Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo at All Saints Church

10 December 2011 All Saints Church, All Saints Road, Cheltenham

Musica Vera is joining forces with the Choir of Charlton Kings Junior School in a performance of "Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo", as well as Christmas Carols for both choirs and audience. The concert starts at 7.00 pm and tickets cost £9.00 (free admission to children under 16). Tickets available from Cheltenham Tourist Information Centre, 77 Promenade, Cheltenham. Proceeds will go to The Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts. For further info. Tel 01242 517258.

Day of Reflection on Dean Francis Close

28 November 2011 Glenfall House, Mill Lane, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham GL54 4EP

Glenfall House is the retreat and conference centre for the Diocese of Gloucester. On the 28th November, Bishop John Went, the bishop of Tewkesbury, will lead a day focussing on Dean Francis Close, who contributed so much to the life of Cheltenham and the wider church as well as to education. The day costs £18.75 and includes a three course lunch. Advance bookings only 01242 583654 or email enquiries@glenfallhouse.org www.glenfallhouse.org

Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra Concert

19 November 2011
St. Andrew's Church Montpellier

The well-known local chamber orchestra presents an evening of music by Mendelssohn. George Ewart leads the orchestra andwill also play the violin concerto. The concert opens with the Overture "Fingal's Cave" and concludes with the Symphony No.3 "The Scottish". The conductor is John Longstaff. Tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre priced at £15 with concessions and discounts if bought in advance.

OFF THE CUFF at The Parabola Arts Centre

Wednesday 16th November 2011 7:15pm
The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group and Cheltenham Comedy Festival Present... 'OFF THE CUFF' It's Childish Humour For Adults The Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Wednesday 16th November 2011 7:15pm (Doors open at 7:00pm) Tickets: £8.50

'OFF THE CUFF' is a Cheltenham-based comedy improvisation troupe, with a heavy musical element, that has been successfully running in Cheltenham since 2007 (it's much like a live version of the TV show 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'), where it regularly attracts sell-out audiences. They were the first act booked for the inaugural Stratford-Upon-Avon Fringe Festival in 2010 (and booked again for 2011), sold out at the Birmingham Comedy Festival 2010, and headlined the Cabaret Stage at the Bristol Festival for three years running; as well as touring festivals and theatres up and down the country. OFF THE CUFF have been granted a prime venue amongst a plethora of famous comedians (see www.cheltenhamcomedy.com for the full line-up), so let's show those Edinburgh nominees and highly-paid stars that Cheltenham performers can tickle the funny bones too. Support your local act!

Audiences will have their funny bones shaken and their chuckle muscles sprained by the comic performance of a troupe of actor-comedians who make it all up as they go along. There is no script, there are no rehearsals and there is nowhere to hide. The members of the audience provide the suggestions and the scenarios, which means the show is never the same twice. The lively cast are all actors/improvisers and the show is a spin-off from the award-winning travelling theatre group, OFFSTAGE, who have been commissioned for and performed on BBC Radio, as well as creating shows for BBC Worldwide and in Los Angeles, USA.

Speaking on behalf of the Cheltenham Comedy Festival, co-director Mark Makin said: 'We believe that it's important to showcase the best of local talent along with the best of UK comedy at the festival. Off The Cuff have been building up a strong following in the area for their quick fire improvised wit, so come along to the Parabola Arts Centre on the 16th November to catch these rising stars' Speaking for The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group, Barnaby Eaton-Jones said: "We're delighted to be bringing our popular brand of comedy improv to the stage of the Parabola Arts Centre, as part of the very first Cheltenham Comedy Festival.

If you like stand-up comedy, you'll LOVE comedy improv. You get more comedians for the price of your ticket, more gags, and no structured set that won't budge for laughs if the audience don't like it. In fact, the audience are the ones who mould the show, with their imput, so we've never had anyone go home unhappy!"

For tickets to see this action-packed comedy show, full of music, mayhem and mirth, please call the Cheltenham Town Hall box office on 0844 576 2210, email them on boxoffice@cheltenham.gov.uk or visit the specific page: www.cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk.

Cheltenham Connect 2011 Christmas Craft Fair

Fri 2nd and Sat 3rd December, 10am - 6pm,
Sun 4th December 11am - 4pm Exmouth Arms, Bath Road, Cheltenham

South Cheltenham initiative Cheltenham Connect is holding its third Christmas Craft Fair on the first weekend in December at the Exmouth Arms in Bath Road, Cheltenham. With a magical Santa's Grotto for the children, entertainment from local choirs and musicians, mulled wine, mince pies and a wide range of craft stalls, the event aims to promote the wealth of local talent in the area and to encourage everyone to think and buy local for Christmas.

