A Takeuchi mini-digger which is similar to the one stolen

A plant hire firm in Chandler’s Ford has had a £16,000 mini- digger stolen in broad daylight.

Two thieves, who were both wearing ‘hi-vis’ jackets, were spotted brazenly loading Takeuchi mini-digger onto the back of a white van from a site in Sutherlands Court, at 0630 hrs on Friday, May 10.

The first suspect is described as a white male, about 40 years old, 6 feet tall and large build. He had a short dark beard, and was wearing a dark beanie hat and a long sleeved high visibility coat and dark bottoms.

The second suspect is described as a white male, about 35 years old, 5’10″ tall with a slim build. He had a ruddy complexion and was wearing a light blue beanie hat, a long sleeved high visibility coat and dark bottoms.

If anyone has any knowledge of this, or has been offered a red and grey Takeuchi TB014 mini excavation digger for sale, please contact the Eastleigh police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Eastleigh’s latest creative hub – The Sorting Office – was launched last week by world famous designer Wayne Hemingway MBE – the founder of iconic brand ‘Red or Dead’.

The Council is leasing the town’s former 1920s sorting office – which lies behind the Post Office in the High Street – from Royal Mail who shifted their sorting and delivery operation to the Airport and Boyatt Wood some years ago. The new workspace has been specially adapted to support arts-based businesses and is already home to more than a dozen artists.

Hemmingway said:

“The Sorting Office is an exciting project which gives the creative community a low cost opportunity to build up their business with specialist help and support.

“I was lucky enough to have opportunities to work from affordable premises in the early days of my business and it really helped us to get established.”

The Sorting Office is part of RECREATE, a €2million economic regeneration and development project backed by European funding agency Interreg.

Interreg aims to nurture and grow creative businesses and is made up of 16 French and English partners, one of which is Eastleigh Borough Council, who received £120,000 from the fund for the project.

The initiative has also received £79,426 funding from Arts Council England and last year received £150,000 of capital funding from the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) to convert the building.

The council are keen to stimulate the local economy – previously reliant on manufacturing and now retail – through  ‘creative industries’ i.e arts and crafts and new media businesses.

Cheryl Butler, Head of Culture at Eastleigh Borough Council said:

“This project is a real collaboration between the arts, creative industries and economic development, putting creativity at the heart of the regeneration of Eastleigh’s town centre.”

The Sorting Office is home to 16 studios and work units 14 of which are already occupied, plus a production area to make large scale items such as theatre sets and sculptural pieces.

Residents include a children’s illustrator, textile artists, costumiers, a leather accessories designer and a stained glass and mixed media artist.

Local arts charity ‘a space’ arts who specialise in providing supported workspaces for artists and creatives will manage the space on the behalf of Eastleigh Borough Council.

 

Councillor Malcolm Cross has been invested as Eastleigh’s First Citizen at the annual Mayor Making ceremony taking over from Cllr Rupert Kyrle. Cllr Cross is only the second Mayor to come from Hamble.

The new Mayor said:

“I’m very excited about my mayoral year and I’m looking forward to promoting so many good things that the borough to offer.

 

“It will be great to meet the residents, local organisations and businesses that make up this great borough and I’m also looking forward to promoting and supporting my two nominated charities“.

 

Born in Southampton in 1947, Malcolm lived in Alder Road until he was 16 when he moved to Shirley Warren.  He met his wife of 44 years when he was 17 and he was refurbishing the RSPCA animal shelter at Brook Lane, Park Gate.  They married in October 1969 at St Leonard’s Church, Bursledon.

Malcolm and Sue have lived in Hamble-le-Rice since 1986 and they have two children, Justin and Heidi.  They have six granddaughters, Poppy and earlier this year a great granddaughter was born.

Malcolm attended Aldermoor Infants and Junior Schools and then went to Shirley Warren Secondary Modern School.  He then attended Southampton Technical College and studied four  main trades.  He then undertook an apprenticeship with a local building company.  The traditional five year apprenticeship provided him with a career in plumbing.  At the age of 60 he studied Occupational Health and Safety Management and gained a Post Graduation Certificate, Diploma and a Masters Degree.

Malcolm was elected as a Borough Councillor for Hamble and Butlocks Heath ward in 2007   and has also served as a Hamble-le-Rice Parish Councillor for 11 years.

