Out and About: Liz's Funky Week with Lashings of Christmas Cheer

The Funky Choir singing at Sainsbury's, Nantwich

Volunteer of the Week

I am going to start with my Volunteer of the Week because this week I am dedicating it to a popular group of volunteers who bring lots of joy and cheer wherever they go. The Funky Choir, led by the very witty, Mr Funky himself, Brent Robinson.

The Funky Choir.com ("don’t forget the dot.com!") has been around a similar length of time as RedShift Radio so you could say we have grown up together! We have welcomed them at many of our events from singing on the Community Stage at the Battle of Nantwich in the freezing cold, to flag waving at the Queen’s 90th birthday Gala in St Mary’s Church and the RedShift Community Garden at the Nantwich Show to our Christmas Fair at the Crewe Lyceum.

The Funky Choir is far more than just Funky ... they are a friendly, welcoming and fun bunch who meet weekly at The Georges Community Centre on West Street in Crewe to practise for their constantly growing list of performances.

I have enjoyed seeing the choir grow over the years and now that my mum has joined having moved up here from Surrey last year, I can see just how much of a supportive and friendly community choir Brent has built.

My Mum happily keeps me informed about which care home, hospital or community event they are next playing and I know that not only does the choir put a smile on the faces of the audience, but also the sense of wellbeing and joy that each member of the choir gets from singing together is priceless.

This photo was taken on Saturday at Sainsbury’s in Nantwich where the Funky Choir sang for over four hours to help the local branch of Riding for the Disabled with their bucket collection. Have a Funky Christmas Funky Choir and thank you for everything you add to our Funky Community!

Betty and Ann Parkin

Betty and Ann at St Mary's

Moving on, and I must mention another pair of volunteers that bring joy to lots of people: Betty and Ann Parkin, my father in-law’s lovely donkeys. They were out again on Sunday for their annual visit to St Mary’s Church, Nantwich for the Nativity service.

Don’t worry if you missed them, Betty and Ann will be at St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury for their final outing of the year on Christmas Eve at 3pm for the Crib Service.

Merrily, Merrily ...

Last week I enjoyed two carol services: one at my nephew's school, St Anne’s in Nantwich and one at St Margaret’s in Wrenbury. Seeing my nephew sing was lovely and we realised that, just like his Mummy, Auntie Liz and Grandma Ruth, he's not exactly pitch-perfect, but belts out his tunes with a smile and giggles!

Sadly though, I feel the need to include a little rant here. I was walking home with my mum and nephew after the service at St Anne’s (about 5.45pm) and I was horrified that TWO cars didn’t even slow down at the zebra crossing, let alone stop while we patiently waited there.

What shocked me even more was my sister telling me that this is a regular occurrence - even in daylight! Drivers please slow down at zebras - especially near schools!

Lots of Christmas Cheer

Christmas is of course a time for parties and having had more than my fair share this month, it's safe to say that I have completely fallen off the diet-wagon! Last Thursday I was out with my fellow Tropic girls for a superb meal and dancing at the Crown Hotel, Nantwich, which served up the best Christmas dinner so far! On Saturday we had Christmas with our old neighbours and friends and I ate mountains of the legendary Diane Kilby pâté.

On Sunday I enjoyed another lovely Christmas meal with my girlfriends at The Globe in Nantwich, although this time I went off-piste and opted for the Thai green curry with king prawns - not a stuffing ball or sprout in sight, but very tasty!

Lots of Santas ready to run ...

The Annual Santa Dash

Sunday saw a huge gathering of Santas (and the odd reindeer and snowman!) in Nantwich Town Square. Sponsored by The Ruk Group, the annual Hope House Santa Dash had to be postponed the week before due to the snowy weather but it got in full swing this week, despite the miserably wet weather. Participants were able to choose to run either 2.5k or 5k and considering the weather, there were almost 200 people running to raise money for Hope House.

And Finally ...

On Monday, after writing this article, I will be at the Oddfellows on Welsh Row for our office team Christmas dinner AND to celebrate the fourth RedShift engagement of the year - Helen Gregory our Office Manager who got engaged on her birthday weekend to the love of her life, Mark Thompson. Congratulations Helen and Mark!

This article appeared in Crewe Chronicle on 20th 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. 

Winter Wellbeing – Cheshire East Advises on Norovirus and Germ Prevention

Norovirus, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting, is one of the most common stomach bugs in the UK and is highly contagious. It’s also called the ‘winter vomiting bug’, because it’s more common at this time of the year.

