Newsletter ~ September 2004
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
My year as President has been interesting – and certainly challenging.
The biggest challenge was negotiating with Mole Valley District Council to justify the Chamber’s role in running the market in Leatherhead High Street and to establish a Service Level Agreement with them for this to continue.
I am pleased to say that this Agreement is now in place – it came into effect on the first market day in August – and means that the Chamber will continue to run the market for the next five years. This has been well received by the market traders, already there has been a new trader in to “test the water”, and there have been other expressions of interest.
The Chamber continued to hold various networking events for Members – the “Mix & Mingle” evenings where Members had the opportunity to give a two-minute presentation to describe themselves and their businesses were good fun evenings.
The Chamber continued to be represented on the various working groups and forums in the town – in particular the Leatherhead Town Centre Forum, the Town Centre Manager Steering Group, Leatherhead Ahead and of course the Christmas Festival Committee.
Leatherhead itself is a much more vibrant town than it was a year ago. The arrival of the Travelodge Hotel, Argos, Cannons Health Club, new restaurants and some very interesting small shops has given a real buzz to the town.
Success of course brings its own problems – and intensifies old ones. The issues of parking, signage, access and transport still have to be resolved, and the Chamber will continue to press for a speedy resolution to these issues.
I have been very fortunate in the support I have received from my colleagues and would like to take this opportunity of thanking them for their help and advice throughout the year.
But my biggest thanks go to you, the Members, for your support for the Chamber throughout the year.
My sincerest thanks to you all.
John Howarth, Chamber President
Leatherhead Town Centre & District
… Lucy
Hanson ~ Leatherhead Town Centre Manager
A warm welcome to the following new businesses who have opened in the town centre over recent weeks:
· Toprunner based in Church Street, who specialise in footwear and clothing for runners;
· Toni and Guy hairdressers who opened in the High Street;
· Specsavers opticians who recently opened in the Swan Centre;
· Tony’s Tattoo Studio, located in Bridge Street and offering body piercing as well as tattooing.
Businesses in the town centre will shortly be receiving information regarding a Christmas and New Year publication called ‘Yuletide’ which the Town Centre Management team will be working on. The magazine will be a 12-page, high-gloss, full-colour-throughout publication in a format which is slightly smaller than A4. The publication will be posted directly to 38,000 Mole Valley residents and businesses, with extra copies available for local town centre distribution. The magazine is a joint initiative with Dorking Town Management, and will be the definitive guide to what is happening in the two town centres over the Christmas and New Year period. ‘Yuletide’ is a not-for-profit magazine which will only be published with support from local businesses, so please get involved.
For further information, please contact me, Lucy Hanson, via Telephone: 01372 363652 or Email: lucy.hanson@molevalley.gov.uk, or pop in to see me at the Help Shop, 25-29 High Street, Leatherhead.
Test The LEATHERHEAD POPULation !
That’s right … not the BBC’s popular “Test the Nation” … but LeatherheadAhead’s own version … a Quiz Night which is being held on the evening of Saturday, 23rd October at 7.30 p.m. in the Parish Church Hall, Church Road, Leatherhead, to benefit the Leatherhead Christmas Festival. So … how brainy ARE you and your colleagues … enough to thrash the competition ? !!
Each Quiz Team is allowed up to eight contestants, and tickets are priced at £10 per person … this cost includes a “Fish & Chip” supper … but please bring along your own drinks and glasses. A Prize Raffle will also take place during the evening.
Quiz Night tickets are available from Valerie Wilson, 01372 378125, Paula Sabine, 01372 378604, or from the Help Shop, 25/29 High Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 8AB, 01372 363385.
Bookings are now being taken for Christmas Trees ~ the delivery, decoration and display of which is once again being organised by David & Sylvia Sharland on behalf of the Leatherhead Chamber. The Town Centre is enhanced throughout the Yuletide Season by these Christmas trees … which are wall-mounted throughout the High Street, Bridge Street, North Street and Church Street. Our warm thanks, as always, go to David & Sylvia for all their hard work in helping to create a bright and cheerful Leatherhead each Christmastime. The cost of a tree … dressed with its lights and placed in an existing wall bracket towards the end of November … is a very reasonable £35 (those businesses which already partake will be receiving an invoice for their tree in due course) … and this charge also covers the maintenance of the lights throughout the festive period, as well as the dismantling/removal of the tree after Christmas. All profit, having covered the cost of replacement lights, goes towards the Town’s Christmas Festival.
