BKV’s Litter Patrol

On Monday 8^th February, Wombourne’s Best Kept Village team launched an exciting new initiative. The ‘Litter Patrol’ was devised as a means of encouraging children aged 3-14 to stay active and get walking, taking pride in their community and leading the way in the fight against litter.

The scheme comes at a time when children have been suffering especially due to Covid-19, being isolated from friends and family, and losing that regular interaction at school, with all the complications that has at home.

It is therefore unsurprising that the launch of this new initiative became a runaway success over night. Within that first week, 65 of our youngest residents signed up and were presented with their very own litter pickers and hi-vis jackets. They really look the part! This has been an utterly amazing response, and is due to the dedication of the BKV team who are not just keen to do their bit, but also to help educate and empower the next generation.

Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr Dan Kinsey – himself a BKV volunteer – said, ‘This is absolutely inspirational. BKV has a strong relationship with the Council, and we wholeheartedly support their amazing work to help keep our village looking its best. To see the excitement on the children’s faces is absolutely wonderful, and we are all very proud of them.’

This initiative is not merely about our youngsters doing their bit though. The scheme comes with a set of ‘golden rules’ to ensure our young volunteers stay safe, and also comes with a log-book to record their activity and certificates are awarded to those who accomplish particular milestones of 5, 10, 20, 30 and even 50 picks. You might think 50 is a very ambitious target, but some of our ‘Litter Patrol’ superstars are already well on their way!

This is also so much wider than BKV itself, with local businesses joining in to support our Litter Patrol. Our very own ‘GM Home Discounts’ very kindly donated 60 litter pickers to help start the scheme, and the Estate Agents ‘Berriman Eaton’ offered to help print log-books and certificates for the children taking part. Another local business is currently sourcing further hi-vis jackets to donate too. It really is an amazing community effort.

Alison, Donna and Simon are the BKV co-ordinators for the scheme, and we send a big thank you to them and the wider team for all their hard work.

Speaking of the impact their young Litter Patrol volunteers are having, Alison said, ‘We are honoured to have them all in our team and we truly believe Wombourne’s future is in very safe hands.’

Please take the time to visit the BKV Facebook page for regular updates on Litter Patrol and everything BKV: https://www.facebook.com/wombourneBKV/

Philip Pennell

1936-2021

It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Phil Pennell on 25^th January 2021.

Chairman of the Parish Council, Councillor Dan Kinsey, said he was sad to learn of of the death of Philip, who was a founding and much loved member of Wombourne History Group, and sends his deepest condolences on behalf of Wombourne Parish Council to Sal, Nick, Mary and all of Philip’s family and friends.

Cllr. Dan Kinsey

Margaret King has provided the following appreciation:

Phil was a founder and much-valued member of WHiG.

Phil’s appreciation of Wombourne, the village in which he and his family have made their home for over 50 years, was utterly whole-hearted. That this love of the village also included its history was an enormous benefit when we came to set up WHiG for he, Tony Unwin and I were the founder members; that was when I first really came to know him and his family.

Phil was born in Birkenhead and married Mary, a Wolverhampton girl, in the town. His professional life was based in Sedgley, Worcester and Kidderminster where he worked as a Town Planning Officer ending his career as Director of Planning for Wyre Forest District Council. His MPhil thesis was on An Economic History of Bewdley 1770-1870 but one of his great passions was for maps; he liked nothing more than discussing and explaining them, particularly when WHiG mounted an exhibition. It was a great sorrow to him as for many of us that there were so few maps of Wombourne available, but he rejoiced in the splendid map which was attached to the 1840 Tithe map of the village. Another of his other passions was for Wombourne’s pubs (and presumably what they sold!). He knew a great deal about them and the subject still remains a “lost project” as he was never able to finish his long-promised article on these in time for it to be included in one of WHiG’s books. Perhaps Sal, who became his amanuensis, will make his work available at some future period.

Phil enjoyed life; he liked good food, good company and a party; Mary and he were generous hosts, but this joy for the good things of life was supported by a keen intellect. Everything he did was done with whole-hearted enthusiasm. This included driving his motorised scooter at risk to life and limb, resulting in several near accidents. Many of the current members of WHiG will not have known Phil before the major stroke which put him into a wheelchair and almost took his speech from him. Despite failing health and admissions to hospital he battled on, thanks to his own indomitable spirit and the support of Sal, Nick, Mary and a good band of carers. Those of us who knew him, particularly before his stroke, were the better for having met him. I was lucky in having his support during the early days of WHiG and my time as Secretary. I appreciated the man and all he tried to do for local history in Wombourne.

Margaret King

Help tackle bad behaviour on our roads today!

We’re looking for volunteers to grow our Community Speedwatch.

