The Annual General Meeting of the Conservative Club Bridge Club took place on Thursday 10th June 2010 The chairman and the Committee all agreed to serve a further year and were re-elected en bloc.

A motion was put to the membership to increase the number of days on which we play Duplicate Bridge on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays in the month, with Rubber Bridge being played on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Thursdays.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Club, please ring the Bridge Club Secretary, Don, on 01394-282959.

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FASC For RP (Felixstowe are Social Club for Retired persons)

In August Mr P Hawden gave a fascinating talk on Felixstowe Through the Ages, accompanied by slides.

In September Jenny Gibbs will present a further talk on Her Life in Rural Turkey.

Sunday Lunches, theatre and other outings are organised during the year.

Anyone interested in joining the club should contact the secretary, Dennis Hutton, on 01394 286479 or attend one of the monthly meetings held on the second Tuesday of each month at 2.15pm at the Old Felixstowe Community Centre.

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Lioness club of Felixstowe

Just a update on our recent FUND RAISING – we have donated £300 to Felixstowe First Responders, £18 to Crossroads, £200 to the Facts Bus, and £100 to Coast Watch. We are small in number, but not in enthusiasm.. The money was raised by a ‘Bacon Butty Breakfast, Car Boot Sale, Members shared lunch, Fashion Show by Bon Marche with some Lioness models.

On the 29th of October we will be fund raising again, when Edinburgh Wool Shop will let us model some of their clothes. If you like Quizes, especially those run by Phil Hadwin, join us on Friday the 12th November in Broadway House. Obviously if Saturday mornings are rain free, we will be Car Booting.

For more information about Felixstowe Lioness Club, give me a ring on FLX 276284 – SB

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Brackenbury W.I.

We saw out the end of summer in President’s Diane’s garden, when members enjoyed socialising, while eating the odd cake or two. We start our ‘Autumn Term’ on the 21st of September, when the excellent speaker Patrick Thompson returns, to give us Part 2, of his talk “Catering the Royal Way”. On the 19th of October Mr Andy Malcolm will be telling us about the ‘History of Fish and Chips’ – fingers crossed there will be some samples to taste! Not all our meetings concern food, some of the girls meet once a month to play Scrabble, and others like craft. If you are new to Felixstowe, now is time to join a W.I., as the nights start to lengthen. Obviously we would like to welcome you to Brackenbury, but there are other W.I.s  out there who might suit you better.

We meet in thee Margaret White Hall in the Old Felixstowe Community Centre in Ferry Road, on the 3rd Tuesday evening of the month at 7.30pm. In any lady would like to know more about Brackenbury or the W.I. in general, please give me a ring on FLX 276284.

The café is now open seven days a week from 10am to 6pm and will be serving traditional cream teas, speciality coffees, sandwiches, light grills and a wide selection of Rossi ice creams offering the perfect break from the warm weather on the beach.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to support the reopening of the Cliff Top Café as it is a great addition for both residents and visitors enjoying the beautiful coastal resort,” said Cllr Colin Hart, Cabinet Member for Tourism and Economic Development.

Set in the cliff between the seafront and Bath Hill the café has views overlooking the Seafront Gardens, the prom and the beach. It is a perfect location to enjoy the summer afternoons with both indoor and outdoor seating.

“We are keen to ensure Felixstowe remains a lively resort making the most of the great features it has to offer. Suffolk Coastal has already helped to support a number of new and exciting attractions for Felixstowe this year including the return of donkey rides to the seafront, the Old Smokey road train along the prom, falconry displays in the Seafront Gardens, Segways and a traditional Continental market due to take place next month.

“The Cliff Top Café is a well known landmark along the seafront and after the success of other projects we have helped support this year I am sure that visitors will be keen to revisit the café and see it in use again,” added Cllr Hart.

The café is located in the heart of the Felixstowe Seafront Gardens so visitors will be able to give their opinion about the surrounding gardens. The Council is currently bidding to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to receive funding to regenerate the gardens and is seeking the views of residents and visitors to improve the gardens in the best way possible.

To share their views residents and visitors can fill in the GreenSTAT survey online at www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/yourdistrict/felixstowefutures/projects/seafrontgardens

Hosted at Felixstowe’s Brackenbury Fort and Brackenbury Sports Centre, Suffolk Coastal’s active communities team, Felixstowe TV and Nomad Sea Kayaking, were able to put together an exciting range of activities and attractions that had something for all ages and abilities.

“The event proved to be the best yet with a wide choice of different activities on offer for people to have a go or sit back and enjoy watching the professional to see how it was done,” added Cllr Mary Neale, Cabinet Member for Countryside and Leisure.

Among the attractions were a skate park competition with prizes from Phil’s Bike Company and Triple Dollar, a climbing wall, Zorb Balls, a rodeo surfboard, a bungee run, Velcro run, scuba diving and a music stage with live local young bands and DJs from the Soundwaves project.

“New for 2010 was the Felixstowe TV demonstration arena which showed off the talent that is in Felixstowe and Suffolk, such as new fitness craze Zumba fitness, Mystic Belly Dancing, Brackenbury Gymnastics Club, Team Spirit Cheerleading group, and the highlight of the day Felixstowe free runners, Escape Reality, that pulled out all the stops to put on an impressive show that attracted the biggest crowd of the day,” added Cllr Neale.

As well as the displays there were also a number of ‘try it’ sessions for visitors to have a go and see if the sport could be for them. The extension of the event to Brackenbury Sports Centre meant that even more activities were on offer including badminton, squash, basketball and bike park skills.

Bands from the Soundwaves project took to the stage to entertain the crowds with performances from Sam Arbon followed by A World Apart, Mohawk, Flicker and Robert Castellani.

