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Q.What happens when you combine four GP practices and over 350 volunteers?
A. An extremely slick operation which can vaccinate 1,200 people in a day. So slick in fact that at one point in January it had the second-best performance of any GP vaccine hub anywhere in London. The Barnes and Sheen vaccine hub, based in the Essex House surgery by Barnes Pond, has sailed through its targets. By the end of last week over 90% of local over 80s had been vaccinated and now the hub is working through the list of patients aged over 70 as well as medically vulnerable patients. So keen are the staff not to waste any vaccines that even a few patients under 70 have had shots.
The hub isn’t open daily and can only vaccinate when supplies are sufficient, but when it is open it's a sight to behold. It is a testament to the power of teamwork and community spirit. The GP surgeries involved* believe it has worked so well because they had already been co-operating as a primary care network well before a bat ever met a pangolin. They have also been buoyed by the huge community voluntary response.
Local Town Centre Manager Emma Robinson, who worked with the hub to recruit volunteers, was initially overwhelmed with the number of people who volunteered. “Logistically just getting back to hundreds of people who were offering their help on different days and different times was daunting” she says. “As the hub has now been operating for nearly two months we hope we’ve got our volunteer set-up running like a smooth machine. We have a team of volunteer coordinators who set up rotas for each session, breaking the task down into chunks and working with an amazing bunch of people who do everything from traffic marshalling to checking in and checking out. The morale is fantastic and every single person working in the hub has a sense that, no matter how small or large their contribution is, they are making a huge difference.”
The practice manager at the Essex House surgery, Alison MacLeod, says she has been in awe at how people have come together to help out. “From the doctors and practice staff at all four surgeries who are working incredibly hard, to retired medics who have come back to help out, to the amazing team of volunteers, to local groups and charities who have lent time and equipment.
“We’ve had chairs and wheelchairs lent to us by Age Concern, a local rowing club and the scouts helped us out with marquees in the car park, people have lent us heaters to help warm elderly patients who have had to queue in the cold” she says. “We’ve also been bowled over by the wonderfully positive approach of both volunteers and patients.
“By necessity ours is a slightly military operation, we have to get people in and out quickly and keep them safe. We can’t spend as much time as we would like with patients but the volunteers keep the atmosphere happy and upbeat. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without them and the extra things they have done such as driving our nurses to home visits have been amazing.
“I always knew Barnes was a wonderful community but the experience of working in the hub has made me realise what an amazing place it is.”
*Essex House, Glebe Road, Sheen Lane & The Richmond Group
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Your vaccination in Barnes checklist
If you are in one of the eight priority groups and hoping to be vaccinated over the coming weeks you can help speed up the process and help our hub vaccinate as many people as possible by doing the following things.
Please don’t call Essex House or your own GP surgery to chase an appointment
You will be contacted when your turn comes. If your GP has your mobile phone number you will be texted, otherwise the team of six appointment coordinators based at the four practices will call you or write to you. If you are over 70 and haven't yet been invited for vaccination you can click here to make an appointment.
Use the NHS App to keep track on when you were vaccinated and what with
If you have a smart phone the app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play or iTunes app stores.
Do make it easy for the doctors and nurses to reach your upper shoulder
Loose or sleeveless tops are great, but bring layers as you may have to wait outside in the cold after your vaccination for 15 minutes.
Don’t request a specific vaccine
The hub can’t control what vaccine it is using. The team is called by NHS logistics teams in advance to tell them that doses of either the Pfizer or Astra Zeneca vaccines are going to be available to them on a specific date. They then quickly set up appointments and only one type of vaccine will be available on the day you are called in.
The hub tends not to produce written vaccine appointment cards
This is because most appointments are made by text. Some people have been requesting appointment cards as proof of vaccination but these can’t be used as official proof for travelling and the time-consuming nature of putting them together can slow up the speed of the hub and could lead to fewer people getting appointments
The hub aims to offer a vaccination to anyone eligible on its participating surgeries’ lists
If you have been called up for vaccination at a Mass Vaccination Centre but think transport issues could make this difficult for you don’t worry, you will also receive an invitation to the hub if you are on one of the participating practices' patient list.
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There’s good news on our local Covid case figures with the graph above showing a rapid decline in new cases. Soberingly, however, Richmond’s current case rate per hundred thousand (139.4) is still 9 times higher than it was last August. The figures show we are nowhere near being out of the woods just yet.
Sadly, there have been more deaths, and for many people it has been heart-breaking to discover that Kelly who worked as a marshal at the Barnes Farmer’s market has died of Covid. The announcement of her death on the market’s Instagram account said "She was always full of life and had a ready smile to greet all our lovely customers. She was also passionate about our market and all that goes with it. She will be very much missed."
In her memory, and in celebration of Kelly’s love of dogs, traders and customers at the market raised £600 for Battersea Dogs and Cat Home.
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Writing is on the wall for anti-vax vandals
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While the teams at our vaccine hub have been working extraordinarily long days other less industrious souls have been plastering shop fronts and walls across Barnes with anti vax graffiti – even the walls of Essex House Surgery itself have been daubed. One of the practice staff has said “It’s just so demoralising to see this when we’ve been working so hard to protect the most vulnerable in our neighbourhood.”
Much of the graffiti was quickly removed by shop owners and by council workmen. You can report graffiti to the council on its website www.richmond.gov.uk.
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Where have all the flowers gone?