Malcolm’s hobbies are making stain glass Tiffany style lamps and mirrors, making hanging basket frames and brackets.  He also enjoys making cakes and Easter eggs with the grandchildren.

His charities this year will be Eastleigh Young Carers  and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Councillor Tony Noyce who represents West End North was invested as Deputy Mayor for the year.

Pic: Eastleigh Borough Council

Huhne, a former Secretary of State, will continue to serve his sentence under a ‘Home Detention Curfew” order though it would appear that home for Chris Huhne is in London – and not Eastleigh as he had maintained it was during his 2010 election campaign.

During the lengthy pre-trial period Mr Huhne had strongly protested his innocence and continued to represent the town in Parliament – even switching on the towns Christmas lights in the company of local Paralympian hero David Knot – but at the last minute changed to plea to guilty, admitting to channel 4 news that he had “lied and lied again”.

• Mr Huhne had told Eastleigh’s Labour voters that he would fight to prevent David Cameron from forming a government.
• He said he would oppose a rise a student tuition fees
• He claimed he would oppose rise in VAT labelling it ‘a regressive tax’
• He said he was opposed to nuclear power describing it as a “failed technology”

One Newtown resident 56, who had voted for Mr Huhne – and was too ashamed to reveal his identity – reacted angrily to the news:

“Chris Huhne lied and lied again. He should have got four years for all the lies he told.

“He cheated on his missus and cheated on the electorate.

“I thought I had voted for a conviction politician but sadly, in the end, it turned out the only convictions he had were the ones on his driving licence.”

 

Downfall: How Eastleigh News has seen Chris Huhne:

2009- St Christopher carrying  Nick Clegg

2010 – Emphatic election win for Superhuhne

2013 – Prisoner in Cell Block ‘H’

]]> http://www.eastleighnews.co.uk/2013/05/huhne-goes-home/feed/ 0 http://www.eastleighnews.co.uk/2013/05/student-appeals-for-missing-flute/ http://www.eastleighnews.co.uk/2013/05/student-appeals-for-missing-flute/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 22:49:18 +0000 Eastleigh Xpress http://www.eastleighnews.co.uk/?p=18056

A talented Barton Peveril ‘A’ level music student has lost her prized flute while travelling to college and fears it may have been stolen.

The student boarded a Blue Star college bus from Warsash Rd (Campion Close area) on Friday at 07.45 to travel to College. She had her Trevor James Virtuoso flute in a black case with her and sat upstairs with other students on the student only bus)). The bus arrived around 08.30 in Eastleigh.

At about 9am she realised she was missing the flute and contacted Blue Star, but the flute had not been found.

Police fear someone has stolen the instrument and have made enquiries with music stores and traders – the flute is a rare model and would attract attention.

The student, who plays in both the college and Warsash Band, is distressed over the loss. She bought the instrument about 18 months ago and has been practising hard for her ‘A’ level examination recital with it.

She is now being forced to use a spare, inferior instrument which will impact on her performance

Her Father, Kevin Reeve, appealed for information and said he thought it was possible someone may have picked it up with the intention of handing it in as lost property but has not had the opportunity to do so yet.

He implored

“If you have the flute please remember you have the outcome a student’s musical exams in your hands. Please hand it in to lost property or contact the police if you haven’t yet been able to do so”.

Mr Moore said his daughter would be “over the moon” if she was reunited with her instrument.

If you have the flute – or know where it is please contact Eastleigh Police on 101 or independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

pic: ©Nik Frey

Sarah Delaney and Kelly Dixon at the Eastleigh NCT Nearly New Sale

Over 460 local parents picked up affordable baby goods whilst raising money for charity at a volunteer-run sale organised by the Eastleigh NCT branch on Saturday 28 April making it the branch’s most successful sale to date.

Parents picked up everything from babygrows to buggies, saving money while also stopping products going to landfill and raising money for NCT, the UK’s largest charity for parents. All items came from local parents, who sell on their unwanted baby goods, which are always in nearly new condition.

The NCT Nearly New Sale was organised and run by 18 local volunteer committee members from the Eastleigh Branch who promoted the sale, organised refreshments and collected the entrance fees and donations.

Another 60 volunteers, selling goods or generally helping out also played their part in making the event a huge local success.

