Support for the crossing images

'Lights for Life'

Is the name for the new charity that is being set up to campaign for a pedestrian crossing across the A38 in Rooksbridge. Many of you will have seen the petition that is available to sign in Rooksbridge Post Office or on line at www.rooksbridge.org.uk. So far there have been more than 1200 signatures from local residents and regular users of this stretch of the A38.

(The first online petition was only going for a couple of days and nearly 100 people signed! Together with the petitions available at the Post office and the 'Welly' over 1200 signatures were delivered. A new Ongoing online petition is now up and running and available to sign and post any comments) Sign it here

View the previous delivered online petition and signatures here.

The encouraging response to the first petition shows that there is real concern about the dangers of crossing the road in Rooksbridge, particularly in view of the large number of children who have to cross on their way to and from school.

From initial enquiries, it would seem that we, as a community, are going to have to raise a considerable sum of money as a partial contribution to persuade Somerset County Council to put the construction of a light controlled crossing higher up its priority list.

If you share our concerns there are a number of ways in which you can help:

1. Sign the petition at Rooksbridge P.O. or on line.

2. Write individually to the Parish, District and County councils.

3. Contact your local councillors in person.

4. Suggest ways of raising the profile of this campaign and ideas for fund raising.

5. Come along to the next meeting to be held at 18 The Chantry, Rooksbridge.

Please contact Chris Crook on 07966 551074 or by e-mail at chrcr@aol.com

Keith Bellingham.

PLEASE JOIN THIS COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN!

Appeal Events

Photo Gallery

“Lights for Life”

‘Grand Autumn Ball’

The evening raised over £7000 towards our village crossing!

A report on the evening from Chairman Chris.

I would very much like to report that the 'first' Rooksbridge 'Lights for Life' charity ball was an overwhelming success!

The Charity Ball went ahead as planned on Friday 17th October 2008 and was attended by over 200 people at the Batch Country House. With a number of guests coming from as far away as Bournemouth, Exeter, London and Northampton, all of the feedback has been extremely positive, especially as the event was only 6 weeks from conception until the night itself!

The 200 guests were greeted with welcome drinks and canapes, before being seated for their main course in the splendid ball room, surrounded by red, amber and green balloons rising above bright coloured traffic cones adorning the 22 beautifully presented tables. The theme of 'traffic lights' drawn from the 'Lights for Life' logo for the charity, made for an impressive array of colour for the evening.

After the delights of the dinner had been enjoyed by all, the evening then moved through a busy course of entertainment and fund raising. This featured an auction precided over by 'Lights for Life' charity chairman Chris Crook that raised an incredible £4,800. The highest bids on the night going to 'a meal for 6 cooked by a gourmet chef at your own home' fetching £600, a helicopter flight for 4 over the river thames route over London fetching £500, along with the same figure for a 1 week family of four holiday in Spain. A silent auction event followed whilst the party got into full swing with local band 'On the Level' providing an excellent array of songs to get everyone up and on the dance floor. An alternative hour or so's entertainment was also on offer in a seperate room where a casino was set up for those who fancied a game of black jack or a go on the roulette tables. To complete the evening there was also an option of a disco, a raffle and a quieter room where a drink and a chat could be conducted for those who felt the need.

Pat Ireland, Chris Crook and the 'Lights for Life' committee would very much like to thank everyone who came and supported the evening, those who bought and donated gifts and prizes and everyone else who worked and contributed to what was a lovely evening for the residents, family and friends of Rooksbridge. The total sum raised is likely to be upwards of £7,100 which considering the short lead time to the event and the obvious difficult financial climate we are in, is a huge success and show of support for our goal of a safe crossing in our village.

Our campaign continues with further events being planned already so watch this space! We can also confirm that due to popular demand, the Rooksbridge 'Lights for Life' Grand Autumn Charity Ball 2009 will take place on Saturday October 10th at the Batch Country House. Please put it in your diary or on your calendar, as we aim to make it even bigger and better than this year. Don't miss it! Watch out for further news of events on the village website (www.rooksbridge.org.uk) and in the magazine.

Regards

Chris Crook

Chairman - Rooksbridge 'Lights for Life'.

Kayleighs Dance show
in aid of the Rooksbridge Crossing appeal
and Cancer Research.
Thurs 24th July 2008
at
Clare Bowen Theatre. Bridgwater College.

Kayleighs Dance Show and her group of dancers, also featuring music from Cameron Crook and others was a huge success. With upwards of £500 being raised for the two charities.

A duet created as part of a choreography module in a BA Hons Dance course at Chichester University. The duet has developed from the initial idea of ‘drowning’ and the motion of surfing bodies across water.

(Danced by Claudia Etherington, Isobel Etherington, Jasmine Abbott, Kirsty Abbott, Caitlin Clancy, Jamie Clancy, Holly Hughes, Isobel Theseira and Emily Evans.)

