At the heart of our wonderful community

Published at: 3-4 First Floor Offices, Shildon Town Council, Civic Hall Square, Shildon DL4 1AH • Editorial: 01388 775896 • Advertising: 07909 992731 • Email: chapter@swd.news • Online: www.swd.news/chapter •

You can read our sister papers online too: The Shildon & District Town Crier - www.swd.news/crier • The Bishop Press - www.swd.news/bishop

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

BY-ELECTIONS FOR the Broom and Ferryhill and Dean Bank wards of Ferry-hill Parish Council will take place on Thursday, 8 March.

Poll cards will not be issued to electors at the request of the parish coun-cil.

Polling stations for the Broom ward will be located at Ferryhill Sports and Edu-cation Centre, Lambton Road.

Polling stations for the Ferryhill and Dean Bank ward will be located at:

• Ferryhill Catholic Club,

PUPILS IN STEP AT DANCE CITYLAST WEEK, science ambassadors from Cleves Cross, Chilton and West Cornforth primary schools visited Dance City studio in Newcastle to take part in a workshop aimed at showing the links between science and dance.

THE PUPILS worked together in an interactive session led by the South-paw dance company.

The girls studied bal-ance, gravity and friction before combining some of their moves into a short dance performance at the

end of the lesson. The event was part of the

ongoing partnership with Approach Too, The Insti-tute of Physics at Durham University and The Ogden Trust which is bringing exciting and aspirational opportunities to children

and young people in Ferry-hill and Chiton.

Dr Lorraine Coghill (Dur-ham University and Ogden Trust) said, “It’s fantastic to be involved in such an innovative and energis-

Issue No 869 Friday 2nd March 2018

Pupils from Cleves Cross, Chilton and West Cornforth primary schools at Dance City in Newcastle. Photo: Approach Too.

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Dean Road;• St Luke’s Parish Centre,

Church Lane;• Dean Bank and Ferryhill

Literary Institute, St Cuth-bert’s Terrace.

Voters should attend their normal polling station, where they will be asked

FERRYHILL PARISH BY-ELECTIONSto provide their name and address in order to receive a ballot paper.

For more information, contact Durham County Council’s electoral services team on 03000 261 212 or email electoralservices@durham.gov.uk.

RESIDENTS FROM Ferry-hill, Chilton, Bishop Mid-dleham and West Corn-forth can find out how local issues are being tackled when the local area action partnership holds their next meeting.

The 4 Together Part-nership will be holding their Board meeting on Wednesday 7th March, between 6pm and 8pm, at Dean Bank & Ferryhill Lit-erary Institute, and local people are invited to go along to observe proceed-ings.

People can raise any local neighbourhood or

The 4 Together Partnership is one of 14 Area Action Partnerships set up by Durham County Council in 2009.

policing issues that they would like the Board to address. These should ideally be put in writing and sent in advance.

If you would like to reg-ister to attend the Board meeting, please contact 03000 267210, or email fouraap@durham.gov.uk.

LOCAL AREA ACTION PARTNERSHIP MEETING

2

You can read our sister papers online:

www.swd.news/crier

www.swd.news/bishop

ClassifiedsAll about local people ...

In Memoriam

For all the latest sports news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news Friday 2nd March 2018

Published bySouth West Durham News

at: 3-4 First Floor Offices Shildon Town Council

Civic Hall SquareShildon DL4 1AH

Editorial & Advertising01388 775896

Out of Hours07909 992731

Email: chapter@swd.news

Online:www.swd.news/chapter

Support your local community newspaper

by mentioning the Ferryhill & Chilton Chapter

when contacting advertisers.

DISCLAIMER

The Ferryhill & Chilton Chapter cannot be

held responsible for advertisers offeringgoods or services.

As a general rule we wouldadvise anyone not to part with any money

until an order has been completed to yourfull satisfaction.

All information is correct,to the best of our

knowledge, at the time ofprinting.

The Ferryhill & Chilton Chapter accepts articles in

good faith and takes no responsibility for

errors and/or omissions.