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Like many local businesses, Sun Inn Flowers, our much-loved flower stall by the pond, has had a tough time of late. Just days before Valentine's weekend, any florist's busiest time of the year, the stall was closed down by Richmond Council officials due the the current lockdown. Despite garden centres being allowed to open, other flower stalls in other London boroughs remaining open, outdoor markets allowed to continue, and supermarkets allowed to sell flowers and plants, flower shops are not considered essential businesses.
"It was devastating, but after we were shut down, we had literally hundreds of messages of love and support from our amazing customers and wonderful community - I can't tell you how much it meant" explains owner Jane Williams.
"So, we wanted to do something to say thank you, and show some love back to our community. If we can't be in our usual spot with our beautiful flowers cheering everybody up, we thought we would try and create something else for everyone to enjoy"
You might remember that last summer, Jane and her friend Edward Fisher wrapped the stall in rainbow coloured ribbons for the NHS.
"This time we've created something for everyone - for Barnes, for the community, for everyone to enjoy. We want it to be a symbol of love and optimism, and of overcoming adversity, which is something we are all facing at the moment"
Despite being closed down, Apparent Properties are letting them use their large indoor space to prepare Valentine's flowers and local designers Farrah & Pearce, are now helping Jane by quickly creating a website so that she can offer a click and collect service.
They will also be taking pre-paid telephone orders on 07989 785 075 to allow a beautiful bouquet to be delivered in SW13 or collected from the stall.
You can follow Sun Inn Flowers on Instagram for more details @sunninnflowers
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Phantom sign swipers revealed
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When campaigners protesting about the closure of Hammersmith covered Barnes in posters and signs last weekend they knew that there was a possibility that the signs they put up on public byways might be taken down, as prior permission hadn't been sought from Richmond Council.
However, they didn't expect signs to be removed so quickly, and that even signs placed on private property would be taken away.
Bridge protestors had photographic evidence of the signs being removed from Castelnau by contractors and a local resident had questioned the men who had removed them. The contractors are reported to have said they had been instructed to remove them by 'a man from the council'.
The Bugle contacted Richmond Council who issued a categorical denial that any signs were removed under their instruction.
So who had removed the signs so efficiently? The answer (for some of the removed signs), surprisingly, is contractors working for Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
All became clear yesterday afternoon when Richmond Council's leader Gareth Roberts replied to a tweet by bridge campaigner Michelle Coulter.
Councillor Roberts said "Hammersmith have a zero tolerance approach to unauthorised fly-posting & their contractor removed them on their side - however the contractor got a bit overzealous & continued removal on our side of the river."
The campaign group Hammersmith Bridge SOS says “We want to get out the message that people’s lives are being hugely blighted by the lack of movement on the bridge by politicians both in Hammersmith and Westminster. To have signs placed on private property summarily removed is unlawful. We are now crowdfunding via HammersmithBridgeSoS.co.uk for money to pay for signs that can be placed on private properties and sincerely hope that these will be left in place."
STOP PRESS - Just as we were about to send out the Bugle we heard that local campaign groups are now working with Richmond Council to find ways to display their signs across Barnes and the vicinity.
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Bridge closure takes its toll
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One of the key causes of stress and anxiety is lack of control; when the ability to solve a problem that is hampering your life is beyond your grasp. This is just what is happening to everybody whose lives have been affected by Hammersmith Bridge’s closure, and sums up the plight of people who can only sit by impotently while politicians disagree about funding and engineering reports.
The scale of anxiety caused by the bridge closure is now well and truly apparent thanks to a survey carried out by the Hammersmith Bridge SOS campaign group and the Barnes Community Association. Over 230 people have responded to the survey so far and 88% say the closure has had an adverse effect on their mental health.
Comments by participants have come from all ages, with the elderly and those with health conditions feeling particularly impacted. Many older residents of North Barnes with support networks across the river have been hugely upset by the need to change GPs and report being very anxious about their long journeys to hospital appointments.
Others finding things hard are unemployed people who have had to turn down jobs as a result of the difficulty of being able to travel to them. Parents with young children have borne the brunt of the closure and although now, in the midst of lockdown, there is respite from the school run many are now feeling anxious about the return to school on March 8.
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Hopes of Hammersmith Bridge opening to pedestrians by the summer have been scuppered
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W e somehow doubt that the meetings of the Hammersmith Bridge Task Force resemble those of the now notorious Handforth Parish Council. After all, the participants are mostly experienced politicians for whom the art of polite disagreement is second nature. However, the remit of the Task Force (knocking heads together, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps) isn’t necessarily being achieved quite yet. Over the four months since it was assembled the fault lines between the two key players, Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Government don’t yet appear to be narrowing and the prospect of the bridge being permanently repaired in six years is receding further. Here’s the Bugle’s round up of what’s happened with the bridge saga this month. Spoiler Alert: don’t hold your breath for too much good news.
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Hammersmith Council now says the bridge will not be reopened to pedestrians until a start date is in place for remedial work.
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L ast month we shared the news of two reports into the bridge commissioned by the Department of Transport. The reports, from engineering firm Aecom and cast iron expert Professor Norman Fleck, had a more upbeat assessment of the bridges’ capacity to let pedestrians and cyclists cross safely than the conclusions drawn by the consultant engineers working for Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
The decision by the DfT to release the Fleck and Aecom reports to the press before Hammersmith Council had been given the chance to review them fully didn’t go down well to say the least.
