Community Notice Board

Serving the areas of Bedminster, Southville, Ashton, Ashton Vale, Windmill Hill & Totterdown

Heather Ralls Exhibition

The Grant Bradley Gallery is holding an exciting exhibition between the 9th and the 30th January, Darkness and Light by Heather Ralls.

Heather Ralls is an instinctive painter with a keen interest in colour and darkness who paints from experience and imagination to allow her to create an atmosphere in her work.
The Gallery will also be holding an open evening for visitors to view the exhibition on January 8th between 6.30 and 9.30pm.

For directions or further information, please contact the gallery on 01179637673.

Post Christmas Party

The Greater Bedminster Older People’s Forum is holding its post-Christmas Party on January 13th at Monica Wills House (West Street) and you’re invited! If you’re over 55, interested in life and want to make new friends, them come along at 10am for free tea, coffee, Bucks Fizz and sherry. Please bring any unwanted gifts to add to the raffle.

Give Blood This Year

This January, if you are feeling well and meet the donor selection rules, why not make a new year's resolution to give blood?

The NHS is always looking for blood donors, and is encouraging blood donors to keep their appointments if they've made any, unless they have been ill with flu or have had flu-like symptoms. If a donor has had flu like symptoms they should ring the NHS to get further advice.
The Southville Centre in Southville will be holding its next session on 14th January.

Pre-raphaelite Talk

Bristol Central Library will be welcoming art historian and author Lucinda Hawksley on Tuesday 19th January.

Lucinda will be exploring the fascinating world of the Pre-Raphaelites and the life of muse and “supermodel” Lizzie Siddal. The talk will start at 7.30pm and finish at 9pm and there will be light refreshments and a licenced bar. Tickets cost £4.00 for adults.

Table Top Sale

Why not come along to a tabletop sale at FaithSpace (Southville Methodist Church) on Stackpool Road in Southville on Saturday 23rd January?

Stalls selling refreshments, cakes, gifts and cards will all be at the sale amongst others.
The sale will be open from 10 am until 1pm. Anyone who wishes to book a table can do so for just £4 by calling 0117 9660522.

Plant A Tree

Local residents of all ages are invited to join the Friends of Greville Smyth Park (FROGS) at a special tree-planting event at Greville Smyth Park in the New Year.

The tree-planting takes place from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, January 24th 2010. The aim is to plant a new avenue of oak trees in the park.

Officers from TreeBristol - a city council initiative to plant more trees in the city - will be on hand to give expert advice and help with the planting.

Anyone interested should meet at the Ashton Road entrance. Please wear suitable outdoor clothing and footwear. All tools will be provided.

The tree-planting event at Greville Smith follows on the success of the November 2009, Gores Marsh planting, which saw over 25 volunteers helping to plant new trees.

Bike Forum

The next bike forum is going to be taking place on Thursday 29th January at the Council house on College Green at 6pm.

The group contains members of the CTC, NHS employers in the area, and more, and independent cyclists are welcome. The meetings take place every two months to promote and discuss cycling and safety in the city.

Big Garden Birdwatch

If you love birds, then why not join in the world's biggest bird survey and help the RSPB to keep track of bird populations on the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch Weekend?

Big Garden Birdwatch has been asking their supporters to count the birds in their gardens for an hour on 30th or 31st January to help give them a “snapshot” picture of bird numbers in the region. There is plenty of wildlife to look out for in the city- keep an eye out for house sparrows, swifts and starlings to name but a few.

Big Garden Birdwatch is fun, easy, only takes an hour to do and all you need to take part is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper.

For more information including pictures and descriptions of what to look for, and for a printable counting sheet to keep on your fridge, please visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

RSPCA Race Night

No-one can afford to miss the RSPCA's race night on Saturday 20th February after the success of last year's event.

The night isn't a traditional race night- six wooden horses race with knitted woolly jockeys on a giant wooden track, while guests can place bets of just 20p or more on the horse they think will win the spectacular race.

All money raised will go towards the RSPCA to help them continue their work with needy animals. Doors open at 7pm and races start at 7.20pm. Tickets are £6 including a buffet supper and drinks will be available at the 'drinking trough.'

For more information or to book tickets, please contact Rusti on 0117 3003698.

Slapstick Comedy Festival

Slapstick, Bristol's silent comedy festival returns for the sixth year from the 21st January until 24th January 2010.

Presented by Bristol Silents, this year's festival includes the Slapstick gala at the Colston Hall with Michael Palin on the 21st January. Comedy legend and national treasure Michael Palin will discuss his career in comedy with Graeme Garden, while on screen Buster Keaton's The Navigator will be showing.

Between the 22nd and the 24th January there will be many silent comedies being shown at The Watershed, Arnolfini and Jesters - comedy giants being shown this year include Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, W.C Fields and many more.

For more information on the films that are showing and prices, visit the website at www.slapstick.org.uk

Park Tree Planting

The Victoria Park Action Group is holding a tree planting day in Victoria Park on Sunday 28th February 2010 and invites families to come along and to help plant a tree.

Bristol City Council will be helping the action group to plant around 50 sweet chestnut and lime trees to add to more than 100 trees that have been planted in the last two years.

If you and your family would like to help plant a tree, come along to the park between 10am and 4pm on the 28th February. The work is hard but all ages are welcome to volunteer and tools and guidance are provided and the rewards come every time you visit the park.

Bristol Credit Union

Bristol Credit Union - one of the largest in the south west - now has even more service points across the city.

