Oakman Property Ltd, the new owner of the historic Royal Foresters pub site in Berkshire, is seeking to raise £2.5 million through crowdfunding platform, Downing Crowd.

Multi-award winning Oakman Inns & Restaurants (“Oakman Inns”), the new management behind the Royal Foresters pub site, is embarking on a total renovation and refurbishment of the existing site into a high-quality pub restaurant with letting rooms, subject to obtaining the necessary planning permissions.  Oakman Inns has committed to invest £3.5m in developing the site, subject to planning permission being received.

TICKETS  

Royal Ascot and Fenwick have collaborated with eight of the UK’s most exciting milliners to produce an exclusive eight-piece collection: The Royal Ascot Millinery Collective.

The Royal Ascot Millinery Collective features individual pieces from a mixture of newcomers and world-renowned milliners such as Jess Collett, Harvy Santos, Lisa Tan, Sophie Beale alongside Stephen Jones, Philip Treacy, Vivien Sheriff and Edwina Ibbotson.

The Royal Ascot Millinery Collective will be available exclusively at Fenwick of Bond Street – Royal Ascot’s Official Millinery Sponsor for the second season from Thursday 27th April.

Royal Ascot and Millinery go hand-in-hand and the Royal Ascot Millinery Collective provides a platform to celebrate the best of British-based hatters. Each milliner has a strong relationship with Royal Ascot and a clear brand identity, accumulating beautifully in this collection. The ongoing sponsorship from Fenwick further projects the campaign thanks to the exceptionally-curated designer fashion and world-class millinery that this British institute is recognised for.

The contrast between the hats is complemented by a dramatic and elegant colour palette, with each design representing the milliner’s unique handwriting and signature styles.

Juliet Slot, Commercial Director, Ascot Racecourse said, “We are extremely pleased to be working with eight of Britain’s most exciting milliners who have produced unique and exquisite examples that will inspire racegoers in what to wear this season. It is a pleasure to have Fenwick support the campaign once again as their reputation in millinery is held in the highest regard.”

Mia Fenwick, Director of Brand and Communication, Fenwick of Bond Street said, “We are extremely proud to again be collaborating with Royal Ascot to curate the 2017 Royal Ascot Millinery Collective. Working with the brightest millinery talent around the globe, Fenwick is honoured to again showcase their extraordinary level of talent and craftsmanship.”

Royal Ascot will be held from Tuesday 20th – Saturday 24th June 2017. Tickets start from £37. For further information and to book please visit ascot.co.uk or call 0844 346 3000.

Tickets:        https://tickets.ascot.co.uk/ / 0844 346 3000

Ascot Races :: Royal Ascot 2017  

Pictured: Local Jo Jingle, Jackie Thornton

20 years ago, in the Spring of 1997 a local Mum was looking for that certain job that meant she could work school hours as her son James, then aged 5 was starting the Summer Term at Binfield C of E Primary School.  That Mum was Jackie Thornton who luckily discovered a job that turned out to be life changing.  She discovered Jo Jingles, specialising in Music, Singing and Movement who were looking for a new Franchisee in the local area.  Jackie bought the Franchise and went from strength to strength.  Over the last 20 years Jackie and her wonderful class teachers have introduced Under 5s to a world of music and fun, with the emphasis firmly on “fun” and thousands of youngsters in this area will have become Jinglers at some time.

www.spotlightsmtg.co.uk    

Spotlights Musical Theatre Group's (SMTG)  MAKE "FANTASTIC" DONATION TO YOUTH MUSIC

The Spotlights Musical Theatre Group (SMTG) was able to give £587 to the Alice Gross Youth Music Memorial Fund as a result of generous donations from its audiences at their latest show "My Fair Lady" which they recently performed at Papplewick School. The show attracted capacity audiences who were able to enjoy a "free bar" and many of them used the opportunity to donate to the charity. 

Alice's memorial fund is devoted to helping children in deprived circumstances get a music education and Robert Carter, Spotlight's charity contact, was bowled over by people's kindness and generosity. "That’s a fantastic total", he said. "Thank you so much for contributing so generously to Alice’s Memorial Fund for Youth Music – it is hugely appreciated. And thank you as well for inviting me – you put on a marvellous show which I enjoyed immensely. I was humming the songs for the rest of the weekend!"

Spotlights main purpose is to raise money for charities by performing good musical theatre and so far this year the group have donated £837 in total to the fund. It will continue to do so from their forthcoming Autumn and Christmas concerts. 

The group's next show is "Let's Face The Music", a concert of songs from musicals of the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s to be performed at the Carnation Hall on October 13, and 14th at 730pm and also on the 14th at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and can be bought from the box office by calling 01344 874177.  

A 19 year old Berkshire student with a passion for science has launched a new on-line programme designed to dramatically reduce the cost of hiring a tutor for GCSE chemistry.

According to Arran Paul, who lives with his family in Bagshot Road, Ascot and was Head Boy at Charters School, Sunningdale, students can pay anything between £40-60 per hour for a session with a tutor.  He said that the proportion of tutored pupils has risen by more than a third over the past decade, from 18% in 2005 to 25% now.  The average cost of a private tutor to help a child, usually to pass an exam, is £24-60 an hour, according to the Sutton Trust, which aims to improve social mobility through education. One in four children aged 11-16 attending a state school now receives help from a private tutor at some point.  Children at private schools are about “twice as likely” to have been tutored.

Arran's new enterprise, known as Positive Charge, allows students studying GCSE chemistry to log into its website and take a front row seat to over 60 course specific videos lasting for between 4 - 14 minutes showing practical chemistry demonstrations for a fraction of hiring a tutor.  For £15.99 a month students have access to a video library showing a variety of different lessons which come with detailed course notes.  Positive Charge lessons can be viewed on demand at any time of the day or night. A further ten videos will be added to the collection at the end of May.

The Creative Arts Faculty at Charters School in Sunningdale   has built quite a reputation over the past few years with their annual stage shows, and this year was no exception; During the last week in November more than 100 students from Years 8 to 13 donned their leather jackets and bobby socks and travelled back in time to the 1950’s to re-tell the timeless musical ‘Grease’.

The cast began rehearsing in September to become the well-loved characters we all remember from the 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, learning hand-jiving dance routines and perfecting the songs we all know and love.

The run was kicked off by the school’s annual Community Performance, where pensioners from local day centres and care homes were invited to experience the show during the school day along with students from some of the feeder schools. During the intermission, members of the cast stayed ‘in character’ to mingle with the audience which delighted both young and old alike.

Miss Belinda Francis, Curriculum Leader for the Creative Arts Faculty, was extremely proud of the entire cast and crew, saying “The cast and creative team have worked tirelessly since September, with passion and enthusiasm; a delight to rehearse with. We’ve challenged the cast with the setting of the show, performed in the three-part round, but they have learnt to interact with the audience with beaming smiles, which has brought our version of this classic musical to life. The cast and crew are such a hard-working bunch and the Production Team have supported them extensively to make this show one of our best ever. It's clear just how much fun everyone has had putting on 'Grease' and we shall miss it once it's over!”

Dotty Flo who played Sandy said, “The cast is so incredibly amazing and talented which makes the experience so memorable!! I've honestly enjoyed it so much and despite how nervous I am I can't wait to perform each night with such fantastic people!”