At the time Hammersmith Council leader Stephen Cowan was quoted as saying “It's fair to say that a number of Taskforce members questioned the Government Taskforce's Chair, Baroness Vere, about the professionalism of sending papers so late while spinning the story to the media well beforehand.”
Now that Hammersmith & Fulham Council and its consulting engineers have had a chance to review the Fleck and Aecom reports the result is a 16-page document including a five-point strategy outlining what needs to happen before the bridge can be re-opened to pedestrians and cyclists.
The document compiled by the Board for the Case for the Continued Safe Operation (CCSO*) of the Bridge has refuted the suggestion that the decision to close the bridge made last August was ‘conservative’ and called into question Professor Fleck’s assertion that the bridge could be “re-opened quickly and cheaply within months”. It concluded that “the public cannot be allowed to use the bridge until it is repaired because it has proved to be unstable and still contains unknowable features”.
And here’s the stinger; it also says “Without a funded plan for repair, even the limited current use must cease. It is not acceptable in managing safety risk to rely upon interim measures indefinitely.”
The five-point strategy included in the document states:
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All three remaining pedestals, not just the North East pedestal, must be inspected as fully as possible |
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The temperature control monitoring system must be shown to be effective over a full range of ambient temperatures |
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The engineers’ report into the North East pedestal must be subjected to an independent “Category 3” check. |
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Failure to set a date for remedial works must mean continued closure of the bridge. |
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Indefinite use of temporary measures is not acceptable.
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This seems to indicate that even if inspections of the bridge’s remaining pedestals raise no further concerns the bridge can’t be re-opened to pedestrians until the temperature control monitoring system has been tested from the depths of winter to the warmest days of summer. And, even once that has been done, re-opening could only be countenanced if a funding deal for bridge stabilisation (enabling a start date for works to be set) was in place.
Speaking of which, money, as much as fractured cast iron, seems to be the source of the bridge’s problems, see our update below on the funding situation.
*The CCSO is made up of engineers from various firms providing consulting services to the council – Mott McDonald, WSP and Xanta as well as representatives from the council itself.
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There are, as yet, no signs of a funding proposal from Hammersmith & Fulham
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As we have reported repeatedly over recent months, the government has said it won’t contribute funds towards the repair of the bridge without having a commitment in place for a contribution from Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The council, on the other hand, has been steadfast in its assertion that it does not has access to funds that would enable it to make a contribution.
The resulting stalemate is clear for all to see. Last month the Council revealed that the government was requesting a £64 million contribution. So far, there has been no official news of a counterproposal from Hammersmith and Fulham, and the horse trading that the government might be expecting to ensue from its £64 million demand has yet to begin.
The most obvious drawback of all these money wrangles is that the proposed six-year repair time-frame can’t begin until funding is in place. And now, as reported above, the CCSO board for the bridge is recommending that the bridge cannot be opened to pedestrians until a start date is confirmed for stabilisation works. Obviously, such a start date would be contingent on funding.
Reading between the lines of Task Force reports* it does seem as though the council might be working on some sort of funding proposal but there are no indications of when it will be published.
*"DfT awaits further detail from LBHF on the financial case"(February 4 report)
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A feasibility study for the double decker temporary bridge-within-a-bridge proposal has been commissioned by Hammersmith and Fulham Council
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The radical Foster & Partners designed proposal, pulled like a rabbit out of the hat by council leader Stephen Cowan in November, now seems to be the preferred option for all parties for a temporary solution to getting cars and people across the bridge while repair work is being carried out on the Victorian structure.
The team behind the design say it could take less than a year to build and allow much of the work on the existing bridge to be carried out off site potentially speeding up the overall repair period.
However, before the double decker bridge plans can even be put out to tender a feasibility study needs to be carried out and this month it was announced that Hammersmith & Fulham Council were stumping up the funding (thought to be £200k) for such a study.
Back-of-an-envelope calculations would therefore point to 2022 being the earliest date for completion of the temporary bridge, although that of course assumes some sort of funding package will have been agreed between the government and Hammersmith & Fulham Council this year. It also assumes that the construction of the temporary bridge won’t be held up by legal and planning challenges from residents of Castelnau and of flats on the other side of the bridge who would find large car-bearing ramps appearing outside their properties.
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When will there be a ferry tale ending?
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So, we won’t be walking across the bridge anytime soon and the temporary bridge solution is as yet without funding and still being scoped out. This means the only game in town is a ferry crossing.
The good news is that government funding for a ferry procurement process is in place and a number of people are working extremely hard to make a ferry happen. The not so good news is that it seems possible that the ferry will not be operational until the latter half of June.
TfL says it is "procuring the ferry service as quickly as possible while ensuring safety is of paramount importance for the construction and operation."
The shortlisted ferry contractors will be announced in mid-February. The winning operator will be announced in mid-March and should have their planning permission proposals in place by the start of April.
At this point, according to bridge campaign groups, the winning firm will need to seek consents and approvals with the Environment Agency and the Marine Management Organisation. Local campaigners estimate this will take 12 to 13 weeks leading to a prediction of a late June start date.
Running in parallel to all this is the provision of infrastructure (pontoons/boarding areas etc) on both sides of the river, and it will need a fair wind for infrastructure to be in place by the time the winning contractor has all the necessary permissions to operate.
TfL has confirmed that it expects the ferry to operate between 6am and 10pm on weekdays with a minimum capacity of 800 passengers per hour at peak times.