SEND US YOUR STORIES

If you have a story you would like us to cover, we

would love to hear from you.We are especially interested in good

news, be it personal achievements, local

fundraising, community service or any other

positive stories. Call us on 01388 775896 or email

chapter@swd.news

28th February 2008

It’s 10 years today since you left us,

Not a day goes by without thoughts of your time

with us all

Love you always,Wes, Julie & Graham,

Andy & Amy, Kieran, Harry, Bree & Niall

xxx

Joan Stoker

4th March 2009

You gave me many things in life

Gifts both great and small,

But most of all you gave me love

The greatest gift of all

Yours always and forever,Sylvia

xxx

Tony Atkinson

Love never diesIt goes on for our lifetime.

Even though you’re not with me on your 60th

Anniversary

Loving Husband,Rayxxxx

Mary Crabtree

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SEDGEFIELD HOMESTAY and Stonham Home Group are offering free housing-related support and advice to local resi-dents.

Advice can be given on any of the following top-ics;• Any aspect of your cur-

rent tenancy;• Claiming benefits;• Budgeting your finances;• Any general concerns

about your living and financial arrangements;

• Finding education and training courses;

• Getting in touch with other services.Drop-in sessions take

place at;• Chilton Foodbank,

10am-12pm, Mondays, St Aidan’s Church, Chil-ton;

• Pioneering Care Part-nership, 10am-12pm, Tuesdays, Carer’s Way, Newton Aycliffe;

• Shildon Alive, 1.30pm -3.30pm, Tuesdays, 19 Church Street, Shildon;

• Newton Aycliffe Food-bank, 1.30pm-3.30pm, Wednesdays, St Clare’s

Church, Newton Aycliffe;

• Ferryhill Foodbank, 10.30am-12pm, Thurs-days, St Luke’s Church, Ferryhill;

• Spennymoor Sure Start, 1.30pm-3.30pm, (fortnightly) Thursdays, Green Lane, Tudhoe Moor;

• Cornforth Partnership, 9.30am - 11am, Fridays, 68 High Street, West Cornforth.For more information,

call the Gateway Number on 08000 731837.

FREE HOUSING RELATED SUPPORT

Refuse and recycling crews are collecting in areas where it is safe to do so but residents whose bins are due to be emptied are advised that there may be some dis-ruption.

Updates will be provided via the council’s social media channels through-out.

Parents are advised to check www.durham.gov.uk and the council’s social media channels at facebook.com/dur-hamcouncil and twitter.com/DurhamCouncil for details of school closures and re-openings.

Neighbourhood war-dens are making checks on vulnerable residents

across the county but people are also encour-aged to call in on friends, neighbours and relatives who may need assis-tance.

John Reed, head of technical services, said on Tuesday: “The snow fall has been pretty con-sistent but we have had crews out gritting and ploughing throughout the night, which has helped to keep traffic moving dur-ing the daytime.

“We will continue to target those areas most affected but would encourage people to check our website and social media feeds to keep up with the latest news on all services.”

DURHAM COUNTY Coun-cil staff say they are work-ing hard to ensure ser-vices in County Durham are unaffected by the cur-rent bad weather.

Gritters have been out ploughing and salting pri-ority one and two routes throughout the county since the early hours of Tuesday morning.

They will continue to work throughout the week as conditions demand.

Residents are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.

Council teams are also working to keep footpaths clear in town and city cen-tres and around priority areas such as hospitals and medical centres.

KEEPING THE COUNTY MOVINGDurham County Council crews have been working to clear footpaths.

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the young people being so engaged and enthused, and so inspired to share their learning with others.

“Projects like this ena-ble young people to take subjects beyond the class-

room and allow them to take ownership and con-trol of their learning.”

All the science ambassa-dors are keen to show their peers back at their schools what they have learned.

ing project, giving young people an opportunity to explore both dance and science in a new way.

“It’s been great to see

PUPILS IN STEP AT DANCE CITYThe girls put some of their learning into practice.

