April 2012 Issue 99

A 13 year old from Firvale school is proving to be a success as a runner despite having only trained for the past year. Essa Ahmed of Firvale began running for the school team after the coach took him under his wing.

Over £1 million is to be spent on improving the Spital Hill shopping area.

A new park is being created that should help keep the Wicker flood-free.

The lights are going out on the Wicker as the cuts bite.

The Burngreave Messenger is about to become a teenager! In July, we’ll be celebrating our 13th birthday and in June, we’ll be putting out our 100th issue – quite an achievement for a community magazine run mainly on the time, effort, skills and goodwill of local volunteers.

Information about the Burngreave Messenger, contact details, next copy deadlines and thank you to this month's vounteers.

To look at, Spital Hill is not suffering at all. Very few of the shops are empty, with several new businesses establishing themselves in recent months, ranging from new take-aways to clothing shops. The greatest fear is for the grocery stores, so we focused our attention on these.

Queen Shop is a new shop on Spital Hill, selling fashion clothing for women.

Local residents have raised concerns about proposed staff changes at Verdon Recreation Centre and Pitsmoor Adventure Playground, both run by Activity Sheffield.

The £78,446 Discretionary Budget for the Community Assembly allocated to Burngreave ward seems a lot, but it’s £30,000 less than last year’s allocation.

Work starts soon at Parkwood Springs, on an exciting new mountain bike trail, funded by Sport England and European Value. The free, open access trail is designed to be accessible and promote skills development at all levels from novice to expert rider.

Gamers’, but foresters, have been in Greater Roe Woods. They’ve been leaving pink dots on trees to be thinned, which will encourage the tree canopy and nesting birds. The foresters have also been raising the next stand of oak to bring on a tall ‘Treeland Standards’ habitat.

The winds and storms of winter toss rubbish about and leave our open spaces unattractive.

Wensley residents have been targeted by metal thieves in recent months, with a number of garden gates going missing.

Residents are expressing anger after metal theft has been continually taking place in Fir Vale and Page Hall, with large amounts of metal having been taken from their own private backyards.

At the lower end of Abbeyfield Road, near Osgathorpe Road, two fairly young trees planted several years ago and a quite substantial mature tree have been cut down.

The Council have now sold 24 of the 32 properties they owned in Page Hall, raising a total of £856,358.

On the 19th of February 2012, the Muslim community united and came together, on a surprisingly sunny afternoon, on the streets of Fir Vale to celebrate the life and birth of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing Be Upon Him).

Fir Vale's Astroturf is an importanmt facility in the area but it’s been closed to local groups since November.

Bill Stead, of Rock Street, celebrated his 90th birthday with his family and friends at the ‘Normanton public house’ recently.

I know there is much hype out there surrounding PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) but a lot of people in Pitsmoor are probably owed some. You can easily claim it back and you don’t need to use a claims company

International Women’s Day is celebrated in March to recognise the critical role and contribution that women make, not just in the family but in the community. It helps empower women and achieve a better society

Muslim Women’s Voices is a group based in Burngreave whose aim is to listen to and involve Muslim women who are at risk of being socially excluded on the grounds of their religion, belief, gender, race or other social or economic disadvantage.

Burngreave’s schools celebrated World Book Day on 1st March 2012 with book-related events and costumes.

On Tuesday the 7th of February 2012 Byron Wood Primary School had a talent show, “Byron Wood’s Got Talent"

In February's half-term break, a group of young people from different schools and colleges in the city, including Parkwood Academy and Sheffield College, made a short film for an Olympic Games film competition.

Cartoon from Edgar Lowman

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK but is a very treatable cancer in most women, especially if it is found in the early stages. More than 8 out of 10 women survive breast cancer.

Burngreave Healthy Communities has been working on helping people manage and prevent Type 2 Diabetes in recent months.

Several serious accidents are making local people increasingly concerned about their safety and the difficulties of using new road crossings.

On Friday 9th March 58 children from the Byron Wood choir were invited to participate in the Music for Youth Regional Festival to perform in front of an audience and two adjudicators.

Streetwise Sam has joined Byron Wood School to help children become aware of road safety.

The Friends of Firs Hill School and the School Council have begun a project to reduce the levels of litter and dog fouling in the area around the school.

Owler Brook School had a friendship week

From 5th March 2012, children explored the meaning of Fairtrade and how they support farmers across the world.

Hucklow school pupils are working on a major enterprise project, aiming to learn the key skills required to plan, design and produce products

we are running (perhaps the first ever in Sheffield) Muslim-focused mother, baby and toddler group, every Wednesday

The aims to teach people how to make small changes to improve their own health and the health of their families and community.

a fundraising writing event for people who wanted to write but never had a chance to demonstrate their skills.

If you don't know what a great resource we have on our doorsteps, it’s time you visited Burngreave Library.

School holiday activity provision for young people from 2nd to 15th April

30 volunteers are Communication Ambassadors in Sheffield.

A tale of Love, Life and Allotments

Practical conservation sessions for volunters

The BCAF public meeting will be held on Saturday 14th April 2012 at 11am at Pitsmoor Methodist Church, Burngreave Rd

Easter events

Public Meeting

Contact us on (0114) 203 7562

email: communityassemblynortheast@sheffield.gov.uk,

or write to: Firth Park Library, 443 Firth Park Road, Sheffield, S5 6QQ.

Blog – http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/northeastnews

Website – http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/northeast

Next to Bruce’s grocery store on Scott Road is .net, a new internet café and mobile phones and accessory shop. It provides a variety of services, including mobile phone unlocking, top-ups, phone and PC repairs and even a Playstation to come and play games online.

Tea gardens outing and tea gardens public house

Burngreave Messenger letters page April 2012

Local resident, Andrew Richards, has written to Tesco Manager, Mark Collings to complain about the new cycle lane on Spital Hill.

• Do not leave metal items unsecured in your front or back yards;

• Secure backyards from any attacks;

• Do not challenge metal thieves;

• Report any metal theft to the police.

• If you wish to report metal theft, contact South Yorkshire police on 101.

Extra content and photos exclusive to the website for the April 2012 issue.

Language Line services are recruiting Freelance Face to Face Interpreters in Sheffield. Uurgent vacancies

FREE event for parents/carers of children with additional needs from all communities. Saturday 5th May 2012 at SADACCA. Find out about services and organisations to help your child