All posts by Elaine de Ridder

Postponement of the Duck Race

30/03/2020

The situation regarding events held during the Coronavirus epidemic is constantly changing.

As we have now been told that the progress of the pandemic will cover the next two months, the bellringers have decided to postpone the annual Duck Race, which was due to take place on Easter Sunday.

The Duck Race will now take place on Michaelmas Sunday, 27th September.

If you have already bought tickets for the Duck Race and would like a refund, please can you take them back to the Post Office or, alternatively, any ducks that remain sold will be entered in the race in September.

We know that this is frustrating and disappointing, but we feel that it is the most sensible approach to take as caring for our health is far more important. Gill Loyd

New Table Tennis Facilities

The Blewbury Table Tennis Club is now just over one year old and we are very pleased with everything that has been achieved in that time.

Over the last fifteen months we have held regular Tuesday evening club sessions and over 70 different individuals aged from 6-90 years of age have participated in our club sessions. In the early days we played on tables generously loaned by four families in the village. With generous support from the Tony Loy Trust and the Vale of the Wight Horse Active Communities Fund we now have four top quality Cornilleau Table Tennis tables, which are a joy to use both because of the quality of the playing surface but also because they are so easy to fold up and wheel around when they are not in use.

As well as our regular Tuesday evening club sessions, we have also now established a regular Tuesday afternoon After-School Table Tennis Club at Blewbury School, and both clubs have benefited from specialist coaching from a fully qualified Level 3 Coach, who visits us every now and then. On top of all that we have recently, almost seamlessly, been able temporarily to move the sessions for both Clubs from the Village Hall to Blewbury School Hall.

Sadly like so many other groups we are now suspending all Club activities as a response to the Coronavirus situation. We are however looking forward to being able to welcome new members to both of our Clubs once we start up again in the refurbished Village Hall – hopefully very soon! Roger Murphy, Club Chair

Blewbury Table Tennis Club

25/09/2019

Our weekly Club Sessions are every Tuesday from 6-8pm in the Blewbury Village Hall. These are open to players of all standards, and we welcome visitors. We have four tables, bats & balls and can provide coaching if required.

We would love to welcome some additional players this winter. Our aim is to have fun and be as inclusive as possible for anyone who would like to give it a try.

Any first visit to the Club is free. After that our weekly playing fees are £3 for Adults and £1 for those 18 and under.

From Tuesday 5th November we will be launching a Blewbury School After-School KS2 Table Tennis Club. This will meet each week during term time from 3:15 – 4:15pm. Blewbury School pupils can sign up now at the School Office.

Blewbury app

27/08/2019

HELP NEEDED TO SUPPORT THE BLEWBURY APP

It’s been a year since the Blewbury app launched and it currently has 500+ registered users – a mix of current & former residents, people from neighbouring villages and others with connections to the village. While the app largely self-manages, and we add new people every week, overall usage is unfortunately declining. To improve, it needs greater attention than I’m able to give and I’m looking for help in two areas.

First, I’m looking for someone to help with editorial, a point person to work with the Bulletin team and the village’s clubs and societies to get more content in the news feed and update the events list. The team at the Bulletin have been supportive but are too busy to take this on too. Currently I rely on those already in the habit of publishing to the app, but I believe others will post more often if the audience is there. The community self-moderates and doesn’t need policing; this is about getting content into the app, not deleting posts.

Secondly, I need someone to help with technical support; working with the team at Disciple (who host the app) to address any technical issues, and support people with simple things like password resets and logins. I currently do very little of this but my expectation is, if more people use the app more often, this will be required.

I will remain involved (not least as my company currently pays for the app’s running costs, and is responsible for data-compliance) – I’m just in need of some extra help. My guess is that each role need only take up to a few hours each week, as & when you can. Both roles are technically simple and you will get help from myself and others. The platform is simple to use with basic training.

This may appeal to anyone interested in media and marketing (practical experience like this can look good on CVs) or anyone in our community open to taking on something new. While I expect many others also want the app to succeed, I’m aware people are incredibly busy, and the community-minded are often called on to support other projects and take on more – which is why I have split this into two roles. I’m also aware that people may not want to be saddled with a job ‘forever’ so I’m only looking for an initial commitment until the end of the year. If you’re interested or have any questions, please email me at blewburycommunity@gmail.com. Thanks so much. Matt Phillips