Lions on two day fundraiser
In the run up to the season of goodwill Tring Lions has been fundraising for the local community.
A two day collection outside Tesco in Tring raised a massive £1,000 and the fundraising stalls at the annual Victorian Fiesta brought in £400.
All of the cash collected will go towards helping the needy and disadvantaged in the local communities. Contributions are also made to help out with the aftermath of natural disasters across the world, such as the Tsunami and the hurricane that devastated New Orleans.
Derek Grant from Tring Lions said: “We would like to thank the townspeople of Tring and the surrounding villages for their generous support.”

Giving new life to old canal
Dedicated volunteers help to re-open waterway not used since 1905

RETIRED with spare time on their hands, boating enthusiasts, keen gardeners and bankers are just some of the volunteers who give up their time to help out with the restoration of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal.
A dedicated handful of volunteers were out in force to do their part in preparing a section of the canal to be re-watered and used by boats for the first time since it was closed in 1904.
Volunteer Ray Orth has been giving up his spare time for the last ten years to work with the Wendover Arm Trust - a charity set up to restore the canal.
Earlier last month he headed a four day working group to start lining the one mile stretch of canal from Drayton Beauchamp to Little Tring. The latest works are part of the second phase of restoring the canal.
In March this year volunteers saw the Little Tring section of the canal re-watered and officially opened to boats during a special
ceremony with Poirot star David Suchet - patron of the trust.
Ray, who lives in Chesham, was among proud volunteers at the opening, who had spent the last seven years working to reopen the quarter of a mile stretch.
He said: “I was there right at the beginning of phase one. It was lovely to see it opened, with people walking along the canal and using boats.”
Ray and a team of volunteers have been busy working on the canal bed at Drayton Beauchamp. They were there for four days, from Friday, November 4 to Monday, November 7.
The team were covering a pipe that transfers water between the closed section of the canal at Drayton Beauchamp down to the Victorian pumping station at Little Tring.
Ray said: “The main purpose of the weekend was to put a concrete capping over the pipe that takes the canal water down to Little Tring.” The group were also putting up temporary fencing along the towpath and lining the canal bed with a rubber water proof lining to ensure it does not spring a leak when reopened.
This stretch of canal is expected to be completed by 2010 and is estimated to cost £620,000. Work includes installing two new footbridges, which cost about £10,000 each, lining the full length of the canal bed, covering the water pipe with a protective concrete capping and planting vegetation.
The Wendover Arm Trust has been raising funds to revive the canal, with the help of the Inland Waterways Association since 1989.
61-year-old Ray got involved with the Wendover Arm Trust after he took early retirement from his job as a project engineer for Kodak. He said: “I have always been interested in canals. I have been taking boating holidays for about 15 years and recently bought a boat. The canals are part of our heritage and if we don’t restore them they will be lost.
“I would like to think I’m working on this and it is going to be here for several hundred years and it will be enjoyed by lots of people.”
Ray bought himself and wife Jo a 45 foot narrow boat last year, which they keep at Cowroast Marina in Tring.
The Wendover Trust attracts volunteers from all sorts of backgrounds. Ray said: “We have got a volunteer who takes time off work to help out, we have got people that work in banks, retired people who used to work for British Rail, all sorts of people. There is always something for someone to do.
“When I started I never knew how to drive construction machines and now I drive them and have a licence. These are all things I have learnt since I started.”
The Wendover Arm Trust always welcomes new volunteers for more information contact publicity officer, John Savage on 01442 827702.

Pre-school parents book up a treat

SCHOOL mums and dads in Tring have put their heads together to bake up a tasty recipe book containing all of the ingredients needed to cook up delicious feasts.
Tring Mothers’ Union Pre-School Recipe Book contains 46 delicious recipes donated and tested by parents of children at the school.
School mum Sarah Stewart said: “In the past we have done a lot of cake stalls and things to raise money for the pre-school and a lot of people have asked for the recipes.
“It was a group of mums who thought the book would be a good idea for fundraising.”
The pre-school in Sutton Court, has been in the town for more that 40 years and is run by a committee of parents.
The last recipe book published by the pre-school was about 20 years ago.
The book has five different sections from soups and starters to baking and
desserts.
Mrs Stewart said: “We did set it up with the idea that it should be recipes that children would enjoy eating and making but there are recipes that are not aimed at children. “
So far the pre-school has sold more than 100 of the books and is having more published.
Mrs Stewart said: “Some people have bought them for family members as Christmas presents.
“We are quite pleased we have sold so many.”
The driving force behind the recipe book is school mum Sian Parrett. Mrs Stewart said: “She has been the force behind it. She compiled all of the recipes and then gave them to parents to test. She designed the book and did the photography.”
The book is £4.50 and can be bought by contacting Mrs Stewart on 01442 823950.

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