Tory candidate hopeful makes promise to Radio Bracknell Forest

Andrew Mackay Public Meeting on Radio Bracknell

The seven candidates for the vacant Parliamentary seat following the political demise of Andrew Mackay MP, are political blogger Iain Dale, former soldier Rory Stewart OBE, Oxford university graduate Katy Lindsay, health service expert Julie Manning, GP Philip Lee, entrepreneur Ryan Robson and Westminster councillor and finance expert Margaret Doyle.

None live in the constituency. Local hopefuls failed to be invited onto the final list.

In our earlier news article and editorial our Editor expressed reservations that Tory hopeful Iain Dale was not a resident of Bracknell Forest.

Readers my remember that many local residents were amazed to find that, despite claiming for a second home on his expenses, disgraced MP Andrew Mackay did not actually live in the area.

With the Labour and LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidates being long term residents of the area, this will undoubdtedly be an issue at the next general election but, with a massive majority, the Conservatives could afford to ignore it. Those who attended the public meeting called by Mr Mackay might recall a comment that “the Tories could put up a monkey and it would get elected”.

But, Mr Dale has responded to the article saying: I may be a non resident, but if I have made a commitment to have a home in the constituency if I am selected – and it won’t cost the taxpayer a penny. I promise!

This will surely be a welcome response from Mr Dale and be a benchmark for other hopefuls.

Neighbourhood forums give voice to Bracknell Forest residents

 

Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs), Bracknell Forest Council and Thames Valley Police are working together to tackle the issues that matter to people who live in the borough.

Residents are currently completing the Neighbourhood Survey and taking part in open forums hosted by the NAGs. Among the first to take place was the Great Hollands forum, chaired by Michael Bentley.

Mr Bentley said: “I was encouraged this year to see several people who were new and had not been to these meetings before.

“I was particularly pleased that a younger man, who had only lived here for two years, contributed to the meeting. He expressed surprise that some people had concerns over safety. He said he never felt unsafe when he walked to the local shops at night. 

“I made sure that everyone had a chance to air local issues about living
in Great Hollands and I was impressed by the great work that a small number of people had put into the clubs and community associations that make the area special. “

Meantime, the neighbourhood survey, put together by local community groups, the council and the police, has been delivered to every home in the borough.

Residents can also complete the survey online www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/neighbourhoodsurvey

For more information about forum dates go to www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/liv-neighbourhood-action-groups.htm or to request a printed survey form (if you have not received one) contact the community engagement team at community.engagement@bracknell-forest.gov.uk or call 01344 353315.

Cllr Iain McCracken, the council’s executive member for public protection, said: “Residents can come to the forums to talk about the things that affect them and their families in their neighbourhood with their NAG representatives, local councillors, local police and council officers.

“This is a great opportunity to get involved in changing things at a grass roots level and make Bracknell Forest an even better place to live and work.

“The findings of the survey will help to set the neighbourhood priorities for the coming year. We would urge as many people as possible to make their voices heard.”

Chief Inspector Simon Bowden, who heads Bracknell Forest’s police team, said: “The NAGs forums and the neighbourhood survey play an important role in planning and organising work and activities that help address local concerns, feeding information back to the police, council service departments and other organisations and help influence the services provided. 

“They are also key in reporting back to their local communities the work that has been done.”

Sheltered scheme gets a new cutting edge

 

Bracknell Forest Homes officially opened a new hair dressing room at Liscombe House, a sheltered scheme managed by the housing association.

The hair dressing room was declared open on September 29. A new plasma screen television supplied by Panasonic was also unveiled. The newly refurbished hair dressing room and a communal kitchen were shown off to guests including Town Mayor Cllr Bailey, Mayor of the Borough Cllr Wade and Cllrs Mr and Mrs Birch.

Since the housing transferred from the council in February 2008, Bracknell Forest Homes has been involved in many improvements and is excited about the new hair dressing facility and kitchen it has designed for the residents.

Caroline Titley, Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Homes, commented: “We are thrilled to see the opening of new facilities for our residents as part of our improvements. We are very appreciative of the support from Panasonic, who kindly supplied a new television for residents to enjoy.”

Margaret Jenkins, resident at Liscombe House in Birch Hill for three years, commented: “We are very happy that we have these new facilities to use in-house, which are a great benefit.”

Bracknell Forest Homes owns 11 sheltered schemes across the borough. Since the transfer of housing from the council, improvements to schemes have been carried out including replacement heating systems, new windows and improved landscaping.

There are some vacancies at sheltered schemes. For more information please contact 01344 382910 or visit www.bracknellforesthomes.org.uk

Photograph left to right: Margaret Jenkins, Mayor of the Borough Cllr Wade, Town Mayor Cllr Bailey, Caroline Titley Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Homes, Alice Butcher, Barbara Petch

Another non-resident reaches Tory final stage for selection as candidate to replace disgraced MP

Pink News.co.uk reports that Iain Dale, the openly gay political blogger and broadcaster, has reached the final stage of parliamentary selection for Bracknell.

