Slow dancing pensioners in High Green

Up to 20 people, aged in their 70s and 80s, attend the weekly, hour-long exercise sessions at the Newgate Close sheltered housing complex at High Green.

Practising Tai Chi aids relaxation, balance and health. An ancient form of meditation, it is highly effective for stress and pain relief, combining mental concentration, slow breathing and dance-like movements to increase chi (life energy).

Sheffield Homes provided £1,250 to fund the sessions as part of the “Your Community, Your Choice” initiative.

Members pay a subsidised £1.50 per session. Winnie is currently seeking further funding to keep the sessions going long-term.

“Getting people involved in activities like this helps them create social networks and make new friends. It also shows you are never too old to think about improving your health and fitness levels with a gentle exercise regime.”

Who We Are – Ian Cuthbertson

Ian Cuthbertson works as a Software engineer and is Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the new Penistone & Stocksbridge constituency.

Ian is 64 and, after having lived and worked for most of his life in and around West and South Yorkshire, now resides in York with his partner Carol.

What do you like most about your job?
Both my day job (in IT) with a local mutual insurance company and my political and community work give me a tremendous sense of achievement and job satisfaction, though they can be very demanding and do need a lot of commitment. It’s working as part of a team that matters to me, whether I’m leading it or contributing to it as a member. And the longer-term projects I’m involved with also give me the same sense of doing something that’s worthwhile, positive and continually moving forward.

Who is or was the most important influence in your life?
Several people. First my parents, through the love and care they gave me. The senior manager who got me started in IT at a point when I had no sense of career direction. My partner Carol, who is a constant source of inspiration, guidance and support.

Best Day?

Something worthwhile to do?

Volunteer Centre Sheffield just launched a new website to promote volunteering in the city.

Click to visit the site!

The site offers a range of information and advice for people wanting to volunteer, organisations that use or want to use volunteers, and for employers who are supporting their employees to volunteer. There are case studies from current volunteers, details for forthcoming events, and an interactive members’ area for individuals and organisations to exchange information, share resources and discuss good practice and developments.

Volunteer Centre Manager, Julia South, said: “The website is a great additional resource for the team in our role supporting individuals and organisations with volunteering. We hope that it will become an indispensable tool.”

Strategic Volunteering Manager at VAS, Claire Walsh, said: “Sheffield Volunteer Centre already does a great job in matching local people up with volunteering opportunities and advising volunteer-involving organisations on how best to engage and support their volunteers. This exciting new website will enable everyone with an interest in volunteering in Sheffield to discover exactly how they can benefit from their help, as well as interacting with other like-minded people on its notice-board. I would urge everyone in Sheffield to take a peek!”

Conservation champion retires after 20 years

Roger Kite MBE has handed over control of the Rivelin Valley Conservation Group after almost 20 years at the helm.

When the group was formed in 1991 by local residents concerned about the decline of the valley, Roger agreed to chair this concerned group. From this seed of an idea grew RVCG, which by now must be one of the largest organisations of its kind in the city (with over 500 members).

Roger has overseen many improvements in the valley, being a keenly active member of the RVCG Task Team. He has represented the Group and its members at Public meetings and Forums for the majority of these 20 years. His wide range of contacts in the Council (both Councillors and officers) together with his close links with the many environment organisations and other bodies such as Yorkshire Water, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Ponds Conservation Trust and the Bridleways Forum have been invaluable.

Star and Telegraph woes

A few days ago the media was buzzing with news that staff at Sheffield’s two main newspapers, the Star and the Telegraph, had voted to strike.

The proposed industrial action is about new computer systems that parent company Johnson Press wants and the company’s decision to relocate staff in Sunderland to Sheffield must be causing tensions too.

There are often rumours about a “management buyout” on these local titles but those have so far come to nought. News that newspapers are struggling badly right across the world probably means such an option, if at all possible, will be on the back-burner anyway. The two newspapers, in one form or another, have provided local news coverage for over 155 years and signals of strife within their ranks are not welcome.

North West Sheffield News Online hopes the Star and Telegraph newspapers do survive and thrive. We never lift stories from either publication to recycle as our own, and so in no way are we “competition” for either title (not least as we don’t have the resources required). Indeed, the purpose of our site is mainly to gather and report news not readily covered elsewhere in mainstream media.

