Dore to Door internet edition

Local organisations - Spring 2005

Dore Chimes - Dore Male Voice Choir - Gilbert & Sullivan Society - Transport 17 - LINK Magazine - HFT update

Dore Chimes

Dore Gilbert & Sullivan's concert party, Dore Chimes, has not been as busy as last year due mainly to the strain of putting on The Grand Duke which took more than a little of our spare time. We still managed, however, to raise about £1000 split between two charities, The Children's Society and SIDS, (Cot Death research) with concerts in Glossop and Holmesfield

respectively as well as putting on other concerts for Ecclesall Historic Society and Crookes Residents Association.

The G & S Society has been invited to put on a concert in the Painted Hall at Chatsworth in October. We intend to share all the proceeds, which should exceed £3500, between St. Lukes and the Helen's Trust. Tickets will be available from about April onwards at £20 each. We intend to hold a raffle on the night with some special prizes and collect donations from any supporters who care to contribute.

In order to mitigate costs and ensure that all the proceeds can go to the charities concerned, we have been lucky enough to attract Waitrose as a major sponsor and we thank them very much for their support.

Derek Habberjam

Dore Male Voice Choir

The Choir have a full season of concerts for this year.

The Annual Gala Concert on the 16th April promises to be a memorable event with the internationally famous Kinder Children's Choir as our guests. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress will be attending again on this occasion.

The Choir have been accepted for Llangollen International Eisteddfod where we will be competing in the Male Voice Choir section. This is a great honour for the Choir where the competition, from other countries as well as the UK is always stiff. The Choir will be there on 9th July, two days after the Dore Festival Concert with Dore Mercia and Totley TG Choir.

From 18th to 23rd September the Choir is going to Belgium where we will be staying in Bruges and singing both there and in Ghent and Antwerp. This will be a big occasion with a full contingent of 100 including 45 singing members.

Other concerts at Dronfield, Ranmoor, Ecclesall, Abbeydale, and Edensor for the Summer Event, all go to make for a busy and enjoyable year.

Anyone with a male voice and an interest in singing is most welcome to come and join us. Contact me, David Heslop on 236 5043- it's as easy as that!

David Heslop

Gilbert & Sullivan Society

In April, Dore Gilbert & Sullivan Society will present The Gondoliers. This will be the first production under our new musical director, Paul White. We have never been worked so hard in rehearsal as we have recently and the results are beginning to show. We have always thought that we have had both a good chorus and principals but we will be better than ever for this next show.

The current committee has set out to try and improve all aspects of the Society's work and we feel confident that the results will speak (sing and play!) for themselves. Paul will bring a professional orchestra with him for the show and with the work being done on our intonation, we expect the audience to be able to hear and understand every word, not always easy with

G & S operettas with the patter songs and fast moving libretti. We hope you will come and enjoy this, one of the most musical of the operettas with favourites such as "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes", "Regular Royal Queen" and "Dance the Cachuca".

The show will run from 4th April to 9th April including a matinee on the 9th, at the University Drama Studio on Glossop Road; evenings at 7:30pm and the matinee at 2:30pm. Tickets (£8.50 and £7.50 concessions) are available now from Rita Drew, telephone 0114 248 7766.

Monday's performance will be in aid of The Cavendish Centre.

Derek Habberjam

Transport 17

The year 2005 is the 21 st year that Transport 17 has been transporting passengers in the community. It started in the S17 areas of Totley, Dore and Bradway, hence the name. Nowadays, we cover many areas of Sheffield and, indeed, our staff come from all over.

We have 3 blue buses which take passengers to Lunch and Social clubs and on various outings. Our Constitution states that passengers must be frail or elderly. If you run a club or Nursing home we can also do "ad hoc" trips to various places.

All of this, of course, relies on drivers and escorts being available. We have a paid Manager, Michael Finn and a part-time Treasurer, John Savournin. They work in our office at 172 Baslow Road, Totley. The rest of us are volunteers.

Because, like most people, we have many demands on us, there are times when staffing is very low and all of us have to do extras. None of us is getting any younger and we desperately need more helpers.

Could you drive a minibus or escort our passengers from their homes and on and off the buses? All our buses have sliding doors, tail-lifts and safety belts. Two of them are Volkswagens and this year will see the Renault replaced by another Volkswagen.

Dore Village Society recently gave us £250 for wheelchair webbing restraints and towards a priority start battery cut-out device in the new bus. We are very grateful to them and to all our donors.

Please ring 236 2962 if you would like to come and see what we do and, perhaps, join us. It is interesting, to say the least.

Margaret Barlow

LINK Magazine

LINK is a magazine for parents of young children in this part of the city, available FREE in doctor's surgeries and post offices.

The magazine, which celebrated its 25 th anniversary this year, is full of local information such as What's On, local playgroups and mother and toddler groups. It has a "For Sale and Wanted" section where goods can be advertised free of charge. It is also a great read for its articles on healthy issues, recipes, shared experiences and news. The magazine is funded by loyal local advertisers and a Togswap sale twice a year. Details can be found inside the magazine.

If you would like a copy of the LINK magazine each quarter, why not take out an annual subscription? Send a cheque/postal order made payable to LINK for £2.50 to: LINK, 74, Hunter Hill Road, Sheffield. S11 8UE You will then receive the next 4 issues as they are published.

HFT update

The new beginnings for HFT ( formally known as the Home Farm Trust ) - residents and staff at Sheffield, are progressing well. Two houses are being converted; one in South-West Sheffield, and the other on the outskirts of Chesterfield. When these are ready, hopefully in late spring, the remaining people with learning disabilities currently living at Fairthorn will be moving into their new homes.

The people who have moved already are thoroughly enjoying their new surroundings, living in a home they can call their own, with easy access to local amenities is making a big difference to their quality of life.

The new HFT office base, will be in central Sheffield, and day services will continue to be organised from community venues across Sheffield and North Derbyshire. Raising funds continues to be a high priority, and the charitable support received from community groups in Dore and further a field helps to ensure that HFT provides the best quality of life for the people who use our services. We are delighted to have the support of The Rotary Club of Hallam, their members are busy organising a concert with The Dore Male Voice Choir, in aid of HFT Sheffield. The date is Saturday 10 th September, and the venue is Ranmoor Church. It's a great opportunity to support HFT and your local choir. We are hoping for a sell out performance.

Sue Cooke - Regional Fund