You can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces, having close contact with an infected person or by consuming contaminated food or water.

While norovirus can be very unpleasant, it normally clears up by itself in a few days and you don’t usually need to get medical advice. However, you should get advice if there’s a risk of a more serious problem, such as your symptoms haven’t started to improve after a few days or you have a long-term health condition, such as kidney disease.

Councillor Liz Wardlaw, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for health, said: “As norovirus can spread to others very easily and there’s no specific treatment for it, the advice to residents is to try and avoid going to your GP if you have the bug. Instead, if you are concerned or need any advice, ring your surgery or NHS 111.

“There are also some simple precautions you can take to help prevent the virus from spreading, including washing your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water – particularly after using the toilet and before preparing food – disinfecting any surfaces or objects that could be contaminated and not sharing towels or flannels.

“You should also stay off work and keep any affected children away from school or nursery until at least 48 hours after the symptoms have cleared.”

There is lots of information and advice about norovirus available online at: www.nhs.uk/conditions/norovirus.

Cllr Wardlaw said: “If you do fall ill with norovirus this winter, the best thing to do is to stay at home until you're feeling better. As it’s a virus, antibiotics won’t help your symptoms but there are a few things you can do to lessen the effects.

  

“Advice includes drinking plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration, taking paracetamol for any fever or aches and pains, getting plenty of rest and, if you feel up to it, eating plain foods, such as soup, rice, pasta and bread.”

For further winter-related advice, visit: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell and scroll down to the winter wellbeing section. Advice can also be found on the council’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/cheshireeastcouncil and on Twitter at @CheshireEast

Residents can help friends and neighbours, who do not have internet access, by downloading and printing off information from the website and giving it to them.

New Transport Infrastructure Skills Board Launched to Boost Jobs and Skills Opportunities

A group of Network Rail apprentices

A newly-formed Transport Infrastructure Skills Board has been launched by Cheshire East Council’s arms-length Skills and Growth Company.

The board builds on other rail sector skills development and brings together major employers such as Network Rail, Atkins (part of SNC Lavalin) and Jacobs with education and training providers, local colleges and universities, alongside policy makers and HS2 Ltd to identify and address the skills issues and challenges facing the sector.

The board will work collaboratively to ensure local provision of education, training, apprenticeships, careers advice and vocational training are fit for purpose.

With many major investment projects in the pipeline, such as the proposed HS2 high-speed rail track and station investment in and around Crewe and local road upgrades –  including the Congleton and Middlewich bypass schemes – the future looks very bright for the sector. 

Around 200 businesses associated with the rail industry are based in Cheshire East – which is around nine times the UK average.

Employment opportunities are set to increase substantially as the current ageing workforce retires, with major infrastructure projects, such as HS2, predicted to create around 25,000 new jobs and 2,000 apprenticeships nationally.

There is also a growing need to ‘upskill’ the current workforce to keep pace with new technology and design techniques, while ensuring businesses can remain competitive.

Cheshire East Councillor George Hayes, chairman of the Skills and Growth Company, said: “The rail sector is growing in significance and we want to ensure Cheshire East retains its place at the heart of the rail industry, whilst also maximising the opportunities in the other associated sectors, such as construction.

“With so many opportunities for jobs and progression in these industries, it is essential that we equip our young people with the skills and awareness to flourish and sustain future growth.”

James Richards, Network Rail’s engineering capability manager, said: “I welcome the launch of this skills board. It will enable employers to work more effectively with training providers and policy makers to provide us with the highly-skilled workforce we need and contribute to the wider awareness of the sector from schools through to colleges and universities.”

Cheshire East Council Unveils Strategy for Managing Flood Risk Across Borough

Residents and businesses can find out how Cheshire East Council and partner agencies will deal with any threat of flooding in the future – following publication of the authority’s flood risk management strategy.

As a lead local flood authority, the council’s responsibilities are outlined in the local flood risk management strategy, which identifies measures to be undertaken by all partners, including residents, to reduce the risk of flooding in Cheshire East, to protect homes, businesses and other infrastructure. 

The strategy increases awareness of flood risk in the borough, from surface water, groundwater and watercourses. It also aims to reduce the impact of flooding and increase resilience in the community.

The council has finalised its strategy using feedback from residents following a public consultation carried out in August and September. Responsibilities include the recording and investigating of incidents of ‘significant’ flooding and identifying structures and features which could have an effect on flood risk.