David Rowe, TfL’s Head of Major Projects Sponsorship, said: “We know that the closure of Hammersmith Bridge has caused upheaval in the lives of residents and disconnected communities, and we are working at pace to ensure a ferry is available to get people across the river as soon as possible... The exact timing for when the new service will be operational will depend on the winning bidder’s programme."
Southside Ferry Terminal plans are now available online for public comment.
As we have previously reported, a ‘white knight’ local businessman Jamie Waller has stepped in to offer the use of Harrod’s Wharf on the south side as a ferry terminal.
His aim has been to provide the space for a ferry operation as long as it is needed and then ultimately, once the bridge is repaired, he has plans to use the Harrods Wharf space as a permanent community asset.
While the bridge saga has been unfolding he has spent £150,000 on working with architects and consultants and has shared the potential plans with Richmond Council’s planning department three times dealing with push backs at each stage.
Along the way, hopes that the architect-designed buildings (above) could remain at the end of the ferry’s life and then be repurposed, have receded. Mr Waller has revealed that he has acceded to Richmond’s requests that the planning permission should only be for a temporary period. He has also agreed with TfL that any contract with them or the winning ferry contractors for use of the site should be for a period of five to six years.
Additionally, he will have to negotiate with the winning contractor for the costs he has incurred so far to be included in their overall costs of running the service in order to recoup the considerable amounts of money he has spent on the project.
He says “I have children that need to cross the river and I understand the need for people in Barnes to commute across once the Covid crisis has receded. For this reason, I’ve always offered the wharf and the land around it (which I also own) at no commercial benefit to me for an emergency period of 18 months. In fact Richmond are already getting the benefits of my land as I have recently allowed them to install public lighting along the Thames path and, again, have done this for free. Post that period if the ferry is still required they will need to contribute towards some form of rent. Let's hope that the ferry is dismantled by then and we have public access over the bridge. However, it has been a time-consuming slog to try to get this project off the ground and the back and forth with planners hasn’t been easy to say the least. It’s also disappointing to see that the great structures we have designed will probably have to come down. It seems such a waste of money and resources. I have handed a ferry terminal solution to the people of Barnes and to Richmond Council on a plate and it’s been immensely frustrating to have had to battle through so much to get things approved, but I remain committed to providing the community with safe access to a ferry to cross the Thames."
The timeline for ferry implementation should be clearer by the end of next month by which time the Bugle hopes to provide more definitive news.
The south side ferry terminal planning documents have now been validated and are available online for comment at the Richmond Council planning portal. Mr Waller is hoping that they will receive support from the Barnes community.
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Olympic gets Arts Council grant
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The Olympic Studios in Barnes is one of our most loved local businesses but it’s also one that has taken a big hit as a result of the Covid crisis. It’s a relief therefore to hear that the British Film Institute has awarded the cinema £472,145 in funding from the Government’s Culture recovery fund, helping the cinema to weather the Covid storm and leading to the hope of re-opening when the time is right.
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It seems Barnes has become a magnet for film and TV companies looking for a great location to shoot in. This January you could barely take a socially distanced stroll around Barnes without bumping into a TV crew.
Up by the Bridge pub in Castlenau the production team behind Sky’s Temple (starring Mark Strong) were taking advantage of the traffic free road to create – oh irony of ironies – a traffic jam.
Over in Glebe Road the Silent Witness crew were busy creating yet another episode of the BBC flagship drama. And outside the Olympic Hollywood star Jason Sudeikis was portraying his alter ego American College Football Coach Ted Lasso for Apple TV.
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Not every child in Barnes and Mortlake learning from home has access to a laptop or tablet. People sometimes are not aware that, although Barnes is an affluent area, there are pockets of urban deprivation, where children who are already falling behind in their education because of school closures are at risk of being totally left behind because they have no access to technology.
At the same time, many of us have unused laptops and tablets lying around our houses. The only issue is how to get these devices in the right hands.
That’s where the BCA stepped in last month with a donation scheme put together by BCA Trustee Matthew Purser.
Having spoken to charities elsewhere in London he knew that what was needed was a donation hub, a coordinator to work with local schools and technically adept volunteers to completely wipe the contents of donated items (the technical term for this is ‘nuking’ apparently).
So, he made arrangements for the BCA offices at Rose House to be a drop-off point, assembled a four-person tech team (including his very technically adept 13-year-old son) and put out a call to BCA members. He was hoping to get around 30 donations but now the BCA has received over 100 and counting. Local people in Barnes have been hugely generous and the appeal has even received a donation of brand-new laptops from a well-known online retailer.
The response from schools has been overwhelming with teachers saying “That is genuinely incredible! Thank you so much for such a fantastic contribution to our school, our wonderful children will be delighted.” and “I have to say, we feel very privileged to be part of such an awesome community - Barnes really is a fabulous place!”
You can still donate any unused laptops and tablets to the BCA and they will go both to local schools or via the BCA’s links with other charities to other pockets of urban deprivation across London.
Click here to see the relevant information on the BCA’s website.
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Part time job opportunity
ADMINISTRATOR TO THE BARNES FUND
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Would you like to make a contribution to your local community? Can you provide five hours a week, with some flexibility? Do you have admin work experience?
If so, The Barnes Fund would love to hear from you.
