Lovely Charing - Kent

Charing 10k - 2011

*** Saturday 3rd September. The 2011 Charing 10K ***

After a successful debut last year, it is just one week until the Charing 10K returns to our village!

The Children’s race is at 10.30, swiftly followed by the start of the 10K race on the School Field.
250 runners are expected to pound along School Road, up the High Street, into Pett Lane and off towards Westwell, before climbing the ‘little hill’ and returning through the woods and back into the village to the Finish Line at School!

Please come and support the runners on their way! Last year the speediest completed the course in an impressive 35 minutes, those of us who preferred a more leisurely pace returning somewhat after this!

We had some very positive feedback from the runners last year, complimenting our pretty village and our very enthusiastic and helpful marshals! If you want to take part and haven’t applied yet, you can enter online at www.runnersworld.co.uk/events or www.nice-work.org.uk .

If running is not for you, but you would like to help marshal on the day, or if you have any questions, please get in touch with Pip Tanton at ict@charing.kent.sch.uk.

This is a fun village event which we hope everyone will enjoy, with race profits going to Charing Primary School PTFA.

PS: Competitors car parking is on the School Field

Open to all - Fun Family Tennis Day

From Charing Tennis Club:

Sunday 26 June 2011 at 1pm

Charing Playing Fields, The Moat, Charing

We will be holding a fund tournament on the above date. Please come along, all standards are welcome. For those who wish to play, there will be an entry fee of £ 5.00 per person and this includes a BBQ and a glass of wine or soft drinks afterwards, which families are more than welcome to join in with.

Should you just want to find out more about our club and its activities, then come along for a friendly chat on the day or feel free to contact either:
Vanessa Manson on 01622 - 859922
or
Diane Tate on 01233 712575

Charing's Bowls Club Open Day

From the desk of the Charing's Bowls Club:

Point-to-Point Easter 2011

Organised by Ashford Valley Hunt:

Charing Point to Point - Easter Saturday from 12.45 onwards

Entry from A252 Northern By-Pass (Charing Hill)

Pony racing starts at 12:45, Horse racing from 2:00pm.

Car parking including all occupants: £20 on course, £30 on hill side (£10 off car park entry fees for single occupant cars). Foot gate £5. Accompanied children free entry.

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Ashford Valley Hunt Country Fayre Lenham - Sunday 22nd May 2011, 10.30am to 4.00pm (formerly held at Charing Race Course) this year being held at, East Lenham Farm, Ashford Road (A20), Lenham, ME17 2DP
CRAFTS, KENTISH FOOD, GUN DOG DEMO, GO CARTS, REFRESHMENTS, TERRIER SHOW, BAR, CAKE STALL, BAR, CHINA SMASHING, Entry £2.50 (under 12's free)

Are you interested in having a stall at the above Country Fayre? If so, contact:- Sue Palmer, Tel: 01233 756 266 email: sjpalmer14@aol.com

Call to Action: Lighter Later

Saturday 30 October I drove home at the normal time of 5pm - in clear day light. Two days later, Monday 1 November, at the exact same time of 5pm, the drive home was in darkness.
I hate this abrupt change!

Economical sound

Yes, I know, the seasons change and going into the Winter there will be fewer and fewer hours of day light until the end of December where nature will pause a few days and then slowly, very slowly in the beginning, we'll have more light.

But having to adopt so suddenly in one day time instead of gradually getting used to the darkness is not natural. It's too abrupt, especially when the rush hour in most towns and villages start around 5pm and over one weekend this rush hour lands from day light into complete darkness.

All because we're switching from British Summertime back to GMT in the last weekend of October. Last Saturday Andrew Ellson (Personal Finance Editor) made some valuable points in The Times why "ditching the GMT" is an economical good decision:

• lower energy bills (and fewer carbon emissions) - lighting up later in the running up to December
  • "A study published earlier this year also found that about 447,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions would have been saved if the clocks were not put back each year between 2001 and 2008, equating to electricity savings of 885GWh – enough to supply 200,000 households – and a reduction in peak demand of 4.3 per cent."
• fewer accidents, evidence suggests that lighter evening mean fewer accidents and fewer accidents means less costs for the NHS
  • "Road safety experts believe up to 100 deaths could be prevented every year and it would also enable children to travel home in light."
• more savings in the public sector by spending less on heating and lighting

Others have already indicated that not switching back to GMT will mean longer and safer training periods for youngsters in the various sports. Over three hundred sporting organisations including the FA and Lawn Tennis Association are very much in favour of keeping the BST, it would increase participation and therefore cut obesity.

And of course for shoppers it will mean lighter and longer midday shopping - welcomed by retailers, bistros, bars, pubs etc.

"Up to 80,000 new jobs could be created in the tourist industry, as longer evenings would extend the tourist season and allow attractions to stay open for longer in the year."

There's a Private Member's Bill (by Rebecca Harris - Con) working its way through Parliament that, if passed, would mean the clocks stay unchanged next winter.
This Bill is due for its second reading on 3 December.

If you support the idea, write to your local MP to demand he or she supports the legislation. They should!

According to Andrew Ellson, they - politicians - won't get many easier opportunities to put some money in their constituents' pockets.

(The MP for Ashford is Damian Green - Con and you can reach him through greend@parliament.uk or leave a message through his Ashford page).

Zumba Dancing in Charing

Come along to the ZUMBA party - Dance, Get Fit, Have Fun and laugh

A bit About Zumba: The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away.

Our goal is simple: We want you to want to have fun, get fit, and go home smiling.

• Zumba® Fanatics achieve long-term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exciting class of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!
• The routines feature interval training sessions where fast and slow rhythms and resistance training are combined to tone and sculpt your body while burning fat.
• Add some Latin flavor and international zest into the mix and you've got a Zumba® class!

