Patchway Journal

Patchway’s SPAR store recently hosted a charity birthday party in celebration of its parent company’s 100-year anniversary.

Colleagues at the convenience store in Rodway Road hosted a birthday party themed coffee morning and a series of fundraising activities on Friday 1st September, all in aid of children’s charity, the NSPCC.

SPAR Patchway is owned and operated by Blakemore Retail, which is part of the A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd group of companies. Throughout 2017 A.F. Blakemore is celebrating 100 years as a successful family business.

A.F. Blakemore commercial director Caoire Blakemore commented:

“To mark our centenary, we organised a series of commemorative events to celebrate the company’s unique culture and history and positively engage with employees and the local communities we serve.”

“On 1st September more than 300 charity birthday parties took place across A.F. Blakemore’s trading area to celebrate one of the company’s five core values: making a significant, positive contribution to the community.”

SPAR UK and the NSPCC have been working together to keep children safe in communities around their stores for the past 11 years.

Since 2006, Blakemore Retail employees have raised more than £2.7 million for NSPCC services through fundraising activities such as raffles, cake sales, sponsored bike rides and fancy dress days.

A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd was founded in 1917 when Arthur and Harriet Blakemore opened a counter grocery store in Wolverhampton, and is today the 44th largest privately owned business in the UK.

Peter Blakemore is the third generation of the Blakemore family to lead the company, which is the largest member of SPAR UK, owning 290 SPAR stores and serving more than 1,000 in total across England and Wales.

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Legal proceedings have been initiated by South Gloucestershire Council to secure the removal of over a dozen traveller caravans that remain in a field at The Tumps, near Waterside Drive in Patchway.

A larger number of caravans, believed to be approaching thirty, arrived on the site last Friday (18th August). They are understood to be the same group that was evicted by bailiffs from Forty Acres in Stoke Gifford hours earlier on Friday afternoon.

Part of the convoy had first entered Scott Park in Patchway, but is said to have been enticed to leave by a town council groundsman who arranged for the gate into the field at The Tumps to be unlocked.

The Tumps is a nature area located just 400m from Scott Park that is also in the ownership of Patchway Town council.

The council, which describes the encampment as “unauthorised” on its website, served an eviction notice on the travellers on Monday, requiring them to vacate the site by 2pm on Tuesday (22nd August).

With 16 caravans still on the site on Tuesday afternoon, the remaining travellers were then served with a direction requiring all individuals, caravans and vehicles to vacate the site by Wednesday afternoon.

South Gloucestershire Council has now issued legal proceedings under Section 78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act and has already liaised with the courts to secure a hearing.

A statement on the town council website adds:

“There is a process that needs to be adhered to, but in the meantime, it is also confirmed there is continued negotiating taking place to encourage the travellers to move voluntarily.”

More: Councillors commend action of Scott Park groundsman »

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Volunteers at a local lunch club for the elderly are looking to raise awareness of the weekly event across Patchway and the Stokes.

The Patchway Lunch Club meets from 12.15pm to 1.30pm every Wednesday in Patchway Community Centre, Rodway Road. It is open to anyone over the age of 55 and offers a two-course meal for £3 per person.

Mini-bus transport to the venue can be arranged at a cost of £1.50 for the return journey.

Amongst the volunteers helping run the club is Bradley Stoke Tesco Extra community champion Dawn Richards, who spends around six hours each week helping to arrange the menu, cooking and tidying up. Other volunteers come from the local community in Patchway, including South Gloucestershire ward councillor Eve Orpen, herself a pensioner.

One regular, Olive Merrells, 87, told the Journal she has been attending the club since it started in 1989. Describing the club as a “great asset for the community”, she said she loves the food and enjoys the opportunity to get out and meet people.

Anyone interested in attending the club is invited to contact Dawn Richards on 07710 148023 or via the customer service desk at Bradley Stoke Tesco Extra.

The club has received grant funding from South Gloucestershire Council, Patchway Town Council and Almondsbury Charity.

Photo: Helpers and guests at Patchway Pensioners’ Lunch Club. Standing (l-r): Mike Taylor, Helen Ford, Dawn Richards, Anne Richards, Sandra Woodruff & Colin Wilkins. Seated (l-r): Barbara Walker & Phyllis Fagan.

This article originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 34). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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An imposing new stained glass window recently installed at a local church has been attracting admiring comments from worshippers and members of the wider community.

The 22sqm window on the front aspect of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, which faces Patchway Roundabout (just off the A38), is composed of more than 440 individual panes of stained glass and was designed and manufactured by Bristol architectural and stained glass artist Stuart Low.

The window has been installed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Holy Family Church and has been funded by parishioners, who voluntarily paid £30 to sponsor an individual pane.

The initial idea for the window came from parishioner Felicity Harper and her sister, Pia. The pair worked together with parish priest Father Eugene Campbell to come up with a design and gain the approval of the church community.

Felicity and Pia then continued to progress the project, putting together a business plan and devising a sponsorship scheme to ensure that the total £18,000 cost of the work could be covered without drawing on parish funds.

The window was officially blessed by Fr Eugene during the 11am mass on Sunday 5th March, in the presence of the artist, Stuart Low, who has a studio in south Bristol (opposite Windmill Hill Farm).

More: Design is based on the phoenix being reborn from the embers »

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