If you haven't displayed a tree in the past and would like to add your support to the town effort by doing so this year, please contact David & Sylvia on: 01372 274795.
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Patricia Lawless ~ Swan Centre Manager
The 21st of August “Duck Race” on the River Mole and the “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” which took place in the Swan Centre afterwards were each very well supported and a tremendous success … an impressive £1,444 was raised, and this sum will go towards the 2004 Leatherhead Christmas Festival.
The Christmas Festival will be held on Saturday 4th December. It will be a fun-packed day for all the family and will follow a similar format to previous years – full details will be available nearer the time.
[Patricia Lawless, Swan Centre Manager – Tel: 01372 376358]
Leatherhead Bridges Exhibition
Fire and Iron Gallery is delighted to present a special exhibition for ‘artsalive2004’ (Mole Valley Arts Festival). Sponsored by Chamber Member KBR, ‘Silent Witnesses’ exhibits mixed-media images of Leatherhead bridges by Dorothea Kramer Jones:
“Bridges fascinate me because, as well as simply enabling
travel or trade, they are often sites of transition. Bridges can symbolise freedom or loss of
homeland, conflict, romance, even death.
Beautiful, ugly or menacing, bridges stand as silent witnesses to the
human stories with which they are imprinted.
In their interplay between representation and abstraction, my
mixed-media paintings echo the theme of transition. People used to say “the camera never lies”. That was never entirely true, and is much
less so in this digital age. Despite
that knowledge, our first impulse is still to believe that what we see in
photographs is real. I subvert
assumptions of reality by cropping my photographs, saturating the colours and
over-sharpening the pictures. Then, by
painting on the glossy surfaces of the electronically-produced photographs, I
cause them to become sites of transition.
Painted marks, made in an intuitive response to the photographs, offer
new textures, colours and transparencies, creating images which oscillate
between representation and abstraction.”
Also on display will be the story of Leatherhead’s new public art metalwork, designed around the theme of ‘Bridges’. Involving the main communities which use the town centre, the metalwork features bridges linking the town to North Leatherhead, South Leatherhead, Fetcham, Bookham and Ashtead.
Visit the exhibition at the Fire and Iron Gallery, Oxshott Road, Leatherhead. It is open Monday to Saturday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., until Saturday 30th October. There is free entry and parking, and please note that there are three steps into the gallery.
[Fire and Iron Gallery, Telephone: 01372-386453, Website: www.fireandiron.co.uk]
Making Your Website Disabled-Friendly
New legislation is coming into force in October requiring all businesses to be accessible to people with disabilities. The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act already requires information providers to make their services accessible, and this applies to websites as well.
This could be people who are:
· motor impaired (unable to use a mouse or keyboard);
· visually impaired (use a screen reader);
· hard of hearing (and therefore cannot listen to audio material);
· and others with low-technology browsers or equipment.
Not only does having a website without easy accessibility impact on your potential visitors, but it can also cost you potential revenue.
The problems most often faced by disabled web users are:
· Cluttered pages (too much information in too little space).
· Confusing navigation (including no text option).
· Failure to describe images (using 'alt' tags).
· Poor colour contrast between background and text.
· Animations.
· Not having information in easy-to-read paragraphs.
If you were to disable external scripts, images, and style sheets, would your website still be useable? If not, then it is required that you make it so.
Making your website disabled-friendly need not be an expensive, time-consuming task.
One method is to ensure the site is structured in such a way so that people with disabilities can not only read its content without problems, but also navigate your site easily.
Another, more time-consuming, method is to provide an alternative version of your site without unnecessary images and other clutter. However, having two versions of your site (unless they are powered by a single database, for example) can be an administrative nightmare to keep current; you would be spending twice as long as usual to update it.
We recommend that businesses consider restructuring their HTML code to use a system called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This produces a plain-text website, but is formatted nicely using an external style file. So, not only do your usual visitors see a nicely-designed website, but anyone accessing your site with a disability, or using a web browser that ignores the style sheet, will still have an easy-to-navigate site.