The craft fair has become a much anticipated annual event and the theme for 2011 is 'Crimblefest', with all the participants encouraged to wear fun, festive outfits. More than 40 local craftspeople will be represented, offering a range of beautiful hand-made goods ranging from pottery, jewellery, textiles and woodcrafts to Christmas decorations and homemade cakes. The fair will be held under a tented village erected by local company and sponsor Mobenn Marquees, and there will be more craft stands in the top room of the Exmouth Arms.

Any local craftspeople who are interested in exhibiting should contact scarlett@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk

Jazz Nights in Cheltenham 2011- 2012

The Venue Jazz Club Glos - First Tuesday of the month (please note venues vary)
Tickets: 01242 587776
Tickets: £6
Doors open: 8 p.m.
Music starts: 8.30 p.m.

Tuesday November 1 2011
The Kim Cypher Band
Modern jazz and funk quintet
The Little Owl
237 Cirencester Road
Charlton Kings
Cheltenham
GL53 8EB

Tuesday December 5 2011
The J B Jazz & Blues Band
Louis Prima inspired quintet
The Wheatsheaf
Old Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 9AJ

Tuesday January 3 2012
The Joe Martin Trio
Classic swing vocals by teenage phenomenon Joe
D’Fly
1a Crescent Place
Cheltenham
GL50 3NX


Tuesday February 7 2012
Dom Franks’ Strayhorn
Hard hitting, groove laden quartet
The Little Owl
237 Cirencester Road
Charlton Kings
Cheltenham
GL53 8EB


Tuesday March 6 2012
The APO Band
Modern jazz and funk quartet
The Wheatsheaf
Old Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 9AJ

Tuesday April 3 2012
Bex & Franks Latin Jazz Quartet
Sumptuous vocals and rhythms with virtuosic guitar
D’Fly
1a Crescent Place
Cheltenham
GL50 3NX


Tuesday May 1 2012
Tommy Charles Tetraphonic
Energetic, off-kilter quartet
The Little Owl
237 Cirencester Road
Charlton Kings
Cheltenham
GL53 8EB

Tuesday June 5 2012
The Cotswold Big Band
High calibre & enrgetically led ensemble
The Wheatsheaf
Old Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 9AJ


Tuesday July 3 2012
The Hot Fingers Trio
1930s style combo led by Spats Langham
D’Fly
1a Crescent Place
Cheltenham
GL50 3NX


Tuesday August 7 2012
The Patsy Gamble Band
Star saxophonist with a mixture of jazz,funk & blues standards & original tunes
The Little Owl
237 Cirencester Road
Charlton Kings
Cheltenham
GL53 8EB


Tuesday September 4 2012
The Rod Kelly Trio
Intelligent renditions of jazz standards by this piano maestro
The Wheatsheaf
Old Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 9AJ


Tuesday October 2 2012
The Jeanne Marlow Trio
Vocalist Jeanne with her picks from the Great American Songbook
D’Fly
1a Crescent Place
Cheltenham
GL50 3NX

Tuesday November 6 2012
TBC
TBC
The Little Owl
237 Cirencester Road
Charlton Kings
Cheltenham
GL53 8EB


Tuesday December 4 2012
Catherine Sykes sings The Peggy Lee Songbook
Return of this star vocalist & her trio
The Wheatsheaf
Old Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 9AJ

Nick Clegg to visit Cheltenham

On Friday, 7 October 2011, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, will visit a primary school in Cheltenham, ahead of his visit to the Cheltenham Literature Festival. He will join a class to talk about their favourite books and join a reading group.

WHO: Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, and Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Martin Horwood
WHAT: Visit to a primary school
WHEN: 13.30, Friday, 7 October 2011
WHERE: Springbank Primary Academy, Springbank Road, Cheltenham, GL51 0PH

Cheltenham MP condemns planning policy

SPEAKING today (Sunday) at Liberal Democrat party conference in Birmingham, Martin Horwood will speak out against the proposed reforms to the planning system contained within the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Martin will warn that the government’s record on the natural environment will be put at risk if the policy goes forward unamended. A range of green organisations, including the National Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, are already galvanising opposition to the new draft planning policy.

Addressing a fringe meeting of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Martin will say “The Localism Bill and the Natural Environment White Paper were important steps towards greater power to protect the natural environment at local level. That was so far, so good for the ‘greenest government ever’. But George Osborne’s proclamation that the default answer to development should be ‘yes’ pointed in exactly the opposite direction. I’m afraid that the National Planning Policy Framework seems to confirm the worst fears of green organisations in this respect. It looks to me like a developer’s charter.”

Locally, environmental organisations including Save the Countryside and the Leckhampton Green Land Action Group have expressed fears that the new NPPF will do as much damage to green spaces around Cheltenham as Labour’s old Regional Spatial Strategy.