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We are a local charity that supports the people and community of Barnes. We do this through providing grants to individuals and to organisations and charities that support local residents; and also by providing almshouse accommodation for older people to live independently
in a supported community.
We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic, organised, proactive Administrator to the Fund. Reporting to and working with the Fund’s executive director, you would carry out a range of administrative tasks including grant application organisation and minuting of Board meetings. The role is for five hours a week, but flexibility is essential to accommodate both a varied workflow and after-hours timing of trustee meetings.
Terms: £13-15 per hour depending on experience, 5 hours per week on average, one year contract. Interested in applying? You can find the full Job Description on our website at www.thebarnesfund.org.uk/get-involved.
Please send a short CV and covering letter explaining your interest in and suitability for the role to Katy Makepeace-Gray at executivedirector@thebarnesfund.org.uk
Closing date 19 February 2021
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End of the road for Homebase Development objections
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Richmond Council has expressed extreme disappointment that the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, has decided not to ‘call in’ the Planning Application for the redevelopment of the Homebase site on Manor Road, Richmond.
Richmond Council’s Planning Committee refused the original application, a mixed-use development including 385 homes in a four to nine storey redevelopment on the Manor Road site, in July 2019.
The planning committee said the scheme failed to deliver the maximum reasonable amount of affordable homes and described the design and scale as “visually intrusive, dominant and overwhelming” and expressed concern about the quality of the proposed accommodation and the impact on surrounding properties.
In July last year, Sadiq Khan used his powers as London Mayor to become the local planning authority for the application - taking it over from the Council. The scheme was subsequently changed to make some of the apartment blocks even higher and to increase the number of residential units to 453.
After a Public Hearing in October 2020, the Mayor granted permission for the revised scheme leaving an appeal to Robert Jenrick the only avenue left for those who opposed the scheme. Local MP Sarah Olney wrote to Mr Jenrick in September 2020 requesting he call in the application and the Government take over the role of planning authority from the Mayor on the grounds that the proposal was of regional significance. However last month the Secretary of State confirmed that he was going to let the Mayor’s approval of the scheme stand, leaving the Council and many local residents hugely disappointed.
Cllr Julia Neden-Watts, Chair of the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sport Committee for Richmond Council said:
“This decision has given the Greater London Authority the power to approve the redevelopment plans, which are now even more overbearing that the original application turned down by Richmond’s Planning Committee.
“In this case, contrary to the Government’s commitment to giving more power to local Councils to make their own decisions, this decision is being made by the Mayor of London and against what this Council would have wanted in refusing the original application.”
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A Three-D vision for Mortlake
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T he 3D visualisations above show just how much of an impact the proposed new Mortlake Brewery development will have on the riverscape. The Mortlake Brewery Community Group which is campaigning against the current developer’s proposals has commissioned two views one of which shows how the multi-storey plans which are currently under review by the Mayor’s office will look in situ. The other shows in contrast an alternative community plan put forward by the group.
Campaigners say that not only will the size of the development be incongruous in comparison with surrounding buildings but that the arrival of so many new dwellings will put unfeasible demands on local infrastructure, from everything to road and rail transport to GP provision.
A public consultation which was due to take place last year was put on hold after the campaigners held a meeting with the Mayor and the GLA planning team to explain the extent of concerns in the local community.
In response to the postponement of the consultation process the developer has now submitted notes on their own modelling of transport impacts and highway mitigation plans but it seems there has been no change to the proposed height of the buildings or number of dwellings.
The consultation period has now been extended to March 8 and the Mayor of London will consider the planning application at a public representation hearing which is likely to be held online. No date has yet been released for this meeting.
You can read more about the developers notes and proposals on the GLA's website
and email your comments and concerns to theformerstagbrewery@london.gov.uk.
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G rowing concern about how a 'top-down' planning process is leaving the concerns of local groups unheard has led to the formation of the #Listentolocals campaign.
The Mortlake Brewery Community Group is just one member of the new movement in which activist groups fighting planning battles across London have joined together to share expertise and they hope amplify their individual voices.
They are campaigning for active local representation in:
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GLA policy and planning decisions |
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Local Authority planning decisions |
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Transport planning decisions |
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Infrastructure task force recommendations |
Their initial objective is to get localism and placemaking on the agenda for the forthcoming mayoral and GLA elections. You can find out more on their website.
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Our urban village gets the
Country Life treatment
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The unique character of Barnes, not to mention the role it has played in British history, has been celebrated in a wonderfully detailed profile in Country Life. The article which reads like a litany of Barnes’ greatest hits covers everything from our wonderful open spaces to Barnes’s contribution to the history of music, literature and association football. It’s well worth a read and will make you proud to be a Barnesian. Click here to find out more .
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A social media appeal by a father hoping to find someone who could provide his 15-year-old daughter with a special prosthetic leg on which she can perform ballet pointe work has gone viral.
Pollyanna Hope was just a toddler when she lost her leg in a bus accident in Mortlake 2007 in which her mother was severely injured and her grandmother died. In the video her father posted on Twitter it’s clear that she is a very talented dancer who has not let her disability get in her way.
She has now been contacted by over 200 people who are hoping that they can help and her father Christopher has said “Social media gets quite a bad rep, (but the reaction) is an indication that there are actually really nice people out there who want to help.”
You can see the Twitter appeal here.
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Controversial e-scooters will soon to be made available to rent across the borough after Richmond Council has approved participation in a London-wide trial run by Transport for London. The trial will be the only legal way to ride e-scooters in places across London.