Councillor Don Stockton, cabinet member for environment, said: “This strategy is our statement of intent as to how we will manage flood risk in Cheshire East.  We hope it will help our residents and businesses to become better informed about our responsibilities as a local flood authority and how we can all work together to mitigate flood risk and to manage any emergencies.”

To read the full strategy document visit: cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways_and_roads/highway-services/flood-risk-management/flood-risk-management.aspx

Local Choir Raises the Roof and Raises Money for Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity

Valetta Cranmer, and the Sandbach Ladies Choir presenting a cheque to Carole Salmon, Community Fundraiser for Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity

Members of Sandbach Ladies Choir were singing the praises of Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity when they held a Christmas Concert recently in aid of the charity’s Everybody Knows Somebody Dementia Appeal.

The concert, which took place at the end of November, raised a massive £850 for the appeal, and the choir, whose 50 members consist of ladies from Sandbach, Middlewich, Holmes Chapel and other local areas, were delighted to add their support for a second time to a Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity Appeal. As a group they always support local charities that benefit the community, and they recognise that the increasing levels of Dementia diagnosis provide a challenge to this area.

Valetta Cranmer, who has conducted Sandbach Ladies Choir for an amazing 53 years commented: “Dementia is very relevant to our local community network so we were only too happy to support the Appeal. We always choose charities that support the local community and are close to our hearts”

Carole Salmon, Community Fundraiser for Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity said: “We’d like to thank the members of Sandbach Ladies Choir for holding such a wonderful Christmas Concert and raising a fantastic amount of money for the Everybody Know Somebody Dementia Appeal.” Carole continued: “It was lovely to meet the ladies and to tell them personally how much we appreciate their continued support.”

Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity team is keen to assist any companies or members of the community interested in fundraising. Should you wish to get involved, or donate to Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity, visit the website at mchcharity.org.

Cheshire East Launches Nominated Neighbour Scheme

Front of Card

Cheshire East Council and its partners are offering a range of advice and support to residents on how to keep warm, well and safe this winter.

This week, we urge residents to consider joining the council’s trading standards’ ‘nominated neighbour’ scheme.

The nominated neighbour scheme has been developed to tackle bogus callers, rogue traders and other means of distraction thefts and burglaries.

The project enables people to be protected by someone they know and trust, such as a neighbour or relative.

The vulnerable person is given a card they hold up to a window or door, which advises any unidentified or unexpected caller to go to the address of a nominated neighbour or speak to them over the phone. This person will then check the caller’s identity.

If they are genuine, the nominated neighbour will return with them and supervise the visit to make sure that nothing untoward takes place and will remain there until the caller has left.

Reverse of Card

Councillor Janet Clowes, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for adult social care and integration, which includes responsibility for safer communities, said: “This scheme helps people within our communities feel safer in dealing with unwanted or unexpected people who call at their homes. In turn, it protects our residents and reduces incidents of doorstep crime.

“When the nominated neighbour card is shown to the caller, it replaces any need for the occupant to speak with that person.

“A genuine caller will not mind following the instructions and we believe that no criminal, who preys on the elderly or vulnerable, would like this type of scrutiny.”

While it is older and vulnerable adults who are more at risk from becoming victims of doorstep crime, anyone can be targeted. That’s why all Cheshire East residents are urged to consider joining the scheme.

If you would like a nominated neighbour scheme pack sent to you, or to a vulnerable relative or resident of Cheshire East, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 040506. By calling that number, you can also report problems with doorstep callers or traders

For further winter wellbeing advice, visit: cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell and scroll down to the winter wellbeing section.

Advice can also be found on the council’s Facebook page at: facebook.com/cheshireeastcouncil and on Twitter at @CheshireEast

Residents can help friends and neighbours, who do not have internet access, by downloading and printing off information from the website and giving it to them.

Out & About: It's Been Full Steam Ahead for Christmas All Week This Week!

Volunteer of the Year: Steve Bebe
RedShift Radio's Production Manager

I am writing this on Monday morning, looking out at a stunning landscape, trees covered in inches of snow with the sun glistening. I have decided to have a snow-day and enjoy the view from my warm house while I plough through lots of catch-up computer jobs. Topping up the bird feeders and having a snowball fight with my snow-loving dog Jasper will be my only reason to leave the house today!

Wingate Winter Wonderland

On Saturday Michael-John took one of his Dad's donkeys to the Wingate Centre Christmas Fair which was lovely, Betty enjoyed meeting lots of children and having her photo taken dozens of times! Ann, the other donkey was being a little madam and wouldn’t get in the trailer … hopefully they will both be feeling more festive this Sunday as we will be taking them to St Mary’s Church in Nantwich for the nativity service.

