The Phoenix Choir

Storeroom 2010 News for April 2018

Lost Tortoise

LOST TORTOISE

A tortoise has escaped from a garden this morning, in Wyatts Close, after someone left the gate unlocked and it then blew open.

She’s a Leopard Tortoise and approximately 8 inches long and 5 inches high.

She’s 8 years old.

She went missing from Wyatts Close and probably could have headed towards Wyatts Lane.

The owner is very worried for her safety.

If anyone hears of one being found please then contact me.

Barbara Herbert

Clerk to Northwood Parish Council

on 290086 or clerk@northwoodparishcouncil.org

Great News! Cowes has a NEW Men's Shed

Storeroom has a new community initiative, a NEW men's shed.

The Cowes Men's Shed is a member of the UK Men's Sheds Association and will be open from May 14^th to welcome you Monday to Friday 10am-3pm, 50 weeks of the year.  Free parking is available at the Cowes Park and Ride bus stop just a couple of minutes’ walk away.

Find the NEW shed at 25,26 Somerton Industrial Park, Cowes, PO31 8PA. 

What is a men's shed?  Men’s Sheds are similar to garden sheds – a place to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practice skills and enjoy making and mending. The difference is that garden sheds and their activities are often solitary in nature while Men’s Sheds are the opposite. They’re about social connections and friendship building, sharing skills and knowledge, and of course a lot of laughter.

Why not come along and see what’s happening? Fix something, build something, invent something, share your skills with likeminded men with an interest in drinking tea!  This may just be what you have always needed, don’t be bored at home and if you have nowhere to practice your carpentry or gardening skills – this is for you!  Everyone 18+ welcome.

The info below from the Cowes Men's Shed page on Storeroom Website at   storeroom.org.uk  and reproduced from the UKMSA site. The Cowes Men's Shed is a member of UK Men's Sheds Association and carries Public Liability Insurance.

What is a Men’s Shed?

Men’s Sheds (or Sheds) are similar to garden sheds – a place to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practice skills and enjoy making and mending. The difference is that garden sheds and their activities are often solitary in nature while Men’s Sheds are the opposite. They’re about social connections and friendship building, sharing skills and knowledge, and of course a lot of laughter.

Sheds are whatever the members (or Shedders as we call them) want them to be. Although labelled sheds, they often aren’t sheds at all. They can be empty offices, Portakabins, warehouses, garages, and in at least one case, a disused mortuary. Some Sheds are purpose-built workshops, but they rarely start out that way. Many don’t have premises at all in the beginning and instead form a group that meets regularly for the social connection, company and camaraderie until they can find somewhere to kit out with tools. Many Sheds get involved in community projects too – restoring village features, helping maintain parks and green spaces, and building things for schools, libraries and individuals in need.

Activities in Sheds vary greatly, but you can usually find woodworking, metalworking, repairing and restoring, electronics, model buildings or even car building in a typical Shed. Sheds typically attract older men, but many have younger members and women too. Whatever the activity, the essence of a Shed is not a building, but the connections and relationships between its members.

Why are they needed?

For a long time, research has shown the negative impact of loneliness and isolation on a person’s health and wellbeing. Recently we have seen more evidence come to light that shows loneliness and isolation can be as hazardous to our health as obesity and excessive smoking. Surveys from mental health charities are finding that millions of people report feeling lonely on a daily basis.

Men typically find it more difficult to build social connections than women, and unlike women of a similar age, less older men have networks of friends and rarely share personal concerns about health and personal worries. It is not the case for all men, but for some, when retirement comes, it can feel like personal identity and purpose is lost. Men’s Sheds can change all of that.

Sheds are about meeting like-minded people and having someone to share your worries with. They are about having fun, sharing skills and knowledge with like-minded people and gaining a renewed sense of purpose and belonging. As a by-product of all of that they reduce isolation and feelings of loneliness, they allow men to deal with mental health challenges more easily and remain independent, they rebuild communities and, in many cases, they save men’s lives.