OCCASION: (Please tick) Birthday Obituary Anniversary For Sale Birth To Let Congratulations Services Appreciations Acknowledgement Memoriam Birthday Memoriam

CLASSIFIED FORM:

Post or hand this form into:3-4 First Floor Offices, Town Council Building, Civic Hall Square, Shildon, DL4 1AH Please note: All prices include VAT at standard rate.

Number of separate messages:..............Message(s): Please write in clear BLOCK CAPITALS and continue on a separate piece of paper if necessary

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His concerts are inti-mate occasions of song and chat, where sad-nesses and frustrations are mixed with the humour

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READERS OF The Chapter are being warmly invited to a free concert by ‘inspi-rational’ singer song-writer, John Froud, at St Luke’s Parish Centre.

The concert takes place

INSPIRATIONAL SINGER PERFORMSJohn’s musical influences include Bob Dylan, Ray Davies, Nina Simone and Bruce Springsteen.

FROM PAGE 1

4

Friday 2nd March 2018For all the latest news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news

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AN AWARD winning nine week course about devel-oping positive, healthy relationships is taking place in April at Ferryhill One Point.

The Chrysalis pro-gramme incorporates several elements that aim to strengthen the family unit and develop healthy coping strategies within relationships.

The programmes will run over several months; beginning with the award winning motiva-tional ‘Hearts and Minds’ course.

The course is designed to support female survi-vors of domestic abuse, to recognise tell-tale signs of abusive behav-iour whilst building con-fidence and develop per-

sonal recovery strategies.Over the duration of 9

weeks, female partici-pants will identify healthy relationship characteris-tics and develop positive personal plans that will enhance and improve personal and familial cir-cumstances.

On completion of the Hearts and Minds course, learners will gain an NOCN Level 2 qualifica-tion in ‘Understanding Domestic Abuse and Developing Recovery Strategies’.

This is then followed by a variety of family activi-ties that enables parents to spend quality time with their children, sharing new experiences together and making memories that will last forever.

A MAN has been arrested after two ounces of Class A drugs were found at a property in West Corn-forth.

The 28-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and was taken into custody on 14th February after officers seized the drugs, sus-pected to be heroin, at a house on Birch Road.

A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary said: “The drugs were seized following anony-mous information from a member of the public. Local response officers acted quickly to obtain an out of hours search warrant which was exe-cuted. They found more

than two ounces of her-oin in a bedroom of the property.

“If these drugs were dealt to our local com-munity, it could cause serious harm. This arrest shows just how seriously we take these reports as well as our absolute commitment to tackling the issue of drugs on our streets and protecting the people in our area.”

The man has been released under investi-gation.

Anyone with informa-tion about suspicious activity in their area should contact police on 101 or through the inde-pendent charity Crime-stoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

WEST CORNFORTH DRUG ARREST

ON WEDNESDAY evening, 7th February, the mem-bers of Ferryhill Village WI were given a very inter-esting and funny talk by Julie York on how she got started, her funny exploits and experiences in open water swimming.

One of Mrs York’s most famous feats was to swim the annual Alcatraz Classic, which meant tak-ing a ferry to the infamous Alcatraz Island - within 1.5 miles of the San Fran-cisco shore - before jump-ing in the water and racing to dry land.

President of the WI, Syl-via Bell said: “She is a very down to earth lady and all

the members got on really well with her and they enjoyed her talk.

“She brought along her wet suits and goggles to show the members.

“What a brave lady to swim from Alcatraz to the San Francisco harbour.”

“Our next meeting will be held in the Dean Bank Community Centre on Wednesday, 7th March at 6.30pm when the entertainment will be the Police Choir.

“I am looking forward to listening to them as they are excellent.

“All members and any guests will be made very welcome.”

WI ENJOY TALK FROM JULIE

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All elements of the programme are free thanks to funding by the 4Together AAP.

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Friday 2nd March 2018 For all the latest news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news

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DURHAM’S UNITARY Council has for the first time ever supported a budget motion by an oppo-sition councillor.