Thanks to their hard work, the sale made over £3,000 which will go towards supporting the charity’s work, including the running of local support groups that help to relieve isolation and loneliness faced by new parents.

Kate Smart, the Nearly New Sale Coordinator, said:

“We were delighted with the success of our NCT Nearly New Sale. It was great to see the community come together to pass on their toys and baby clothes, helping so many local parents save money in these tough times. The sale couldn’t have happened without our hardworking team of volunteers. The next Sale will be in October and we need more people to join the team.”

NCT is the UK’s largest parent charity. Each year the charity supports millions of parents through their first 1,000 days, offering expert information and trusted practical and emotional support through its website, helpline, the nationwide network of over 300 local branches.  For more information call NCT on 0300 330 0770 or visit www.nct.org.uk.

Eastleigh Branch is dedicated to supporting local parents and parents-to-be via its range of services including antenatal and postnatal courses, breastfeeding support, bumps and babies groups, coffee mornings, Nearly New Sales and more.

For more information about the next NCT Nearly New Sales or any of the Eastleigh branch activities please contact Kate on nnseastleighnct@yahoo.co.uk or call 07795 251 358.

The Spencerettes were formed in 1969, by Bob and Dorothy Spencer. Their  Grandaughter, Emily Babb,  a student at Barton Peveril college in Eastleigh, joined the group at age 4 and is now Corps Coach for the Spencerettes.

As Emily explains;

“I used to watch my mum, Gill, teach the Spencerettes and really wanted to join in. It wasn’t long before I got the bug and now I compete regularly at home and in the United States.”

“In the UK I compete at intermediate level, but twirling is so much more advanced in the States that I’m classed as a novice when I enter competitions over there.”

“I’m hoping to take a gap year after college and spend more time training in America, while pursuing my ambition to become a professional photographer.”

“Twirling is a great combination of gymnastics and dance that becomes something really different once you add a baton. It’s great fun and well worth a try.”

Earlier this year Emily competed in the Twirl Mania International Championships in Florida for the eighth time, winning one of her classes and finishing third overall in the novice section of competition.

As well as training for several hours each week herself, Emily now runs a three-hour class for girls aged eight to 13.

For further information about joining the Spencerettes or booking the corps for a function, contact Gill Babb on 02380 647364 or by email at Gill@gbaccounting.com

A 73 year–old-woman from Chandler’s Ford has become the victim of distraction thieves while shopping at Waitrose.

On Wednesday, March 27 the OAP went shopping at Waitrose in Chandlers Ford and paid for items using her bank card.

After she put her shopping bags in her car and just before she got in her vehicle she was distracted by a woman asking for directions.

While she was being distracted CCTV images show a man opening her car door and stealing her card.

The victim describes the woman who distracted her as speaking with an “Eastern European” accent.

Following the theft a number of store transactions and cash withdrawals were made using the card which came to over £1000.

Only bank cards were taken in the theft – the purse and handbag were left behind.

Police have issued CCTV stills of two women and a man shopping at ASDA in Southampton they are keen to speak to.

If you recognise the people in the stills or have any other information please contact PC Stacey Kirby at Romsey Police Station on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555.

Officers are also advising people to be extra vigilant and be aware of the methods used by offenders to prevent themselves becoming victims and are offering free purse lanyards to help foil would be purse snatchers – the lanyards have a rubber loop which can be used to secure mobile phones.

In order to obtain one for yourself or a relative ring 101 for details.

It would seem that this not an isolated incident this particular type of distraction method is a national problem and there have been similar incidents in the County as detailed here

The following clip illustrates how the tricksters operate and how they are able to withdraw cash from ATM machines using stolen cards

Dover Vs Eastleigh, tomorrow

Richard Hill’s Spitfires will look to put their semi-final play-off first leg behind them as they unfortunately went down to a 1-3 defeat at home to Dover Athletic on Tuesday.

Within seconds after the kick off, the visitors broke the deadlock after some poor Eastleigh defending.

Harry Ottaway flicked a ball into the path of former Spitfire Moses Ademola who guided the ball through keeper Ross Flitney’s legs to give Dover a early 0-1 lead.

The Whites struck again just before twenty minutes, this time it was Ben May who got himself on the score sheet.

