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The Tsunami Appeal has now closed. Thank you to all those who have contributed either directly with a cash donation, by collecting coppers (which raised a surprisingly large amount) or by partaking in the concert. Despite considerable effort over the last months it has been very difficult to place the Tsunami Appeal money with a school in the affected areas. Both the Indonesian and Sri Lankan Embassies closed their appeals some time ago. The strange thing is we are reliably informed that money is not getting through to those who really need it. We are now in touch with two medical doctors who are assisting us.
David Jones had a meeting with Karen Sinclair and the Care Standards Inspectorate Wales on Friday 28th April, and a full report of the meeting is included in this edition on the letters page.
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CARROG SCHOOL, PARENTS AND COMMUNITY TO MEET DCC
On 24th May, at 3.30 p.m., Rhiannon Hughes and other members of Denbighshire County Council are planning to visit Carrog School and attend an open meeting in the Village Hall. We are intending to make this a positive meeting that provides Denbighshire County Council with the information that it needs to justify to the Welsh Assembly why Carrog School should stay open. Specifically, we hope that this meeting will provide opportunities:
• for Denbighshire County Council to experience Carrog School environment and facilities
• for the school, parents and community to present the positive case for keeping Carrog School open
• for the school, parents and community to express views, and raise issues and concerns
• for Denbighshire County Council to respond to these views, issues and concerns
• to discuss the way forward via further meetings, which might include more detailed presentations by the school, parents and community, exploration of options, and to learn about the formal processes involved.
Rhiannon and Mr. Dewi Owens have already visited the school informally and, following this visit, Dewi wrote to our Headteacher, Mrs. Lebbon, to say how impressed they were with the school, staff and pupils, and the way in which the hall was shared by the community and school. He also commented that we might well be a role model for how communities and schools share facilities.
Please do come along to the meeting - to support the school, to show Denbighshire County Council that you care, to hear for yourself what is said - and to have YOUR say! If you have a point that you think should go into the formal presentations that will be made by parents and community, please let us know (by talking to Mrs. Lebbon or myself on 01490 430229).
Dr. Sarah Smith.
Chair of the Board of Governors
of Carrog School
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Parents are currently organising an ongoing petition to keep the school open. If you have not yet had the opportunity to sign but would like to do so please contact Mandy on 412670.
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A photograph of Carrog School around mid 1930s.
Can
anyone name the members of the class.
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In May 2004 our community hosted an official party from Plouyé in Brittany and agreed an official Twinning arrangement with them. We have now received an official invitation to visit Plouyé over the weekend of 20th August 2005 and return the compliment.
An open meeting has been held to discuss the visit at which it was agreed this would be open to any member of the community and that all participants would pay their own expenses. In order to assist making arrangements for transport and accommodation it is important that the names of all those who wish to take part are submitted before the end of May. This is an excellent opportunity to visit an area which is very similar to our own and to enjoy Breton hospitality.
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CARROG VILLAGE HALL PHASE TWO - FIRST RENOVATION
To continue the saga of our Village Hall, by 1978 the building had been bought. The Chairman of the committee, Clwyd County Councillor Rhys Webb and Glyndwr Councillor Mr. R. D. Jones were delegated to meet with the Clwyd County Architect on site to discuss the plans and the possibility of using the Job Creation Scheme to help with some of the work.
Now that the old school was no longer church property it was eligible for grants from various sources. Applications for funds were made initially to the Welsh Church Fund, David James Foundation, Sports Council for Wales and the National Playing Fields Association. Money raising ideas were put forward - i.e. - Mrs. Silcox of Glandwr would run a sale of clothes on a Saturday morning - Mrs. Silcox and Mrs. Dorothy Tinniswood of Y Felin offered to organise a treasure hunt and Mr. Dave Jones of Maes y Waen offered to run a lottery. It was suggested that we should continue to write letters, requesting a donation, to ex-residents and ex-pupils of the school.
At the height of all the effort in 1979 the village mourned the very sad loss of Mr. R. D. Jones who was our representative on Glyndwr District Council, one of the main members of the committee and a great loss.
The estimate of the renovations was put at £36,000 and finally the contract was awarded to Mr. Price Hughes & Co of Glyndyfrdwy at £38,411. Very soon the work got under way. The old building was stripped down to the four stone walls and as it was quite lofty the height was sufficient to allow a complete upper floor to be constructed. There were two staircases with the main one starting from the new foyer and the other from near the old front door. A first rate job was planned by Clwyd Architect’s department with kitchen, toilets and upstairs a games room and a quiet committee room.
Outside, the narrow road leading to the primary school was widened, a car park laid out together with a rockery garden developed and cared for by Mr. Grenville Teague, the Treasurer, who also ran the village shop and Post Office.
