Good Causes

A vintage double-decker bus visited Staines High Street on Friday February 26 to get people to stop wasting medicine.

The NHS Surrey's pharmacy team took to the streets as part of a road show to drive home the message 'the most costly medicine is the one that is never taken,' which costs the NHS £8 million each year.

Spelthorne Civic Pride volunteers will be offering a prize for the most unusual item during a river clean up.

On Sunday March 28 the volunteers will be meeting in Ferry Lane, Laleham to clean up the rubbish washed down the stream from Runnymede.

The group, who occasionally find coconuts, will be giving £2 for each bag of litter collected.

Young kids were given a chance to make cakes as they visited a Staines shopping centre earlier this month.

On Tuesday February 16 the children of shoppers were able to sit in the middle of the Elmsleigh Centre and make cupcakes while their parents browsed in the shops.

The workshop was held between 10am and 4pm which saw nearly 450 cupcakes decorated during the children's half term break.

Peter Miles, centre manager at Elmsleigh, said: "We were delighted to be holding the cupcake decorating workshop for our young shoppers. It was a huge success, and it was great to see the children enjoying their break and spreading some love around the centre."

Staines Brass Band will be playing at a concert designed to raise money for the mayor of Spelthorne's charity on Sunday February 28.

The band will play at 3pm at St Peter's Church, in Laleham Road, for the mayor's Civic Conert, being held to raise money for her charities One-to-One, Help for Heroes, and Guiding in Spelthorne.

Tickets cost £7 and can be booked by calling 01784 446 275 or 01784 469 155.

The fourth annual Staines Charity Pancake Race is taking place in February.

Teams of two will run 80 yards tossing their pancakes in the air to raise money for Staines Shopmobility, who provide scooters for the disabled.

The event will take place on Tuesday February 16, and competitors are encouraged to dress up and find sponsors.

Enrolment forms can be picked up from Staines Shopmobility, in Two Rivers shopping centre, or by emailing stainesshopmobility@talktalkbusiness.com.

An Addlestone woman is holding a fashion event on Saturday January 16 to raise money for a Ugandan charity.

Sophia Burhham is hosting 'Frock n' Roll' in Laleham Village Hall which will see donated women's clothes go on sale while live rock n' roll is played.

Ms Burnham's mother and sister are visiting the African county later this summer, so the family are asking for people to donate clothes so money can be raised for charity Hope for Uganda.

Doors open from 4-6pm and the £3 entry comes with a glass of sparkling wine.

Call Sophia on 07725 162 243 to donate.

A top fire fighter has said a blaze that destroyed a man's flat last Tuesday (8) could have been a lot of worse.

Around 30 firemen were called to a fully developed first floor flat fire in The Oaks, in Moormede Crescent just before midday, which had flames coming from the windows.

A smoke detector was found lying on the floor after falling from the ceiling.

Drivers and shoppers looked on in surprise as 160 Santas sprinted through Staines town centre on Sunday December 6.

The second annual Santa Sprint was organised by Spelthorne Council, which saw the men, women, children, and old age pensioners run for two miles in a figure of eight through and around the High Street.

More than £2000 has been raised for a charity by Staines Rotary Club.

The RAF Association President's Band performed at St Peter's Church, in Laleham Road in late November, which also saw more than £1000 raised for the band's charity, and Rotary International.

Daybreak are a charity who support people suffering from long-term illnesses.

An elderly couple were reassured by firefighters after they put out a small kitchen fire on Thursday November 19.

At 5.00pm firefighters from Sunbury and Staines were called to Alexandra Close to reports of a small kitchen fire.

They were there for 15 minutes, but the red cross fire emergency support service attended to re-assure the shocked residents.