Click image to go to Guernsey Bicycle Group Facebook page)

A wonderful way to enjoy Guernsey’s balmy evenings and beautiful views is to join friendly people on a leisurely Guernsey Bicycle Group summer evening ride through picturesque lanes.

Rollo de Sausmarez, GBG chairman, said “cycling is on the up and up: it may be the Wiggins effect, our new facebook page, or just a more widespread appreciation of the benefits of cycling, but our membership has quadrupled in the last three months.”

“We therefore expect these rides to be more popular than ever this year.”

“People coming back cycling are often surprised at how effortless and it can be,” he said.

Once again, GBG, the Guernsey Bicycle Group, is organising a number of scenic rides every Tuesday evening throughout the summer.

Each ride lasts approximately just over an hour and starts at 7 pm from a number of hand-picked locations around the island.

The rides are free, open to all and meticulously planned to be a very gentle outing rather than a lycra clad race!

(click table to expand)

The first ride departs the Specsavers at 7 pm on Tuesday 28 May 2013.

Two members of GBG will be on hand for each ride: one to lead the group and a “sweeper” to ensure no-one gets left behind or lost.

The Guernsey Bicycle Group (GBG) exists for the benefit of all by encouraging the use of bicycles and other environmentally friendly forms of transport to reduce the adverse effects of the internal combustion engine.

(click image to go to Guernsey Bicycle Group website)

The removal of the temporary traffic lights will improve the flow of traffic and reduce the disruption that has been caused over the past two weeks.

The traffic lights were planned to be in place until Sunday 26 May 2013, so their removal is nearly a week ahead of schedule.

Andrew Redhead, Director of water services, said “Guernsey Water acknowledges the disruption that these particular roadworks have caused.”

Andrew Redhead, Director of water services (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

“Working closely with our contractors Geomarine and the State of Guernsey Environment Department we have been able to introduce two-way traffic after just two weeks rather than the three weeks originally planned.”

“The Contractor’s staff have worked on Liberation Day and every weekend in order to get the work in the roadway completed as quickly as possible,” he said.

“It has been a difficult job as there are so many other underground services in the roadway, including some of the Island’s most important infrastructure cables and wires. This has meant that most of the excavation has had to be done by hand rather than using mechanical equipment – inevitably this has taken time to complete. We thank you for your patience while these essential works are being undertaken.”

Please click the image to download the flyer as a PDF file to your computer

Guernsey residents have the chance to become the instant owner of a luxury local market home.

Win A Dream Home With CooperBrouard, in association with the developers Comprop, is offering Guernsey residents the chance to own a new, stylish two-bedroom £400,000 apartment.

The lottery is in aid of three Guernsey charities who will share the proceeds:

• Hope for a Child
• Friends of Frossard Children’s Ward
• Maison de Quetteville

The property is a new two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment, forming part of the prestigious Comprop development at Clifton Heights, Les Canichers, St Peter Port.

It has secure underground parking and shared use of a spacious paved terrace. The prize also includes document duty and legal fees.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Six other runners-up will also win prizes. There is a second place prize of £3,000, and five third place prizes of £1,000 each.

Tickets cost £150, and there are only 4,000 in total, which are expected to sell quickly.

The date of the draw is 29 September 2013.

Please visit the CooperBrouard website to view the property details.

There will be an open day at the apartment on Friday 24 May 2013 from 10 am to 2 pm for a chance to look around.

Tickets can be bought from:

• CooperBrouard – Grande Rue, St Martin
• Black Vanilla – The Grange, St Peter Port
• Ray & Scott Ltd – The Bridge, St Sampson
• Active Beauty – Smith Street, St Peter Port
• Guernsey Beds & Bedding – Lower Pollet, St Peter Port
• Hope for a Child – Sydney Vane House, Admiral Park, St Peter Port

Ticket price: £150

Number of tickets: 4,000

Draw date: 29 September 2013

1st place prize

2-bedroom apartment worth £400,000

2nd place prize

£3,000 cash

3rd place prizes

5 x £1000 cash

This initiative is part of the State of Guernsey’s Commerce and Employment Department, through the Renewable Energy Team (RET), work to progress local macro renewable energy in part through long term strategic alliances with leading UK Universities.

