Would you like to volunteer?
CVA Blyth Valley and Volunteering Northumberland are holding a Volunteer Fair at:

Seaton Delaval and Holywell Community Centre, Elsdon Avenue, Seaton Delaval
Monday 19th March 2012 from 10:00 am--2:00 pm

Whether you want to learn a new skill, gain experience in helping you towards a future career, or you simply want to do a meaningful activity in your spare time, you can volunteer. Pop along have a cuppa and find out what opportunities are available in your local area.

Opportunities include:
Mini bus driving; Cooking for a lunch club; ICT; Photography; Publicity; General Admin; Lighting / backstage help; Pre-school Assistant; And much more ....

Volunteering can help you:
Make a difference; develop or learn a new skill; gain experience; meet a new challenge; explore new ideas; help someone else; make new friends; keep busy.

All Welcome. Transport to the venue may be available, please make any enquiries to:

Ann Broome at Wansbeck CVS, Tel: 01670 858688 / Email: ann.broome@Wansbeckcvs.org.uk

Cramlington Paralympian Stephen Miller keeps Cramlington community website readers up to date with his progress as he heads towards this year's Games.

Happy New Year! Sorry it's a bit late but I was so busy in January that I never got a chance to blog properly - I know you will all be very happy that I have finally got the chance to write down a few hundred words in an order that might mildly entertain you for a few minutes or so.

January is normally quite a downer month after all the excitement of Christmas and New Year, you look forward to starting afresh with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, only to find that things pretty much carry on as they left off. However, it is now the year 2012! When I go for Paralympic gold and the world ends - what's not to get excited about? To be honest I'm trying not to think about it too much at the moment (the Paralympics) but it's difficult when everybody is talking about it so much.

Hard to believe that a year ago I was just returning from New Zealand licking my wounds from a courageous but admittedly ordinary performance at the world championships, and also gutted that NUFC sold Andy Carroll to Liverpool - how things change in a year *chuckles*.

Well, I'm about 4 weeks into winter training and I'm still alive and well. To be honest I'm
better than alive - I'm happier than a pig rolling around in the proverbial.

So far everything about this winter has been positive, even NUFC are doing scarily well with an almost unbeaten league record (Man City doesn't count as they're cheating with all their spending) and 3rd in the league for the first time in donkeys years - I'm eager to get those statements in my blog before our next two games, although by the
time you read this we may well be down to 4th.

Sent in by Changes Health and Fitness Club

To get your news on the Cramlington website contact northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk

Changes Health & Fitness Club, High Pit Road, Cramlington, have been recognised nationally for the emphasis it places on helping members to achieve their fitness goals.

Written by Kevin O'Hara, conservation officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Where do they all go in winter? - Part 1

Recently I felt the first twangs of winter; the 'first frost' gripped my garden, the chickens came skidding out of their ark, and I had to break the ice on their drinking water. I really like those first days, when we still have some daylight left to enjoy the wonderful colours and smells. I take the camera and binoculars with me when I walk the dogs, keeping an eye out for winter thrushes or other visitors. The clocks have altered and we start the long haul of winter - not until February will some real light return to the sky, and warmth to the sun.

It is during these months that we wonder where, exactly, many of our resident wildlife species go to survive the coldest and wettest days of winter, especially those that are more delicate and less mobile.

By Paralympian Stephen Miller

Above are some pretty awesome pictures of the training camp in Portugal, and of my new frame made by Tharsus.

Correspondent Ruari O'Toole reviews the Three Horse Shoes beer festival in Horton - and looks forward to the next one.

The Three Horse Shoes in Horton is famous for its weekend beer festivals, and this year's autumn festival was in keeping with the historic free house's reputation for showcasing top quality drinks in a venue with atmosphere to spare.

In July of this year the Shoes' combined music and beer festival was so oversubscribed when I visited it that a beer token system was put into use and the queues at the bar were off-puttingly big, so it was a relief to actually find a seat at this October festival, even if it was in the beer garden!

By Conservation Officer Kevin O'Hara

Recently, I came home to find the beautiful, mature whitebeam outside my home was missing. I felt utterly devastated.

Despite my frequent grumbling about masses of fallen leaves, trails of squashed berries on carpets, bird muck forcing a weekly wash of the car, I really loved that tree.

Trees are major capital assets in cities across the UK. In particular, big trees are critical. We cannot replace them in our lifetimes.

There is a current loss of urban trees by stealth. Many were planted when there was little asphalt or underground servicing to consider and in many cases the forest species selected are reaching the end of their term.

Often the poor health of the tree and the perceived risk results in its total loss. This disease may be caused after damage to the trunk from vehicles or to roots from underground cable installation.

Occasionally urban trees fall over and cause an accident, but compare this to other accidents that occur in urban areas to put this into real perspective. In fact, the environmental damage accrued by the loss outweighs the risk.

There are obvious wildlife benefits of trees for shelter, nesting, living space and as a green corridor for moving around an urban environment but there are real, measurable benefits to human inhabitants.

Shelter offered by a tree reduces heating and cooling costs of a house by 10%.
Pollution control - they produce oxygen and lock up carbon during their growth cycle.
Reduces risk of skin cancer.
Intercepts rainfall and runoff.
Reduces windiness and noise.

One of the primary reasons for planting trees in the city remain aesthetic. Otherwise ugly areas can be transformed by the introduction of several species of trees, especially natives. Tree-lined streets and green spaces have been shown to have positive psychological benefits including lower rates of mental illness, violence and crime.

Trees have a tremendous symbolic value, humanising the city by acknowledging our affinity for the natural world. They provide a focus for community participation and act as "green magnets", attracting businesses and employees into an area.

Luckily, my moaning to the council meant a replacement rowan tree was planted. But it will be some time before it provides much benefit for my local wildlife, or blocks my view of the neighbours. If only it had been planted earlier.

By Conservation Officer Kevin O'Hara

Noisy and gregarious, the house sparrow is probably the most well-known urban bird.

They are real opportunists, but are now struggling to survive in the UK, along with many other once-common birds. Their recent declines have earned them a place on the UK Red List.

By Conservation Officer Kevin O'Hara

I read earlier that apparently a leading shark expert reckons it is possible for great white sharks to be present in British waters.

Indeed the closest verified great white shark was captured off La Rochelle, western France, a mere 200 miles south of the UK. However, because of its globally- threatened status, this is very unlikely as there are so few left anywhere.

Declines are more than 50% in some species in just a few recent years throughout the North Atlantic.