The former Millwall striker chested the ball down, turned and volleyed it in the back of the net in superb fashion that gave Flitney no chance.

Manager Hill made two first half substitutions which saw the injured Dale Binns and Damian Scanell being replaced by Alex Lacey and Chris Zebroski.

These changes seemed to pay off with The Spitfires pressuring Dover in the second half.

Eastleigh’s persistence finally paid off midway through the second half when captain Glen Southam’s free kick managed to find its way to Zebroski who netted from close range.

The Spitfires were pressuring for an equaliser even when second half substitute Adam Watkins got a straight red for raising his arm at Ricky Modeste as the midfielder was trying to time waste.

With minutes to go, there was a sense of heartbreak when former Eastleigh captain Daryl McMahon scored from a free kick to put the visitors 1-3.

Left back Michael Green got a second yellow in the closing minutes of the game which results in The Spitfires without two key players in tomorrow’s second leg of the play-off semi-final.

Eastleigh will now travel to The Crabble Athletic Ground tomorrow as they look to make up a two goal advantage which Dover has on them.

It will be a tough ask for Richard Hill’s men so we urge all Eastleigh fans to keep the belief and roar on those Spitfires at The Crabble Athletic Ground tomorrow.

COME ON YOU SPITFIRES!!!

For match tweets and info follow eastleighfc

Follow Kieran James for articles on Eastleigh FC Follow @KieranJames1995

Tuesday’s match highlights of Eastleigh Vs Dover Athletic can be found below

Tuesday’s post match interview of Eastleigh’s manager Richard Hill can be found below

Eastleigh’s new Ukip County Councillors L-R Chris Greenwood, Andy Moore and Martin Lyon ©eastleighnews

In a sensational result Ukip have consolidated their surprise by-election performance and returned three county councillors in Eastleigh taking the seats from the Liberal Democrats while the Conservatives comfortably held their seat in Chandler’s Ford and overall control of the County Council with a reduced majority.

Ukip won 10 seats in the county – their first ever in Hampshire – and so far over 140 nationally in an astonishing surge of support which started in Eastleigh two months ago during the by-election.

The Conservatives were pushed into third place by Ukip in all of Eastleigh’s divisions except Chandler’s Ford – however they had been confident of being able to take Mayor Rupert Kyrle’s Botley seat following a protracted campaign against Council plans for housing in the area. They will doubtless be shocked to find that they have been pushed into third place by Ukip’s Steve Grindley-Robinson while Kyrle will be relieved to see the Conservative vote split.

 In Eastleigh’s central West and East divisions, Labour now find themselves the fourth party though will be consoled by their performance elsewhere in the county – they now have four seats instead of one.

In Eastleigh East, Lib Dem hard man Chris Thomas was toppled by his former  colleague Andy Moore in a seat which has been held the Lib Dems  for 20 years.

Long established Lib Dems Alan Broadhurst (Eastleigh West) and Angela Roling (Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) also lost their seats to Ukip’s Chris Greenwood and Martin Lyon.

The campaign had been noticeably low-key over the last two months, following the snap Parliamentary by-election in February.  Stretched budgets, battle-scarred candidates, tired-leafletters and campaign-weary electors combined to make this the most forgettable election campaign in living memory [well, probably..!]

As usual, the count to elect Eastleigh’s County Councillors was held at the Fleming Park Leisure Centre.  Business commenced promptly at 10pm, when the polls closed.

With similar elections happening elsewhere across the UK, Eastleigh was of particular interest nationally, as well as locally, to see if the progress that UKIP made at the by-election could be sustained.

Both local Lib Dems and Conservatives had told Eastleigh News that Ukip could not maintain the momentum from the by-election and win seats.

Lib Dem leaflets had ignored the by-election result completely and continued to show a graph based on the 2010 election result which claimed they enjoyed 46% support in the constituency.

Lib Dems claimed they had 46% support although they only polled 32% in by-election. They also ignored Ukip

With just 71 votes separating Lib Dem Alan Broadhurst from Ukipper Chris Greenwood the Eastleigh West result went to a re-count which confirmed Greenwood had won.

As the outcome became clear the Liberal Democrats became, understandably, subdued as they digested the implications the  result had for their Borough Council seats next year – which now look unsafe. The downbeat demeanour was in sharp contrast to the hysterics they displayed during the by-election count.