Richmond Council says "The trial is being designed to enable a better understanding of if and how the e-scooters can be safely accommodated as part of London’s wider transport network. All users will have at least an official provisional driving licence and offences can be treated as motoring offences. The e-scooters operated by TfL’s chosen operator will be the only ones legally allowed on the streets."
The council says it will work with TfL to agree areas of the borough that the e-scooters may be used in, including areas that require lower speed limits than the maximum 15.5mph that the e-scooters are limited to. Operators will use geofence technology to ensure that the e-scooters automatically respect these limits.
The Chair of Richmond Council's Transport and Air Quality Committee, Alexander Ehmann says: "“Long after the Covid health crisis is behind us, we will still have to grapple with climate change and the challenge of pollution in our capital. For the sake of our health and the climate, we cannot afford to sleepwalk into a car-led recovery.
“That is why this Council is supporting trials of less polluting modes of transport such as e-scooters and e-bikes. Providing options like e-scooters & e-bikes is a positive way to encourage people to seek alternatives to the car.
“We know that some residents will have concerns about safety and the way these vehicles are used. I can reassure them that we will be vigilant throughout this e-scooter trial and we’re committed to taking action if any issues arise.
“Introducing new technology to our streets is rarely easy, but it is crucially important. Richmond residents will be amongst the vanguard of those testing and assessing these vehicles. On behalf of the Council, I’d like to express my gratitude for residents’ co-operation during this exciting trial.”
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Find out about the new private GP practice in Barnes
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Barnes' local concierge style private family healthcare clinic is proving to be a huge success, and it is now aiming to offer appointments on Saturdays. The service allows access to private GP services, testing, annual medicals and much more.
Amun Kalia, the doctor behind the new local clinic says "I'm seeing many new private patients who have decided to consult a private GP in Barnes rather than travel into central London for private medical care."
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Private GP appointments
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Dedicated half hour in person appointments seeing the same doctor each time |
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Minimal waiting times |
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Out of hour appointments available on request |
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Telephone and video consultations |
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Referrals
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We can refer you to the UK's leading consultants |
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Clients can self fund or use their private health insurance for our referral services |
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Annual Medicals with no need to travel
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We perform medicals on behalf of many private insurance companies & large corporates |
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No need to risk public transport with flexible appointments available locally |
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Covid Testing
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Antibody Tests to see if you have had the virus |
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Oral/Throat Swab tests to see if you have the virus |
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Dr. Kalia is an excellent communicator with a strong and widely published academic portfolio. He is widely experienced in private family healthcare including paediatrics. He has specialist qualifications in caring for complex conditions and is dual-qualified in Occupational Medicine and works as the Lead Occupational Health Physician for a City-based firm.
He has a keen interest in preventative and lifestyle medicine and particularly enjoys treating men’s health and children’s health as well as psychiatry.
Dr. Kalia lives locally and prides himself on providing exceptional levels of friendly, personalised and discreet concierge-style care to the local community.
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We're terribly House & Garden!
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House and Garden has devoted seven pages of its March issue to Barnes -based chef Phil Howard, who co-owns local favourite restaurant Church Road as well as the Michelin starred Elystan Street in Chelsea and Kitchen W8 in Kensington.
The article features an interview as well as six beautifully photographed pages of winter warming recipes.
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Phil Howard's superb
Valentine's Menu
to enjoy at home
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Sourdough bread with English butter
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Native oyster with apple and lovage
*****
Cured sea bass with blood orange, fennel, tardivo, olive oil and chilli
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Tartare of aged Cumbrian beef with hazelnuts, black pepper and truffle
*****
Fillet of brill with parmesan gnocchi, wild mushrooms and new season’s garlic leaf pesto
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Loin of venison with roasted pear, celeriac, sprout tops and pickled walnut
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Tarte fine of apple for two with a bay and vanilla cream
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Bitter chocolate, biscuit and nut clusters
£75 per person plus £35 for matching wine flight
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Order deadline: Friday February 12th at noon
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You can choose to have your Valentine's Dinner delivered (£7) or pick it up directly from Church Road
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DELIVERY
We have a flat delivery charge of £7.00 and only deliver to the following postcodes:
SW1, SW3, SW5, SW6, SW7, SW10, SW11, SW13, SW14, SW15, SW18, W2, W4, W6, W8, W10, W11, W14
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CLICK & COLLECT
Collection will be available from Church Road between 5pm and 5.30pm on Sunday February 14th
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Streaming by the Pond - checkout the online events at the OSO
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Local arts venues have had a torrid time during the past year of lockdowns but somehow Barnes' own arts centre The OSO has weathered the storm.
Having provided the best of community spirit last year with their Lockdown kitchen (which produced over 10,000 meals for people in need from a tiny kitchen) it's now keeping our spirits up with a free weekly Livestream Entertainment Programme - The OSO Live Lounge.
To go with each show the OSO is also offering a special take-away menu giving you the opportunity to enjoy dinner theatre in your own sitting room.
Events coming up this month include:
10th February, 8pm: Stephan O’Goodson
Jazz vocalist Stephan O’Goodson navigates smooth classics and soulful gems in this stripped-back set. Paul Stead joins on guitar.
