Watch this space... even better imagine how great it would be if this space was filled by a photograph taken by you!

Next month’s edition of Helsby to Hand will give full details of a fantastic photographic competition which is taking place this summer.

The Frodsham Young People Life through the Lens competition is being launched to inspire young people from the ages of 2½ to 18 to take a good look at the world around them and use the art of photography to capture images which depict any one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing.

The Five Ways to Wellbeing are: connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give.

This initiative is aimed at encouraging young people to think about their wellbeing and get the best from life. To find out more about the Five Ways to Wellbeing in advance of the competition log on to www.yearofhealthandwellbeing.org.uk

The competition will run from 1st May to 1st September 2013. Photographs entered into the competition will be exhibited at Castle Park Arts Centre from 20th September to 1st November 2013 and an Awards evening will be held on Friday 18th October 2013, where the winners of each category including a People’s Choice Award will be announced. Winning entries will be included in a fantastic 2014 Calendar.

The competition is open to young people who live in Frodsham and the surrounding villages of Alvanley, Crowton, Helsby, Kingsley, Manley, Mouldsworth, Norley and Sutton Weaver who are between the ages of 2½ to 18. It is also open to local Schools, Pre-Schools and Youth Groups in those areas.

Full details of the competition rules and criteria for entry will be announced in April when the competition website is launched.

So come on, dust off those cameras. Go out, get involved. See Life through the Lens and remember ‘you don’t just take a photograph – you make it!’

she’s wearing pants instead!

Many of you will recognise Emi from ‘The Comfort Rooms’ in Helsby, where she worked her magic with Hot Stones, amongst other therapies. Since then, and two gorgeous children later Emi has been channelling her efforts in other directions and has become a children’s book writer, raising money for the children’s cancer charity ‘KidsCan’.

7th March was World Book Day and it seemed a fitting time to launch a charity film inspired by the ‘awesome’ fund-raising book ‘Pants Hats’.

Frodsham will be a hive of activity this summer – with speakers visiting the town to talk about the UK’s bee population, food and drink festivals celebrating local producers and Music in the Park.

The Grassroots Conference will mark the birth of William Charles Cotton 200 years ago, who was a vicar in the town and founding member and President of the British Bee Keeping Association. Frodsham Foundation, which promotes and supports business and community innovation and enterprise, has been buzz-y preparing for the event.

Director Kate Dodgson said: “We have speakers from a range of organisations and across the country attending. Frodsham has a rich heritage of bees and bee keeping and part of the conference will focus on the Local Bee Action Plan and what communities can do at a local level to support and promote, not just the bee, but a whole range of pollinators.”

Speakers will include TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) speaker Pam Warhurst of Incredible Edible, Reasehealth College and Cheshire Bee Keeping Association. The conference will take place on Friday, May 10 at Frodsham’s BEST WESTERN Forest Hills Hotel.

A Food and Drink Festival will then take place over the weekend to celebrate the quality and diversity of the region’s local food and drink producers. The event, from May 11 to 12, will also include special commemorative beers from the award winning microbrewery Frodsham Brewery, food demonstrations and bee friendly planting. There will also be a junior football tournament, BMX and skateboard coaching and It’s a Knockout. Local bands Undecided, Retro and Jack the Lad will perform with a special music festival on Saturday afternoon.

For more information contact Kate by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone 07970 798247 or visit www.cheshirehive.co.uk. 

Are you free on a Monday night ?

Can you get to a pub in Frodsham, Helsby, Elton or Dunham?

The Frodsham & District Domino League needs new players. If you are interested or for more information please contact

Dave Yeo (chairman)    (01928) 732039  or

Ken Moore (secretary)  (01928) 722624  or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fantastic Support for the Powered Wheelchair Appeal at Helsby Golf Club...

Recently the owners of Frodsham Brewery, Barrie and Hazel Davidson, presented a cheque for £400 to the Powered Wheelchair Appeal at Helsby Golf Club. The Appeal raises funds to provide powered wheelchairs to deserving local children with special needs.

The 32nd Essar Four Villages Half Marathon will run Sunday 20th January 2013.