The by-election had provided a useful, and stark, early warning to the Lib Dems  that Eastleigh was now a ‘two horse race’ between themselves and Ukip.

In April there had been a seismic shift in support from ‘blue collar’ workers but the Lib Dems chose to ignore it and stick wiht the tactic that served them so well in the past – scaring voters who might otherwise support Labour into voting Lib Dem to “keep the Tories out”.

Those voters now vote for Ukip – and it is no use arguing ‘Ukip can’t win here’  - that opportunity has been missed – voters now know Ukip can win in Eastleigh.

Eastleigh News was very surprised when shortly after the by-election the Lib Dem Leader dismissed Ukip’s by-election result and said they would stick to their tactic of squeezing the Labour vote.

True, the low turnout may have favoured Ukip and  recent trial and imprisonment of disgraced MP Chris “I lied and lied again”‘ Huhne  may have hardened voters perceptions but if Leader Keith House continues to stick with the same electoral tactics it will be interesting to see how long the rank and file – whose seats are threatened – will continue to stick with him.

Keith House’s appearance at the count with his arm heavily bandaged – believed to be following an incident with a dog while canvassing- only reinforced the idea that he has been wounded as a result of his election campaign. Even in his own division of Hamble, Cllr House had Ukip paper candidate Chris Martin breathing down his neck.

While the Lib Dems licked wounds Easlteigh’s Ukip members were jubilant and none more so than Andy Moore who two years ago had suffered a humiliating defeat in the local elections losing his Central Eastleigh seat to Lib Dem newcomer Keith Trenchard.

Moore had left the Lib Dems after they had proposed to de-select him and took former Mayor Glynn Davies-Dear with him.

Both of them joined Ukip during the by-election campaign and Glynn Davies-Dear, who previosuly held the Eastleigh East seat for 12 years, shared in the celebration last night having helped mastermind Moore’s successfulcampaign.

Despite nursing a broken foot Andy Moore told Eastleigh News he felt ‘Fantastic’ adding “it pays to tell the truth” – a reference to Lib Dem campaign leaflets which he claimed were misleading.

“I’ve made History here” he added ” the Lib Dems won this seat in 1993 – it hasn’t changed hands for 20 years”.

Martin Lyon, who is already a Bishopstoke Parish Councillor and has won Bishopstoke and Fair Oak for Ukip was almost lost for words and said that although he had been confident that the party would do well  he had not expected to win.

Ukip insiders have told Eastleigh News they regard their Market St ‘shop’ as a key component in their success and will look to extend the lease so it can be used as a regional HQ until at least the 2015 General Election.

Additional reporting and commentary by Stephen Slominski

The results for the 7 divisions that are within the Borough of Eastleigh are as follows.

Bishopstoke and Fair Oak Division

Turnout 33.73%

Botley and Hedge End Division

Turnout: 34.7%

Chandlers Ford Division

Turnout: 40.24%

Eastleigh East Division

Turnout 32.13%

Eastleigh West Division

Turnout:34.19%

Hamble Division

Turnout: 31.2%

West End and Hedge End Grange Park Division

Turnout: 26.38%

Overall turnout 33.22%

Full results for the whole county can be found here on the Hampshire County Council website.

Polling has closed in today’s county elections, held throughout England and Wales. Twenty-seven county councils and seven unitary authorities have gone to the polls and in Eastleigh district all seven divisions are being contested – the winners will represent Eastleigh on Hampshire County council until 2017.

At the moment conservatives’ hold 51 of Hampshire County Council’s seats with 25 Lib Dems, one labour and an independent. Six of Eastleigh’s divisions are currently held by the Liberal Democrats and one -Chandler’s Ford – is currently held by Conservative Colin Davidovitz all of Eastleigh’s sitting members are seeking re -election – including the leader of Eastleigh borough Council Keith house.

The Hedge End councillor – who holds several seats on various local council seats represents Hamble on HCC where he is leader of the opposition but with a majority of 31, the conservatives are able to steamroller through county policy in much the same way as Eastleigh’s ruling Lib Deems ride roughshod over their four member Tory opposition.

The conservatives point to their record in delivering services and value to for the taxpayer despite sharp cuts in their government grant and a freeze on council tax.

