Bradley Stoke Bowls Club is proud to have learned that Club President Mr Jim Durlacher and Mr Brian Newman have won a Community Award from the South Gloucestershire Council’s Chair’s Community Awards. This is in recognition of their extraordinary work and dedication as volunteers in setting up Bradley Stoke Bowls Club.
The pair were nominated by Councillor Ben Walker and will receive their awards at the Concorde Room BAWA on Thursday 18th April at 6.30pm.
Club member Sue Arnold told us “The Bowls Club is highly delighted that the pair’s hard work has been recognised and we would also like to express our thanks to their wives for all the fantastic support they give the Club too.”
Photo from archives shows Club President Jim Durlacher, then-mayor Ben Walker and Brian Newman at a cheque presentation for the Mayor’s chosen charity
The Chair’s community awards were established in 2003 to recognise and celebrate the valuable contribution local unpaid volunteers make to life in South Gloucestershire. They have since become an annual event and each year people are asked to nominate their local ‘community heroes’ ie people who have made a difference to their community.
Cllr Charlotte Walker, Mayor of Bradley Stoke and Jack Lopresti, local MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke presided at the official opening of the Town Council’s new offices at the Jubilee Centre earlier today (Friday 14th September).
The expense of building new offices as opposed to renting, either at the old Woodlands site or potentially in the WillowBrook Centre, has received some criticism from locals. However, the offices have been built with the aid of a public works loan, the repayments on which come in cheaper than the council’s previous rental costs. The new offices therefore achieve the council’s two stated aims of delivering value for money and making it more accessible to local people – Cllr Roger Avenin, Chair of Finance Committee explains: “The Council’s administrative functions were previously housed in a rented office in the far north of the town. The new Jubilee Centre location is much more central and already well known by the public. Year on year we will see savings straight away from this project and, once the loan is paid off in 10 years’ time, the taxpayer will recoup approximately £28,000 pounds a year”.¯
Bradley Stoke has had its own scouting unit for 10 years and over this time the number of boys (and girls) involved has grown from 30 to the current 92. However, up until recently there were also 60-80 children on the waiting list to join! By far the highest wait list is for Beavers, which children can participate in from the ages of 6-8. Group Scout Leader Mark Gollop tells us “When I started helping with the 1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group there were a lot of children on our waiting list to join. Over the last few months we have worked hard to recruit some more adult volunteers and we were able to open up a new 2nd Beaver Scout Colony last September and have just started a 2nd Cub Pack and new 2nd Scout Troop.”
The Bradley Stoke Neighbourhood Police team now have a new base in Bradley Stoke, at the Willow Brook Centre.
It was a very hot morning for the 400+ runners who entered the Bradley Stoke 10k organised by local women-only running group Sole Sisters. The race kicked off at 10am this morning and first runner back was Will New in a time of just 35 mins 17 secs. 2nd place went to Phil Lucker and third to Ben Andrews.