THE CHARTER

BECCLES TOWN

COUNCIL December 2017

Issue 46

Index

Santa’s House 2

Host a Chernobyl Child? 2

Twinning Association 2

Beccles Community Choir 3

Healthwatch Suffolk 3

Beccles Indoor Bowls Club 3

BAGA Stores Opening Times 3

Harvest Moon 2018 3

FESTIVE GREETINGS FROM YOUR MAYOR COUNCILLOR RICHARD STUBBINGS

YOUTH CHAM-

PIONS REPORT

Since the last Charter, your Youth Champion Team has been busy. For UK Parliament Week held from the 13th to 19th Novem-ber, we worked with the Sir John Leman High School to help young people to learn about and under-stand politics, by organising pres-entations, a debating masterclass and a lunchtime debate. It is so important that young people know about the world around them as politics has an impact on us all, and we hope that the presentations and the debate were useful! We will continue driving youth engagement forward over the rest of the council term. Your youth magazine promot-ing facilities and organisations in the town, will soon be a reality. We are working with schools and youth groups to produce a clear and en-gaging magazine. The first issue should be with you for Easter 2018.

Since the last

edition of The

Charter, Beccles

Town Council

has taken over

Blyburgate Hall which was previ-

ously owned by St John’s Ambu-

lance, to keep this well loved build-

ing as an asset for the people of

Beccles. The hall is already well

used by local groups, but more are

always welcome, with the hall also

available for private functions. So if

you are interested in booking the

hall, please call Sharon and Ge-

rald on 01502 717057.

HALL FOR HIRE

COUNCIL OFFICE OPEN-

ING TIMES OVER

CHRISTMAS

The Town Hall will be

closed from lunchtime on

the 22nd December 2017

and will not open again

until Tuesday 2nd January

2018.The first Town Coun-

cil meeting of 2018 will be

at 7pm on Tuesday 16th

January

GRANTS

Beccles Town Council nor-

mally budgets a sum of

money each year providing

financial support to organi-

sations and individuals un-

dertaking activities in the

Parish of Beccles. Next

Grants meeting will be in

March 2018, so go to

w w w . b e c c l e s . i n f o /

t o w n c o u n c i l / c o u n c i l -

services/ to see if your

community group might be

eliglble for a grant

COUNCIL NEWS

As the year closes and we start the Christmas festivities, I would like to take this opportunity to wish every-one a Merry Christmas. The new year will be an exciting one for Bec-cles. The new relief road will be completed and we will begin to see a reduction in lorry traffic in the town. We will need to capitalise on this and ensure that heavy goods vehicle restrictions are put in place and as much through traffic as pos-sible is persuaded to use the new road. The Council, by way of its Fen Charity, will be taking on the Quay from Waveney District Coun-cil. We would like your ideas as to how we should develop this. Bec-cles is a great tourist destination and this area needs to be improved to ensure that it is not just a gate-

way to the broads, but also a gate-way to Beccles that we can be proud of. As the year continues we should also be seeing the develop-ment of a new supermarket which just emphasises the vitality of Bec-cles. As the town grows we need to ensure that it loses none of its char-acter, and that we retain a strong level of independent retailers in the town center. This can only be done by people continuing to shop local, by supporting our great independ-ent businesses. The Town Council will continue to support events and fairs that increase the vibrancy of the town. We also want to address the aging play areas and see what we can do to improve leisure facili-ties in the town for all.