Liberal Democrat Coun-cillor, Mark Wilkes put forward a proposal to increase staffing to deal with the problem of empty homes in County Durham.

The Council was recently identified as having the highest number of empty properties in the entire country.

Cllr Wilkes’ proposal will see three additional full time staff members employed solely to tackle the issue.

At present the County has over 6,900 long term empty properties, classi-

fied as properties which have been empty for more than six months.

Many of these are in the Shildon, Bishop Auckland and Ferryhill areas.

Cllr Wilkes said: “I am delighted to have gained cross party support for action in this area.

“I have been banging on about the problems of empty homes for many years now, yet the Coun-cil has been going back-wards on the issue.”

In 2012 we had 6,000 long term empty proper-ties. We now have 6,900. Something has to be done.

“The extra staff will at least double the number of hours being put in to dealing with this.”

DCC TO TACKLE ISSUE OF EMPTY HOMES ACROSS THE COUNTY

Funding for the extra staff is to be paid for from bonus council tax the gov-ernment gives councils for each extra long-term property they bring back into use.

In effect, the staff will pay for themselves through the bonus the Council gets for reducing the number of empty homes.

Cllr Wilkes added: “We have an excellent team already in this department, now we will have the extra staff needed get on top of these issues.”

Durham Councillors of all political persuasion voted in favour of the pro-posals with just four coun-cillors voting against the proposals. 97 councillors backed the motion.

There are almost 7,000 empty properties in County Durham. Stock image.

MAYOR OF Ferryhill, Cllr John Lindsay is holding a Grand Prize Draw in aid of his chosen charities.

Tickets are on sale now priced at just £1 each and are available from Fer-ryhill Town Hall and Cllr Lindsay himself.

Prizes include £250 worth of Argos Vouchers, tickets to see The Original Harlem Globetrotters at the Metro Arena in May and many other prizes.

The draw for the raffle

will be made at the May-or’s Charity Dinner on Fri-day 27th April.

All proceeds will go to the Mayor’s chosen chari-ties for 2017/18 which are Dementia UK, Little Treas-ures Autism Group and Approach Too.

A list of winning tickets will be published in due course in The Chapter and on Ferryhill Town Coun-cil’s facebook page and website at www.ferryhill.gov.uk.

MAYOR’S GRAND PRIZE DRAW

AS PART of their Fuel for School project and their campaign to stop surplus food from being wasted, Dean Bank Primary School and St Luke’s Church are hosting a Pop Up Cafe.

The event will take place from 11.30am on Friday

2nd March at St Luke’s, when residents are invited for soup and a bun with the request that they ‘pay as they feel’ for their lunch.

All food will be made from fresh, top quality produce that would oth-erwise have been wasted.

PAY AS YOU FEEL AT POP UP CAFE

ST LUKE’S Parish Cen-tre in Ferryhill is set to host a St Patrick’s Eve Quiz on Friday 16th March.

Doors open at 6pm for a fun night for all the family, with a delicious pie and pea supper and bar service.

Tickets are £4 per adult, £2 for children or £10 for a family ticket of two adults and up to three children.

To book your seats, contact Vicar Gary on 01740 655232 or email garynorma266@btinter-net.com.

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Friday 2nd March 2018For all the latest news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news

lap. All children MUST be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Please note tickets sales are restricted to residents of Chilton only and are non-re-fundable.

Tickets, available from 1st March, can be collected from the Town Council office with proof of address.

For further details contact Vicky on 01388 721788.

CHILTON TOWN Coun-cil is organising its first coach trip to South Shields on Saturday 11th August 2018.

Buses will be depart-ing from The Wheat-sheaf at 9am and

returning from South Shields at 5pm. Tick-ets are priced at £4.50 for adults (18+), £3 for OAPs and £3 for chil-dren (3-17 years).

Babies 0 – 2 can sit on a responsible adult’s

CHILTON COACH TRIP TO SOUTH SHIELDSResidents of Chilton are being invited to a day at the beach this summer.

