Afritwin project with Lymm High School

How useful is a dictionary? For most of us, probably something we pick up occasionally. For students at Qhasana High in Mdantsane Township, South Africa, it holds the key to exam success! For the past seven years, Lymm High School has been involved with the Afritwin project. Afritwin links UK schools on a triangle basis with schools in South Africa. One is a well-resourced school (The Glen, Pretoria) and the other a school in a developing area – Qhasana High. The objective of the link is to share learning and experiences between schools and countries and, to this end, a group of students and staff are travelling to South Africa in summer. Education is not free at Qhasana and resources are very limited. For the past months, the students have been raising funds to bring dictionaries to the school – very much needed as exams are in English which is not the students’ first language!

Auction of Promises

To this end, an Auction of Promises will be held at Lymm High on Friday, 16th April from 7 p.m. and any support will be very gratefully received – more information and tickets are available from Jeff Lewtas.

The attached photo shows Declan Lyons and Mollie Lewtas with some of the items to be auctioned.

Spoof ABBA Tribute Musical

Lymm-based writer Simon Plumb has discovered new actors for his spoof ABBA tribute musical, ‘MAM, I’M ‘ERE’. Following its hugely successful 2009 premiere, it is set for a six show run at the Altrincham Garrick Theatre in June 2010.

MAM, I’M ‘ERE’ is a hilarious, feel-good, 70’s-based romantic, musical comedy featuring ABBA’s greatest hits. The new storyline is based on a young school girl in Liverpool who falls in love with her school sports master and local rugby player. Her ‘Mam and Dad’ run a local Drag Queen club and strongly disapprove of the relationship.

Locally based talented actors and actresses were awarded key roles following widely publicised auditions. Hayley Moston and Andy Pilkington from Lymm will play ‘Shazza’, the female lead, and ‘Jim the teacher’, her love interest. They will be supported by Kara McCabe as ‘Tracey’ and Rosie O’Connor as ‘Ophelia’, both of Stockton Heath.

Simon Plumb, who also writes and directs the legendary Lymm Rugby Panto, is excited about his forthcoming production. He says: ‘We have unearthed some fantastic local talent who will add real sparkle! This show really seems to hit the spot, creating two hours of laughter and huge levels of audience participation with the sing-a-long.

‘The audience reaction is always fantastic and made me want to take the show to the next stage, if you forgive the pun. The Altrincham Garrick is a wonderful theatre and I’ve added some new scenes and songs as well as more comedy.’

Get your tickets now

MAM, I’M ‘ERE will run from June 22 -26 June, 2010 and tickets, at £13.50, are available through the Garrick Box Office on 0161 928 1677 or email the Box Office.

Picture caption: Local talent Hayley Moston, Andy Pilkington, Kara McCabe and Rosie O’Connor start rehearsals for their MAM, I’M ‘ERE performances.

Aiden Byrne of The Church Green on TV

Hitting our TV screens on Monday 5th April, Aiden Byrne will be competing to represent the North West in Series 5 of The Great British Menu

The BBC television series ‘Great British Menu’ is a show which sees the top chefs in Britain compete for a chance to cook one course of a four course banquet. In previous series, the final menu has been cooked for the Queen’s 80th birthday, the Ambassadors Dinner at the British Embassy in Paris, an event at the iconic Gherkin building in London hosted by Heston Blumenthal and finally the fourth series saw chefs cook a homecoming celebratory banquet for British troops returning from Afghanistan. With magnificent meals, the competing chefs have wowed the judges, thrilled the guests and delighted some of the world’s finest chefs with some of the best of British food.

How it works

This year the Great British Menu format consists of 8 Regional heats with a total of 24 chefs. Each region comprises of 3 greatly talented chefs battling it out in the kitchen in a bid to go forth to the final representing their region. They are then required to cook their menu for a panel of well known judges and hopefully deliver a winning dish for the final menu. The final four course banquet created by the winning four chefs will provide a magnificent British meal that the judges consider fitting for a yet to be revealed guest. With four fabulous dishes created by the best of Britain’s chefs, it’s an outstanding menu of great British food.

Representing the North West

Michelin-starred Aiden Byrne, the Chef Proprietor of The Church Green in Lymm will compete in the North West Regional Heat against chefs Lisa Allen from the Northcote restaurant in Lancashire, and Johnnie Mountain from the Mosaica Restaurant at the Factory in London. The criteria of the competition requires each chef to be located in a local National Trust House of which Aiden has been selected Dunham Massey. Chefs are limited to a 25 mile radius of their selected property in which to source their ingredients. They are then required to deliver a 4 course menu of a starter, fish dish, main course and dessert which ultimately represents their region and connects to their property. For a week, the chefs battle it out in the heat of the kitchen under the watchful eye of their mentor Marcus Wareing, Berkeley restaurant owner in London and previous winner of the show.

In the Heat of the Kitchen!

With conflicting opinions on ‘local’ representation of ingredients, and disagreements on a chef’s worthiness of a position in the regional heats, pots and pans fly as the competition between the chefs really spices up in the kitchen! With so many beating and stirring appliances close to hand, it’s a wonder the fish was the only thing in the kitchen that got a battering! Think you can stand the heat of the kitchen? Starting Monday 5th April on BBC 2, definitely not to be missed.

More details

• View more details on Aiden Byrne and The Church Green

The new interactive Lymm Map

Following on from our previous post regarding Google Street View, we have recently made some enhancements you may be interested in. The brand new Lymm Ineractive Map includes icons indicating various points of interest, be it Landmarks, Sports Clubs or Things to Do etc.

How it works

Simply click on the icons to toggle items on/off the map. Then click the icons on the map to find out more and observe the tabbed window that pops up for further information. Most icons now include a Street View window, whilst the Lymm TV icons also display the actual live streaming feed. Don't forget you can zoom in and out of the map and navigate the Street View by double clicking, or clicking and dragging on it. You can also make it full screen by clicking the little square at the top right of the Street View window.

It's pinpoint accurate

Whilst searching Google Street View generally places a marker to the nearest address using postcode data, we have painstakingly researched each and every latitude and longitude co-ordinate and and plotted them for every single location, allowing you to view a more accurate and precise details.

Now go play with the map!

Irish Evening Fundraising at Statham Lodge

A massive well done goes out to Liz and Kate from the Gallery Salon in Statham, who hosted the hugely successful fundraising event at Statham Lodge on Sunday 21st March. The evening which was filled with Irish tunes and charm, and featured a guest appearance from the well known ‘Bogtrotters’ band, raised a fantastic £4200 to go towards the funds for Shannon’s operation.

Little Shannon Boam from High Legh has a rare condition called Peters Plus Syndrome which has made her virtually blind. Shannon’s best hope to be able to read and write one day is artificial cornea replacement surgery called keratoprosthesis which is available in America. But it costs around £27,000. Shannon’s parents are hoping to raise the funds to send their little girl to America so she can undergo the treatment.

With fundraising events such as the Irish Evening hosted at Statham Lodge we can make this possible. A huge thank you goes out to all the local businesses and those who attended the fundraiser for their support in making the evening a success. Hopefully the event will help to raise awareness and generate more people coming forward to help raise the £27,000 that Shannon needs asap in order to regain her sight.

Support Shannon

Alternatively cheques payable to Miss Shannon Jade Boam can be sent to Mr and Mrs Boam, 58 Rensherds Place, High Legh, Cheshire, WA16 6NG.