A Dance based on the well known film and stage production “High School Musical”

An exploration of movement and dance. An explosive and aggressive energy transference through space.

(Danced by Claire Tidswell, Amy Snell, Veronica Schoeder, Amy Jacobs, Kirsty Abbott and Isobel Etherington)

(Danced by Jenny Grant, Amelia Clegg, Dom Buck, Chris Ashford and Kayleigh Crook)

A contemporary piece based around the idea of manipulation, the transference of energy and shifting the body through space.

All money raised will go to both Cancer Research UK and the “Rooksbridge A38 Crossing Fund”.

We did very well on the day, in fact better than I expected! My sweepstake for guessing the time of my arrival was way out in my estimation as I had a range of 60 minutes from two hours to three hours. Our actual time was 1 hour 48 minutes so the closest was the first on my sheet that said 2 hours!! This I might add was due to the very fit bunch of guys I was cycling with who really made me push myself along at a faster than expected rate. I had anticipated a few stops, but we barely came to a halt at all, although Jim Boylan (a guest cyclist) stopped several times for a toliet break, but still managed to catch us up easily each time. He had ridden his bike down from Nailsea to join our cycle and then rode it all the way back from Taunton as well! An amazing effort.

The riders were, myself, Paul Ireland, Chris Caton, Jim Boylan and Paul Archer and we were protected at the rear by Pat Ireland, who drove behind us all the way with a 'warning cyclists' banner in her rear window and a flashing orange light on the roof. Although our cycle was about making a point to the County Highways Department, it also generated some funds with Paul Ireland getting himself sponsored for the event and raised close on £500, a brilliant effort along with my sweepstake bringing in about £80, the first real contribution to our funds for a crossing. I must say a thank you to Rookery Manor for contributing a money off voucher for the winner of my sweepstake, who was a guy called Tom, a regular from the Wellington Arms. Apologies to the ones who wanted to guess under 2 hours but the option wasn't on my sheet......sorry!

Well, we arrived at County Hall suitably shattered at about 2.30pm just as the rain began to fall. We had been very lucky along the way and our only hazard was the crazy A38 traffic and a head wind coming straight at us on a number of occasions, making it more of a challenge than it already was! I was also a little miffed when we were passed by a guy who was on his way home or to work, who went past us as if we were stood still, and in an effortless manner cycling with one hand on the handlebars and the other on his holdall! I must be doing something wrong or I'm going to get a new bike!

We were greeted at County Hall by the 'Portfolio holder for Transport' Mr Tony Shire. Pat Ireland, after handing him a petition of nearly 1200 names, spent about half an hour talking through our campaign and obviously the tragic accident that had triggered it. Mr Shire was pleased with our means of transport as he is also backing a campaign to get a lot more safer cycle routes in and around the Somerset area.
He assured us that our case was being looked at and that they were keen to help albeit unable to state more than we had already known in that we would need to raise in the regions of £90k, should we want a full pelican type crossing at this time. Pat Ireland emphasised that she will do everything she could to make this happen in memory of her husband Gordon, who had been so tragically run down and killed in Rooksbridge 6 months ago to this day. I further emphasised our strength of feeling in that should another 5 people be killed on the road in Rooksbridge, that we would be moved into a medium priority category! I stated vehemently that we wanted to solve the problem now so that no more people were killed! We discussed the fact that a team had been to Rooksbridge to measure up the road to see if there had been any possibility of a mid road safety island area, to reduce the risks in crossing. We understand that initially this seems to be an unlikely solution, as the road is too narrow and would need considerable changes to make this option work. Other possibilities will continue to be considered whilst we continue our own efforts.

Our overall feeling from our efforts was a positive one and we felt that the good press coverage of the event will have highlighted our campaign considerably and increase the support for our petition. The on line petition continues through the link on the www.Rooksbridge.org.uk so please continue to get everyone you know to sign up to it. The official charity for this campaign is in the process of being set up and we are looking for people from the village to be involved. Anyone that may be interested in joining the committee should contact me on chrcr38@aol.com. For the time being we intend to carry on raising funds for the crossing by whatever means we can. If you have any ideas for fund raising events then please also let me know. There are a number of events already being planned with the first being a dance show on the Thursday 24th July, involving a number of children from the village of Rooksbridge, as well as many more youngsters from many other parts of the UK. Please watch out for details of this event and give it all the support you can!

Regards

Chris Crook

Scroll down for some images from the start at Rooksbridge.

Local residents set off to deliver the appeal and a petition by cycling to Highways Dept Taunton

Riders were, Chris Crook, Paul Ireland, Chris Caton, Jim Boylan and Paul Archer and we were protected at the rear by Pat Ireland, who drove behind us all the way with a 'warning cyclists' banner in her rear window and a flashing orange light on the roof.

Bear in mind these images were taken at around midday
When traffic is at its lightest.