In the past years, the Zumba® program has become nothing short of a revolution, spreading like wildfire, and positioning itself as the single most influential movement in the industry of fitness.

See you in class!!

Zumba at Charing Parish Hall – Every Monday

2 classes Classes 7pm and  8.15pm

£4 a class - £6 to do both

Charing Parish Hall, 6 mins from Ashford Kent. TN27 OJA

Contact Dance Visions for more details:

info@dancevisions.co.uk

Tel: 01233 643557

Charing 10k run: over 150 runners registered already

From Charing Primary School PTFA:

We currently have 150+ runners registered for the 10k race on 4 September and Nice-work who are organising the event on our behalf hop that there will be 200 runners on the day!

Car parking will be on the school field and a temporary rolling road closure has been applied for from the Hight Street/School Road junction along Pett Lane before the race joints the Pilgrims Way (in the village, the closure will be for about 10 minutes).

We hope the race will provide an opportunity to bring visitors into the village.

A thank you to everyone who donated prizes.

Below you'll find the route, click on the image for enlargement.

The 10K run leaves Charing School Playing field at 10.30am (Children's 1 mile running race on the playing field - entrance fee payable - starts at 10.15am)

Come and support the runners along the route!

And a kind request from the PTFA and Nice-work, try to avoid parking in School Road on Saturday 4 September - stewards will be on hand to direct you to alternative parking.

Bat and Trap in Charing Heath

Charing Heath and Lenham Heath Village Society

Bat and Trap (an outdoor game, played with a bat & ball on a pitch slightly shorter than a cricket pitch. This game, an ancestor of cricket, has been played in Kent for hundreds of years

Sunday, June 13th at Woodruff, Hurst Lane, Charing Heath.

Bring a picnic and refreshments!
2pm Start - Family fun - teams and instruction will be given on the day.

No tickets - donations - everyone welcome

Charing Races Easter Saterday

Charing has been associated with Point to Point races since the 1930's when Barnfield was the venue and the Hunt Race was wan in 1937 by a young Stanley Homewood with his horse, Goldflake. Another Charing farmer, Percy Hickman, also competed and there is a perpetual Percy Hickman trophy. The Point to Point was started many years ago by farmers when they rode from Steeple to Steeple, hence the name Point to Point Steeplechases.

Six races will be held during the annual Easter Saturday meeting, organised by the Ashford Valley Hunt, at the "Palace Farm" on the A20/Charing by-pass.
All races are run over 3 miles with 19 fences, every fence has a steward. There are of curse professional paramedics, veterinary surgeons, farriers all on site and the event is under the rules of racing laid down by the Jockey Club who also send their own representative to inspect the course and to ensure it is up to safety standards.
One race will be confined to men, one to ladies and the remainder are mixed for both sexes. Charing was the first course to hold a mixed race.

Pony Races - another item first introduced at Charing - are run over 6 furlongs, on for 9-15 years, ponies 138cm and 9-15 years, 148cm and under.
The pony races produce the stars of the future and manu bevome professional jockeys.

During the races you can buy almost everything you need from trade stands: from a car, stable, all types of clothes, a new hat, a plant for the garden ro a jar of honey. There is a bouncy castle, slides and many attractions for the family children.
There will be tea, coffee, lemonde, beer, champagne and food is in abundance too: homemade cakes, burges, chips etc all available from various stands or you can bring your own family picknick.

Gates open at 10.30 (entrance from A252 Nothern By-Pass/Charing Hill), first race at 12.45
Pony racing starts at 12:45, Horse racing from 2:00pm.
Car parking including all occupants: £20 on course, £30 on hill side. Foot gate £5

For more information, contact Ashford Valley Hunt.

Easter Sunday: WORKING TERRIER/LURCHER SHOW & RACING

4th APRIL 2010 at 12 noon sharp (TERRIERS/LURCHERS) and 1 pm sharp (FUN DOG SHOW) PLUS lurcher and terrier racing after showing classes have finished. At CHARING POINT-to-POINT Course, Ashford, Kent (opposite The Swan A20)
Qualifiers applied for: Countryman's Weekly E.A.J.R. & LC Pride of the Peak National Working Terrier Federation NL&RC Refreshments available. Enquiries: Ron 01233 712358 Sue 01233 756266

Baskets, Balls and Bouncing for Charing School

Charing School are celebrating a windfall in the shape of a grant from the Lottery distributor “Awards for All” of just over £5000.  The money is being used to buy safety equipment, outfits and goals for the school’s competition winning trampoline and football teams, as well as new balls and hoops for the basketball club. Members of the PTA worked hard with teaching staff to compile a successful bid for funds and were rewarded for their efforts this week when they were given enough money to buy all the items on their wish list.

“We are over the moon” said PTA Chair Sarah Littlewood-Tribe. “This money means the trampoline lessons and club can continue after new safety guidelines are brought in next year, and the football and basketball teams will have the proper equipment for them to go from strength to strength.”

The whole school will be celebrating their good fortune on Thursday, 16th July when children and staff will be able to see and try out all the new equipment. Press coverage would be welcome on the day at 1pm, when there will be an official presentation.

From Joanna Astbury PTA Press Officer

Charing CEP School PTA is a registered Charity, number 1096620, working hard to ensure all pupils at the school have the widest variety of opportunities possible.

Awards for All is a lottery grants scheme for local community projects, bringing lottery funding into local neighbourhoods. Grants range from £300 to £10,000. For more information about this scheme or to obtain an application pack call 0845 600 2040 or visit www.awardsforall.org.uk