THE CHARTER

Page 2 THE CHARTER

TWINNING ASSOCIATION

At the beginning of half-term, 19 people from Beccles travelled to Normandy to visit Petit-Couronne on an official visit ar-ranged by Beccles Twinning Associa-tion. This year they took with them one of the Owls, made by pupils from the Albert Pye school that had taken part in the popular Owl-bert Pye trail around Beccles in 2016. The Owls had been spotted by some of our French visitors last year and they asked if they could use photographs of the Owls to create a similar trail in the library ‘ Médiathèque Aragon’ in Petit-Couronne. Blaze the owl (chosen by the school) was accompanied by Bailey English-Sutton a year 5 pupil at Albert Pye and his mum Clair who were amongst the 8 peo-ple travelling to Petit-Couronne for the very first time with the group. Whilst in year 4, Bailey had been one of the pupils regularly corre-sponding with l’ecole Louise Michel in Petit-Couronne. Over the 2 day visit, Blaze joined in all the activi-ties of the group and had such a good time that he stayed on for the rest of the week to carry on meet-ing visitors to the library in Petit-Couronne. He returned on the 30th October with Angela Therain vice-president of les amis du jumelage in Petit-Couronne. Blaze brought back with him some crocus bulbs which were planted in the Beccles library gardens around the Peace sculpture the following Saturday during one of the regular French chat sessions, which are held in the library every other Saturday from 10.00am to 11.00am To find out more about the Beccles Twinning Association and events planned for 2018 when they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary of twinning with Petit-Couronne, please visit their website: www.becclestwinningassoc.onesuffo l k .ne t o r con tac t : tw in -ning.beccles@gmail.com

SANTA’S HOUSE

Beccles Lions Club are helping Santa move his house

around different places in Beccles this year so he can say hello to all the children at this wonderful festive time. Lion President, Chris Rams-den said “Christmas is such a spe-cial time of the year for everyone both young and old, therefore what better way is there to keep it extra special than by coming along to see Santa in his house to say hello on the days listed below. Santa will be pleased to see you at one or more of them.” Santa’s House will be at the follow-ing venues. 9

th December – Beccles Town Cen-

tre 16

th and 17

th December – Fritton

Lane Garden Centre, Fritton 22

nd, 23

rd and 24

th December –

Morrisons Supermarket, Beccles Why not come along and give Santa a wave and say hello, he would love to see you. If you wish to know more about the Beccles Lions and the work they do please contact the club secretary Janet Ramsden on 01502 514284 or visit our club’s website at www.beccleslions.org.uk. and fol-low us on Facebook too. Equally if you are interested in becoming a member of Beccles Lions then please telephone our Mem-bership Chairman Keith Moore on 07717 488719.

Can you Host a child from Bela-rus for the month of June 2018?

We are a local Link for the Cherno-byl Children’s Life Line charity. Each year we raise money to bring a small group of 9 – 11 year girls and boys from Belarus to give them a much needed health break from the Chernobyl contamination. We need families and individuals who can open their homes and hearts to host 1 or 2 children during their stay in the Beccles and Lowestoft areas. Our Charity brings children to the UK because a month away from the contamination, eating good nourishing food, drinking clean water and breathing clean air improves their health and gives their immune systems a chance to recover. It also gives them a once in a life time opportunity and an ex-p e r i e n c e they will p r o b a b l y never forget. For exam-ple, Belarus is land locked. A visit to Suffolk presents the only oppor-tunity the children will have to play on the beach and paddle in the sea. Every year we aim to bring a group of children for a health break in this area. While we are lucky to have lots of people who offer their support with activities while they are here, the children cannot come unless we have Host families or individuals who can share their homes with one or two children for the 4 weeks of the visit. While the children don’t speak English, this is never a problem because they come with a Group Leader / Inter-preter and we are able to give host families lots of support. If you think you could be a Host family for the month of June 2018 or if you would like to find out more then please ring Alison Stannard on 01508 549047. Alternatively, you can email astannard@uwclub.net or visit our facebook page https://w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /CCLLChetandWaveney

In addition to the projects we’re doing, we would also like to men-tion events which have occurred in the town over the last few months, such as the Pumpkin festival which was very well attended and the Re-membrance Day events were very poignant. The youth groups in-volved in the events did themselves proud and it was good to see the strong community spirit we have here in Beccles. All that is left to say is; we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and there will be more from the Youth Champion Team in the com-ing months!

