This versatile venue, with acoustic excellence, aims to offer the wider community a place to enjoy all genres of music from classical and country to rock, pop, folk, jazz and world as well as comedy and other entertainment. The apex will also be an ideal venue for business events, being in the centre of the town as part of the arc shopping development and with nearby parking. With a seated capacity of 500, or for the more lively events, the seats can be removed for dancing – increasing the capacity further.

The apex aims to attract international performers and artists to the lineup – the likes of which previously have not been seen in the county, but it also plans to give local artists the chance to demonstrate their talents in a fantastic purpose built facility.
Cllr Lynsey Alexander, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Cabinet member, responsible for culture said: “We are incredibly excited that the apex is nearing completion. It’s an amazing state of the art venue that the people of Bury will be able to enjoy for many years to come. To have this kind of music facility on our doorstep will be something we can all be proud of. The positive impact on our region’s economy will be extensive, from creating local jobs to operate the facility and using local suppliers in our cafe bar, to filling our social calendar with events previously unseen in the region. We also aim to attract even more tourism to the area with our unrivaled line up.

By day the apex will also be a hive of activity offering cutting edge space for meetings and conferences and an exciting place for local groups to congregate and even rehearse.

Cllr Alexander said: “Final preparations are now underway to get the venue ready for an open weekend in October which will give everyone a chance to have a look inside the venue to see what it has to offer. I’m sure that they will all agree the apex will be a landmark in our town and in our social calendars.”
To ensure that the apex will be delivering an optimum customer experience, the first three months of opening will be ‘Sound Check Season’ enabling the venue to constantly test, trial and tweak all the operational aspects of the building. For more information about the apex and the open weekend or to join the free online apex community (for regular up to date event information and special offers) visit www.theapex.co.uk

Focus12 hold the reunion every year to give those who have been helped by the programme a chance to meet up with peers and staff from their time at Focus12, to share experiences and to celebrate their recovery. The event includes a lunch and light refreshments, and then guests can listen to a series of speakers, who share their experiences of addiction.

Dr Daniel Poulter MP said: “The Focus12 project has helped hundreds of people across Suffolk over the past 13 years, and continues to provide an invaluable service, supporting those most affected by drug and alcohol misuse. As a Doctor, I know only too well how important it is to have in place the right support, not just for people with substance misuse issues, but also their families, and it is vital that both central government and local councils continue to support Focus12 and other organisations like it to enable them to continue to provide such an excellent service.”

Amongst the other speakers was Chris Hibble who ran the London Marathon earlier this year and raised over £9,000 for Focus12. Chris presented his medal to his daughter, Chloe, at the event, and spoke of the “incredible miracle that happens behind the green door of Focus12 and keeps families together.”
One notable absence from the reunion was that of Focus12 founder and Chief Executive, Chip Somers, who was in hospital following a recent knee operation. Speaking via a tape recording, he addressed the crowd saying: “I am extremely disappointed to be missing what for me and the staff is the best day of the year, this celebration of recovery and the work that Focus12 does. It is such a boost each year to see so many families back together again.”

Chairman of the Trustees at Focus12, Peter Cowley, was delighted at the success of the day: “To see so many of our ex-clients and their families in one place, sharing their experiences, and to witness the bond that they all share, makes us very proud indeed of the life changing work we do at Focus12.”

Some good news for everyone who lives on Moreton Hall and cares about its future. After contacting local residents and discovering there was real interest in creating a resident’s association, a group of us put the basics in place and called a public meeting to see if we could get enough volunteers to form a committee. Although the height of the holiday season isn’t the best time for such a venture, time is pressing if we are to continue the fight against the planners and their damaging proposals for the estate.

We held the meeting on 12 August and despite some trepidation about likely numbers who would attend, the Moreton Hall community came up trumps with the community centre full of interested locals. With the relief of that first hurdle crossed, would we get a committee and the relevant people to lead it? Again, a brilliant response, with more than enough volunteers to create the first Moreton Hall Residents’ Association. To everyone involved from the initial soundings, right through to the volunteers taking control, many, many thanks and I hope the message goes out loud and clear that Moreton Hall residents’ will be heard; not just on development issues but on any other concerns within the community. To avoid any confusion and to repeat once more, the excellent Moreton Hall Community Association will continue to run the community centre and provide community events while the Moreton Hall Residents’ Association will be addressing the wider estate issues such as traffic, transport, planning, schooling and so on.

Along with our neighbours in Eastgate, who have a well-established association of their own, the east of Bury is now very well represented with real community involvement.

A wider voice for Bury St Edmunds

I was really pleased to attend the launch of RWSfm 103.3 as Radio West Suffolk began broadcasting to a wider audience on Friday 13th! After years of hard work and jumping through many regulatory hoops, they have finally taken up their FM licence from OFCOM, enabling them to spread their boundaries from within the West Suffolk Hospital to the wider town. Broadcasting on 103.3fm, from their refurbished studio, Bury has a new community radio and I know that the work, enthusiasm and real talent of all the volunteers will soon be appreciated by many in the town. They clearly have high ambitions and I won’t be at all surprised when the achieve them. Very well done and good luck to everyone involved.

