Welcome to our second ‘new’ edition of Brookwood News. Many thanks for the kind comments we have had so far and the offers of help with distribution. Last month the weather was kind to events in the village such as the School Fete and the Club Barbecue. Now that we are well into summer, residents have been getting out and about, whether in their gardens, walking the canal and heath, taking day trips on the train or buying up Fulk’s supply of burgers, and this is reflected in some of the articles we have received for this month’s edition. So if you haven’t had time to down tools and get into a summer mood yet, why not spend an evening at the Pirbright Players, take a walk around the cemetery or just stroll along the canal watching the wildlife. If you are travelling further afield by train, don’t forget to say hello to Tony at the station!

LITTER PICKING HEROES
One of our regular dog walkers in Brookwood contacted the Newsletter team recently concerned about the amount of litter she had seen strewn on the heath, canal path and recreation ground. A discussion by email ensued and it transpired that in Brookwood we have a number of litter picking ‘heroes’ who regularly pick up litter while walking their dogs, walking to the shops and even a jogger who appears to collect litter while jogging along the towpath by leaving bags at strategic points and picking them up on the way back! Coincidentally, a few days later, the Scouts and Beavers were seen out picking up litter too. It’s great to see young people doing their bit for the community as well. Well done and thank you to all of you who care enough about our community to make sure it is clean and tidy for everyone.

FRIENDS OF PIRBRIGHT SURGERY
The ‘Friends’ are organising an Open Meeting in Lord Pirbright’s Hall on the evening of Thursday 25th September. In addition to guest speakers, health related issues that are causing concern to residents will be discussed. If this part of the pro- gramme is to be used to best ad- vantage, we need to know what these issues are, together with the subjects that you would like to know more about. The responses to our recent Patient Questionnaire gave some good leads, but more ideas are needed about the information you would like to have so that the key issues can be re- searched prior to the meeting and informative answers given. Please send your questions and concerns in writing as soon as possible, to Camilla Winn at FoPS c/o the Surgery at The Old Vicarage, and as many as possible will be addressed at the meeting. However, individual responses will not be provided, so it is not necessary to provide contact details. Meanwhile, please make a note of the date.
Charles Stewart, Chairman FoPS.

Other medical matters .....
Don’t forget that if you are aged between 40 and 74 with no history of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, stroke or kidney disease, then you are eligible for a free NHS health check. This will help you to find out your risk of developing these diseases as you get older and advice and help will be given to help avoid future health problems. www.healthysurrey.org.uk/healthchecks
or call 03456 009 009 for more information.

SURREY WILDLIFE NEWS
Summer is now in full swing, nights are warm, with bats, badgers, and moths at the height of activity. The first wave of true summer butterflies will fly this month - look out for common blue, speckled wood and the secretive dingy skipper. House martins are busy catching insects on the wing, to feed their young in large cup-like mud nests under the eaves of houses. They can be easily distinguished from swifts by their white bellies and stubbier bodies. (We are lucky to have a pair of swifts nesting in the eaves of a house in Brookwood this summer and a nest box has been installed nearby to encourage more.) Spikes of common spotted and heath spotted orchid are appearing, but you have to look harder to see the beautiful bee orchid. If you are interested in wildlife, why not become a member of our local Surrey Wildlife Trust. More details at www.surreywildlifetrust.org.

SHERWOOD DRIVING SCHOOL
Well done to all my pupils in the village who have passed their driving test. You have given me a brilliant success rate and it has been a privilege meeting you all. Please pass on my details to your friends. I am doing some fantastic offers on driving lessons over the summer, so if you want to learn to drive, please contact me for details. Best wishes for a happy summer. Mandy Sherwood 07980 948 977

BROOKWOOD PERSONALITIES TONY BURLEY
Many of us use Brookwood station at some point throughout the year, if not commuting every day, and if you prefer to buy your ticket from a real person rather than struggle with the machine, you will probably have spoken to Tony. As Tony has been so helpful with distributing our newsletters at the station, we thought we’d find out more about him. Tony has been working at Brookwood station for two years and for South West Trains for six years. He lives in Basingstoke and gets up at 3.30am to catch the 4.54am train to Brookwood in order to start work at 6.30am in the ticket office. He is married, his favourite day trip by train is to Exeter and his favourite food is Indian curry. He can also advise on the best ticket for the time of day and save you money, unlike that infernal machine!

BROOKWOOD AND BRIDLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM (BBNF)
Apologies to those of you who may have turned up for the AGM on Friday 27th June. Unfortunately, this meeting was postponed due to a Woking Council Meeting agenda being changed. This will now be held on Thursday 24th July, 7.30pm.
See the website www.bbnf.org.uk for venue.
Everybody welcome.

BROOKWOOD SCHOOL FETE
Raised £2,660 for the school - thanks to all who came to support us.

BROOKWOOD CLUB Many thanks to all those who came to the Midsummer Barbecue on 21st June. We raised £400 for Woking Hospice in memory of our late trustee, Dick Follett.

If you are interested in an occasional email Community Update between newsletters, you can sign up through the Brookwood website: www.brookwood.org.uk (top right hand corner).

YOUR LOCAL CHURCH IS CHANGING!
St Saviour’s Church wants to grow into a fellowship that has genuine relevance in Brookwood today and for the future years to come. We want to make it fully accessible so that it becomes a place not only of worship, but also somewhere for people to meet and use for other community activities. Called the ReGeneration project, the internal space of the church building needs to be changed so it can be used in different, flexible ways, including a new style of Sunday morning service. Over the next few years, we are planning a series of improvements beginning with the replacement of the pews with chairs to open up the floor space. We then plan to build a toilet and improve our coffee bar into a more substantial servery. Following this we aim to upgrade the heating and lighting to a more efficient and ecological system. All this costs money so there will be future fund-raising events and an opportunity for everyone to come and find out more and hopefully contribute to the planning and support of the improvements. Our first fund raising event will be a wine tasting and auction on Friday 26th September when we will be auctioning off the pews, (among other things) and introducing our brand new chairs! We have also booked the Loveday Singers for a concert on Saturday 18th October, so do keep these dates free, look out for further details nearer the time, and come along to be in at the start of the new look for your local church.

PIRBRIGHT PLAYERS PRESENT: WE ARE STILL PEOPLE
Friday 4th July 7.30pm, Lord Pirbright’s Hall

FAME ON BBC RADIO 4
If you are a fan of the long running radio soap opera, ‘The Archers’, you may have heard Brookwood mentioned in one of the episodes this month when the character Daniel, son of Shula, is describing his experiences of his training at Sandhurst to his mother. On one of the days the new cadets were taken to Brookwood Cemetery where they found it “very moving”. The cemetery is not that well known to the rest of the nation, so it is a shame the script didn’t do more to explain why.

This month’s newsletter is sponsored by:



Office and Business space TO LET
Knaphill, Woking
01483 472571
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