Acton Christmas Tree Festival

I have decorated two trees as part of the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary’s in Acton; one for RedShift and one for my Tropic skincare business. The latter is covered in Hawaiian garlands rather than tinsel, but it works! Please do pop up to Acton Church and enjoy the trees, they look (and smell) stunning!

Tatton Yule Yomp

On Sunday I crawled up to Knutsford for the Tatton Yule Yomp, an event organised by Stewart Bailey from Hibberts Solicitors, and one for which we have provided the PA Kit for the last six years. Initially it was a really hairy drive from Burland but by the time we approached Middlewich the snow seemed to disperse and upon arriving at Tatton, we had nothing more than a light dusting of the white stuff. The cold weather certainly didn’t put off the 1,500 Tatton Yule Yompers who came dressed for the festive 10km dash through the park.

Nantwich Round Table Float

I will be out with the Round Table Float on Friday night in Nantwich, so if you see us please bring out the port and mince pies! On Saturday our friend Chris Meredith will be leading Santa around Wychwood Park and I know both evenings are in need of some extra volunteers. Please call me on 01270 440 750 if you can help from about 5.30 - 9pm on either Friday or Saturday.

Christmas Parties

It’s been a week of Christmas parties, with the annual festive networking event hosted by the South Cheshire Chamber and sponsored by Rookery Hall again last Friday: always a great event. On Saturday night, MJ and I enjoyed the 41-Club Christmas party and I even coped with sitting next to Dave Birchall all evening (he dared me to mention him in my article!)

Last Wednesday we hosted our RedShift Christmas Jumper party and our guests of honour were the Kilimanjaro Walkers who helped to raise funds for our youth activities. The evening was completely organised by five of our young volunteers, Orlanda, Harvey, Daniel, Ben and Lauren and they did a superb job. We enjoyed a quiz, buffet, awards and competitions and it was lovely to see my fellow walkers again.   

Volunteer of the Week

I presented some of our volunteers with awards and this week, my Volunteer of the Week has to go to our “Volunteer of the Year” the fabulous Steve Bebe. Steve splits his time between RedShift as our Production Manager and the NeuroMuscular Centre in Winsford and I for one, couldn’t do without him. Steve is always a breath of fresh air. His (occasionally dodgy) humour and positive attitude always makes me smile and it's fabulous knowing that I can rely on him to manage our playout system, that he has pretty much taught himself how to use.

Steve often logs in remotely from home to fix problems and beavers away editing our shows and interviews so we can sell one of our great products, an AudioCast. This is an edited interview where Steve will removes guests um’s and er’s to help them sound as confident, clear and concise as possible. This is a really popular service for our local businesses and charities to use on their websites.

Hungerford Academy on the Radio

My final shout-out (and photo) of the week goes to the lovely children from Hungerford Academy who joined me in the studio for a Junior School Run taster session, kindly paid for as part of the Baker Wynne & Wilson community grant we received for our youth activities.

The children were superb. All nine of them were squished into the studio and spoke clearly and politely about a broad range of topics. We even had them all playing their ukuleles. Please do have a listen here to the AudioCast of the show.

This article appeared in Crewe Chronicle on 13th 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. 

Winter Wellbeing – Accessing the Right Health Services for Your Needs

Cheshire East Council and its partners are offering a range of advice and support to residents on how to keep warm, well and safe this winter. This week, residents are urged to make sure they access the right health services for their needs.

During the winter months, health services can become overwhelmed through greatly increased demand.  To help limit the impact, it’s important that you are aware of which service is right for you at a given time. The advice is to:

• Call NHS 111 if you urgently need medical help or advice but it is not a life-threatening situation. You can also call NHS 111 if you're not sure which NHS service you need

• Call 999 if someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk

• Visit a walk-in centre or minor injuries unit if you have a minor illness or injury (cuts, sprains or rashes) and it can’t wait until your GP surgery is open

• Ask your local pharmacist for advice – your pharmacist can give you advice for many common minor illnesses, such as diarrhoea, minor infections, headache, travel advice or sore throats

• Make an appointment with your GP if you are feeling unwell and it is not an emergency.

If you start to feel unwell, even if it is just a cough or cold, don’t wait until it gets more serious – get help from your pharmacist. The sooner you get advice the better.

If you’ve been prescribed antibiotics or other medication, don’t forget to pick up your prescription before the Christmas holidays start, as many GP surgeries and pharmacies will be closed during that time.