DUE TO the local election, the scheduled food bank in St Luke’s Centre on Thursday 8th March will instead take place on Fri-day 9th March, from 1.30-3pm.

Afterwards the food bank will revert back to its usual Thursday opening.

ELECTION CAUSES CHANGE OF DAY FOR FOOD BANK

A WHIST and Domino Drive will take place on Saturday 3rd March at 2pm in the Community Centre at Kirk Merrington.

Admission is £2, which includes refreshments.

Everybody welcome.

WHIST & DOMINO DRIVE

THERE WILL be a meeting of Ferryhill Station & Chil-ton Lane Residents’ Asso-ciation on Tuesday 6th March, from 6.30pm at the Royal British Legion, Ferryhill Station.

RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION MEETING

THE ROYAL British Legion, at the back of Lin-den Terrace, is to host its next Coffee Morning on Tuesday 6th March, from 10.30am.

The event is free and all are welcome.

LEGION’S MONTHLY COFFEE MORNING

Letters to the Editor...Email: chapter@swd.news stating ‘Letter’ in the subject line.Write to: Letters, Ferryhill & Chilton Chapter, 3-4 First Floor Offices, Shildon Town Council, Shildon DL4 1AH.All letters (including emails) must include the writer’s name, address, postal code and contact number and may be edited.The maximum length for letters is 200 words.

Volunteer for driving scheme

Every week dozens of people across County Durham struggle to make it to GP appointments due to lack of trans-port. I am writing to appeal to local people to volunteer their time and driving skills to make a difference in their community.

Volunteer driving scheme, Help to Health, is funded by the local Clinical Commissioning Groups and is delivered by national charity Volunteering Matters, in partnership with Supportive. Many people rely on our volunteer driving schemes to help them get out and about and do everyday things that most of us take for granted. A routine appoint-ment at the doctors can be complicated, if not impossible, for some people without the support of a volunteer driver.

Together we can assist with helping older people maintain their health, independence and reduce social isolation. Our drivers find it a rewarding way to spend their free time because they know they make a big difference to the lives of others.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a volunteer driver we would love to hear from you on 0191 3891155.

Yours Sincerely, Angela FosterDevelopment Worker, Volunteering Matters

No polling cards needed

I would like to inform your readers that although there are to be no Polling Cards distributed for the forthcoming Ferryhill Town Council by-elections for the Broom and Dean Bank/Ferryhill Village Wards it will still be possible for registered voters to cast their votes.

All you have to do is to attend the Polling Station you normally go to and give your name and address to the Polling Station officer. He or she will then give you your ballot paper and you can cast your vote as you wish to do so.

Yours sincerely, Brian Gibson,Secretary , Ferryhill Association for Independent Representation (F.A.I.R.)

7

Friday 2nd March 2018 For all the latest news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news

poetry cornerA letter might be better

By Geoffrey Gregg, Tursdale

Whenever I phone they’re always in a meeting

Never there to give me a friendly greeting,

Out at lunch or on a conference call

It would seem I’m having no luck at all.

I rang earlier but they were on a break,

So I waited and waited, how

long does a break take?

Once more I tried but line not

connecting, what a pain!

Shall I keep on trying again and again in vain?

At last I get through but they’re

still otherwise engaged,

Now all this is getting me rather enraged,

Perhaps I’ll just put pen to paper and write them

a letter,

Enclose a stamped addressed envelope,

Yes, that might be better.

paring a selection of freshly made sandwiches, scones, sweet treats and tea or coffees which will be served on Saturday 10th March 2018 at Fer-ryhill Village Methodist Chapel.

Tickets are only £3 per person and can be pur-chased from Cleves Cross, Dean Bank Ferryhill Sta-tion and Chilton schools, Ferry Dec or Ferryhill Town Hall.

There are two sittings

to choose from: 1pm to 2.30pm or 3pm to 4.30pm.

Glenys from Approach Too said, “Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea is part of the children’s Fuel for School project and their campaign against surplus supermarket food being wasted.