Speeding and related issues can be a real problem, but together we can help to make #saferoadsforall in Wombourne.

To express an interest, or to get involved, contact us on 01902 896300.

Halloween pumpkin fun

Due to lockdown restrictions, 3rd Wombourne Girl Guides are holding their weekly meetings on Zoom.

Last week, to celebrate Halloween, the girls and leaders carved pumpkins!

It’s lovely to see the creativity of the girls as well as their commitment to Girl Guides while not being able to meet in person at the moment!

Keep up the great work 3rd Wombourne Girl Guides.

Last week Wombourne Civic Centre welcomed Uzma from Selah Massage Therapy to our Smallbrook Room.

Uzma offering a range of massage services, for more information please see the information below or give Uzma a call on 07494157787.

Date for your diary!

If you are looking for assistance in finding work or with welfare support, put this date in your diary – Friday 11th September 2020.

There’s a free webinar available for all residents.

More details on how to join will be published soon.

We are pleased to announce that the public toilets on Windmill Bank will be re-opening on Thursday 20th August 2020.

We would ask you to follow the recommendations below to ensure that our public toilets remain a safe place for all –

• Please only use the toilets in an emergency, if you can use the toilet at home before you leave to visit the village centre and once you get home
• Carry hand gel with you and use it before you enter the toilets and after you leave
• Ensure that you wash your hands thoroughly after using the toilet, this should be for at least 20 seconds
• Ensure that social distancing is maintained if you are queuing to use the toilet

These facilities are cleaned once per day, and therefore we would ask you to be respectful of how you leave the toilets to ensure they are as clean as possible for the next person using them.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Parish Council office on 01902 896300.

Re-opening our play facilities

We would like to thank residents for their patience whilst they have been working towards re-opening our parks and play areas.

We’re pleased to announce that Bratch Park, Brickbridge Playing Fields MUGA and Poolhouse Play Area will re-open from Monday 20th July 2020.

It is imperative that residents follow some simple guidelines which are published below and will also be displayed at our parks and play areas to ensure that they remain a safe place for all.

Important Guidance

1. Do not use the equipment if you or any member of your household has Covid-19 coronavirus symptoms or are self-isolating.
2. The equipment in this park is checked regularly for damage and wear and tear but is not cleaned, sanitised or disinfected.
3. This is shared equipment, used at your own risk.
4. Make sure you have hand sanitiser with you before entering this play area.
5. Encourage everyone in your family to use hand sanitiser regularly and as a minimum before and after using the equipment.
6. Where there are clear touch points on equipment, for example, handles, it is advisable that users clean the equipment before use.
7. You MUST maintain social distancing from others unless they are from the same household – current advice is to maintain at least 1 metre (with risk mitigations) if 2 metres is not viable.
8. Each piece of equipment should be used by only one family/ bubble at a time while social distancing. Please ensure your family waits at a safe distance if the equipment is in use or return later to use the equipment.
9. Please do not touch your face, especially after using the equipment. Should you cough or sneeze, please do so into a tissue or your arm if you do not have a tissue with you. Put used tissues in the bin immediately.
10. The Government guidance states under 3’s should not wear face coverings. Parents should follow caution if older children are wearing face coverings, especially on play equipment, as this could pose an additional safety risk. If your family do wear disposable PPE, please use the bins provided or take it home with you if the bin is full. PLEASE DO NOT LITTER.
11. To mitigate the risk of transmission of Covid-19 coronavirus, the consumption of food or drink in this area is currently banned.
12. Ensure you wash your hands thoroughly when you get home.

Wombourne Parish Council will not accept any responsibility for individuals using the equipment, as users do so at their own risk.

We hope you enjoy using this play area and thank you for helping to keep everyone safe. Should you have any queries, please call the Parish Council Office on 01902 896300.

In order to observe social distancing, some pieces of equipment may be marked as out of use. Please observe this and do not try to use this equipment.

We do reserve the right to close the play areas if we feel that the guidance is not being adhered to or the parks and play areas are being misused. Your safety is paramount and we want to ensure that our recreational areas are a safe space for everyone.

As always, if you have any queries, please feel free to contact us on 01902 896300.

Wombourne Parish Council were sad to hear of the passing of former Councillor Henry (Harry) McTaggart aged 90.

Mr McTggart had served Wombourne Parish, South Staffordshire District and Staffordshire County Council’s for 26 years between 1963 and 1989.

He lived in Wombourne from 1959 until his passing on 20th May 2020.

His funeral will take place on Thursday 25th June, when will take one last journey around Wombourne village green at approximately 10.35am/10.40am before a private ceremony at Gornal Crematorium.

Our thoughts are with his children Carol, Maureen, Alison and Peter at this sad time.