Hampshire County Council have received a glowing report from the audit commission and praise from council tax pressure group ‘Isitfair’.

The Lib Deems however, have highlighted what they claim to be examples of Conservative excess claiming millions have been spent on refurbishing the council HQ including gilded gates and an expensive CCTV system to record council meeting while at the same time cutting funding to youth services and the surestart scheme.

Despite this – the Conservatives are expected to hold onto control the only question is how much ground will they yield to Ukip given the size of the swing to the eurosceptics in the Eastleigh by election when the Tories were pushed into third place.

One of the most interesting tussles in Eastleigh should be in Botley. In 2005 there was only 10% separating winner Rupert Kyrle from Conservative Jerry Hall after Ukip split the Tory vote.

Conservatives believe the unpopularity of housing plans for Botley will have lost the Lib Dems much support – the size of the turnout on a recent protest march certainly supports this theory

Rupert Kyrle has also voiced his opposition to housing in Botley and is currently enjoying a high public profile as the borough’s Mayor but will this be enough?  Or will Ukip once again fatally undermine the conservatives?

Ukip’s candidate in Botley Steve Robinson-Grindey has actively campaigned in the parish on traffic and air quality issues and should attract support.

The second division of interest is Eastleigh East where sitting Lib Dem councillor Chris Thomas is up against former Lib Dem colleague and councillor Andrew Moore – now standing for Ukip.

Chris Thomas  -who is also a Bishopstoke Parish Councillor and represents Eastleigh North on the borough – seemed genuinely surprised to learn his opponent would be Moore. Prior to the Eastleigh by-election Cllr Thomas had told Eastleigh News that he was confident of retaining his county seat where he won 45% of the vote in 2009 but the picture seems less clear with Andrew Moore in the frame. In 2009 it was close between the conservatives and Ukip.  Ukip are confident that they can push Tory candidate Michael Read into 3d place here.

Lib Dem campaign literature has ignored the result of the By-election completely and have persisted in showing a bar graph of the 2010 general election which has the Lib Dems on 46% and conservatives on 39% – although in March’s by election their vote share had actually slumped to 32% and 25% respectively.

Council leader Keith house previously told Eastleigh News that Ukip’s performance in March was simply a by election one off and they would continue to squeeze the labour vote – it seems in doing so thy eave chosen to ignore Ukip’s result completely

Despite this Ukip say there membership has more than doubled in Eastleigh since the by election and are still getting enquires at their town centre shop. While they will be hoping to continue with their recent momentum Eastleigh’s Labour Party will look to make progress.

Out of the three major parties in March Labour was the only one which actually increased its share of the vote – but not by much – a wafer thin 0.2% – but there was a sense that while support for the coalition parties is contracting Labour have shrunk to their core vote and in the words of an old campaign song   “The only way is up”.

With only one Labour seat on the County council it would seem unrealistic to expect a huge surge. At the very start of the campaign Labour’s Eastleigh West candidate – James Penders told Eastleigh News that the counties would be a springboard for their 2014 borough campaign.

Interestingly in Eastleigh West affable Scot Penders finds himself pitched against an Ulsterman in the form of Conservative Andrew Milligan.

In Chandler’s Ford division Ukip candidate John Edwards has been complaining about Lib Dem literature that claims ‘Labour and Ukip’ have conceded defeat.

In the 2012 local elections while standing as an English Democrat Edwards (an ex Rushmoor Labour councillor) found himself being falsely described as a former BNP supporter in leaflets distributed by a left wing group, which led to an investigation, by Police.

The green party have fielded two candidates in Eastleigh  (893 nationally) Joe Cox in Chandler’s Ford and local artist and musician Stuart Jebbitt who is standing in Eastleigh West.

Kevin Milburn a local pastor who wants to bring Christian values into politics is standing for the Christian party in Eastleigh East.

Milburn stood in the by election and finished 8^th beating the raving loonies, the English Democrats and TUSC.

TUSC are also standing a candidate in Eastleigh. Local campaigner Ania Waterman represents the socialists who finished 13th out of 14 in the by-election

Waterman a member of UK uncut has campaigned in Eastleigh for a number of causes including “rescue the reek” and is an outspoken defender of disability rights.

Polls closed at 10.

Eastleigh news is tweeting live from the count.