The children are working in partnership with Fer-ryhill Village Methodist Chapel and Refuse CIC to put on a elegant afternoon for everyone to enjoy.”

CHILDREN FROM Chilton, Cleves Cross, Dean Bank and Ferryhill Station are sending a very special invi-tation to their community to help celebrate Mother’s Day.

Mams, grandma’s, aunt-ies, friends and families are all invited to a lovely Mother’s Day afternoon of scrumptious food and good company.

Pupils and school cooks from the primaries are busy planning and pre-

TREAT MAM THIS MOTHER’S DAYEnjoy afternoon tea this Mother’s Day, courtesy of local schoolchildren.

8

For all the latest news from South West Durham visit: www.swd.news Friday 2nd March 2018

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ON SUNDAY morning the Ferryhill Town Under 10’s, who play in the TJFA (Teesside Junior Football Alliance) U10 Durham Division Four, welcomed top of the table Stranton to the Rec.

Some of the football on display in the first half was excellent from the home side and they deservedly took the lead.

Some good build up play and a through ball from William found Reuban who was one on one with the keeper and finished calmly to the delight of the home support.

It was an end to end game and late in the half Stranton scored an equaliser to go in level at the break.

Zach and Jamie came on up front for Aaron and Reuban as they had run their socks off closing Stranton defenders down at every opportunity and counter attacking with lightning pace.

The second half was a tight, tense affair but the work rate of Marc, William and George was superb, tracking back to

help Carlton who again was great in defence.

Ferryhill began to dom-inate the midfield and Jamie and Zach pushed forward, running onto some excellent through balls.

Zach used his pace and clinical finishing to put Ferryhill 2-1 up.

There were some nervy moments late in the game as Stranton pressed for an equaliser. But Aidan was in fine form, thwart-ing at least two good scoring opportunities.

The final whistle blew with Ferryhill extending their excellent unbeaten run.

The whole squad were excellent but Marc was singled out for Man of the Match for his 100% work rate and some well timed tackles when needed.

The second game was just as close, but this time went to Stranton by the odd goal.

Marc and Kareem shared goalkeeping duties well, making some good blocks and saves.

Samantha Taylor con-tinued to defend bril-

liantly, sometimes faced with two or three attack-ers pouring forward.

Layton started the sec-ond half on the right of midfield making some good forward runs almost getting on the end of a through ball but for a last ditch Stranton tackle to deny him.

There was great set up play from Aidan squar-ing the ball to Aaron who finished well from close range.

Then another good piece of work from George on the right played the ball across to Zach for Ferryhill’s sec-ond goal.

However, three goals from Stranton secured the win for the away team.

Coach Paul McKeown said: “It was two more good games from the players, who now look forward to a big game in the Challenge Cup quar-ter finals.”

The side is at home to North Riding Division One side, Boro Rangers Whites at the Rec next Sunday, 4th March.

UNDER 10S CONTINUE WINNING WAYS AHEAD OF CHALLENGE CUP

DURHAM COUNTY Coun-cil’s pest control team has become just the fourth local authority in the country to achieve a prestigious European standard.

The service, which can also be tasked to tackle mice, wasps, moles, squirrels and flies, has achieved Confederation of European Pest Man-agement Associations (CEPA) Certified status.

The status means that the team meets the Euro-pean quality standard for pest management ser-vices.

Mark Farren, the coun-cil’s pest control manager, said: “We’re delighted that inspectors recognised the quality of the service we provide.

“Our aim is to protect both residents and busi-nesses from the health risks associated with pests. This award shows we are doing that and that we are at the cutting edge for councils in the UK when it comes to pest management.”

The service is provided to residents for a one-off fee of £40 per infestation. Appointments can be arranged online at www.durham.gov.uk/pestcontr ol or by calling 03000 260000.

Businesses can request a free, no obligation sur-vey which would iden-tify works they would be charged for, by calling 03000 262550 or email-ing: pestcontrol@dur-ham.gov.uk.

PEST CONTROL TEAM ACHIEVES EUROPEAN STANDARD

Durham County Council’s pest control team.

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