We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year – now the fun starts as we all try to lose the excess pounds we gained over the silly season! We hope 2016 is everything you want it to be!
valentines ball
Tickets are now on sale for the Southgate Community Valentines Ball. If you didn’t go last year you missed a fantastic night – the community centre was beautifully decorated and tickets are great value at just £35 per person which includes a drink on arrival, a sumptuous three course meal and wine and live entertainment by the brilliant Marrakech band. The ball will take place on February 13th at the Southgate Community Centre from 7pm and you can get your tickets now from the Community Centre. All profit from the evening will be split between our new Community Garden and the Mayors Charities and we both hope to see many of you there, supporting our local community.
SHOPS
We are both really pleased that the last shop in the Hardwick Parade is at last let out meaning the parade is full for the first time in a while! We wish the Launderette the best of luck. If you haven’t visited do take a look – they have several huge machines capable of cleaning duvets which Sarah found particularly useful in the lead up to Christmas!
CYCLING
You may have noticed that some changes have happened outside the Community Centre. We have funded some cycling racks to encourage people to cycle and park their bikes safely when using the area/dropping children at school and as part of that we asked St Edmundsbury Borough Council to carry out some planting to make the area look better. We are working with Town Cllr Ann Williamson to tidy up the shrubbery around the Community Centre car park and also hope to thin out the bushes alongside the church in coming months.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
It’s full steam ahead with the Community Garden, largely thanks to Ann Williamson, Town Cllr and Chair of the Nowton Neighbourhood Residents Association. Planting has started and wood chips have been laid down, but there is still lots to do! Last month we both joined Ann and Melanie Lesser from Bury in Bloom to give an assembly at Hardwick Primary to launch a competition for the children there to name the new community garden. The children were very excited and many of them are hoping to get involved not just in the competition but in helping us all to look after the garden. If you like gardening and would like to help support this important community initiative please get in touch by email nowtonnra@gmail.com.
Changes to the Fire Service
Suffolk County Council are currently consulting on proposed changes to the Fire and Rescue Service across the County. This is a consultation at the moment and there is still plenty of time for us all to have our say on the suggested changes before any decisions are made.