14th February, 8pm: Valentine’s Day Sunday Special
Sofia Kirwan-Baez and Jonny Danciger perform together in this one-off Valentine’s day special. To accompany the entertainment, the OSO is offering special Valentine’s takeaway dining packages. If you make a voluntary donation to the OSO, you can even request a special song dedicated to your loved one(s).
17th February, 8pm: Barnes Music Society presents the Eblana Trio
This critically acclaimed string trio have graced the stages of Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall and the Birmingham Symphony Hall. Programme includes Schubert, Beethoven, Finzi and Dohnanyi.
24th February, 8pm: Ian McFarlane and Christina Meehan
Comic-mastermind writer/director Ian McFarlane is joined by Christina Meehan for this romp through musical theatre and vaudeville classics. Guaranteed to give you a good laugh, says The OSO.
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Barnes Children's Literature Festival brightens lockdown for families with a virtual pet parade
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London's largest dedicated children's books event here in Barnes is getting ready to give families a fun break from lockdown with the launch of a new event starring some of the UK's best known authors and their furry - and a few not so furry! - friends.
Illustrators Axel Scheffler and Nick Sharratt, Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon, Costa Children's Book Award winners Hilary McKay, Jasbinder Bilan and Natasha Farrant, and hilarious author-illustrator team Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, are just a few of the big names who have offered to share the pets they love with the kids in the Barnes Pet Parade to be broadcast on the Festival's YouTube channel on Saturday February 20, 2021.
Lydia Monks, the illustrator behind the What the Ladybird Heard books with Julia Donaldson, Princess Mirror-Belle and many other classics, has designed a special logo with a nod to Judith Kerr's tea-drinking tiger.
The Pet Parade follows on from the success of last year's At Home event when Barnes became the first children's literature festival to go virtual after the lockdown began, attracting more than 40,000 viewers from 46 countries.
Festival organiser Amanda Brettargh says "We're proud that Barnes Children's Literature Festival is organised by families for families and like everyone over the past year we've juggled working from home with caring for little ones and homeschooling. We were absolutely blown away by the response to our virtual Festival last year and with schools closed and families once again doing such a wonderful job of staying at home we want to continue to support them.
"We love children's books in Barnes and if there's one thing we love just as much it's our pets. Thanks to our amazing authors and illustrators we've got cats, dogs, chickens, fish, rabbits and guinea pigs galore and we hope this will give the kids something to look forward to over half term, a little ray of sunshine in our wonky world."
Children will have the chance to win a box of books for their school by voting for their favourite pet who will be presented with the virtual 'Best In Show' badge.
Covid permitting the Festival will be returning to Barnes Pond with its Primary Schools Programme from Tuesday 22 to Friday 25 June with free places for more than 6,000 children, followed by the public weekend, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 June 2021.
This year's line-up promises to be the biggest yet with early signings including Julia Donaldson making a rare festival appearance, and multi-million selling authors Dame Jacqueline Wilson and Sir Michael Morpurgo.
The Festival will be expanding again this year with two additional days of special sessions at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith free for primary schools north of the river in Hammersmith on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 June with capacity for a further 3,000 children.
Members of the mailing list get first crack at the tickets and you can sign up here.
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Free fitness sessions on offer
for Bugle readers
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They say the darkest hour is before the dawn and Lockdown 3 definitely feels like the darkest of times. It's cold and wet out there and all the good exercise intentions of last spring and summer seem to have evaporated for many people.
However, keeping fit is a huge benefit both mentally and physically so anything that makes it easy to boost flexibility and fitness from our 'stay at home' fortresses can only be a good thing.
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Local physiotherapist Diana Wilson, of Physio on the River, certainly thinks so as she has just launched a subscription service offering seven hours of live fitness classes per week plus access to an archive of over 150 hours of online sessions.
"Our aim is to make it as accessible as possible." she says "So we've priced it really competitively - just £24 per month, a fraction of the price of many gym memberships."
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Beginner and intermediate classes in:
Yoga
Pilates
Strength & Conditioning
Love to Move (a programme especially for the elderly)
10 minute Stretch classes - ideal for the over 50s
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How to claim your free
Bugle fitness sessions
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Bugle readers can get the chance of a two week try before you buy offer if you respond by using the code Bugle when you click the button below. Bugle readers who take out a year's subscription before February 14 can also get a 20% discount on the annual sub.
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Music Festival now planned for May
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With the prospect of everybody in the government's eight high risk groups having been vaccinated by the end of April, the Barnes Music Festival is hoping that public performances will once again be possible and have re-scheduled their event from March to the end of May.
It will be a much needed array of treats, including an opening concert which will be an homage to Barnes' most famous composer Gustav Holst with a performance of Savitri, his mystical opera which combines western and Indian music and dance.
There will be Shakespeare-inspired events, stories of musicians and theatrical events - including festival patron Gyles Brandreth presenting an evening of Theatrical and Musical Anecdotes. Internationally renowned pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard will perform Bach's Well Tempered Clavier and some of the world’s best chamber musicians will present exciting theatre-inspired performances. Guitarist Marc Jean-Bernard returns with a Recital Lecture ‘From Greek Drama to Modernity’, the Chapel Choir of King’s College, London will perform again their enchanting and candlelit Rachmaninoff Vespers and Martin Neary will conduct his English Chamber Singers in a programme of Bach and Purcell.
The Festival team will be searching for next year’s Barnes Young Musician of the Year and will run a new original School programme alongside a family matinée of Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Rhymes and Marvellous Music'.
