June 2013 Issue 106

Sorby House will be filled with Council services by March 2014, including Burngreave Library, the Housing Office, Community Youth Teams and the Multi-Agency Support Team (MAST).

Repairs to the main streets in Burngreave will begin in June.

South Yorkshire Police report that a firearm was fired at a property on Rock Street at around 11.15pm on Thursday 11th April.

• Thank you to our distributors

• Compassion in hard times

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A project which helps Roma Slovak children improve their achievement at local primary schools has taken on 5 trainee teaching assistants in order to expand the service

Sheffield City Council have applied for planning permission to build a two-storey primary school building on land at Skinnerthorpe Road in Fir Vale.

From June 1st Verdon Recreation Centre will be run by Pye Bank School, following budget cuts which resulted in Activity Sheffield cutting all staff support at the centre in April.

On Saturday 15th April around 20 local residents lobbied Councillor Jackie Drayton’s surgery at Burngreave Library in protest at the huge cuts to local services.

A meeting was held at Pakistan Advice and Community Association on the 15th May to voice concerns about proposals for ‘Selective Licensing’, a landlord licensing scheme in Fir Vale.

Carwood tenants met with the Council in April to complain about the district heating system which broke down in the cold weather and snow in March.

Burngreave allotment holders attended a meeting at the Quaker Meeting House about the increase in rents, which will triple by 2014/5.

Giulia Gigliobianco and her Dad, Cosimo, are challenging themselves to a Sheffield to London bike ride, in aid of the medical research charity, RAFT.

I went along to Windmill Lane allotments to find out about the Trade Base Community Allotment.

Mental health problems are common – but nearly nine out of ten people who experience them say they face discrimination.

Anyone can be affected by breathing in second hand smoke, but children are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of cigarette smoke as their lungs and immune systems are not fully developed. This puts them at a higher risk of developing conditions including bronchitis, pneumonia, meningitis, ear infections and asthma

Evidence shows that obesity, infant mortality and poor health are strongly connected, and rates are higher in some black and minority ethnic (BME) groups. Recent studies have shown that obese children are more likely to have raised blood pressure, diabetes type 2, and high cholesterol and blood sugar levels. And the risk of children suffering from stroke and heart disease later in life is higher.

If your baby is approaching six months old you are probably starting to think about weaning them onto solid food. Weaning is the process babies go through when they move away from milk being their only food and start to eat solid food. It is important to wait until six months before you try your baby with solid food as your baby’s digestive system will not cope with solid food before then.

Local mental health campaign group, MAAT Probe Group, hosted an event at the Vestry Hall on 26th March, to share all they had learned from their successful work to change Control and Restrain in mental health care to a more humane technique called RESPECT. The event was attended by service users, and mental health professionals and organisations.

You may have considered quitting for Ramadan before but have not had the information or support to make a quit attempt. Let this be the year that you succeed

Pitsmoor Adventure Playground showed its value to the community when it held a Family Fun Day on 20th April.

George is strangely overjoyed about some exam news in Edgar Lowman's latest cartoon.

Story:Aksa Shahid & Robiann Brown On 2nd April 2013 Robiann Brown and Aksa Shahid in Y6 at Byron Wood Primary School, went to Tudor Hall School in Oxfordshire, for they had won a place in the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

If you go down to the woods today…

In the wooded area, at the bottom of the playground, interesting things are happening.

Talented local schoolboy Inez Younis, from Hucklow Primary School, has been selected to play for the Yorkshire under 11’s cricket team.

“Family Learning” happens at Firs Hill School every Wednesday morning from 9.30-11.30am. There are courses running right through the year!

Saturday 6th July 2013 11.30 – 3.30 Longley Avenue West, Shirecliffe

In the June 2012 issue we caught up with young boxer Muheeb Fazeldin who had just turned professional. Since then, he has won two professional fights and secured sponsorship from the Burngreave Building Company.