He and six other Conservative candidates will be voted on by local residents in an open primary on October 17th. Although Dale does not live in Bracknell, he claims to know it “quite well” and it is the only seat he is standing for.

He stood as an MP for Norfolk North in 2005 and was the first openly gay candidate selected by a Conservative constituency association. However he lost out to Liberal Democrat candidate Norman Lamb.

In 2007, he unsuccessfully applied for the safe Conservative seat of Maidstone and the Weald. Writing on his eponymous blog, Dale said that after launching Total Politics magazine, he had been unsure whether to apply for a seat again but cited the expenses scandal as the reason for his change of mind.

Dale told PinkNews.co.uk: “I’m delighted to be on the Bracknell shortlist. It’s the only seat I have applied for and I hope any PinkNews.co.uk readers who live in Bracknell will come to the open primary on October 17th to select their new candidate. You don’t even have to be a Conservative to attend. More details at www.iaindale.net.”

Editorial comment:

With Bracknell being a safe Tory seat, the selected candidate is virtually certain to be elected but it is to be hoped that our new MP will move to the area if not already living here (and at the very least, not claim for a home here if they do not do so!).

As a sideline, it is interesting that the venue chosen will be in the new Windsor constituency not Bracknell.

 

Portico Quartet are joined by Mercury Prize nominees Sweet Billy Pilgrim at The Anvil, Basingstoke

 

Portico Quartet

plus Sweet Billy Pilgrim

Thursday 29 October 2009  7.45pm

The Anvil 

 

Portico Quartet are four young musicians – Jack Wyllie (soprano Saxophone), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (Hang and percussion) and Duncan Bellamy (drums and Hang) – who play melodic, rhythmic music that mixes the inspiration of Philip Glass and Steve Reich with a very contemporary kind of jazz improvisation.  It’s the blend of ethereal saxophone, the steel pan-like Hang, clattering drums and earthy double-bass that gives their music its inimitable, beautiful sound.  Their dance friendly brand of hook-laden, post-jazz was honed busking across Europe and playing in unusual spaces; churches, galleries, chill-out zones and has earned them a cult following.  They have created an inimitable sound that has been compared to the Penguin Café Orchestra, EST and The Cinematic Orchestra amongst others. 

Sweet Billy Pilgrim (pictured above) are exemplars of English atmospheric art-pop, tinkering about somewhere between the earthy and the ethereal, they scrape strings and tap away at laptops to make beautiful sounds. Their album, Twice Born Men which is on David Sylvian’s Samadhisound label was described as “The best album of its kind since Elbow’s all-conquering The Seldom Seen Kid.” (Uncut).  Sweet Billy Pilgrim are Tim Elsenburg on guitar, harmonium, vocals, Anthony Bishop on bass, banjo, vocals, Al Hamer on drums, vocals and David Preece on keyboards, accordion, vocals. 

Tickets for the Portico Quartet are £12.50.  For more information or for tickets, call the Anvil Arts box office on 01256 844244.  Or use the Anvil Arts website www.anvilarts.org.uk or the ticket fax 01256 366900.

24 hour Elvis Marathon on New Year’s Day 2010

 

New Year’s Day, the 1st of January 2010, is a very special day for fans of the “King of Rock’n'Roll” Mister Elvis Presley as Radio Bracknell Forest will be broadcasting non-stop Elvis tracks and special programmes from midnight to midnight.

To make it special for listeners, anyone can ask for a particular Elvis track to be played and dedicated to a friend or loved one anywhere in the world on New Year’s Day? They can simply e-mail elvis@radiobracknell.com and the station will play it at several points during the course of the day!

 So, who was Elvis Presley?

Elvis Aaron Presley born January 8 1935 and died August 16, 1977 he was an American singer, actor and musician known simply as “Elvis”, and is more often known as the ”The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” or just simply the “The King”.

Elvis began his career in 1954 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo mix of country and rhythm and blues with strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing black and white sounds, made him very popular, at times controversial, as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with popular tracks like, Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock and later embodying the style.

Elvis Presley had a very versatile and had a wide range of other genres including gospel, blues, ballads, country and pop.

In the 1960s, Elvis made the majority of his 31 movies which unfortunately had mainly poor reviews, but were financially successful. In 1968, he returned to live music in a television special known as the “68 Comeback special”, and performed across the U.S, notably in Las Vegas.

Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best selling and most influential artists in the history of music. Health problems, drug dependency and other factors led to his death at age of just 42.

But there is no sign of his popularity declining as a new generation discover the music, as this music marathon on Radio Bracknell Forest is testament. Because of the power of the internet, it can be listened to around the world from 00.00hrs GMT to 23.59hrs GMT on 1st January at www.radiobracknellforest.com

For further information, visit the Tribute to the King website at www.tributetotheking.co.uk

TOKYO ROSENTHAL SIGNS WITH DYNASTY RECORDS FOR WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION

 

Rock & Sock Records has signed a distribution agreement with Dynasty Records for worldwide distribution of their North Carolina recording artist Tokyo Rosenthal in advance of his forthcoming UK Tour which includes visits to Berkshire and Hampshire in the south of England.