About 45 undergraduate students studying for a BSc in Renewable Energy and academics have arrived in Guernsey and stay until 28 May 2013.

The students will form different groups to act as renewable energy consultants to study various aspects of Guernsey’s renewable energy potential.

The work, using both existing and new data, will focus on the potential for development of renewable energy in Guernsey.

This work will develop an overall strategy for Guernsey that RET can incorporate into their ongoing strategy, and bring together all other aspects of the study to include:

• Photovoltaic projects
• Offshore wind energy
• Overall economic viability for renewable energy in Guernsey
• Policy, Legislation, Regulation and Licensing
• Tidal power
• Energy Storage
• Electrification of transport
• Heat and sustainability
• Environmental scoping
• Onshore wind energy

RET has the mandate for macro renewables energy, but this study will be wider and look at renewable energy in general.

Jeremy Thompson of the Guernsey Renewable Energy Forum discussing the potential for marine tidal power in the Bailiwick

Jeremy Thompson, Chairman of RET said “we are delighted to welcome back the University of Exeter to assist us in further understanding renewable energy within Guernsey.

“This study will build on the work already done and provide a check on the renewable energy strategy in Guernsey.

“It will assess Guernsey’s future potential and how we get there,” he said.

Dr Lars Johanning from University of Exeter said “the University of Exeter has significant expertise in renewables which has an important future in the UK and the Channel Islands.”

“We are pleased to be able to come back to Guernsey and build on previous studies.”

“This visit is another part of our long term relationship with Guernsey,” he said.

The University of Exeter students will prepare a consultant’s report to a standard that is comparable with a professional submission and will deliver a presentation explaining project findings to an audience, to which the media are invited, at the end of May.

To maximise the benefit of the field visit RET and UoE have contacted various key stakeholders, groups and individuals to assist them in their work.

More information on RET’s works can be found on the Guernsey Renewable Energy Commission website.

Cigarette litter collected from Hauteville, St Peter Port on 3 May 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Guernsey Police are planning to enforce anti-littering legislation by issuing fixed penalty notices over the coming few days.

The drive to reduce the amount of cigarette litter in St Peter Port is in direct support to the parish authorities who are concerned of the negative impression the litter gives to visitors and the cost of clearing the mess up.

Inspector Terry Coule of the Neighbourhood Police Team said “Guernsey is a lovely clean and safe place to live and we intend to work with the parish authorities to keep it that way.”

“Dropping cigarette ends is an offence for which you can be issued a fixed penalty of £70.”

“We will be out and about in St Peter Port tomorrow aiming to catch those people who continue to drop litter,” he said.

Officers from the Neighbourhood Team will be in plain clothes for the duration of the operations which will be repeated without prior notice at periods throughout the summer.

Litter collected from Park Lane steps and Trinity Square, St Peter Port on 5 May 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Cigarette butts are litter.  The Refuse Disposal Ordinance, 1959, as amended, (Vol. XII page 97), creates the following offences:

‘Any person who throws down, knowingly drops or otherwise deposits in, into or from any public place in the open air, and leaves anything, whatsoever in such circumstances as to cause, contribute to, or tend to lead to, the defacement by litter of any place in the open air, unless that depositing and leaving was authorised by law or was done with the consent of the occupier or other person or authority having the control of the place in or into which that thing was deposited. For the purpose of this section, any covered place open to the air on at least one side and available for public use shall be treated as being a place in the open air.’

Tom Le Pelley, Val Rowland and Pat Wisher of Living Streets Guernsey with a Guernsey postman holding Living Streets Guernsey Walk to Work map leaflets (click image to expand – image courtesy of Living Streets Guernsey)

The pedestrian safety group Living Streets (Guernsey) LBG and Guernsey Post are working together to publicise and distribute new “Walk to Work” leaflets which aim to promote the benefits of walking, cycling or jogging to work.

Walk to Work Week begins on Monday 13 May 2013.

Tom Le Pelley, Chair of Living Streets Guernsey, said “for some time we have been wanting to produce a series of Walk to Work maps showing islanders quick, quiet routes that they can take to their workplace.”

“Our first leaflet features St. Martin and shows a direct route through the lanes and Ruettes Tranquilles behind St. Martin’s Church.”

