8 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, January 31 st, 2008
www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk
Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burniey 422331 (Classified)
SOMETIMES we take things for granted - things like fresh food, clean water, friends and family. For some people doing day-to-
day things, which others do not even give a second thought to, can
Talking Newspaper is there to help you stay in touch Hopes high for visits In December we reported on the prob
be a real struggle. Ribble Valley res-. idents who have sight problems are unable to read this newspaper yet would relish the opportunity. For this reason the Clitheroe Advertiser is available as a CD
recording. If you know someone who has difficulty reading this paper ring 01200 423420 and arrangements will be made for the Ribble Valley Talking Newspaper to post it out.
HOPES are high that a new scheme to be piloted by the British Govern ment may end the difficulties encountered by children visiting Britain from Belarussia.
lems that the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children Charity was facing with the enforcement of passport biometric visas by the UK Visa Department of the British Foreign Office.
A stakeholders’ meeting was held at the • j
Foreign Office in London in early Decem ber. Announcements were made there that from October, 2007, every child over the age of six years entering Britain from a | non-EU country ivill be required to oJ|*^ a biometric visa. I t will be necessaS^ attend their nearest British Embassy for photographs to be taken, along with fin gerprints of every finger and it is planned to bring in eye-scanning at a later date. Visas will only be current for six months, meaning that any Belarussian child visit ing the UK twice in a year will need to re visit the Embassy to repeat the process. At the request of larger Chernobyl Chari ties the British Government is to pilot a scheme whereby a temporary British Embassy sub-office will be set up in the Mogilev region, thus avoiding the eight- hour return trip to Minsk. Charity founder Olwyn Keogh MBE said that, as yet, no details of this sub-office have been issued adding: “We keep our fingers crossed that this will indeed go ahead”. Mrs Keogh, the founder and director of
the charity, who lives in Chipping and last year gained the MBE for her work, is greatly concerned about the impact these requirements will have on the charity’s work. “The process of putting well over 600 children through this procedure in 2008 is daunting, both logistically and financially to say the least,” she said, “The costs incurred are a huge challenge to all our groups who fund-raise through out the year in order to help the children.” ' Over the Christmas period the charity
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hosted 80 children around the country, all of whom were made subject to the bio metric visa process. Mrs Keogh said: “It was obvious that while the requirement had been put in place by our Government, little thought had gone into the way that British Embassies in other countries were going to cope. At the British Embassy in Minsk, parents and carers of the children have stood for hours out in the street in the freezing cold while the children waited inside in a room unable to cope with large numbers. There are no toilet facilities, nor warm drinks available for anyone and it is difficult to believe that our own Govern ment can treat visitors to our country so badly.” She said that running the charity had
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never been easy, adding: “We are contin ually faced with difficult problems, though usually from the Belarussian side.” She said that she had been shocked by the lack of understanding and co-oper ation from the British Government. “However, it is important for people to know that the work of the charity locally, in Clitheroe, Chipping and Blackburn will continue and plans are very much in hand for the coming visits in 2008, as they are in all FOCC groups around the country.” In May, 50 children will stay with host
families in Chipping and Blackburn, in June the Clitheroe group will rei^jP. The charity now has 32 satellite groups around the countrj' a number of them in the Lancashire area, but also including the Isle of Man and Scotland, all of which are administered centrally by the FOCC office in Chipping. Mrs Keogh said that a great deal of work and dedication had been put into the charity by so many over the years and it was important for people to know that it would continue the sup port and care given to the children and their families in Belarus. ® If you wish to know more about the
charity or host one of the children, visit the web site at
www.focc.org.uk or tele phone 01995 61305.