If you have any questions regarding making your website accessible for everyone, please contact us FREE on 0808 178 9990 for a complimentary website assessment.
[Bleckfield Ltd, Devonshire House, 66 Church Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 8DP]
The Leatherhead Citizens Advice Bureau has asked us to point out that From 1 October 2004 the Employment Act 2002 requires all new and existing contracts of employment to include statutory disciplinary and statutory grievance procedures.
The DTI website at (www.dti.gov.uk) gives more information about new changes which may affect you.
The ACAS website (www.acas.org.uk) can give you more information – including online training – designed to encourage you, as an employer, to develop and set up a disciplinary and grievance procedure in your workplace. As well as using this for training purposes, this programme can also be used as an information resource to help you with any discipline and grievance issues.
ACAS (08457 474747) also has a helpline for all aspects of employment law.
The Champagne Reception after the Annual Carol Service on December 16th is going to be in aid of the Neonatal Unit at St. George’s Hospital, Tooting. All of the food and wine for the occasion is being donated, and it is hoped to raise money for the unit at the Reception.
The NNU is a regional centre of excellence, providing medical care for 450-550 new-born babies each year. It is one of the largest Units in London providing such specialist facilities.
Many of the babies need urgent treatment because they have been born prematurely, or they need intensive care because of infection.
The unit has approximately 150 staff.
The Friends of the NNU is a registered charity and was set up by a group of dedicated parents and staff so that people could support the Unit directly, and it is still run by a similar group of volunteers. Money raised from donations and events is used for equipment, social projects and family and staff well-being.
Please put the date of 16th December in your diary
and support this very worthwhile cause.
The Chamber extends a warm welcome to our new Members ~ we hope they enjoy the benefits of Membership, and we look forward to meeting them at future Chamber events.
Became a Member at the very end of July, and is an occupational health consultancy based at: Bridge Cottage, Stonebridge, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 4DN. Sage can assist businesses with meeting employer's legal responsibilities under health and safety law, management of health risks in the workplace, enhancement of employee health and performance, and prevention of employee ill health through active training, screening and education programmes. For further information, please contact Mrs Angela Tomlinson, Proprietor, via telephone/fax: 01306 881237 or Email: angela@sageoh.com. You can also visit the Website at: www.sageoh.com.
Joined the Chamber at the beginning of September, having opened its doors on the 23rd of August, and is located at: 17 Church Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 8DG. Toprunner is managed by Mrs Elaine Denny, MD, and Mrs Christine McParland, MD, and specialises in shoes and clothing for all standards of runner. Trainers and clothing for gym users are also stocked. To contact Toprunner call: 01372 834160, fax: 01372 836425 or Email: info@toprunner.co.uk. The Website can be found at: www.toprunner.co.uk.
Taking place in the Shell Room at Fetcham Park House on the 16th of September prior to the Autumn Reception, the AGM was an interesting meeting and incorporated some changes to the Board of Directors. Our President for the past year, John Howarth (QVD Associates) agreed to stand at the helm for a further year, and was voted in accordingly.
Special thanks must go to John for the huge amount of time he has spent on the Chamber’s behalf during his first year in office … he has been instrumental in raising the profile of the Leatherhead Chamber within the local community, and has also completed successful negotiations with Mole Valley District Council to ensure a healthy future for the Leatherhead Market.
Warren Dachtler and Maurice Johnson have each retired from the Board … our thanks to Warren and Maurice for the time and effort they have spent on the Chamber’s behalf during their tenure. Maurice will, though, continue to vet Planning Applications to MVDC on the Chamber’s behalf. Two new Directors … Angela Bigwood (DragonRidge Limited) and Patricia Lawless (Swan Centre Management) … were nominated and duly elected. The Chamber’s Accounts were read by Linda Bromley, who remains as Vice President.
The Minutes of the 2004 AGM will be despatched to Members along with the November Newsletter.
The Chamber’s Board of Directors until September 2005 will be:
President John Howarth
Vice President Linda Bromley
Directors: Bruce Andrews (Past President)
Angela Bigwood
Patrick Crips-Villiers
Nick Hoskins
Patricia Lawless
Mike Menni
Peter Snell
Secretary & Treasurer (Non-Director) Paul McWhirter
Our warm thanks to all those above who have agreed to serve as Chamber Officers ~ and whose willingness to give freely of their time in support of the Leatherhead Chamber and its Members is greatly appreciated.