This very popular event sees 2000 runners raise thousands for local charities and the race regularly makes it into the Runners’ World - top 100 list of best-loved races!!  Last years’ race was rated as the fourth favourite Half Marathon race in the whole of UK, in The Runner’s World, February 2012 edition.

This fabulous event is possible because of support from many local volunteers including Helsby Woman’s Institute, Horns Mill School, Runcorn Canal Boat Project, Elton Guides, Helsby Community Sports Club, the Helsby Guides and Scouts, Helsby High School, Frodsham and Helsby Rotary club and The Helsby Post Office. The abundance of community support for the runners on the day, from all of the villages along the route, makes our “Helsby Half” a very positive event for the region.

Students from Helsby High School are having their say on the future of Frodsham and Helsby.

Working with Frodsham Foundation and the RSA (Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) pupils are exploring their local area in order to feed their views into the Frodsham Neighbourhood Plan.

Students have taken part in a round table discussion focusing on how it feels to be a young person growing up in the area, as well as carrying out fieldwork in Frodsham looking at the provision of community facilities.

Working in groups, students are visiting the Goods Shed to consider the history and importance of the building and what options there may be for its community use in the future. Their visit will be followed up by a design session inspired by their visit during which they will come up with a design for the Goods Shed.

Rod Hyde, Chairman of Frodsham Foundation, “The project is an opportunity to understand how young people feel about their locality, what they consider really special and distinctive about it, and how they wish to see it develop in the future”.

Neighbourhood Plans give communities more influence over development. Work on the Frodsham Neighbourhood Plan is in its early stages and is being coordinated by Frodsham Foundation. Anyone wishing to get involved and share their thoughts can do so by visiting www.frodshamfoundation.net

The project is part of the SEEN (Sustainable Environmental Education Network) initiative, supported by the RSA, designed to engage school children in real life planning and design issues so that they can voice  their opinions on what is happening within their own communities.

Last month Frodsham Methodist Church helped Frodsham residents get in the Christmas spirit as well as giving local artists a chance to exhibit their work. Mr. Graham Evans, M.P. for Weaver Vale, commented on the wide variety of local talents and creative skills when he opened an Art Exhibition at the Kingsley Road church on 30th November, 2012.

Over 200 entries were exhibited over the weekend, which was titled “Creative Winter”. The exhibition was curated by Liz and Alun Evans and included paintings, photographs and stitchcraft, quilting and patchwork.

Sixty children from Overton CE Primary School sang four cheerful Christmas songs at the opening ceremony.

Proceeds from the Exhibition will be shared between the Church and The Amity Foundation, a Christian organisation working to promote education, social services, health and rural development in China, which is the Church’s charity for 2013.

Says Rev’d. Denise Harding “it was wonderful to see so much fantastic work on show at our Creative Winter Art Exhibition.

For more details about events at Frodsham Methodist Church, contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , telephone (01928) 733180 or check out the website at www.frodshammethodist.org.”

The Christmas Market @ The Railway Inn raised over £6,000 - that’s a fantastic achievement!!

In aid of The Newborn Appeal for The Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust & NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep).

Well done to everyone who helped to make it such a success.

Frodsham resident, John Millar turned 100 on 26 November - congratulations and best wishes John!

John was born at Rock House, The Rock, Frodsham and he has lived in Frodsham all his life except for a few years in Fleetwood & Worcester due to his father’s postings during his youth.

John married Marjorie in 1938 and had two sons & one daughter. He now has seven grandchildren & six great-grandchildren! Unfortunately John’s wife, Marjorie passed away in 1973.

John served as a fireman for 30 years and he has vivid memories of King George V visiting Frodsham in July 1925 and recalls seeing Her Majesty the Queen when she passed through Frodsham on her way from Liverpool to Chester!

Despite his ripe age John is still very active, enjoying gardening & he also plays snooker.

So what’s the secret of his longevity? John’s opinion is “Public service, healthy eating and having given up smoking 60 years ago”. Sounds good to me, well done John!

Helsby Village McMillan Coffee Morning was held this year on 26th October at Helsby Community Centre.

Barbara, Pippa and Pauline would like to thank everyone for their help and support. This years event was very successful and raised a tremendous £1000!