Perfection? – Nick Knowles

Producers from TV quiz  ’Perfection’ are looking for contestants from our area.

A team from the BBC 1 daytime show hosted by popular DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles will be in Southampton next week looking

for people who would like to take part the next series.

If you haven’t seen it, Perfection is described as:

“An exciting true or false quiz show where contestants must achieve 100% accuracy to win a cash prize. Sort the fact from the fiction and the contestant will win. If they slip up they may have to rely on their co-players for help – but help comes at a cost. Are the co-players double bluffing to get their hands on some of the money? The contestant must decide who to trust.”

In February one contestant won £18,000.

The producers say:
“We are looking for intelligent, competitive and charismatic personalities who would like to take part in the programme to complete and send us an application form as we shall be holding auditions in Southampton towards the end of May.

Over £20,000 worth of computer equipment has been stolen from Barton Peveril College.

Staff walking into the first-floor IT suite on Monday morning  were shocked to discover that no less than 21 Apple iMac (2012) all-in-one desktop computers, worth £1,100 each, were missing.

The expensive high-end computers are standard in many media and IT industries and much sought after – two years ago 16 of the machines were stolen in a similar break-in at Wildern School. (see here)

The stolen computers are thin and and light

Police say that due to the customised software running on the machines they will be unusable unless connected to the college network.

Police crime scene investigators spent Tuesday on site  collecting evidence while Pc Iain Wilson of Eastleigh Safer Neighbourhoods Team has been working with Apple UK in order to identify any machine that connects to the internet.
Jonathan Prest, Principal of  Barton Peveril College told Eastleigh News:

“The fact that college equipment has been targeted leaves a sense of outrage which will be shared by your readers and others in the wider community.
“Barton Peveril’s investment in high quality computers is part of its commitment to helping young people achieve success in their studies and prepare for life after college. Staff and students are both incredulous and disappointed at losing state-of-the-art facilities in this way.
“The equipment was insured and students’ work has been recovered from back-up files on our central server.”

If you have any information which could assist police – or if you have been offered one of these machines – then please ring PC Wilson on 101.

Outstanding young people from around Chandler’s Ford were honoured on Saturday during a special ceremony held at Toynbee School.

The Chandlers Ford Kings Court Masonic Lodge organised the event for local children who had achieved a personal goal or who put an extra effort at school or in the community but whose achievements may have otherwise gone unrecognised.

The awards, which are now in their fifth year, aims to recognise attainment by young people through their perseverance, achievement and sense of community – the three categories of the awards.

For some of children, their success was particularly inspiring as it came in spite of disadvantages – some had disabilities or were coping with illness, some were adjusting to life in a new country and learning to speak English.

One youngster had made progress in overcoming Asperger’s syndrome; another had successfully persevered in his efforts to learn to read – others had gone out of their way to be helpful to others despite their own difficulties.

The children were all presented with a certificate or a trophy by Mayor Rupert Kyrle who was assisted by Les Hipwell the Assistant Provincial Grand master of Hampshire and IOW Freemasons.

While praising the youngsters for their achievements the Mayor revealed that he had once attended Toynbee and had stood as a pupil in that very hall adding :

“Who knows? There maybe someone here today who could be stood here on stage in years to come  as the Mayor or Mayoress of Eastleigh!”

The mayor said he understood how difficult things could be for young people as he too had experienced times when he found his studies difficult but said these awards showed:

“By persevering and by trying hard you can achieve things”.

The Mayor had been introduced by event organiser Terry Nye who invited Les Hipwell to address the gathering. The Provincial Grand Master told the audience that there was an historic link between freemasonry and the advancement of education and explained the many ways in which  masonic  charities supported young people today  claiming:

“There isn’t a single Children’s Hospice in the Country which isn’t supported by the freemasons “

All the award winners were introduced to the audience by their sponsors – teachers and youth workers -who explained the reasons for each child’s nomination and it was clear that too were justifiably proud of their charge’s accomplishments.

Among the audience celebrating with proud friends and family several of Chandler’s Ford’s councillors were in attendance including Pamela Holden-Brown, Godfrey Olson and both Alan and Haulwen Broadhurst.

Also present was another, budding, local politician  - Paul Redding – who is currently standing in the County Council elections but had taken time out from campaigning to see his youngest son Lewis (aged 9) receive a prize.