News

Evening everyone. The Ashton Soapbox Race IV team are looking for volunteers for this year’s event on New Year’s Day.

They need marshalls, which is a VIR (Very Important Role!) with responsibility for the safety of drivers and spectators. You’ll also enjoy a front row view of the karts and your own walkie talkie & fluorescent jacket!

Volunteers also needed to help run the food and drink stalls, where bacon baps, coffee, tea, hot chocolate & beer will be on offer; perfect post NYE recovery food!

This is a fantastic event and fun for everyone, young and old. Please please contact Matt on 07968 187820‬ or at matt.cyphus@canaccord.comcreate new email, if you can spare a couple of hours.

Click here to enter your kart:  opens in a new windowhttps://bookwhen.com/races-events/e/ev-scd6-20240101090000

You may have read Nigel Ackers’ post about the damage to the marquee, a few days ago.

 The Parish Council and Social Centre need to inform you that this is not an isolated incident. Over the past few months children and teenagers have committed damage by over enthusiastic play or sheer vandalism on the new tennis/netball courts and play area. 

The courts have tyre rubber skids marks on them now, children have been swinging on the netball posts, clogging the tennis posts’ winding mechanism, playing football and rugby in their studded boots, chipping the surface practicing hockey, playing basketball, etc. etc. The courts have a special sports surface now. Tennis and netball, with appropriate footwear, are the only activities to be played on there. 

One of the benches for parents to sit on in the Play Area has systematically had the back-support slats broken by kicking/smashing them. Five slats have been smashed so far. The Cricket Club experience similar issues from time to time.

The total investment for the courts, play area and marquee is in the region of £90,000. In the final analysis, you have funded these projects directly or indirectly. All of you are our key stakeholders. It would be very sad, not to mention wasteful financially, if the tennis courts were to revert to the sorry state they were in previously. Please help us to keep your facilities in great condition.

The Parish Council and Social Centre members have recently met to discuss these issues and will identify children who have, because of over enthusiasm or blatant negative behaviour, damaged equipment or facilities. We please need the support of villagers to contact Social Centre or Parish Council members if they witness that youngsters are misbehaving in this way. Parents will be contacted when damage occurs, when these children are identified. 

We did wonder if parents could sit their children down and discuss these issues with them.

Perhaps discuss where your children are playing when unsupervised. What are they doing after school, or in the evenings? Fun play, health, fitness, developing social skills and a social conscience are crucial in our children’s development and should be encouraged. We all desire this for our children. Please can we work together to achieve these goals, but in a way that is not anti-social?

Maybe you or your children themselves might have ideas of some activities or facilities that one would wish to develop? The Social Centre are looking for suggestions, they have been asking for ideas for projects in the village. We still need new active members to join the Social Centre. Why not join us to influence policies and develop facilities, services and activities? 

Together we can make a difference!

Thank you for listening.

Ashton Parish Council and Ashton Social Centre

Advance warning that Beckford Rd, outside St Barbara’s church, will be closed from 22-24 February to allow Severn Trent to connect St Barbara’s newly installed water pipe to their mains supply. This will be during half-term week. More information in attached or please log into

https://one.network/

Input post code and search under ‘Next 3 months’.

Finally, around 900 years since it was first built, there will be a supply of fresh water to the church!

Please  click here for an update about our new tennis/netball courts.

A very big thank you to our Craft Club members for their brilliant Remembrance Poppy ‘yarn bombs’, examples of which are adorning the village. They look amazing!

Exciting news, here is the final programme for our fete on Saturday 10th September. Think we need a whole weekend, not just an afternoon and evening, there is so much going on! Please do support it if you can and tell your friends.