THE CHARTER

Page 3 June 2017 Issue 44

BECCLES COMMUNITY CHOIR

Beccles Com-munity Choir was set up in 2010 to explore the positive physical, mental

and emotional effects of singing. The choir meets fortnightly at the Wave-ney Centre on New Market in Beccles and has been described by the Eastern Daily Press “friendly, accessible, wel-coming, inclusive and above all fun”, which is all the things the choir believes m u s i c s h o u l d b e . We have between 40 – 50 members but new faces are always made wel-come and no experience or ability is necessary. Sessions cost £4 to attend - with the first session free and we meet between 6:00-7:30pm on alternate Tuesdays. For more information vis i t www.Becc lesCho i r .co .uk or www.Facebook.com/BecclesChoir or call 07909 5107976

HEALTHWATCH SUFFOLK

Can you help Healthwatch Suf-folk to shape and improve home care services Healthwatch Suffolk is exploring people’s experiences of accessing home care services (domiciliary care). Healthwatch Suf-folk is asking people to take part in a short survey. You can access it using the following link: https://w w w . s u r v e ym o n k e y . c o . u k / r /homecareinsuffolk If you are not currently accessing support or would prefer not to feedback online, please contact the Healthwatch Suffolk team on 08004488234 (Freephone) or by email to info@healthwatchsuffolk.co.uk . Hard copies of the survey and other formats are available on request.

BAGA COMMON LANE STORE

OPENING TIMES 2018

February 2

nd 6.30 – 8.30 pm and

3rd

, 10th, 17

th and 24

th 9.30 – 11.30

am (for potatoes, onion sets, shal-lots and pre-weighed, ready-measured and packaged goods until the potatoes have gone, after which normal sales can resume) March 3

rd, 10

th, 17

th, 24

th and 31

st ;

April 7th, 14

th, 21

st and 28

th May 5

th

and 19th ; June 2

nd and 16

th ; July

7th and 21

st ; August 4

th and 18

th ;

September 1st between 9.30 –

11.30 am.

HARVEST MOON

MUSIC FESTIVAL

SATURDAY 11TH

AUGUST 2018

NOON TILL DUSK

The 12th Harvest Moon Music Festi-

val is currently being organised for Saturday 11

th August 2018 on Bec-

cles Quay, so make sure you put it in your diary and/or in your mobile phone. This free Music Festival organised by Beccles Community Arts aims to make it as good as the 2017 event which was very well attended. Work has already begun on booking bands and stalls, and we believe we have the perfect combination of foods to tempt any palate. The bands provisionally booked are – Munroe, Owl and Wolves and The Oulton Broads.

We would love to see some local organisations and small businesses at the event to show and sell their wares too, as this is run by the community, for the community and we love to see Beccles people, friends and visitors enjoying this free and brilliant day. Plans for a permanent stage on Beccles Quay will be submitted to the Broads Authority once the noise survey has been carried out, which should be soon. It will be a won-derful asset to Beccles and local organisations will be able to hire the stage to put on outdoor plays, schools for sports days, churches such as the Salvation Army for fund raising, as well as the Duck Race and the Carnival event. If you would like to join us on Saturday 11

th Au-

gust 2018 then please contact missbokes69@btinternet.com or julapearl@gmail.com for a trader’s or performer’s application form as soon as possible.

Beccles Indoor Bowls Club

Ever seen bowls on tv and thought

you’d like to have a go?

Experience one of the best sports

facilities in the area, so come along

to see for yourself with new mem-

bers always welcome. You can find

us at the end of Ken Markland

Way, off Common Lane in Beccles.

Please call 01502 713540 or find

us on Facebook.