The Autumn Reception & Social, held in The Salon immediately after the AGM, was extremely well attended by a gathering which included Chamber Members and representatives from both local government and several local organisations.
Members and guests were welcomed in a speech by newly re-elected Chamber President John Howarth. John also made a presentation of an inscribed tankard to Bruce Andrews in recognition of the three years Bruce had served as President up to September 2003 … our warm thanks and congratulations to Bruce.
A presentation was also made to Patrick Crips-Villiers in tribute to the very many years he has served as a Director of the Leatherhead Chamber. Patrick was honoured in a speech by John’s wife, Councillor Anne Howarth, who also presented Patrick with a framed Honorary Lifetime Membership Certificate … the first ever in the Chamber’s history … and Patrick’s wife Jill was presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Our thanks to David Harrington (Harringtons Bakery) for provision of a splendid buffet … which was consumed with gusto ! … and also to his excellent staff who looked after us all so well throughout the evening. Thanks also to Mike Menni, Proprietor of Wing Cleaners, who sourced and provided the wine.
Both the AGM and the Reception were sponsored by Parallel Business Centres ~ and the Chamber would like to thank Parallel for its generosity in providing us with such a wonderful venue, along with the professional assistance of its staff at Fetcham Park House, headed by new Centre Manager Elly Hiscock. We extend particular thanks to Steph Butcher for her sterling support throughout the evening.
The Autumn Reception was a huge success, and we hope those Members and guests who attended the event enjoyed it ~ our thanks to them all for their valued support.
(Have your say ! How can the Chamber
help you and your business ? We would
welcome your feedback. Or maybe you’d
like to share some other news or thoughts with your fellow Members. Pick up your pen in time for the November 2004 Newsletter.)
Electronic Christmas Cards to Benefit Local Charities
The Callingham Crane Christmas Card Appeal got off to a grand start last year with local firms pledging to give a total of over one thousand pounds to local charities rather than send Christmas Cards to their clients. They very much hope that more Chamber members will join the appeal this year.
Managing partner Peter Earle explained, “By launching the appeal in good time we hope to coincide with the arrival of glossy Christmas card catalogues on the desks of businesses across the region. At best these cards will donate a tiny proportion of their cost to charitable causes”.
It was five years ago that Callingham Crane totalled the cost of sending Christmas cards to their clients and after considering the card, envelope, stamp and labour costs decided instead to donate £500 to a local charity. Last year they decided to publicise the fact and invite other firms to follow suit. They were joined by Leatherhead’s TecRes and Swan Lettings, as well as Project Video and The Projectors, both from Cobham.
“We were a little late launching the appeal last year; many firms had already placed their card orders. By getting off to an early start we hope to make business owners think twice before committing themselves to traditional Christmas cards and by offering an Electronic Christmas Card they can still send seasonal greetings.”
The firm hopes to attract both charities and businesses from the Dorking, Reigate, Esher, Guildford and Epsom areas to participate this year. The three Dorking-based charities that posted their details on the appeal website last year are particularly hopeful of receiving donations this year. Firms and charities can find details of the appeal on the www.callingham-crane.com web site where their details will be posted and a role of honour will be maintained.
Chamber member and local computer supplier Technology Resources, who joined the appeal last year, will be inviting schools across the area to submit designs for Electronic Christmas Cards. The best of these will be posted on the www.tecres.co.uk website and will be available for participating firms to use.
“Providing a zero cost alternative to traditional Christmas cards will make it easy for firms to join the appeal” said owner Les Beer, who last year donated £200 to charity and sent his customers an email Christmas card for the first time. “We were really pleased with the customer response; all seemed to support our approach and hopefully some of them will join us this year.”
“As well as encouraging local children to show off their creative abilities they will also sharpen their computer skills. These skills are increasingly needed by firms across the area.”
Chamber members Swan Lettings also joined the appeal and pushed the total over £1000 with their donation.
This year’s entry will be posted on the front page of the website under ‘Firm News’. There will be links between the Callingham Crane and TecRes sites.