Rosenthal’s CDs will now be available at over 1000 retail outlets worldwide as well as HMV Stores worldwide.  In addition over 250 digital music retail sites around the world including iTunes, Puretracks, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Bell and Rogers will carry Tokyo’s tunes.

The first CD to be distributed is Rosenthal’s latest entitled ”Love Won Out” that includes the single ”St. Patrick’s Day” and has received critical acclaim internationally. This CD broke into the charts at number 11 on the Euro Americana Chart, number14 on the Far Chart and number 10 on the North Carolina Roots chart.

In 2009 so far Tokyo Rosenthal has completed a Northeast US tour and a UK tour. He also toured Japan and he debuted in The Netherlands as well as Germany. Tokyo was in New York City followed by Woodstock and Boston and then made a “Heartland” tour from North Carolina to Texas and back, headlining along the way at the World Music United Festival in San Marcos.

Tokyo Rosenthal’s previous albums include ”One Score And Ten” that features the song “Edmonton”. Thanks to “Edmonton” Tokyo received the key to the city of Edmonton as an award for cultural and artistic contributions to Alberta’s capitol city. This led to a month long tour of Canada, TV and Radio appearances, sponsorship by West Jet Airlines, and an opening slot for several nights in Toronto for the Rock Roll Hall of Famer and former Byrd and Burrito Brother Chris Hillman. Tokyo was personally picked by Chris to share the bill.

“I’m so excited to be with an aggressive company like Dynasty,” said Rosenthal. “I’m sure with their help my music will be available much easier to music fans all over the world.”

Tokyo will be on stage at Platforms Bar in Basingstoke on Wednesday 11^th November for a showcase session and at Jagz of Ascot on Thursday 12^th November before leaving for further gigs in the north of England.

Radio Bracknell Forest, Berkshire’s 24/7 internet music radio station will be broadcasting an hour-long Tokyo Rosenthal Special programme as part of their Boxing Day Americana and Country music on-line festival. He will be heard by listening in at www.radiobracknellforest.com

In the meantime, further details of Tokyo can be found on his website  www.tokyorosenthal.com

Children In Need Day coming up soon!

It’s been nearly a year since many of us all helped Pudsey raise a record breaking £37.8 million and now the Bear is back, this year bringing a special friend with him!

Pudsey’s best friend, Blush, has arrived to lend a helping paw to Pudsey and together they will be busy bears, organising this year’s fantastic Appeal night show and helping disadvantaged children across the UK.

Here on Radio Bracknell Forest, we will be broadcasting non-stop tracks all day on Friday 20^th November, from 6am to 6pm, with reports from Children In events in Berkshire, interviews with fundraisers in Bracknell Forest and updates from Pudsey Headquarters!

You can help raise money by supporting the events in our area – visit our “what’s on” guide for up-to-the-minute information about what is happening locally.

 

Event organisers: please let us know about your fundraising event – please send details to news@radiobracknell.com

Get a pizza the action in Bracknell town centre today and tomorrow

Just a gentle reminder…………..

Shoppers can get a taste of the mediterranean in Bracknell today (Friday 25th September) and tomorrow (Saturday) when the town centre hosts an Italian market courtesy of the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership.

Business News: special event to help launch skills diploma for young people

Name of event: The Diploma Conference: Bringing Learning to Life

Full address: Legoland Windsor, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 4AY

Day & Date: Thursday 1^st October 2009            Start time: 1pm      Finish time: 5pm

 

Who is coming: Guest Speakers / VIP’s include:

• Shan Jones – Chair, Institute of Education Business Excellence
• Bob Wade – Bracknell Mayor and Small Business Champion
• Martin Mahoney – 14-19 Co-ordinator, RBWM
• Martin Surrell – 14-19 Co-ordinator, BFC
• Anne Brown – SBC

Guests – Over 70 Local business representatives who have an interest in helping young people gain the skills needed by employers, raising the profile of their industry in education, and fostering links with local schools.

 

What’s happening: This September sees the arrival of the new Diploma qualification in East Berkshire.  The East Berkshire Education Business Partnership is holding a conference, organised in conjunction with our  3 local authorities (Slough Borough Council, Royal Borough Windsor & Maidenhead, and Bracknell Forest Council), to raise raise awareness of and provide information on how employers can engage with the new Diploma qualification for 14-19 year olds. 

 

The Conference will include:

Lunch and business networking opportunities

Information about the Diploma qualification

Information on how employers can get involved

Recognition and praise for our key supporters over the last year

 

EBeBP Contact: Lisa Whiston 01753 502384 / 07824 595730             l.whiston@eastberksebp.org.uk