Rolling

Fig Pie Rolling, the Middlewich FAB Festival Dance Display and Nantwich Town Sports saw the PA kit in and out of the RedShift van and frequent checks of the weather forecast. The Cheshire Show, Gin Tasting at Dorfold Hall, Lightning Seeds at the FAB Festival and celebrating presenter Paul Boniface's 65th birthday meant there was plenty of social activities going on too!

June was however a sad month at RedShift as we said goodbye to a very dear friend and volunteer, Vic Harris who sadly passed away. Vic had presented our Rotary RoundUp show and really was one of life's good eggs and we all miss him greatly.

July was equally busy so I will pause there and save that for next week.

All that's left for me to say in my final Out and About of 2017 is a BIG THANK YOU to all the RedShift followers, listeners and friends who have been part of our journey this year and special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to tell me they enjoy my weekly ramblings here, hopefully there will be plenty more next year!

This article appeared in Crewe Chronicle on 27th December 2017.  Please look out for my "Out and About" page each week in the Crewe Chronicle. For more information about any of the items in this article, please email us here at RedShift or call us on 01270 440 750.