Video - council response to Regent Court fire

Earlier this month, Regent Court in Gateshead experienced a significant fire. Residents were evacuated. Most have now been able to return but 14 flats remain damaged. At Gateshead Council's annual meeting last week, deputy leader Catherine Donovan and I (as leader of the opposition) led the tributes to the services involved in tackling the fire and helping the displaced residents. I also raise the issue of the promised review of council housing which so far has not seen light of day.

Whickham eFocus no. 108

Our next eFocus for the Whickham area was published tonight. It covers the local election results, the plans for the new buildings at Whickham School and the open day at the Whinnies Community Garden. You can view the newsletter on this link.

Taking the goats to school

Huge thanks to Cllr Jonathan Wallace for Blaydon & volunteers for bringing lovely Coal, Perky and Whinney along for our final activity for MHAW18.  We all felt  the calming properties of petting animals as part of #WhickhamSixth 's #MentalHealthAwareness Raising#SixthFormFriday pic.twitter.com/DJHehArLFl

— Whickham School (@WhickhamSchool) May 18, 2018

Last Friday I was invited to take some of my goats to Whickham School as part of a project by sixth formers into addressing mental health issues. The aim was to see if petting animals would help improve people's mental health. I took Coal, Perky and Whinnie Too. Hundreds of children and lots of staff came along to visit them. The experiment was a success.

Above is the school's Twitter report on the visit.

Planning the Sunniside community fair

The plans for a community fair in Sunniside to raise funds for the village's Christmas tree are moving forward. We had a meeting on Monday evening at the Whinnies Community Garden where the fair will be held on Saturday 14th July. This will be the first community fair in Sunniside but hopefully it will be an annual event. There will be more information to follow as the details are sorted out.

Video diary - Sunday 13th May: visiting the Hop Garden

The Hop Garden is a community allotment in High Spen. An annual seed and plant swap event is held there and the most recent one was on Sunday. I attended but took quail and duck eggs with me to swap.

Lighting Up Whickham Race Night

Lighting Up Whickham are holding a race night on Saturday 26th May at Glebe Sports Club, from 7pm to raise funds for the Whickham Christmas tree. To order tickets go to the Lighting Up Whickham Facebook page.

Dunston Community Fair

On Saturday I visited the community fair at Dunston. A pleasant afternoon and a burger consumed as well.

Get well soon Martin

Last Thursday, members of Gateshead Council received an email informing us that Martin Gannon, Labour leader of the authority, had gone into hospital for urgent treatment. When I received the news I called Martin on his mobile. He was comfortable but very bored! So Martin, get well soon and get back to leading the council. It's a good cure for boredom!

Boozy winnings at the Bay Horse

On Friday evening, the Whickham and Swalwell Music Society had a pub quiz at the Bay Horse in Whickham to raise funds. My brother Andrew suggested we attend. Since our record in pub quiz music rounds is catastrophic, I had my doubts. We went anyway. We came 4th out of 10 but won vodka, gin and chocolates. So not so catastrophic after all!