This brings the total raised by this group to £10,000 in the last 12 years! Well done to all involved, this is an amazing achievement.

Barbara, Pippa and Pauline hope to see you all next year to carry on the good work.

Do You Care About Your Local Community?

Want To See Helsby A Better Place To Live In?

Helsby Village Parish Council are about to embark on the production of a Neighbourhood Plan* and are looking for local residents to join a small team of Parish Councillors to deliver this.

What is your Vision for Helsby? -

• More Houses
• More Shops
• More job opportunities
• A Safer  Environment
• A Swimming Pool
• Better Sporting Facilities
• More places for people to park
• New Schools

If you have an interest in any of the above and would like to help produce a Neighbourhood Plan for Helsby please register your interest with the Parish Clerk on 01928 726433 or drop an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

* Neighbourhood Plans are a key measure within the Localism Act, introduced at end 2011, to enable communities to guide and promote new development.  They set out policies for development and use of land in a neighbourhood and enable local communities to decide how their areas will look in the future, including where new development should take place, such as shops, offices and housing; what open space should be protected; the design quality of new development; and much more.  Importantly, along with Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Local plan, Neighbourhood Plans will strongly influence future planning applications in that area.

It was a night for celebration as Frodsham based ‘Land of Beds’ scooped the top award at the National Bed Federation (NBF) Bed Show Gala Dinner.

Designed to recognise the company considered as ‘best in class’ in Great Britain over the past 12 months, the winner for the national award was chosen by an independent panel of judges which consisted of editors from the industry’s trade journals and the Clerk of the Furniture Makers.

The awards were announced by ex-MP, presenter and journalist Gyles Brandreth at the Bed Show’s Gala Dinner at the Telford International Centre. 

With showrooms on Chester Road, Helsby, and Church St. Frodsham, Land of Beds is a family business established over 40 years ago. The company has invested heavily over this past year to now become one of the first choices in the Cheshire area to visit when buying a new bed.

Simon Spinks, president of the NBF - which organises the awards said “These awards celebrate the good work of individual companies… The business should give itself a pat on the back for the hard work it does in bringing high quality products to the market in ever more innovative ways. A huge well done...”

Mike Murray, Director at Land of Beds, said “Everyone at Land of Beds is over the moon that the company has been recognised as best in class. It’s lovely to have all our hard work and dedication rewarded”.

To thank all their customers and to celebrate the award, Land of Beds has decided to give away a free gift with every bed they sell in November from their Helsby and Frodsham showrooms. For more information about Land of Beds visit their website www.landofbeds.co.uk

“Humanity has committed the planet to more than 2°C of warming, and we are on course to eliminate half of all species. This is a very serious situation.” Dieter Helm, Chair of the new Natural Capital Committee.

A Transition Initiative is a response in an age of uncertainty to the challenges of escalating fuel and food prices, to climate change and to an array of economic crises. An Initiative seeks to build a resilient and sustainable community; it is bottom-up action driven, all with a sense of optimism and fun. There are more than 1000 Transition Initiatives in diverse communities across the globe with a range of projects embracing food, transport, energy, education, waste, arts etc. More information is available on www.transitionnetwork.org.

Evidence of a Transition Initiative working exists in Kingsley where, within 3 years, quarterly markets, 17 allotments, school gardens, an Energy group and a Local Trades group have been established and are actively contributing to the community. A major achievement in 2011 was the installation of PV panels on the Community Centre roof, an installation which will provide an income of more than £2,500 per annum to the Centre. The Initiative has a database of more than 100 supporters.

Frodsham Transition Initiative commenced 19th January 2012 and has a steering group and 25 supporters. The Initiative is affiliated to Frodsham Community Association and to ‘Love Frodsham’. It is already driving some important projects including Community orchards, ‘Care for the Elderly, PV installation on the Frodsham Community centre roof, youth projects and improved communication between community groups. It is the intention of the group, within 6 months, to hold a public event to discuss progress and to confirm key projects going forward. The steering group meets monthly and all participants are welcome.

If you are interested in participating please contact Neil Cook at HomeInstead 01928 733020 or Allan Arthur on 07785341361.