Mrs. R. D. Jones continued with her fund raising effort of coffee mornings in her home and by January 1981 had raised £1,100. The Lottery raised £1,056, Xmas Carols £71, waste paper £112, whist drives £101, Carrog Show Trustees £150, Sale of Work £442, Grouse Inn collection £19, Sponsored Slims and Walks £364, Discos £404, Village Fete £173, Grand Draw £199, Deed of Covenant £25, Snow Ball Teas £40 and the Welsh Church Fund £1,000.
The request letters drew contributions from Cardiff, Bangor, Sussex, Norwich, Sheffield, and from as far afield as California, New Zealand and Japan, in all amounting to £640. Grants came from Corwen and Llansantffraid Glyndyfrdwy Parish Councils, Glyndwr District Council and Clwyd County Council bringing the fund to £42,208.
Dealing with the administration entailed a lot of hard work by the committee but fell mainly to the Chairman, the Secretary, Mr. Pritchard who was the retired headmaster of the primary school and the Treasurer, Mr. Grenville Teague. In February 1981 it was decided that the games room should have a Billiard Table and it was to be left to the officers to obtain one. It was also decided that the official opening was to take place on April 25th and the committee was delighted that Mrs. R. D. Jones agreed to do the task.
Valmai Webb 2005
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Carrog School PTA will be holding a Body Shop Party on Thursday 12th. May at 6.45 p.m. in Neuadd Carrog. Admission is £1.00 and includes refreshments.
Neuadd Carrog Committee Meeting - Monday 23rd. May at 7.00 p.m.. Please ensure that all village organisations are represented!
Carrog Church will be holding a coffee evening at 3, Parc Terrace on 26th May at 7.00 p.m. for further information please telephone 430375.
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The nursery children enjoyed a Traffic Party with a special cake provided by the County Road Safety Unit. All the infants had an enjoyable afternoon at Sioe S4C with Martyn Geraint in Corwen Pavilion.
Those children who are Urdd members have taken part in a procession in Ruthin to mark the proclamation of the National 2006 Urdd Eisteddfod which will be held in Ruthin. This was followed by their participation in an
attempt to gain an entry in the Guiness Book of Records for the biggest Egg and Spoon race in the world and afterwards by a singing jamboree in Brynhyfryd School.
Carrog School is collecting TESCO and SAINSBURY COUPONS and would be grateful for any contributions. They can be handed in at the school or to any of the parents or children.
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April prize winners:
No. 35 Brian Tawelfa
No. 19 Brynle Hughes
The lottery has raised over £1000 towards the costs of running the Village Hall so please join up.
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Carrog unfortunately lost in the final at the Corwen British Legion.
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Mrs Hindley. Home from hospital and back into the community
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To Mrs. R. D. Jones who has been invited to Buckingham Palace.
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Summer Fayre. There will be the Summer Fayre once again this year on Saturday 6th August.
Anyone wishing to help please contact Nia on 01490 430 325
Last year we raised £1,102.22p
The following donations were given:
Village Hall £300
Carrog School £50
Youth Club £50
Church £100
Over 60’s £100
Baptist Chapel £50
Methodist Chapel £50
Snooker £50
Y Bont £225 = £975.00 Donated to the Village.
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GOUT
About 1 in a hundred people in the UK has gout, the most famous sufferer being Henry V111. Because of him many people think that you only get gout if you live too well. This is true for some but not all who develop gout. The condition can develop if you are very overweight; drink a lot of alcohol; have high blood pressure; eat food rich in ‘purins’ (see list further on) or take certain medicines such as diuretics (water tablets) or low dose aspirin. The cause of the problem is Uric acid which forms crystals in the affected joint. Uric acid is a waste product formed by the body’s natural breakdown of chemicals called purines (these are found in all cells of the body)
During an attack the crystals cause the joint to become hot, swollen and very painful. The skin may be red and shiny and start to peel, you may feel unwell. Gout usually affects the joint at the base of the big toe. 4 out of 10 sufferers will get gout elsewhere, such as the knee, instep, wrist ankle or finger.
Foods rich in Purines: red meat, liver and kidneys, game, shellfish and seafood especially mussels, herrings, sardines and fish roe, peas beans and lentils, yeast and yeast extract (e.g. marmite) oatmeal, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms and beer and spirits.
So what can you do to avoid gout attacks. Loosing weight may help lower your level of uric acid. If you drink a lot of beer and spirits cut down, this will also lower your risk of high blood pressure. (wine does not seem to increase the risk of gout). As you can see from the list it is difficult to cut out all foods rich in purins, it may be worth reducing the intake of red meat and shell fish as people who eat these foods in high quantities seem to be more likely to get gout.
Treatment: most attacks will clear in a couple of weeks, keep the joint raised and use a cardboard box to keep bed clothes off the joint, take pain killers and put a cold pack on the joint for 30 minutes 4 times a day (protect skin with a cloth) It is very important to see the doctor as the joint pain may be due to infection, it is not always easy to diagnose gout. Your GP will then discuss the best form of treatment for your gout. If you have repeated attacks the doctor may prescribe medicines which lower the uric acid level in the blood to try and prevent the joint being damaged.