Editorial for the Flyer

You can email your editorial to be included in the Bury Flyer to monthlyeditorial@hotmail.co.uk If you belong to a club or society and have something to say, please contact the Flyer about getting involved.

Cllr Trevor Beckwith
Bury St Edmunds

Presenting the report first to stakeholders and then to the Bury St Edmunds Area Working Party, Nick Rhodes – representing the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) who carried out the review – said: “This is a thriving and very popular market with a lot of good professional people running it, very professional traders and good quality products.”

NABMA, which has extensive experience of markets throughout the country, carried out wide-ranging consultations and visited the borough’s markets in Bury and Haverhill. The review makes various recommendations, such as better publicity and communications, a customer charter, support for new businesses starting up on the market, a review of waste management to reduce costs and increase recycling. The review also said that the council was capable of making any necessary changes so seeking an external partner, or privatising, the market was not necessary.

Cllr Sara Mildmay-White, Cabinet member responsible for the borough’s markets, said: “This was an excellent review which gives us a good foundation on which to work, in partnership with the traders, to make sure the market is fit for the future. Bury’s market is an important part of the town which adds greatly to its overall prosperity. We need to ensure it thrives not just now but for many years to come so our children and generations beyond them can continue to enjoy its attractions and benefits. I am looking forward to working with traders to secure the market’s future.”

Notes: For the full review: http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/live/documents/reports/ B144%20Markets%20Review.pdf

The triple success comes as the world famous Abbey Gardens wins accreditation and East Town Park in Haverhill and Nowton Park in Bury St Edmunds successful retain the awards granted in previous years. Together the three parks welcome over 850,000 visitors a year and across the borough, there are more than three million visits to the green spaces managed by St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

Cllr Lynsey Alexander, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Cabinet member for Culture and Sport said, “We treasure our parks and I am delighted they have been confirmed as being of such a high standard. As they are free, they are particularly valuable in these difficult economic times, and I recommend anyone who has yet to discover the parks, to pay a visit, and be delighted with what they find.”

The Green Flag Award is the national standard that recognises and rewards the best parks and green spaces in England, Wales and Scotland Only green spaces that are free to enter and open to the public are eligible. The award is a sign to visitors that a park has met strict criteria, which among other things require it to be a clean, safe and welcoming place to spend time.

This exciting new amenity, funded by £1.4 million from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and £550,000 from the Football Foundation and Football Stadia Improvement Fund, has facilities for the whole community and will run an important development programme for seniors, juniors, and women’s and girls football in the area. It has been named after Rovers’ former ground, Hamlet Croft.

As well as football, New Croft has splendid social facilities for community use and hire for events like birthdays, receptions, functions and meetings.

Councillor Alexander said, “The council made a commitment to provide Haverhill with the leisure opportunities it lacked. We have delivered the cinema and major improvements to the leisure centre, but this community project has been the longest in the making and I hope, in its legacy. We look forward to seeing it used by many new players and wish the facility a healthy and successful future”

Tom Harrison, Chairman of the Haverhill Community Sports Association who will operate the facility said.

“We are delighted to be taking over this magnificent new facility on behalf of the people of Haverhill. It has come about as the result of many years hard work by those involved in providing football for the town and the generous funding made available by St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the Football Association. We now have a community football facility that is second to none in Suffolk and I hope to see as many members of the public including footballers of all ages and their supporters at the opening match on Saturday.”

The official opening of Haverhill Community Sports Association’s new facility is at 2.30pm on Saturday 7 August 2010, before kick off at 3pm, when Haverhill Rovers FC play their first league match of the season against Walsham-le-Willows FC, the last team to play against them at Hamlet Croft.

Guests have been invited from all the key contributors to the project including funders St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the Football Foundation, the design and build teams, and the local people whose input was vital.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation said, “These outstanding new facilities will open up opportunities for more local people in and around Haverhill to play sport. I want to congratulate St Edmundsbury Borough Council, the Suffolk County FA and all local partners for their hard work in making this happen.”

As part of the campaign, there will be information stands at Tesco’s in Haverhill on Friday 9 July, Waitrose in Newmarket on Monday 12 July and Waitrose in Bury St. Edmunds on Tuesday 13 July, where staff will be on hand between 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. to talk to people about adoption in Suffolk.

Sally Stoker, Head of Adoption at Suffolk County Council, said, “We would encourage anyone who has ever thought about adopting to come along to one of these information stands and find out more. We know many people wrongly believe they cannot adopt because they do not meet the criteria for reasons such as age, disability, sexual orientation, being single, or their financial circumstances. We hope these information stands will give us an opportunity to dispel a few myths about adoption and better inform people, while also raising awareness we need more adopters to come forward.”

If you would like to find out more about adopting a Suffolk child, please contact Suffolk Adoption Agency on 0800 389 9471 or visit www.suffolkadoption.com.