Men's Sheds are vital

Royal British Legion Drop-in sessions 2018

The Local Government Boundary Commission

 

Northwood Parish Council

A consultation on ward boundaries for Isle of Wight Council has begun 

 

Have your say now via our consultation portal

 

 

 

Today is the start of a 10-week public consultation, during which the Local Government Boundary Commission for England is inviting proposals for new warding arrangements for Isle of Wight Council.

The consultation will close on 9 July 2018.

After considering all representations made during this consultation, the Commission intends to publish draft recommendations in September 2018.

There will then be a further period of consultation on the draft recommendations. Final recommendations are expected to be published in January 2019.

The new electoral arrangements will come into effect at the local elections in May 2021.

If you represent a local organisation or community group on the Isle of Wight, please pass this message on to your members or anyone who you think might be interested in the review. You can share the message by email or through social media by using the buttons at the bottom right of the page.

 

What is an electoral review?

The electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Isle of Wight Council. It will propose:

• the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
• the number of wards
• the number of councillors representing each ward;
• ward boundaries, and;
• the names of wards.

 

How to get involved

This is a public consultation and we welcome views from individuals and organisations from across the Isle of Wight on where they think new ward boundaries should be drawn.

The Commission is minded to recommend that 40 councillors should be elected to Isle of Wight Council in the future.

This is no change from the current number of councillors.

The Commission is now inviting proposals to help it draw up a pattern of wards to accommodate 40 councillors.

In drawing up a pattern of electoral wards, the Commission must balance three legal criteria, namely:

• to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the Isle of Wight;
• that the pattern of wards should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
  that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.

The Commission will treat all submissions equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.

If you wish to put forward a view, we would also urge you to ensure that evidence supports your submission. For example, if you wish to argue that two parishes should be included in the same electoral ward, make sure you tell the Commission why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.

There is more advice on our website about how you can get involved in the consultation.

Our website features technical guidance that explains the process and our policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.

We have also set up a webpage dedicated to the review of the Isle of Wight, where you can find all the relevant information.

You can also access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries across the Isle of Wight on our specialist consultation portal. The portal also allows you to draw your own boundaries, mark areas of interest on the map and upload documents directly to the site

Brown-tail moth caterpillars at Ventnor

IW Council Press Release

BROWN-TAIL MOTH CATERPILLARS

Sightings of Brown-tail moth caterpillars at Ventnor have been reported to the council.

Following the reports, the council has treated public sites such as the paddling pool in Ventnor to remove the creatures, whose hairs can break off as barbs, causing skin irritation and breathing difficulties.

“We are liaising with Ventnor Town Council to manage the annual influx of this particular young insect. I would remind the public that the hairs on brown-tail moth caterpillars can cause skin and eye irritation, particularly in children, so it is important to avoid handling them,” said Lee Matthews, recreation and public spaces manager at Isle of Wight Council.

“If you are unfortunate enough to be affected, you can expect a rash together with irritation similar to a severe nettle rash. Because the hairs can become airborne some people may experience symptoms affecting their eyes and breathing similar to hay fever.”

Normally this will give a few hours of localised discomfort. Washing the affected area with water and the application of calamine lotion on the skin may ease the itching. The hairs may also worsen symptoms of asthma for some people.

You should seek medical advice from your pharmacist or GP if symptoms do not settle down within a few hours.

The caterpillars become active in the spring. During March, caterpillars can be found in their winter tents. By April the caterpillars begin to emerge en masse from their tents and start to feed.

They gradually move further away from their winter tents during May until they become solitary. The creatures spin a cocoon and pupate, with adult moths emerging in July/August, ready to mate. Females lay eggs near the tip of shrub branches and then they spin a tent at the end of the shoots in readiness for winter.

FACT FILE 
Although the caterpillars prefer hawthorn and blackberry, they will eat leaves from any type of bush.
The creatures are between 7mm and 38mm in length (depending on age), dark brown in colour with a distinctive white line down each side; with the whole body covered in tufts of brown hairs and two distinct orange/red dots are noticeable on the caterpillars back towards the tail.
The insects have spiked and barbed hairs, which can penetrate skin, causing an irritant reaction.

END