New Sea Cadet Building Beccles Quay

In February building work com-menced on a new building for Bec-cles Sea Cadets. The two story building will be their new Headquar-ters with 5 classrooms, 3 offices, a staffroom, toilets, showers, a large commercial kitchen and a climbing wall. Their existing site will become their boating station. This will give the youth of Beccles further oppor-tunities to become fully qualified in boating as well as other activities. The Builders Ovamill Limited has had a f e w delays w i t h t h e b u i l d -ing but it is hoped that they will be finished the main build in January. Then the inside can be fitted out. Currently fund raising continues as they only have enough to fit out the down-stairs. Beccles Sea Cadets is an organisation open to children 10 to 18 years old. The Junior Section is for 10 to 12 years old and is on a Monday evening 7.15 to 8.30pm. The Navy Cadets are for 12 to 18

years old and meet on Tuesday & Thursday evenings 7.15pm to 9.30pm. The Royal Marine Cadets are for 13 to 18 years old and also meet on Tuesday & Thursday eve-nings 7.15pm to 9.30pm. For fur-ther information please see Beccles sea Cadets website: www.sea-cadets.org/beccles

BECCLES TOWN COUNCIL

The Walk

BECCLES

NR34 9AJ

YOUR WAVENEY DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Graham Catchpole (Beccles South) 01502 712103 graham.catchpole@waveney.gov.uk Caroline Topping (Beccles South) 01502 717276 caroline.topping@waveney.gov.uk Graham Elliott (Beccles North) 01502 714661 graham.elliott@waveney.gov.uk Chris Punt (Beccles North) 01502 575518 chris.punt@waveney.gov.uk

YOUR SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCILLORS FOR BECCLES

Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw 07738 264091

elfrede.brambley-crawshaw@suffolk.gov.uk

Mark Bee 07932 650085

mark.bee@suffolk.gov.uk

SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL HQ 0345 606 6067

Consumer Advice/Education/Highways/Libraries/Street

Lighting/Trading Standards

customer.service@suffolk.gov.uk

YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Peter Aldous

01502 586568

peteraldous.mp@parliament.uk

POLICE

Emergency 999 Non Emergency 101

BECCLES HEALTH CENTRE

01502 712662

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE 111

WAVENEY DISTRICT COUNCIL

01502 562111

Planning/Building Regulations/Council Tax/Housing

Email: customer.services.wdc@eastsuffolk.gov.uk

WAVENEY NORSE 01502 527100

Open Spaces/Refuse Collection/Toilets

Email: waveney.info@ncsgrp.gov.uk

USEFUL NUMBERS

TOWN CLERK

Mrs Claire Boyne

Deputy Town Clerk & Charter

Editor

Mr Charlie Middleton

Tel: 01502 712109

Fax: 01502 716166

E-mail: admin@beccles.info

WWW.BECCLES.INFO

Councillor Address Telephone

CENTRE WARD

BUBB, MRS S The Round House, Ballygate, Beccles NR34 9NA 01502 713314

ELLIOTT, G 2 Old Hall, Barsham, Beccles NR34 8HB 01502 714661

HARRIS, J D 26 Hungate, Beccles NR34 9TT 01502 717237

KATHURIA, R Highfield, The Street, Barnby, Beccles, NR34 7QB 01502 476235

COMMON WARD

DOWNES, A 70 Northgate, Beccles NR34 9AY 07960 298473

ELLIOTT, N 2 Old Hall, Barsham, Beccles NR34 8HB 01502 714661

JANNEY, J P 28 St Matthews Avenue, Beccles, NR34 9PS 01502 717098

RIGBOURNE WARD

CATCHPOLE, G 32 Coney Hill, Beccles NR34 7AZ 01502 712103

STUBBINGS, R (MAYOR) 38-40 Blyburgate, Beccles NR34 9TF 01502 797797

TOPPING, MRS C 7 Rigbourne Hill, Beccles, NR34 9JG 01502 717276

KENWARD, S 10 Stuart Drive, Beccles NR34 9SB 01502 711267

DARBY WARD

BRAMBLEY-CRAWSHAW, E

(DEPUTY MAYOR)

64 St Georges Road, Beccles NR34 9YA 01502 217025

BROOKS, N 71 Darby Road, Beccles NR34 9XH 01502 716223

HAYNES, MRS M 63A Kemp’s Lane, Beccles NR34 9XB 01502 714093

WALMSLEY, J 37 Kemp’s Lane, Beccles NR34 9XB 01502 717853