“The event was a great celebration of alternative sports and different ways of enjoying an active and healthy lifestyle. I would like to thank all of the local groups that performed on the day showing the great variety of sports on offer in the district. I hope that they might have inspired others to get involved in a new sport,” added Cllr Neale.

Xtremefest was organised by Suffolk Coastal District Council with support from DC Leisure, Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club, Nomad Sea Kayaking and Felixstowe TV.

For more information about Xtremefest residents can visit www.xtremefest.org.uk
To relive any of the performances or activities from the day photos and videos are available from www.felixstowetv.co.uk

For the fourth year, the resort is home again to the free one-day event, Xtremefest, promoting and celebrating alternative sports, beach activities and healthy living, all at Brackenbury Fort on Sunday, July 25 from 11am to 5pm.

“This year’s Xtremefest promises to be even better than last year’s with even more activities and attractions that should keep people of all ages entertained. Whatever the weather, I am sure the event will brighten up Felixstowe as this should be one of the most exciting family days out of the year,” said Cllr Mary Neale, Cabinet Member for Countryside and Leisure.

Activities on offer will include the mobile skatepark, a climbing wall, human gyroscope, a rodeo surfboard, a bungee run, cheerleading and survival skills. There will also be a music stage with live local young bands and DJs from the Soundwaves project to provide a soundtrack to the day.

Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club will be assisting with watersports activities and Nomad Sea Kayaking will be providing the kayaking. There will also be refreshments and stalls with a mix of spectator sports and ‘try it’ sessions. Each of the sessions will cost 50p a go or £5 for an unlimited wristband.

“There will also be a performance area with displays of powerlifting, hang gliding, Judo, bocking, parkour and street dance to give people a glimpse into sports they might not

“The day, organised by Suffolk Coastal District Council in partnership with Felixstowe Police, Felixstowe TV, Alton Water Sports Centre and Nomad Sea Kayaking will be packed with activities and attractions for people of all ages and promises to be a treat for all the family,” added Cllr Neale.

A Park and Ride facility has been arranged picking up visitors from the Grove/Eastwood Ho car park and also picking up anyone that has travelled by train at Felixstowe train station to the event to avoid any parking congestion at Brackenbury Fort/Green.

New for 2010 is an extension of the event to Brackenbury Sports Centre where activities such as trampolining, squash, basketball and a bike park will be on offer.

This year the Open Weekend sees the addition on Activefest taking place on Saturday, July 24 from 10am to 4pm at Felixstowe Leisure Centre.

Organised by Felixstowe Town & District Council for sports and recreation in partnership with Suffolk Coastal, Copleston School Sports Partnership, Extended Services, Libraries and the Voluntary and Statutory Partnership, the Activefest will promote local clubs in Felixstowe as well as promoting a healthy mind and body.

Visitors will be able to try activities such as spinning, carpet bowls, cheerleading, dance mats, judo, badminton, salsa dancing, street dance and mini-golf. A climbing wall will also be available on the day for visitors to challenge one another to make it to the top.

For more information about Xtremefest or Activefest contact a member of the active communities team on 07775 586 545, or 01394 444652, or email active.communities@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk or visit www.xtremefest.org.uk

To find out more about the 2012 Open Weekend please visit www.london2012.com/openweekend

The first of the free displays took place on Sunday, June 27 and saw many residents and visitors coming into the Seafront Gardens to see the spectacular birds from the Warren Hill Raptor Project.

“The first of the displays proved to be a great success with people of all ages coming to get a closer look at the impressive birds of prey,” said Cllr Colin Hart, Cabinet Member for Tourism.

“Despite the hot weather and imminent world cup match, turnout was very high with many visitors enquiring about when they could see the birds in action again,” added Cllr Hart.

The birds will be returning to the Felixstowe Seafront Gardens on Thursday, August 5 and Friday, August 27 from 10am to 4pm giving visitors the chance to meet the birds and their skilled handlers.

“Residents have been telling us that they would like to see more events and attractions taking place in Felixstowe so we are pleased that there has been a positive response to the falconry displays and other attractions we have helped support so far this year,” added Cllr Hart.

Suffolk Coastal has been working hard to give the resort of Felixstowe a boost and have already helped to support new attractions in the resort this year including the Old Smokey road train, Segways, donkey rides, the reopening of the Cliff House Café and Felixstowe Futures organised project, the launch of the Martello Coast Path.

Still to come this summer is a brass band performance taking place on Sunday, September 12 and a French market experience from Friday, August 20 to Sunday, August 22 in the soon to be completed shared space area in Hamilton Road.

“Some of the birds taking part in the display include steppe eagles, Indian eagle owls, kestrels and kookaburras. This is a great opportunity to see many rare species of bird that even the most experienced twitchers might not have observed up close before.

“The next two displays are taking place during the school holidays and promise to be a great day out for families looking to entertain children of all ages and take in one of the district’s beautiful coastal locations. I would encourage both residents and visitors to come along to one of the free displays so that they do not miss the opportunity to discover some of the striking birds of prey on show,” added Cllr Hart.

To find out more about the falconry displays or any of the resort attractions supported by the council, residents and visitors can contact Felixstowe’s Tourist Information Centre on 01394 276770 or visit the TIC located at 91 Undercliff Road West, Felixstowe.

On 21 July at 7.00pm we will be celebrating our 38th birthday. Our speaker will be Mr. Patrick Thompson who will tell us all about “Catering the Royal Way”. Later in the evening we will be partaking of party refreshments. After that meeting we will not meet again until September.

We always look forward to welcoming visitors and/or new members. Our meetings are held at 7.30pm on the third Wednesday each month at the Senior Citizens’ Centre, Broadway House, Orwell Road, Felixstowe. There is always a raffle and refreshments are provided at the end of our meetings.
Audrey Ellis. Tel: 01394 285103