March 2024 - newsletter

Update from the Committee

It’s been three months since the last newsletter. We may have been quiet but we’ve certainly been busy!

In December we held the competition for “Best decked garden”, you voted online and via the WhatsApp group – it’s great to see so many people getting involved and using the new website! The winner was 70 West Garth Road – what a stunning display it was! 55 WGR really laid down the gauntlet with their display, but #70 just pipped the vote! The Residents Association funds gifted a £20 voucher for Barton Place Farm Shop to the winners.

In January we held the Quarterly Residents Meeting. Due to an unfortunate last-minute cancellation the residents were shoe-horned into Kerrell & Ben’s living room… it was a great turnout, and Bruce & Zuma (resident dogs) certainly appreciated all the tickles!

Councillor Michael Mitchell gave an update on the funds available for the area and talked about the possibility of ties with other community associations and the University.

It was agreed the focus for this year for the Association would be:

·         Improved play area and pathways in the park – we’re currently investigating our opportunities

·         General improvements in the area with litter pick and bulb planting to be arranged throughout the year

·         Regular communication and updates to the residents through quarterly newsletters, the website and the WhatsApp group

Also, two new members joined the committee! Welcome to Jo Fassnidge and Lou Fisher! The full minutes of the meeting are available on the website.

In February, a wonderful group of volunteers planted an orchard in the park using funds raised through WGARA. They did a splendid job, and the weather was perfect for it!

Also in Feb, our long time Treasurer Clif Cane made the difficult decision to step down from his role. As a founder member, he’s been a treasure to the committee, and we thank him for his hard work the last five years.

We appealed to the residents through the WhatsApp group and Victoria Dent has volunteered to join the committee as Treasurer – Welcome Victoria, and thanks for stepping in!!

And in March our very own Freemovement group reached out for funds for new equipment. Sounds like they’ve all been working so hard they needed heavier weights to train with! Thanks to the donations from local residents, the Association has purchased over £100 of new weights for the group. If you are looking to get fit this year, check out the group in the park Wednesdays 18:30-19:30 and Sundays 09:00-10:00 – it’s all free, all ages and abilities welcome!

Coming up

Mike Richards’ hugely popular Redcoats tour will be back in May (keep an eye on the website for the date – weather dependent). This year will be all about the Blitz of Exeter. Tickets can be reserved online, we are seeking donations to the WGARA fund, pay on the day or get in touch to transfer before hand.

This Easter bank holiday weekend we will be holding a family Easter Egg hunt in the park. We’re asking for donations of eggs for this (the chocolate variety!), keep an eye on the noticeboard and the website for the final date (weather dependent!). There’s no age limit and there’ll be a cake sale too so come on down and support your Residents Association.

Community SpeedWatch

The SpeedWatch group has now conducted several hour-long sessions on Wrefords Lane. The two sites we use are those designated by the local police, namely just below the Farm Shop to monitor vehicles coming uphill, and just above Greenacres for vehicles coming downhill. We generally find that up to 5% of vehicles meet our reporting threshold of 35mph or above. We are keen to recruit more volunteers for this important public safety role. Full training is given. Please contact the Residents’ Association if you are interested.

Spotlight on the Sponsor…

This month’s newsletter is sponsored by Teresa White, our local Massage Therapist on West Garth Road.

“I've lived in the area for 5 ½ years now, I've been working as a Massage Therapist for nearly 8 years. I've always been interested in health and wellbeing, and I like working one-to-one with people. So, when I came across Massage Therapy, I did an introductory course and fell in love with it straight away, from there I did the full training, although I look at backs all day I've never looked back! Every day is different, I've met some really interesting people with such varying needs, I enjoy getting to know people and tailoring the massage to suit their individual needs.

I work in multiple settings, from my quiet peaceful garden cabin, I do one day a week up in Somerset and also work at retreats. I used to work in a busy Osteopathist clinic, where I learnt a lot (and not only that I prefer to be my own boss!)

Outside of work, I've recently been asked to give a talk about the benefits of massage at a wellness day at IKEA. This is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I'm passionate about sharing what I believe is an amazing multi-beneficial therapy, that can help many people to:

·         Relax, rejuvenate and relieve stress

·         Relieve muscular skeletal tensions and injuries

·         Promote rehabilitation

·         Improve circulation and cardiovascular health… and much more!

In my free time I like to go bodyboarding, it is my joyful happy place! Being in the wild sea riding the waves or just swimming in the open water!

I’m available for treatments from my home in West Garth Road Wednesday, Thursday and Friday daytimes and Thursday evenings.”

Find out more about Teresa’s services on her website: teresamassagetherapist.com, or book direct via email: teresa@teresamassagetherapist.com or phone/WhatsApp 07775 876010.

Are you interested in sponsoring the newsletter and being featured next time? Get in touch, contact details below.

Website Updates

We’re looking to create a “Local Recommendations” page on the website. One of the most common (and popular) topics of conversation on the WhatsApp group is recommendations, but this currently isn’t available to everyone. Over the coming weeks we’ll be compiling a new page with all the recent recommendations from the WhatsApp group. We’ll review the page annually to make sure contact details are up to date. If you have anyone you’d like to recommend please complete the “Recommend a trader” form on the website. Let’s share our contacts with the community!

Membership

The Residents Association belongs to the residents. We need households to become members to strengthen our standing in the wider community. It’s simple to sign up, you can email contact@wgara.co.uk, WhatsApp/text 07772 672816, sign up online at www.wgara.co.uk or through our Facebook page. Membership is free although we do ask for a voluntary donation of £5 per household to help us continue to run events and put back into the community.

And finally…

Are you a member of the local WhatsApp group? It’s a great way of getting regular updates, contact us to be added. Or, if anyone would like to be involved in any future events, or be a committee member, please email the committee on contact@wgara.co.uk, WhatsApp or text Kerrell on 07772 672816 or attend the next Residents meeting.

The next Resident’s Meeting will be held at 16 Cowley Bridge Road, Tuesday 22nd April 7PM.