Martin added “We had all hoped that these campaigns were won when the coalition was formed but it seems as though the fight isn’t over yet.”

County buries Parkway bid

GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council today submits its final bid for government money for the ‘Integrated Transport Elmbridge Court’ or ITEC scheme – and it doesn’t include the controversial plan for a Parkway station on Green Belt land near the Elmbridge Court roundabout between Cheltenham and Gloucester. Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood, who has been campaigning against the Parkway plan since 2005, welcomed the news: ‘This is a very sensible move by the county. I’m delighted that the Parkway plan has been quietly but finally laid to rest. The station threatened the future of Cheltenham Spa station and would have meant Cheltenham having to drive down the A40 to catch the train. It would have been bad for Cheltenham, bad for the environment and bad for rail travellers.’

The plan for improved roads and public transport initially attracted all-party support but became controversial in 2005 when a business plan was produced that made clear the case for the Parkway station element of the scheme was based on a reduction of services at the existing Cheltenham Spa and Gloucester stations. The plan was supported by then Gloucester Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda and by the county council’s Conservative administration. But Cheltenham Tories and many rail users from Gloucester as well as Cheltenham soon backed Martin’s campaign, as did high profile figures like Jonathon Porritt. Martin urged the county to switch its attention to other rail improvements like the redoubling of the Swindon-Kemble line.

In 2007 the Department for Transport rejected the scheme which has since been redrafted without the Parkway station element. The second and final part of the bid is being submitted to government today. There was a brief resumption of the campaign when then county councillor, now Euro MP, Julie Girling., said she thought the Parkway bid could be revived at a later stage. But today’s bid effectively means it is dead and buried.

‘We thought we had won this campaign some years ago’ said Martin ‘but it is reassuring to know that it’s really over now. The joint campaign for the redoubling of the Swindon-Kemble line succeeded this year as well and just shows what we can achieve in Gloucestershire when we work together.’

CHELTENHAM MP backs further amends to Health Bill

CHELTENHAM MP Martin Horwood is to back further amendments to the government’s Health and Social Care Bill which is being considered again by the House of Commons today and tomorrow. Lib Dem MPs Andrew George and Greg Mulholland and Green MP Caroline Lucas have tabled a series of amendments addressing remaining concerns about the bill, including the power of the Secretary of State to provide – as well as secure - healthcare and the promotion of collaboration and integration in the health service as well as competition.

Martin met Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow today to discuss the bill and to explain his own amendments to the bill on the status of public health within the new NHS.*

More than a thousand amendments are already being made to Conservative Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s original draft of the bill, following opposition at the spring Liberal Democrat conference in Sheffield and from campaigners and health professionals.

Martin commented: ‘The Lib Dems have already questioned and challenged Andrew Lansley over this bill and produced some important changes. There are more safeguards against cherry-picking of profitable services by private companies, the promotion of competition by the regulatory body has been replaced with promoting the interests of patients, GPs are no longer going to be in sole charge of local healthcare commissioning and that can never be passed on to private companies.’

‘But I am nevertheless prepared to support further amendments, if they are put to a vote, to put beyond doubt the right of the secretary of state to provide – as well as secure – a comprehensive health service and to make clear that integration and collaboration are more important to the NHS than competition. My own amendments are designed to prevent the fragmentation of the public health profession which is currently part of the NHS but which will be transferred to local authorities under the new bill.’

‘I have received significant reassurances from Paul Burstow that protections against privatisation, cherry-picking and excessive competition are already much stronger in the revised bill but I’m also very aware of the significant concerns of many of my constituents, including health professionals, and would be happier to see a belt-and-braces approach to these issues. The bill was always going to guarantee the continuation of healthcare provided free at the point of delivery and funded by the NHS and I’m not afraid of private providers like those we have now in Gloucestershire such as Sue Ryder and the Cobalt charity. But I cannot see the harm in further strengthening the bill’s protections against more predatory competition’.

‘If we don’t achieve these amendments over the next couple of days in the House of Commons, I hope similar ones will be made in the House of Lords when the bill moves forward.’

CHELTENHAM MP to join ‘super-injunction’ inquiry

CHELTENHAM MP Martin Horwood has been appointed as one of the two Liberal Democrat members of the joint parliamentary committee set up in the wake of May’s ‘super-injunction’ row. During May this year media attention focussed on a series of so-called ‘super-injunctions’ issued by courts to celebrities and others trying to protect their identities from the tabloid press. Former Formula 1 president Max Mosley, disgraced banker Fred Goodwin and Premier League footballer Ryan Giggs are amongst the famous names who have struggled to keep various aspects of their private lives out of the tabloids, some seeking and using so-called ‘super-injunctions’ under which the media are prevented from reporting not just the actual issues but even the existence of a legal dispute.