Rising athletics star, Essa Ahmed, has recently received recognition from the Young People’s awards on the 25th February at Sheffield Hallam University. Attending the ceremony he received a special achievement award for sport as well as for the progress he has made in other areas.

Story: Mick Ashman Next year Earl Marshall Juniors will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary and, for the first time, it will have two teams competing in Division A, the top Division in the Sheffield and District Junior League, after the both Under 12s and Under 11s secured promotion.

Photo: John Mellor Ellesmere Youth Project and Burngreave Works organised an employment event at the Vestry Hall on 22nd May, to support young people to think about their futures.

10th June will be the last day for adults to claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) before it is replaced with PIP – Personal Independence Payment.

The ‘Knit and Natter’ group, run by the Primary Mental Health Care Project and held at the Ashram on Spital Hill, celebrated their 5th anniversary in May

Burngreave Foodbank went the extra mile when ‘Phil the trolley’ visited Burngreave as part of the nationwide ‘Trolley Push’ on 22nd April.

The new Burngreave/Pitsmoor Community choir under the guidance of Janine Dyer meets in the Welcome Centre (Nottingham Street at the back of Christchurch) every Thursday at 7 pm. New members are very welcome to sing contemporary and gospel music. The choir is relaxed, fun and a great chance to improve your singing! Why not pop along for just £1 per session.

Story: Patrick Duggan| Photos: Sharon Baker In April, St Catherine’s 205th Scout Group celebrated its 70th anniversary at their HQ on Holtwood Road.

Watoto Pre-School, the early years education and childcare service, have been rewarded for the quality of their work.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a multilingual poetry competition, celebrating cultural diversity and the many languages currently spoken and studied.

Permaculture Association UK celebrated its 30th birthday in and around Burngreave over the weekend of May 4th and 5th.

With support of cycling groups CTC and Pedal Ready, women have been learning to cycle at Fir Vale and Byron Wood School for several years. From 7th June these groups will be moving to Abbeyfield Park.

The sun almost shone on Saturday the 18th May for the annual plant sale and AGM of Grimesthorpe Allotment Society.

The final meeting of the North East Community Assembly took place on 2nd May at Shirecliffe Community Centre with just 12 local residents present.

Harry Brearley, who discovered Stainless Steel in 1913, was born on 18th February 1871 in a back-to-back off Spital Street, Pitsmoor, in what was known as a House, Chamber and Garret.

A group of intrepid local historians set off from Burngreave Cemetery early in May to visit the National Coal Mining Museum at Wakefield.

Chile Sports, Culture and Development Association (SCDA) moved into Abbeyfield House last month after fifteen years in nearby Norbury Resource Centre.

Green City Action has recruited Sarah Emberson to co-ordinate the newly-relaunched Toolbank at Abbeyfield House.

From April 2013, the Government is introducing new rules to restrict the amount of benefit you can claim if you are renting your home.

A Messenger reader who lives on Whiteways Road is looking for help to find her missing cat.

This year's festival will take place on Sunday 7th July.

The post will include reception duties, data input, general office tasks and word processing / IT skills at Pitsmoor Surgery.

• Salary: £6.44 – £8.51 per hour subject to experience / qualifications

• Closing date: 30th June 2013

For visually impaired person.

• 15 hours per week (flexible).

• £7.00 per hour

• Closing date: 1st July 2013

If you want to quit smoking and save money contact Emma, Burngreave Community Stop Smoking Advisor, for FREE confidential support.

Wednesday 12th June 2013 at the Furnival Community Centre. For local Lunch Club and other community volunteers who may come across people with memory problems.

Family fun day, Saturday 29th June 11am – 4pm.

The cafe is open Wednesdays 11am – 1pm

Please join Elodie All Sainte on 15th June 2013 for a day of fun, exhibition, African dance and foods and find out more about what the organisation is doing.

Coffee morning on June 13th and the Summer Garden Party on June 22nd. Plus: two pianos to give away!

Upcoming events at Burngreave Cemetery, including the well-dressing, Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Join the Fountain Of Life Christian Centre for a monthly coffee morning.