They have in excess of 6400 members including 1280 juniors and by joining the union you can have access to all of their services they provide including affordable loans, current account savings and more.

You can visit one of their service points at Marksbury Road Library on Fridays at 11.45am, Bedminster Library on Fridays at 1.15pm or at the Southville Centre on Thursdays at 4.30pm.
Ben Barker of the Southville Centre said: “We are delighted to have the Credit Union at the centre as we believe the services they provide will be valuable to the community and they have a lot to offer the people of south Bristol.”

Join The Girls Brigade

The 37th Bristol section of The Girls Brigade - a Christian international organisation for girls and young women - are welcoming newcomers to their meetings, which happen every Tuesday evening at Totterdown Baptist Church.

The girls are split into age reflective groups, from explorers aged five to seven up to the young leaders, aged 15 plus.

The girls and young women learn skills and have fun while gaining awards and making new friends at the meetings. All officers and helpers have been trained and have been CRB checked.

A small fee of £1.50 is charged and uniform is supplied after six weeks attendance. For more information please visit the website at www.thegirlsbrigade.co.uk.

LinkAge Volunteers

LinkAge is looking for volunteers to visit isolated and lonely older people in the Southville, Bedminster and Ashton areas for just an hour or so a week.

If you can spare an hour a week and are happy to talk about just about anything, then you could make all the difference to an older person who is feeling alone, who is bereaved or housebound or simply not as able as they were.

No experience is necessary, training and support is provided and travel expenses are paid. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to apply to be a volunteer and times are flexible. For more information, please call Hazel at LinkAge on 0117 3052365 or 07875406844, or email hazel.leithall@stmonicatrust.org.uk

Gardenshare Scheme

A community group in Bristol is looking for volunteers to help set up and run their new scheme, Gardenshare Bristol.

The Gardenshare plan is for people in the area with gardens that go unused, perhaps due to a lack of time or mobility, to be matched up with an eager gardener or grower who doesn't have access to land. The scheme will benefit both owner and gardener, as they will be able to share any vegetable and herb produce. There are also the benefits of watching a lovely garden grow, and being part of the community.

Gardenshare welcome all volunteers, however any experience of running community groups, or marketing and promotion skills would be useful. Anyone interested in being matched with a gardener or owner can also get in touch, though the scheme is currently in the early stages. Please visit www.gardensharebristol.blogspot.com/ for further information.

UWE U1 Bus Service

UWE's U1 bus service is now accepting smartcards as an alternative to paying with cash.
The oystercard style smartcards give discount travel on the U1 service, which runs through Coronation Road, Temple Meads and the centre. To top the card up, simply visit any Ulink bus.
Residents in the Southville area can apply for a card by sending £1 to UWE Bristol, 1E20 Frenchay Campus, Bristol BS16 1QY.

Board Games Afternoon

Do you enjoy playing board games? If so, then take yourself along for a fun afternoon to Marksbury Road Library, Wednesdays, between 2.00 - 3.00pm. Join others in games of Scrabble, Chess and Draughts. There will be tea, coffee and biscuits available at a small charge.

Street Wise

What do they have in some parts of Bristol, but not in Bemmy? The answer is sometimes called street wardens and sometimes street reps. Ben Barker from the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership says that he likes Community Champs. Anyway, it’s someone (or perhaps two or three) in each street that’s a Good Neighbour.

How does it work? Say you are taking the dog for a walk or the little one to school or the shops: take a bit of paper too. Jot down any ‘naughties’ that you see: flytipping might be one, or graffiti. Perhaps there’s a vandalised telephone box or a street tree that’s been damaged. Lots of times there will not be anything to report, sometimes there will. GBCP will supply you with some phone numbers so you can report what you see and it can be sorted quickly. They can’t fix it if nobody tells them!

If you would like to know more about improving the streets and being a Community Champ, contact the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership via Southville Centre on 0117 923 1039 or info@southvillecentre.org.uk.

Book-on-Wheels

Do you know someone who loves reading but can’t get to a library?

The library volunteer service can bring a selection of books to the home of anyone that is housebound, if they live in the Bedminster area. For further information about the new ‘Book-on-wheels’ service call the library on 0117 9038574.

Cats Protection Volunteers

Cats Protection Bristol and District Branch are looking for many different types of volunteers, such as events volunteers, supermarket collectors, collection box volunteers and more.

Events volunteers would be able to do two or three hour shifts, as and when they are able to help. Ways they will be helping would be by manning the Cats Protection stall, selling bric-a-brac, jams, jewellery and by painting faces.

Supermarket volunteers will be able to help for two or three hours at one of the supermarkets Cats Protection have booked, by holding a collection bucket, and take donations back to the charity. Call (0117) 9665428 for more information on the supermarkets and dates.

Collection box volunteers can help by placing a few collection boxes to local businesses in their area, checking on the box as and when, and collecting the box for Cats Protection Bristol branch. If you are interested in helping, please call the number above for more information.

Open University

An Open University advisor will be in the Central Library foyer, College Green on the first Friday of every month. They will be pleased to discuss study plans and give advice on course choice. There is no need to make an appointment just drop in between 12 noon and 2.00pm.

Hotwells and District Allotments Association

The Hotwells and District Allotments Association have 6 sites around South Bristol - Alderman Moore's, Kennel Lodge Road 1 and 2, the Meadows, Bower Ashton and White City. If you would like to become a member, or would like to find out how to go about getting an allotment, please visit their website www.hwdaa.co.uk