Anthony Priddis, the Bishop of Hereford visited Lea Primary School on Monday 6th June to dedicate a new stained glass window in the School Hall. The window was built in memory of Gladys Davies, one time Headteacher at the school. Gladys left a substantial sum in her will, to be shared between the Church and the School.

Governors commissioned Nichola Hopwood to design and make the window. The theme for the commission was 'Growth', meaning the development of children, spiritual growth and knowledge.

In the photograph below, Nichola Hopwood, the artist, Rev. Michael Smith, Anthony Priddis, Bishop of Hereford', Rev. Trish Grigor, Colin Howard, Margaret Watson - Chair of Governors, Alice Porter, Sian Haines, Matthew Hall and David Haile can be seen with the window in the background.

EnviroAbility and their real-nappy project 'Green Nappies' have expanded their services with new partner organizations: Lifestyles in Worcester, Ecotots in the Malverns, the Gloucestershire Real Nappy Campaign (GRNC) and Widemarsh Workshops in Hereford and, in partnership with WorkAssist, created two new jobs for people with learning disabilities due to a new laundry washing contract with Kids in Clover.

EnviroAbility, with the new partners, will give away a further 700 free real nappy trials to families throughout the three counties during the next nine months. EnviroAbility is the only organization within the three counties that has received funding through WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme), to fund free cotton nappy trials. Britain throws away nearly 8 million nappies a day. That's about 3 billion nappies or 400,000 tonnes of nappies a year. Council taxpayers and local authorities foot the bill for this.

Most parents don't realize just how much waste is created by using disposable nappies on their babies. Parents need to know that real nappies provide a real alternative. A parent could use around 5,000 disposable nappies on their baby or they could use just 20 real nappies. Real Nappy Week, which runs from June 20-26 2005, is co-ordinated by Women's Environmental Network (WEN) working with the Real Nappy Campaign and WRAP. The Week aims to engage parents with a schedule of national, regional and local activities and enable them to make an informed choice of nappies.

Commenting on the Environment Agency report, suggesting disposables and real nappies had similar environmental impact, Elizabeth Hartigan of WEN said, "Despite this confusing report, the benefits of cloth nappies remain clear. Parents can save money, save waste and reduce harm to the environment. The only way parents can reduce their environmental impact when using disposable nappies is to use fewer nappies and that's not a good idea. Using real nappies puts parents in control. All you need is a sensible washing routine to really make a difference.

Please telephone Green Nappies on 01989 760919 and ask for Martin for further information.

Pictured below at the Ryfield Centre are: Jayne Burke, Gillian McClements, Martin Nichols, Ruth Ganniclift and Dennis Humble.

Above: The by now world famous Amy King, taking the controls of a Royal Navy helicopter, which was parked in the car park of Morrisons last week. The helicopter was there to raise money to purchase an out of commission WG30 helicopter, currently at RAF Kemble. The aircraft would then be restored for the air ambulance to use as a 'static' and used at fund raising venues and displays, thus freeing the proper air ambulances to do the job for which they were intended.

Below: After a fun introduction by Lindsay Heyes, Whitchurch Whizzkids take a tour of the maze at Symond's Yat.

Bottom: Colin Eckley was presented with his VE Day commemorative badge whilst in hospital. He is pictured with Jean Bullock, Jan McCutcheon, Pat Guttridge, Norman Owen and Gerald Baynham.

This week's nature photographs were literally taken without my leaving my office chair. I photographed the frog at night on the 19th June and the water lily today, 21st June simply by pointing the camera out of the office door at the garden pond.