by Dee Bottoms and Terry Till_______
f
^i^RFORMED at St holas’s Church Hall, Sab- , it was a pleasure to see a
pantomime given by the New Village Folk on an old-style traditional high stage, enabling the audience to see the cast wherever they were sitting with an uninterrupted view. “Aladdin” is the second
pantomime for this new group and began with a very unusu al, in fact, unique opening, but the whole audience was very appreciative and sup ported the cast from start to finish. The staging of the produc
tion used imaginative drapes and props instead of the usual backcloths. The lighting and sound were highlighted with the new equipment recently bought by the group. Musical director Anne Par
sons made good use of back ing tapes, plus setting tradi tional songs like “beautiful dreamer” with modern lyrics relating to the plot. As tor the wardrobe - these costumes were the best we have ever seen, very colourful and authentic and enhanced by dramatic make-up. Principal boy Aladdin was
played by 13-year-old Marisa Galea. Marisa has been on stage many times before and was a joy to watch. She looked good, acted well and her solos and duets, with prin cipal girl Samantha Booth playing Princess She-la, were a delight to listen to. Marisa has an excellent future ahead in amateur dramatics and operatics. She could gain more experience by taking part in her high school productions' and maybe joining other soci eties. There was an outstanding
performance - Widow Twanky, by James Hindle - playing the Dame for the first time. He was totally believ able in the role and his many costumes and wigs were exactly what the Dame should wear. A good solid per formance was given by Brian Haythornthwaite
as Abanazzer, leaving the audi-
flfce in no doubt as to his vil- mfny; they hissed and booed his every entrance and exit. The Genie, Margaret Par sons splendidly dressed, gave
a very credible performance playing the part with just the right amount of seriousness required for the role. The three “villains” Ben Parsons, Ciaron Fitzpatrick and Simon Capstick showed a lot of potential for the future. It was good to see three young men playing these villains in differ ent guises with such aplomb and enthusiasm. Their rou tine as pickpockets passing through the audience was so captivating for the first night audience - many of them playing up to the boys so that some people almost missed the scene being played on stage. It would have been nice to
see more children on stage, but the charming little girls with their chorus work and dancing held their own throughout. Louise Cunning ham, playing maid to Princess She-la, has an excellent stage presence - a good clear voice, moves well on stage and shows potential for the future. The other characters and chorus worked well throughout the production. It was a fun pan tomime greatly appreciated by the audience. Perhaps as far as we were concerned the three-hour show was a tad too long, but well done everyone. Congratulations to Pat Mor ris on her first full production for this show, having written, produced and directed the pantomime throughout. The full cast was, Aladdin,
Marisa Galea; Princess She- la, Samantha Booth; Empress, Vivienne Marshall; Abernazzer, Brian Haythorn thwaite; Widow Twanky, James Hindle; Wishy Washy, Gemma Collinson; Slave of
. the Ring, Linda Lord; Genie, Margaret Parsons; Clayton Harriers, Karin Goss, Carol Sutcliffe and Jean Haythorn thwaite; Maid, Louise Cun ningham; Villains, Ben Par sons, Ciaron Fitzpatrick and Simon Capstick; Licensee, Jack Haythornthwaite; Licensee’s wife. Beryl Platt; chorus, Louise Smith, Niamh Kay, Louise Cunningham; Colin the Camel, Ben Parsons and Marcel Galea. Producer Pat Morris; musi
cal director, Anne Parsons; stage manager, Michael Hold en; sound and lighting manag er, Marcel Galea; choreogra phy, Janet Sutcliffe; make-up, Susan White.
p ' Vandals target parked car
A MOTORIST returned to find the windscreen and bon net of his Volkswagen Polo had been damaged. Vandals caused around
£150 damage when they threw something at the ivind- screen of the vehicle while it was parked in Mearley Brook
Fold, Clitheroe, over the weekend. Police investigations are
continuing into the incident, but if you can help them with their inquiries please call 01200 443344, or the free-and- confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.
■ M ~3 s \ ■'I r - 1 -T
Ciitheroe 422324 (Editoriai), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)
Full marks to village
folk’s panto!
wiww.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk
Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, January 31st, 2008 9 w
For Ribble Valley news online go to...
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