A truly outrageous Bracknell farce!

Bracknell Performance Dates: 8th – 11th February 2012 7.45pm Tickets £10 (£8 concessions/members)

When Jane decides to have an assignation with Mark a young handsome man she has met at her squash club, her best friend Shirley is only too happy to help by lending Jane her house for the purpose, as this leave Shirley free to spend the evening with her lover…. Jane’s husband Roger.

However all does not go to plan when Shirley’s husband Gilbert arrives home unexpectedly with an object of his affections.. his German air hostess Girlfriend Helga

Please book your tickets by phoning the box office on 01344 484123

South Hill Park
Ringmead
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 7PA

Bracknell Helps Charity Blossom

Over the last few weeks, the Bracknell in Bloom committee has been hard at work planting tulip bulbs ready for Spring.

The tulips have been planted to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Thames Hospicecare.

As part of the celebration Bracknell Town Council, Bracknell Forest Council and Bracknell Forest Homes have chosen six sites across the borough to become part of Thames Hospicecare’s ‘little gardens’. The specially selected Toronto tulips can be found in a range of areas, including Great Hollands Recreation ground, Nettlecombe, Crown Wood and near the Binfield Thames Hospicecare shop.

Thames Hospicecare provides palliative care for anyone suffering with a life limiting illness. The charity has an in-patient unit based in Windsor and an additional day support centre in Ascot.

Helen Barnett, marketing manager of the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership and member of the Bracknell in Bloom committee, said: “This is a great start for next year, and shows our commitment to the borough all year round. It is also fantastic that we were able to support Thames Hospicecare at the same time. We are excited to see the tulips in full bloom!”

For your chance to see the ‘little gardens’, look out for Thames Hospicecare plaques which will mark each of the designated sites.

A 16-year-old girl from Bracknell who was reported as missing has been found.

On Tuesday (15/11), Thames Valley Police issued an appeal for the public’s help to find Daniella Burdon, who was last seen at her home on 5 November.

Following a positive response from the public to our appeal, Daniella was located at a property in Bracknell safe and well last night (16/11).

Thames Valley Police would like to thank the media and the public for all their assistance in this inquiry.

Thames Valley Police ~ Bracknell

We have a unique new photographic exhibition opening tomorrow 13Nov at 1000 – 1500 at One Thames Valley Wokingham Road Bracknell.

Free entry- for more details please see our website.

Please let us know what you think of ‘Through My Eyes’, a new perspective the situation of students from the townships in South Africa.

On Monday evening the Your Gardens Awards and Bracknell in Bloom Thank You Evening took place at South Hill Park’s Wilde Theatre.

The evening was hosted by Helen Barnett, marketing manager for Bracknell Regeneration Partnership and Mary Harris, Town Clerk and Chair of the Bracknell in Bloom committee.

Helen Barnett commented: “It was fantastic to be able to say thank you to everybody for all their hard work and commitment and to show them our Gold award. All of the participants should feel extremely proud of what we have achieved and the award would not have been possible without their dedication.

“In addition, the Your Gardens awards are a great way to celebrate all of the fabulous gardens and allotments we see across Bracknell.”

Mary Harris said: “It was great to see so many people at the evening and to share the Gold award with them, without shared pride in maintaining the quality of Bracknell’s environment this success would not have been achievable.

A big thank you must go out to Gavin Jones the landscape contractors working to restore the historic park at South Hill Park and Ringway Bracknell Forest’s landscape contractors who jointly sponsored the evening.”

Helen Barnett gave the first award of the night to Mary Harris. Mary accepted Bracknell’s Gold award in the small city category in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Thames and Chiltern in Bloom competition on behalf of the town.

Special awards were also given to Angela Huntingdon, who received the Thames and Chiltern Regional Award for Floral Input on behalf of Bracknell Forest Council’s landscaping team. Angela is responsible for choosing and arranging the town centre’s colourful flower displays.

Ploughlands Community Garden and Warfield Environment Group were also awarded as part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ campaign. The campaign provides an opportunity for smaller voluntary community groups to get involved in the wider Britain in Bloom initiative.