The row came to a head when Lib Dem MP John Hemming named Ryan Giggs in Parliament, putting clearly into the public domain what millions of Twitter users had already discovered. Furious arguments ensued over the right to privacy, the liberties of parliament, the courts and the media and the balance between free speech and personal privacy.

The joint parliamentary committee of Lords and MPs is being established with a brief to investigate how the laws on privacy and super-injunctions are working in practice, how a balance can be struck between privacy and freedom of expression and how best to determine the public interest in such cases. Other members of the committee include Exeter Labour MP and former minister Ben Bradshaw, retired bishop Richard Harries and Stratford Tory MP Nadhim Zadawi. The other Liberal Democrat member will be Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, a former BBC producer whose great-grandfather was Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith.

The first meeting of the committee will be on Thursday, 8 September.

Martin commented: ‘It’s an enormous privilege and a responsibility to be appointed to such a high profile committee. This issue touches on our civil liberties, our right to privacy, the freedom of the press and the right of the courts not to be bullied by MPs – and vice versa. It’s a controversial field and full of strongly conflicting viewpoints. I am trying to approach it with an open mind. As a Liberal, I’m obviously conscious of the importance of defending hard-won freedoms, including freedom on the internet but I do think people have a right to a private life and we need to guard against the abuse of power by rich news organisations as well as by governments.’

Grow's 1st Birthday Celebrations at D-Fly

02 September 2011
D-Fly Cheltenham

Grow are holding a cocktail and black tie evening to celebrate their first birthday and want you to join them. 7.30pm onwards on Friday 2nd September at D-Fly, Cheltenham.

Tickets:
Standard Entry £20 to include:
· Mojitos on arrival
· Thai Canapes
· Variety of Thai Main Courses
· Cup Cake Tower
· Live Music from Saskia Says
· DJ till late &
· Casino Tables VIP

Entry £30 to include all of the above and:
· 2-4-1 on cocktails until 10pm
· £10 of casino chips

Tickets are available online from: www.growglos.org/events.

Baroque Concert at St Andrew's Church

24 September 2011
St Andrew's Church, Montpellier

Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra will present a concert of baroque music, directed from the violin by George Ewart. Soloists are Elizabeth Lester and Anna Marlowe and the concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at the Tourist Office or at the door.

Cheltenham Connect Business Day

30 September 2011, 10am - 4pm
Cheltenham Bowling Club, Suffolk Square, Cheltenham

Supported by Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood, this free event is showcasing the town’s business talent to help Gloucestershire companies meet local suppliers and advisors and to enable them to connect with South Cheltenham businesses..

Business Connect has been organised by a group of South Cheltenham businesses as part of the Cheltenham Connect initiative. It will include 20 exhibition stands, a presentation from international business expert Geoff Burch – recently voted Business Communicator of 2011 – and a networking lunch. Attendance is free, and all attendees will be entered into a prize draw to win £1,000 of services from the participating companies. Visitors can just drop in for half an hour or stay for the entire day.

“We know many businesses would like to work with more local suppliers, but don’t have time to search for the right people,” says Belinda Wilson, spokesperson for Cheltenham Connect and director of GlosJobs. “This event is an opportunity to meet a wide range of companies in one place, discuss how they could help you meet your business objectives and pick up new ideas. We believe that local businesses don’t need to go to London, Bristol or Birmingham to source top quality expert support when it is right here on their doorstep.’’

“There are lots of benefits in working with local companies – they can respond quickly, fit in a meeting when an urgent project comes up and their costs are extremely competitive. You’re also likely to find yourself working directly with an experienced professional, rather than having the majority of the work done by a junior member of staff.

“Whether you’re looking for a social media expert, a fresh new designer, advice on green issues or help in sourcing and retaining talented staff, the event will introduce you to local experts who can help.”

Connect Business takes place on Friday 30^th September 2011 at 10am – 4pm at Cheltenham Bowling Club, Suffolk Square, Cheltenham. For further information and to book a free place go to www.businessconnect.org.uk or email belinda@cheltenhamconnect.co.uk

Connect Business is organised by Cheltenham Connect, a growing community initiative with the aim of strengthening and empowering the residential and trading community of South Cheltenham.

AGENDA
10am Official opening by Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood
12 noon Presentation from Geoff Burch, internationally renowned business expert on "Go It Alone, the Streetwise Secrets of Self Employment”, followed by a book signing
1pm - 2pm Networking lunch with standholders and attendees – pre-booking essential £5.50 per person
2pm - 4pm "Have a go" at bowling
After 4pm Drinks at the bar