Mobility Scooter damaged by cemetary potholes

Story as it appeared in the Portsmmouth News


PEOPLE with mobility problems are being forced to dodge dangerous potholes on a popular walkway through Kingston cemetery in Fratton.

Tony Bradshaw, 72 who suffers with a neurological condition known as cerebellar ataxia which affects his mobility and balance, says the potholes caused £200 of damage to his motorised scooter.

“I am always having to swerve around the potholes which is very hard for me,” he said. “The front wheels of my scooter were damaged by the uneven surface of the road. The scooter cost me £600 so it’s really lucky that it was covered by insurance.

“I visit the cemetery every fortnight at least. You can’t get down the side roads to visit the graves because they are too uneven. I really have to watch out.”

Mr Bradshaw also said: “The cemetery toilets have been closed since the summer. It means elderly folk have to walk a long way to find a public convenience.”

A sign on the toilet door which has been defaced by a disgruntled member of the public says they are closed due to drainage problems and that visitors must use the public convenience on neighbouring Clarke’s Road.

Mr Bradshaw’s daughter-in-law who didn’t wish to be named said: “We paid a lot of money for our mother’s grave two years ago. It makes you wonder where all the money is going.”

According to the Portsmouth City Council website there are around 400 burials at Kinston cemetery each year. The Council has raised burial prices by 29% over the past two years and in 2010 the cost of a burial went up from £443 to £483.

The cemetery thoroughfare which is a favourite cut-through for dog walkers and pedestrians is also causing problems for  wheelchair users such as Craig Kelly, 25.

Craig’s mother Mrs Kelly, 46 said: “We come through here each fortnight to visit my mother’s grave and we have to dodge round the potholes. Craig has nearly fallen out of his chair on several occasions so something really needs to be done about this. It’s even worse for mothers with pushchairs and the elderly with buggies.”

Ward councillor Eleanor Scott said: “Residents have told me how much of a problem this is and we are trying to get something done about it, but it would cost 25K to re-surface the road. The annual budget we have to spend is just not enough. Everything changes  at a time when the council is having to make cuts of £10.9 m in 2011-2012. Its going to be even harder to find the money for this kind of work.”

History boys brought back to life

THE HISTORY Boys was a massive success when it first opened at the National Theatre. It enjoyed a sell out stint on Broadway and was transformed into an award winning movie which has become a cult classic.

This latest production at Chichester Festival Theatre hosted  by the West Yorkshire Playhouse will surely only add to the play’s appeal.

It’s a joyous nostalgia trip through the boundless optimism and aspirations of youth, tempered by the wisdom of literature and academic reason.

The action is interspersed with blasts of pumping 1980s disco music which sets the sparsely furnished classroom scenes. Boys tumble into classrooms, joshing and fighting with each other, only to be held rapt in the spotlight once lessons begin. The simplicity of the set means that the focus is firmly on Bennett’s wonderful crafted script.

Philip Franks is compellingly eccentric as aging English tutor Hector, allowing the boys free reign in the classroom to explore the power of words. Thisleads to some hilarious scenes including a moment when the boys re-create a French brothel and are suddenly interrupted by earnest headmaster Thomas Wheatley.

Ben Lambert gives the stiff tight-lipped Irwin a polished sense of gravitas. He appears to have the answers to everything until the contradictions in his character are exposed by the swaggeringly cocky Dakin, George Banks . The pair handle the emotionally chargedscenes when Dakin reveals his love for Irwin superbly.

Harry Waller also shines as Scripps, delivering hilarious one-liners about his ‘romance‘ with God and Penelope Beaumont is equally well cast as the straight-laced school mistress Mrs Lintott, who reveals glimpses of her own youth by telling us: ‘Durham was where I had my first pizza you know.’

Classics form the music hall days are banged out by the classmates joyously on an old upright piano  taking us on a trip through the northern grammar school classrooms of the playwrite’s own youth.

Naomi finds faith at Fratton

FORMER healthcare assistant Naomi Hargreaves was so inspired by the work of the Faith and Football charity that she decided to devote her life to it.

Naomi, 29 who works full-time for the charity at the Pompey Study Centre in Fratton, first became aware of Faith and Football in 2004 when she attended a presentation at Fratton park about a mission trip to India.

“I spoke to a lot of people that evening,” she said, “and then a few weeks later I got a call from Linvoy Primus asking me if I wanted help out.”

Naomi’s work was rewarded in 2005 when she took part in a fundraising trip to the Great Wall of China with Linvoy Primus and fellow faith and football founders Darren Moore ad Wayne Jacobs.

Naomi said: “I remember one particular night when we stayed in a village, there was a really poor man who had a back problem and couldn’t afford medical treatment. We did a wip-round to help him and it turned out we’d raised three months of his wages.”

Naomi raised £2,000 from sponsorship herself.

Since then she has gone on to co-ordinate the ‘Extra Time’ literacy scheme which helps to improve the reading skills of year-two school pupils through bible stories. She also helps to run the charity’s Community Football leagues and is involved in ‘Team Talk,’ a project which teaches life skills to groups of disengaged young males.

But it’s Naomi’s personal faith that drives her: “I made a decision to give my life to God,” she said. “I think in this modern world we need faith to help us to solve the problems we are facing.”

For more information about Faith and Football visit:http://www.faithandfootball.org.uk/