The full programme will be published this month and the brochure will be distributed across Barnes in March when tickets will be going on sale.
For all the details of this packed and exciting programme go www.barnesmusicfestival.com
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Want to be like Common people?
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our beautiful open spaces have been our playgrounds and our solace through three lockdowns and a year of social distancing, and throughout all that time the most beautiful space of all - Barnes Common - has been ably looked after by The Friends of Barnes Common.
This hugely enterprising group of people have grown from a small voluntary organisation to a professional team that now manages the land on behalf of Richmond Council.
Volunteers together with council contractors work tirelessly to keep the land free of litter and fallen trees and the FoBC organise a huge number of community events from a children's education programme to special wildlife and history walks across the Common.
Membership of the FoBC is completely free and there is no obligation to volunteer, you can simply turn up and enjoy many of their wonderful events.
To find out more go to their website.
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About this time every year we would, as sure as sausages are sausages, be writing about the winner of the Red Lion's esteemed annual Sausage Roll Off in which chefs across the nation compete for the honour of producing the fairest sausage roll in the land.
This month we can't report on what delicious, or otherwise, combination of ingredients were put in front of the judges, but we can share the heart-warming tale of how a RollOff win inspired a chef to set up his own pie business.
Chef Chris Brumby won the Roll Off seven years ago, and now he is the proprietor of MyPie a business that serves award-winning pies from a fleet of vintage vans across London and the surrounding areas. In lockdown like many businesses he has diversified into selling pies direct to the public. He's even selling sausage rolls, the humble comestible that started his path to a business empire. Now there's a nice good news story in these gloomy times.
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Making an exhibition of himself, local artist launches a mini Barnes gallery
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Local specialist bookbinder Mark Cockram has created what he thinks might be the smallest exhibition space in the world.
Mark teaches bookbinding and creates exclusive art bindings from his Studio 5 Bookarts space in the mews behind Making Waves on Church Road.
He's held in huge regard in both the publishing and bookbinding worlds and each year the Booker prize commission him to create specialist bindings for one of the shortlisted novels.
Mark believes that bookbinding is an art that should be celebrated but getting exhibition space for book arts is not an easy thing. So taking inspiration from the life and work of the poet, novelist, artis and printer Morris Cox he has decided to set up his own exhibition space.
At the moment it features some of his own beautifully produced books, covers and artworks but he will also offer the exhibition space to other talented arts and craftspeople.
So next time you are taking your daily lockdown stroll you can check out his mini exhibition on the first floor of Church Road mews.
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Paying it forward: Ex St Paul's pupils set up free mentoring app to help pupils in all schools through Covid and beyond.
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Some of the UK's highest achieving sixth form pupils from schools across the borough have been giving up their time to help other students thanks to a mentoring scheme and app dreamt up by two St Paul's alumni - Phil and Dom Kwok who are the brains behind an Ed-Tech start up called EasyA.
The idea behind the app is that students offer their services as mentors helping other students across the country with homework and exam revision problems.
Before the launch last year St Paul's and ran over 700 trial sessions with a group of nine independent and state schools in West London and got great feedback.
Dubravka Todorinovic, Head of Maths from Christ's School, Richmond reported that thanks to the app their students had "completed overdue tasks they fell less motivated to do during the school closures" and one mentee said that "students are often easier to ask and answer questions than teachers. Since the App's (Colet Mentoring) launch schools elsewhere in the country from Kent to Newcastle have got involved.
John Sparks, Director of Partnerships at Radley School whose pupils have volunteered as mentors says "The ease of use and scalability of the Colet Mentoring platform allows students – both mentors and mentees – to quickly engage in a purposeful manner… Students have benefited enormously from being part of the programme; mentees have had access to regular individual online support, while mentors have gained confidence, self-esteem and greater empathy through their tutoring."
The team behind an app have produced a video explaining how it works which you can see here.
Colet Mentoring is actively encouraging all schools across the UK, whether they are looking to provide volunteer mentors or get their students extra support, to join the movement. To find out more you can email colet@easya.co.uk.
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About the Bugle
The Barnes Village Bugle is an independent publication. People often think it's produced by the Barnes Community Association, but no, they have their own excellent email Prospect Plus.
At the Bugle we endeavour to simply report what's going on in Barnes in as comprehensive and entertaining a way as possible. We have no agenda apart from spreading the word about the huge number of genuinely interesting things happening in and around Barnes and sharing information about local campaigns and news events.
If you have a story you would like to see featured in the Bugle do email us by clicking here.
We can't guarantee that we'll run it, but if we think it's going to be interesting to our readers then we'll publish your information.
If on the other hand you want to publicise a commercial venture then it's easy to advertise with us. Our mailing list has over 4,000 subscribers so you'll reach lots of people in Barnes very inexpensively.
The Bugle is a labour of love, not a profit-making venture. We pay to send it out and our mailing costs are covered by the fantastic support we get from Winkworth and our other advertisers. We'd love to get more advertising as that would at least go some way into covering the costs of our time, so if you advertise with us you'll not only be reaching a large audience you'll be keeping a local resource going.
At the Bugle we endeavour to check information for accuracy to the best of our abilities. However we are reliant on information provided to us by third parties. On occasion, dates and times of events may be subject to change and we would urge Bugle readers wishing to attend events, or use a service mentioned to verify information in advance. Where possible we provide links to websites to allow readers to double check the most recent information available, as details can be subject to change.
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