But it is true that we hear complaints that the online versions of both the Star and the Telegraph are not updated as efficiently as once they were and that news content generally seems to be suffering. For this reason, it may be that NWS News Online will stop highlighting their story headlines in our side-bar. Here’s hoping that won’t be necessary.

View from Ron – Ticket to Ride

On the 267 to Storrs. Archersgate at Loxley. Of course its a reflection on our local boy turned good. Robin Hood. I look around for Russell Crowe look-alikes.

There’s a meeting at Penistone Town Hall on the 29th of his month regarding the RH project but I can’t make it because I’m previously engaged on pushing the remains of Sheffield Castle at a Friends of Manor Lodge AGM. Oh Sheffield, come on – use some imagination! Then up past Stoneface and his wood at Storrs – there’s someone who has used some creativity and I wonder if he has faced the usual negativity when we push for something out of the ordinary? I’m putting him in touch with Manor Lodge – perhaps he can get a commission for something. The lad’s got talent.

Voter registration deadline close!

Sheffield City Council must receive applications to register for voting in the local and national elections within the next few days.

The deadline to get included on the Electoral Register is Tuesday 20th April. Applications must have reached Sheffield Council by then.

Find out more about how to do it here.

Allotments available

Fancy the hard but rewarding work of running an allotment?

Sheffield City Council has a new Allotments Officer, Michael Peacock, and there are plenty available in many in areas of North West Sheffield.

Find out more here.

Lib-Dems adopted

On Friday night in Broomhill, Sheffield Liberal Democrats formally adopted their two high-profile Sheffield candidates that they hope will be representing local people as MPs in Westminster after the 6th May General election.

Clegg and Scriven followed by Deputy SCC Leader David Baker

Paul Scriven has been adopted for Sheffield Central, a seat that has become a Labour-Lib Dem marginal due to boundary changes. It will be a close contest with the Liberal Democrats hoping to gain the seat from Labour.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg MP was also adopted for Sheffield Hallam, a seat that the Liberal Democrats have held since 1997 and Nick has been an MP for since 2005.

Both seats contain wards that for part of North West Sheffield News Online’s own readership constituency.

Blunkett, Brightside and Hillsborough

Ron Clayton asked David Blunkett MP for his thoughts on the boundary changes that mean he’s standing for election in a newly re-drawn constituency. Here is the reply …

“The people of Sheffield Brightside have done me the honour of electing me as their MP since 1987, for which I will always be grateful. Now I am hoping that the voters of the new, expanded Brightside & Hillsborough constituency will send me back to Westminster so that I can continue to make their voice heard.

“The boundaries have changed and the Hillsborough ward now falls within what will hopefully be my remit!

Parking mad!

Tenants and visitors to Fairbarn Place should have better parking facilities soon.

Currently, there are complaints that parking habits have ruined grassy areas. However, environmental money from the “Decent Homes Initiative” has been found to put towards making improvements.

One visitor to the city, who preferred not to be named, told NW Sheffield News, “People across the world refer to Yorkshire as one of the most beautiful spots anywhere, but Sheffield’s reputation as a green city is marred by such wanton thoughtlessness. I won’t be back!”

A local resident chipped in, “My thoughts and sympathies go out to both the young and the elderly whose footing may have slipped on this localised environmental disaster.”

A visibly-agitated Green Party supporter added, “This is verging on the ridiculous! We know where these people park – make no mistake! It’s becoming like a scene from ‘The Day after Tomorrow’ – and we know how that ended!”

NW Sheffield asks the candidates – Green Party

So far, the Liberal Democrats and Conservative parties have both generously responded to our two simple questions on what they believe are the similarities and differences between the parties and their policies. Now the Green Party tells us their points of view.

Dr. Jillian Creasy kindly arranged for this reply from the Greens:

What do you think are the main policy differences between your party and those of the other candidates?

The Green party is campaigning for a fairer society. To do that we need to get the economy right, reduce the gap between high and low paid, and do something real about climate change. These things go hand in hand. For example, our proposals to Sheffield Council were for investing over £10million of Council funds to create hundreds of jobs insulating and installing renewable energy in houses and council buildings across the city. Saving energy will save money, create jobs, and help tackle climate change. The other parties do talk about these things like they are a hobby on the side, for us it is the main challenge.