[Cliff Hackett, Callingham Crane, 07973 428002]
Trinity PR (TPR) is a small, independent communications agency based in Tadworth, specialising in healthcare, charity and social issues. One of our aims as a business is to use our experience and skills to work with local charities and raise awareness of their cause through the media. The national charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) is one such charity. CRY works with families affected by the tragic death of a young person (under 35) due to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS). The condition currently claims the lives of up to eight apparently healthy young people every week in the UK.
CRY represents the ‘voice’ of families affected by this tragic
condition and aims to make that voice heard on a number of high profile
issues. We were delighted to be involved
in the charity’s latest appeal – calling for a change in legislation to ensure
that all high-risk families are offered life-saving screening. TPR co-ordinated a campaign to gain
regional and national media coverage in the run up to a major political
lobbying campaign led by the charity’s chief executive and founder Alison Cox
and Stockton South MP, Darri Taylor.
Over 10 million people were reached via the media with over 100 pieces
of coverage appearing in local papers.
National press also picked up on the issue with pieces appearing in
Daily Mail, Scottish Daily Mail and on the BBC News website.
The good news is that the charity’s campaign has been successful. The Department of Health has now accepted the terms of a Private Members Bill and a new chapter has been added to the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease dedicated to sudden cardiac death.
As well as ‘day to day’ media relations, TPR is now working with the charity on the regional launch of a hard-hitting postcard campaign featuring young people who have been a victim of SADS (launched nationally at the House of Commons in July). TPR is also developing the media relations programme for CRY’s first dedicated awareness week next July, as part of the charity’s 10th Anniversary year.
For more information about CRY please visit www.cry.org.uk or call 01737 363 222.
If you would like to talk to TPR
about how PR could benefit your organisation
please call Caroline on: 01737
352 002
Email: caroline.beswick@trinitypr.co.uk
or visit: www.trinitypr.co.uk
Bleckfield, located in Church Street, Leatherhead, is a leader in providing IT support and consultation to small and medium-sized enterprises in Surrey and the South East. Bleckfield has been in business nearly five years and provides support services to some well-known and established companies in Leatherhead.
Our value is that we can provide companies with “one-stop shopping” for their entire computer and Internet-related needs. You can be confident in Bleckfield to provide independent advice and cost-effective solutions with the knowledge to support and backup everything we sell. Our mission is to maintain the highest professional standards, and create strong and lasting relationships with our valued customers and business partners.
Bleckfield offers:
· IT Maintenance and Support contracts
· Networking (VPN, Wireless, Cabling)
· Hardware & Software Procurement
· Database Design
· Document Imaging
· Security (Firewalls, Anti-Virus, Email Filtering, and more)
· Web Services (Quality design, hosting, domain names and marketing)
· Broadband (ADSL up to 2Mbps, and ADSL equipment and installation)
We’re proud to be a part of the local Leatherhead business community, and are always happy to discuss your needs.
You can call us free on: 0808 178 9990
send an Email: dan.mansfield@bleckfield.com
or alternatively, visit us online at: www.bleckfield.com
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AUTUMN LIVE THEATRE |
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OCTOBER |
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Friday 15th |
Spaniard in
the Works |
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Saturday 16th |
Bruce
Mathiske |
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Monday 18th |
Hoover the
Dog and Fluxus |
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Tuesday 19th |
Tagged |
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Saturday 23rd |
Flanders
and Swan |
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Wednesday 27th to Saturday 30th |
The
Selfish Giant |
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Thursday 28th to Sunday 31st |
Arsenic
and Old Lace |
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Sunday 31st |
Mole
Valley Silver Band |
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NOVEMBER |
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Monday 1st to Saturday 6th |
Arsenic and
Old Lace |
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Saturday 13th |
Roy
Valenti Big Band |
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Saturday 20th |
Leatherhead
Operatic Gala Concert |
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Tuesday 23rd to Sunday 28th |
The
Sound of Music |
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DECEMBER/JANUARY |
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Tuesday 14th to Saturday 1st |
Cinderella |
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The Leatherhead Theatre 7 Church Street, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8DN For advance ticketing and further information, please call the Box Office on 01372 365141: Tues–Sat. 2pm-7pm – Visa, Amex, Mastercard, Delta and Switch cards all accepted. Alternatively call in at the Theatre or email us at: boxoffice@the-theatre.org www.the-theatre.org |