The audience then enjoyed a presentation entitled ‘A walk in the Parks, South Hill to London 2012’ delivered by Andy Smith, Contracts Director for Gavin Jones. Andy gave the audience their first glimpse of how spectacular the completed Olympic Park will look when it opens to members of the public in 2012.

The Your Garden competition awards were presented on the night on behalf of Bracknell Forest Council. The local gardening competition is now in its 18th year, and has a wide range of categories for entrants.

The first category was for the Best Front Garden. Fighting off tough competition, Christina Francis was judged as the overall winner for her stunning floral front garden.

The Best Community/Neighbourhood Gardens category was won by Ploughlands Community Garden. Their garden was awarded for its excellent use of colour and the clever environmental provisions that can be seen in the garden.

The Best Commercial Premises award was picked up by The New Leathern Bottle Public House in Jealotts Hill. With an abundance of colourful hanging baskets and troughs, the pub was awarded for its eye-catching presentation.

Bracknell’s Best Young Gardner was given, for the third year in a row, to Jack Shilley, who created a very inventive miniature show garden.

This year, there was a category especially for School Gardens, which welcomed a great number of entrants. Only one winner could be chosen, however, and the deserved winners were Holly Spring Junior School Gardening Club.

The hugely competitive Tallest Sunflower competition was also a very popular category. The winner, with a sunflower measuring an impressive 12.8ft (3.89m), was Mr Robert Petford.

A Special Environment Award was this year presented to Mrs Barbara Bowyer for her amazing garden.

The Best Newcomer in the Community Garden category was awarded to Dennis Pilcher House. Their garden hosts a variety of planting areas as well as a number of environmental provisions.

Best Newcomer in the School Garden category was given to Wooden Hill Primary and Nursery school. Their newly created garden included a formal area and a wildlife habitat.

Next came the Best Allotment Competition, which is a hugely popular award despite its infancy.

The most environmentally friendly allotment went to Ted Love, noting in particular his water harvesting.

The award for the Most Attractive and Well Designed allotment was given to two sets of allotment holders. The first award went to Linda Tizzard and Allan Miles and the second was presented to Mr J Rainey.

A Highly Commended certificate was also given to Robert Petford for his allotment which is filled with fruit and vegetables.

The winner of Best Allotment went to Richard and Linda Bennett for their allotment at South Road.

After the presentations, the evening was rounded off with a buffet for all the evening’s attendees.

Sponsorship:

Your Gardens Awards Presentation and Bracknell in Bloom Thank You Evening 2011: Gavin Jones Ltd and Ringway

Bracknell in Bloom 2011: Bracknell Town Council, Bracknell Forest Council, Bracknell Forest Homes, Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, Bracknell Market, Bracknell Forest Standard, Courtney Coaches, South Hill Park Arts Centre and ReOrsa.

Your Gardens part of Take Pride: Longacres, The New Leathern Bottle, Bracknell Town Council, The Look Out Discovery Centre, Coral Reef Waterworld, Ringway
Media support by Bracknell Forest Standard

The construction work surrounding the new Bracknell Waitrose store reached another landmark this week as the six week countdown begins to the store’s opening on November 24 2011.

With all the main internal construction work completed, the store fit-out team has arrived on-site. The fit out team’s job is to ensure that all the fridges, shelves, flooring, lighting, electrics, decor and everything else is in place before the store opens.

Externally, work is still being undertaken on the car park and the final landscaping tasks are being completed around the perimeter of the store’s boundaries.

Both the external construction team and the internal fit-out team will be working hard to ensure that everything is completed by November 18 2011. On this day, Bracknell Regeneration Partnership and its construction team Wates will hand over the store to the Waitrose team which will ensure that everything is ready for the store opening.

Helen Barnett, marketing manager Bracknell Regeneration Partnership says: “Everyone is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the store is open before Christmas. The last six months, since the ground breaking ceremony in May, have flown by and it is a real testament to everyone involved that we are not just six weeks away from opening.”

Bracknell is one of the first towns in the UK to benefit from the use of use of an innovative new wall wrap system, from Community Clean. This revolutionary technique uses a full colour wall wrap, which can be used to decorate and rejuvenate any surface.

