Category Archives: Editorial

Editorial

The Whister – June 2014

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WWI Recruitment Poster Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
WWI Recruitment Poster
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

 

Treasure Hunt

The Annual General Meeting of West Hill Community Association was held on 29 April 2014 at the Hall. The Committee was re-elected and looks forward to another successful year of providing a well-maintained community space that is West Hill Hall.

After the resounding success of last year’s Treasure Hunt, the dynamic duo of Dorothy and the esteemed Mr Jackson (Bright News) are teaming up again for this year’s event on Sunday 27 July. Meet at West Hill Hall at 1.45pm and set off from 2pm (entry £1 per adult, 50p per child).

There will be a welcome at the Hall, the ever-altruistic Meena and Vinod (Bright News) will be providing refreshments; a sunny afternoon has been ordered and there will be a number of intriguing clues along the way to keep you puzzled.

Suitable for the whole family (dogs welcome) or a team of friends to join in. It is an enjoyable way to spend your Sunday afternoon and see/learn/explore more of your local area.

There are prizes to be won, including a prize for the best team name. Get your thinking caps on!

 

Editorial

The Whistler – April 2014

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Hippodrome_vaudeville

The Annual General Meeting of the West Hill Community Association, at which the accounts will be adopted and committee elected, will be held on Tuesday 29 April 2014 at the West Hill Hall at 7.15pm. Nominations for the committee must be seconded and sent with the written consent of the nominee to the Hall. The business of the meeting will be followed by our perennial favourite, the Quiz. Refreshments and bonhomie free. All are welcome.

The Association was sorry to hear of the recent death of Rhona Gregory of Compton Avenue, who was a member for many years and who regularly helped Pam Bean with the Grand Sales that used to take place in the Hall, and who also volunteered to help with the Association’s accounts. We shall miss her greatly and we send our warm wishes to her husband, Robert.

The green shoots of Spring are beginning to break through and we welcome Stephen, a new member to the Wildlife Garden Club, where residents can potter around in the Hall garden just because they like to see things grow!

The Festival and the Fringe Festival get underway in May and we are fortunate to have so many events near our doorstep at St Michael’s church.

Read all about the campaign to save Brighton Hippodrome here on The Whistler

Editorial

The Whistler – February 2014

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Rubbish
West Hill Conservation Area

COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

The picture above shows the recycling bins in Buckingham Road. When The Whistler printed edition went to press on 19 January, the usual weekend build-up of bottles and recycling detritus was in full swing. Bill and Maria Eady, used to enjoy living in Buckingham Road but their lives have changed since the recycling bins have been placed right outside their door. When they are not full to bursting, crashing bottles being dumped in the bins at all hours of the day and night are a familiar sound. Since then, the bottle bin has been removed altogether and relocated to Buckingham Street.

On the Letters page Councillor Pete West provides a lame response to the issue of non-collection since the Christmas  period. The point is that since  weekly kerbside collections in West Hill were replaced by the woefully inadequate collection from communal bins, has anyone from the council actually monitored the required frequency of collection to prevent the West Hill conservation area from regularly looking like a slum?

While flat roofs are refused planning permission by the council  for being ‘visually harmful’, the same council’s actions have allowed this visually horrific situation to build up. However, residents must also take some responsibility for adding to the rubbish piles. Do we think about walking a bit further to find another bin or taking our recycling home until the bins are empty?  Do we just curse the council and toss the recycling into the non-recycling bin anyway as we’re on our way somewhere else?

Write to The Whistler and tell us what you think.

Editorial

The Whistler – December 2013

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Wintry Bandstand by Clare Harms
Wintry Bandstand by Clare Harms

SEASON’S GREETINGS
The holiday season over December and January is traditionally the time when families get together. But there are those who are lonely and who feel especially lonely at this time of the year. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, recently raised the issue of loneliness.

According to the Campaign to End Loneliness, there are 800,000 people in England who are chronically lonely. 46% of people aged 80 or over report feeling lonely some of the time or often. 5m people say television is their main form of company. Studies show that chronic loneliness wrecks one’s health: pushing up stress levels, increasing blood pressure, disrupting sleep, even bringing on dementia. Air pollution increases your chances of dying early by 5%; obesity by 20%. Excessive loneliness pushes up your odds of an early death by 45%. Hunt thinks that every lonely person has someone who could visit them and offer companionship.

Readers who have heard the story of 38 year-old Joyce Carol Vincent, who lay dead and undiscovered in her flat for three years from 2003, or seen Carol Morely’s film about her, ‘Dreams of a Life’, will know that it’s not just older people who suffer from loneliness. Morley’s 2011 drama-documentary, shows city living as a series of weak links, forgettable friendships and single people getting by in their single housing units. By the end of it, you not only understand how a person can disappear from view; you wonder how many others suffer the same fate.

Surveys by the Mental Health Foundation suggest that young people are more likely to feel lonely than older people. Britain has seen a big rise in people living alone, from 17% of all households in 1971 to 31% now. Is Brighton & Hove immune from these statistics? Not likely.

WHCA is holding a special early Quiz on New Year’s Eve, Tues 31 Dec at 7pm in West Hill Hall. It will be a warm and social occasion where everyone is welcome. Come for the Quiz – where fun is had and clues are given – and we’ll raise a glass or two with our neighbours, and leave time enough for people to go onto other New Year celebrations or just go home having met some new people.

Editorial

The Whistler – October 2013

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Fruity Season of Mellow Concerts not to be Missed
Fruity Season of Mellow Concerts not to be Missed

WEST HILL NEWS

STOP PRESS: Unfortunately, the classical music concert on 11 October has been cancelled due to ill health, but the one on 25 October will go ahead as planned.

West Hill Hall has said goodbye to two long term regulars this Autumn. Judi Campbell, who has run Drama Workshops on Saturday mornings, has decided to retire after 13 years, and Poppy Tamara, who has been running the Mini Movers dance group for toddlers on Thursday mornings for 3 years has also decided to pack up her music box. We wish them well. West Hill Hall has been standing for over 100 years and has seen many groups come and go.

The Hall has a long waiting list for the popular weekday evening slots, and now we can offer these two Thursday and Saturday morning slots for regular bookings. If you’re interested in hiring the Hall please email westhillhall@gmail.com with details of what you’d like to use it for. We have many different groups at the Hall: after a summer break, we are happy to see Monique and Mirelle and their Sensory Baby Hub back on Mondays, and Meeting Mums on Wednesday afternoons. Meeting Mums is a weekly drop-in meeting for mums (with or without their babies and toddlers) where they can talk, share, recharge, listen, be heard or just wander around. We also welcome newcomer Paul Collins who is running a guided meditative practice of self enquiry early evening on Mondays. See full details of regular activities in the Hall right here

We also offer the Hall for one-off activities. After a disastrous party last October, when the Hall was left in a horrendous state, we’ve introduced a no-adult party policy but children’s parties are really popular and we’re already taking repeat bookings for next year. When the kids reach 13 years old they’re going to have to find somewhere else! Together with treasure hunts, quizzes, meditation workshops, dance classes, rehearsals, seminars, recording and photography sessions, there’s no end to what the Hall can be used for in a responsible way. We restrict amplified music evenings to a maximum of two weekends per month with selected music promoters.