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All letters must be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.
Opinions expressed in letters submitted for publication in Y Bont are purely those of the authors but the editors reserve the right to edit or not to publish letters submitted.
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I am writing in response to the information about the proposals for St David’s. I agree wholeheartedly that St David’s is the wrong place for people who have been legally excluded from society.
St David’s is applying to become a private hospital and many private hospitals are ‘cashing in’ on the current inadequacies in the National Health System which does not make proper provision for people who need much more intensive support. Private hospitals, and hostels w here potentially dangerous people are sometimes housed, are not usually concerned with community liv-ing and people are often housed in totally inappropriate environments,
The NHS should be providing proper assessments, per-son centred approaches, and facilities that will assess and treat people fairly and humanely and keep both them and communities safe. It is possible for people to leave secure and medium secure institutions, and with appropriate help, live lives that have quality and are productive.
But, serious sex offenders are dangerous people and the likelihood of being hurt by a sex offender increases with proximity. St David’s have a moral obligation to think about the local community and to talk to local people about the communities’ very valid concerns. I have visited many of these institutions in my work. They are often dreadful places, with people living in very close proximity to each other, with minimal facilities. Sometimes people housed there have some very serious mental health problems as well as learning dis-abilities and/or physical disabilities, Their problems are certainly not helped by their environments.
I would also point out that in some cases people I met in these institutions had never committed any crime or hurt anyone but had reached the depth of despair. Peo-ple in these institutions can think and react in terrible ways and maybe suicidal.
Perhaps we need to think more humanely about the type of people who maybe housed in private hospitals. who maybe detained for reasons other than crime. In our quite reasonable display of outrage about the dread-ful back door methods being used to relocate dangerout patients, let us not forget that people need to be treated according to the laws of this society. We must also remember that many of these people become vic-tims of the authorities who shift them about the country for their (the authorities) convenience.
Jayne Knight. M.A., Community Mental Health.
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There’s something living in this village,
It’s
been here for many a year.
Not man, nor beast, yet It does have a heart
Now something’s trying to kill It, I fear.
It’s done no harm to anyone,
On the contrary, I’d say;
It’s nurtured children, year after year,
Through word, through music, through play.
Generations of families have gone there.
Each one of Its charges enjoys
Being known as an individual child,
Not just as one of the girls or the boys.
Like the post office/shop, church and chapel,
It’s vital to small village life.
Yet it seems to be one or the other is always
Under the threat of the knife.
So, who wants to squeeze the life from It?
Who wants It to wither and die?
Who wants the sound of children at play
To be just part of times gone by?
Is some hollow eyed, foul smelling monster
Lurking in shadows at night.
Waiting the chance to perform its dark deed
And he gone by the first morning light?
No, of course not, that’s far too dramatic!
Just a little bit over the top.It’s the “
Powers that Be” with their figures and facts
That we desperately need to atop.
So it’s up to us now to protect It;
To ensure that It goes unmolested.
We took the first step in preserving Its life
When we gathered, an masse, and protested.
Oh yes, they have their reasons: they’ll tell us,“
It will make more sense if you send
Your children to bigger and better schools
It’s for their own good in the end”
But they just want to close down our village.
A small school? They seem to begrudge it!
Especially if any additional costs
Have to come out of their precious budget!
So let’s all pull together on this one.
Show them openly how much we care.
So the next generation of kids in the village
Will still find It living there.
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MEETING WITH CARE STANDARDS INSPECTORATE - St. DAVIDS
Following the public meeting on the 18th. March, Karen Sinclair, our Assembly Member, arranged a meeting with Peter Graham, the Regional Director of the North East Wales office of the Care Standards Inspectorate(CSIW).
At the meeting Karen accompanied by David Jones took the opportunity of sharing with Mr. Graham the extreme concerns felt by the residents of Carrog and Glyndyfrdwy regarding Mental Health Care UK’s application to change the status of St.David’s to a hospital, and the potential this offered for them to offer care to clients who may have a history of forensic mental health problems.
Prior to the meeting David Jones had written to CSIW, using the Freedom of Information Act, requesting a copy of the application they had received from Mental Health Care. This request had, on the advice of the legal officers of the Assembly, been rejected on the basis that public interest test for disclosure is outweighed by the prejudice to the organisation (Mental Health Care UK).
This is totally unacceptable and must be challenged.
At the meeting David Jones in accordance with the approved process, immediately entered a formal complaint against the decision and requested a review. If this is refused then it will be necessary to refer the issue to the Office of the Information Commissioner.
The interests of the residents of the villages must take prominence in issues where public safety maybe threatened.
Mental Health Care have refused to meet with us to explain their intention. We expect the Assembly’s support - Karen is with us - what about the rest!!
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