Make sure you also speak to your pharmacist about medicines you should have in stock to help get you and your family through the winter season. Also check to see if older neighbours, relatives and friends have the medication they need.

If you do need help over the holiday period, when your GP surgery or pharmacy is closed, call NHS 111 or visit www.nhs.uk, where you can be directed to a local service that is open.

Councillor Liz Wardlaw, cabinet member for health at Cheshire East Council, said: “Residents have a range of services they can access if they feel unwell or need advice during winter. But it’s important that the services they do access are appropriate to their needs.

“You can do your part in helping to take the strain off health services by stocking up on medication before the Christmas holidays, keeping an eye on vulnerable members of the community and ensuring you get help and advice as soon as you start to feel unwell.”

For further winter wellbeing advice, visit: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell and scroll down to the winter wellbeing section. Advice can also be found on the council’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/cheshireeastcouncil and on Twitter at @CheshireEast

Residents can help friends and neighbours, who do not have internet access, by downloading and printing off information from the website and giving it to them.

Bare Bones Marketing Rebrands National EPOS Provider

Cheshire-based full service marketing agency, and 2016 South Cheshire Chamber of
Commerce Small Business of the Year Bare Bones Marketing, recently completed the total rebranding of Centegra, a provider of cloud-based EPOS solutions based in Crewe with clients including Leon, Coco Di Mama, BB’s Coffee and Muffins, The York Roast Co. and Charles Wells to name but a few.

After successfully winning a three-way pitch, Bare Bones Marketing was challenged to create a full suite of branding materials including brand identity, brand values, key messages, visual language and website. 

The Bare Bones Marketing approach is to stand out from the crowd by creating an impact in
highly competitive markets. After several workshops and competitor analysis, Bare Bones Marketing recommended the branding platform based on “innovation that counts.” This accurately communicates the ingenuity of Centegra’s products and ensures relevance in the EPOS sector.

Evolving, rather than revolutionising, the existing colour palette was part of the strategy so as not to alienate Centegra’s loyal client-base, however through clever usage of visual language playing off the sky, is has enabled the introduced a third-colour to create more contrast and relief to the art direction, and for the development of a responsive website and social media.

Jon Horsfield, Managing Director of Centegra commented: “Bare Bones Marketing has gone through a complete process of re-branding for Centegra, including electronic and non-electronic communications.

"During this process the communication was excellent and where we had little or no expertise, they led us through the process through a series of workshops and discussions in order for us to be able to make informed decisions on how we wanted to progress. 

Bare Bones Marketing took time to understand our business model, market and most importantly where we wanted to position ourselves in to the future.  This resulted in us being very happy with the end result, that absolutely fitted the brief that we initially supplied and importantly, the project was delivered on budget and on time.” 

Emma Dalzell, Owner and Managing Director of Bare Bones Marketing states: “We were delighted to have been chosen to deliver the new branding and marketing for Centegra. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Centegra team and are proud to have delivered branding and marketing solutions for such an ingenious, progressive and dynamic team of people. 

"We hope that we will work closely with Centegra to support them with their lead generation and new business acquisition for many years to come.

Businesses Offered Free Advice to Help Solve Their Funding Puzzles

Cheshire East Council is inviting businesses from across the borough to learn about the business support and funding available for growth projects.

The free-to-attend lunchtime event on 25 January, provided by the authority’s arms-length Skills and Growth Company, will have guest speakers discussing the funding available to help your business grow.

The event will cover the practical support available to improve your chances of securing finance, as well as the government-backed lending scheme Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), which has been set up to provide more than £400m of investment to businesses.

After the speakers there will be a networking lunch, where there will be an opportunity to meet with a range of funding and business support specialists.

Speakers at the Alderley Park Conference Centre event will include representatives of The British Business Bank, The Skills and Growth Company’s ‘access 2 finance service’ and successful grant applicants, who will share their experience of applying and receiving grant funding. This will include a panel discussion from the speakers, with a question and answer session.

Nantwich-based Frank Olsen Furniture will be one of the businesses taking part following their £25,000 funding from the NPIF, which is helping fuel their growth and create new jobs.

To book on the event, which will run from 11.30am to 2pm at Alderley Park, go online at: www.skillsandgrowth.co.uk/events.  Alternatively, call the Skills and Growth Company on 0300 1235001.

Cheshire East Councillor George Hayes, chairman of the Skills and Growth Company, said: “This event offers expert insight and advice into the range of support available to businesses looking to grow.

“Securing the right finance needed for growth can be difficult and we hope this event will help businesses to build upon their successes by showcasing the range of financial support available to them.”