The wrap, which lasts up to five years, also benefits from an anti-graffiti layer that allows graffiti to simply be wiped away. With an approximate saving of up to 30% on the alternative of traditional painted wall murals, the process is a cost effective way of brightening up areas within the town.

Helen Barnett, marketing manager of Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, commented: “These changes to the town centre are a great example of how we are using new techniques to improve the local environment.”

Graham Mountford, town centre manager for Bracknell Forest Council, said: “It is great that Bracknell is pioneering such a fantastic new procedure. I have no doubt that it will become hugely popular in towns and cities across the country.”

Visitors to Bracknell can see examples of this wrap along the walls of the ramp leading up to the Grange Hotel.

Play Synopsis: Daniel Fielding has a somewhat clinical sexual relationship with a psychologist who lives in the flat above him. They meet every second friday of the month. Their routine is broken by the arrival of some diverse and dubious characters, including the maintenance man and the lady from Starlight Escorts. A typical farce, full of misunderstandings and confusion.
(Recommended for Adults only due to content).

There is parking on-site & additional parking in Oakmede Place shops, Bracknell car park.
There is disabled access into the hall; & refreshments are available to buy.

Performances: Thur 27th, Fri 28th & Sat 29th October 2011 (Half Term Week).
Doors open at 7pm, curtains up at 7.30pm sharp.
Prices: Adults £6, Concessions £5
Please call the Box Office on 0754 193 0997 to book your tickets now.

Venue: Binfield Memorial Hall, Terrace Road South, Binfield, Bracknell, Berkshire RG42 4DS

The Bracknell In Bloom committee is celebrating after winning a much sought after Gold Award in the small city category in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Thames and Chiltern in Bloom competition.

The award ceremony, hosted by the Mayor of Chesham, Councillor Derek Lacey, saw entrants attending from across the Thames and Chilterns area.

Helen Barnett, marketing manager of Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, commented: “We are extremely proud to have been presented with a Gold award for the second year running. This year we proved we were able to do ‘more for less’, and we would like to thank everyone who put in so much effort to achieve this award.”

All competitors were visited throughout July, with judges assessing each area’s individual horticultural achievements and upkeep of the local environment.

Bracknell not only scooped the Gold award but also won the regional award for ‘Best Floral Input’. The Ploughlands Community Garden also received special recognition from the RHS ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ awards. The garden was named as an ‘Outstanding Community Project’, and was highly praised as ‘a magnificent example of what can be achieved when likeminded people get together with a common aim’. Warfield Environment Group’s project was also judged as ‘thriving’.

Mary Harris, chair of the Bracknell In Bloom committee and Town Clerk at Bracknell Town Council said: “We are delighted with the Gold Award that we have achieved. It would not have been possible to accomplish all that we have, had it not been for everyone’s hard work, dedication and the commitment of our sponsors. Everyone involved should feel extremely proud of what they have achieved.”

The judges congratulated the high standard of the entry, commenting that this standard had now ‘become the norm’ for Bracknell. They were particularly impressed with the ‘superb’ floral displays in the town centre, Lily Hill Park’s rhododendron haven and Wildridings Primary School’s planting of 400 whips (young trees) achieved with the help of Bracknell Forest Homes.

Landscaping teams from Bracknell Town Council, Bracknell Forest Council and Bracknell Forest Homes together with local volunteers work tirelessly through the year to maintain a high standard of public open space across the borough, ensuring Bracknell is kept attractive, clean, litter free and neatly groomed.

On top of the awards that have already been achieved, the Your Gardens competition winners will be announced in October at a presentation and thank you evening at South Hill Park. This special event is sponsored by Gavin Jones, the landscape contractors for the Heritage Lottery Project at South Hill Park, and by Ringway, the landscape contractors to Bracknell Forest Council. Prizes and certificates will be given to those individuals, schools and groups that have really made an effort with their gardens and planting this year.

The Bracknell In Bloom committee is lead by Bracknell Town Council and includes the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, Bracknell Forest Homes, Bracknell Forest Council and a whole host of other supporters, including Bracknell Horticultural Association. Bracknell in Bloom is particularly grateful to its sponsors the Bracknell Market, Courtney Coaches, ReOrsa Studios and Gallery and the Bracknell Standard, without whom Bracknell’s ‘In Bloom’ entry would not be possible.