(please click the image to download a PDF file for printing of the Walk to Work map from St Martin)

“The walk to Trinity Square takes just 30 minutes. What we wanted to do was to deliver this leaflet directly into people’s homes and Guernsey Post has very kindly agreed to do this for us,” Tom Le Pelley said.

This project follows on from the very successful Living Streets “Guernsey Country Walks” greeting cards and calendars which contain a sketch map of a country walk.

In January Living Streets was asked by the PEH to produce some “Lunch time walks” during their Weight Wise Week.

“The route we have chosen avoids the noise and pollution of the main roads and it is aimed at St. Martin’s residents who live in the area and who work in Town.”

“One of the benefits of walking or cycling to work is that once you have worked out your route you can guarantee always arriving on time, which avoids the stress of getting caught up in traffic jams and driving around trying to find a parking space.”

Boley Smillie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post said “we are delighted to be supporting Living Streets and the Walk to Work week initiative.”

Boley Smillie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post Ltd, speaking at a Guernsey Chamber of Commerce lunch at The OGH Hotel on 21 February 2011 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

“The helpful leaflets will be distributed over the Walk to Work week. We really hope that the suggested routes will provide people with the inspiration to support the event,” Mr Smillie said.

The St. Martin’s leaflet is the first in a series that Living Streets will be designing.

Each map will pinpoint bus stops so that commuters have the alternative of taking the bus home (or even taking the bus into Town in inclement weather).

Tom Le Pelley said “we hope that giving people helpful information in their homes might encourage some St. Martin’s residents to consider a more active commute.”

Waitrose Admiral Park supermarket (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

Waitrose ‘Grow and Sell’ initiative aims to encourage seven to eleven year old children across the UK and Channel Islands to grow their own produce and sell it to Waitrose customers.

The initiative, in association with the Waitrose farm on the Leckford Estate, aims to inspire over 100,000 children to grow their own produce during the summer months.

The children will learn more about where food comes from, the impact of seasons and develop entrepreneurial skills by selling their food directly to shoppers.

Waitrose Admiral Park and Waitrose Rohais will work with four local primary schools each, including Amherst, La Houguette, Le Rondin, St Andrew’s, St Mary and St Michael, Forest, Vauvert and Vale School.

Each school will receive a ‘Grow and Sell Seed Kit’ which has been specially designed to get school vegetable patches up and running and includes seeds, equipment and step-by-step growing instructions.

Later in the summer, the branches will invite the schools to sell their home-grown produce outside the local stores.

Schools will also be able to receive additional ‘Grow and Sell Seed Kits’ through the in-store Waitrose Community Matters scheme, where customers can support their local school by dropping a green token into the relevant perspex box.

The initiative has seen support from the States of Guernsey.

Deputy Mike O’Hara, Minister for the Culture and Leisure Department, said “the States is committed to promoting healthy eating and the subject of growing food locally is very significant to our island.”

Deputy Mike O’Hara, States of Guernsey Minister for Culture and Leisure Department (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

“It’s more important than ever that we teach Guernsey’s youth the importance of growing and sourcing goods locally.”

“I welcome Waitrose’s new initiative and I’m confident that it will go some way in helping to achieve this,” he said.

Alan Titchmarsh, well known TV presenter and gardener, recently came on board at Waitrose to help raise the profile of British agriculture and horticulture.

Alan Titchmarsh said “teaching children at an early age about the food they eat and where it comes from is something that I’m very passionate about.”

“We’ve all read shocking statistics about how many nowadays do not know what chips are made from or that a blackberry is a type of fruit and not just a phone.”

Alan Titchmarsh at Baubigny Secondary School on 23 November 2012 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

“The Waitrose ‘Grow and Sell’ scheme will play an important role in helping children understand the journey from field to plate.”

“And evidence shows those who participate in growing projects are more likely to eat a wider variety of foods and make good nutritional choices throughout their lives,” he said.

Allen Edwards, branch manager of Waitrose Admiral Park, said “we are really pleased to be rolling out this initiative to our Guernsey branches.”

“Growing food at school encourages children to eat well and to go for a wider variety in their food. We believe this is very important as it paves the way for healthy eating,” he said.

“The scheme also allows children to identify where food comes from, the importance of seasonality and the fragility of producing food.”

“But broader than that, we hope it will teach children to be enterprising by developing an entrepreneurial spirit by selling their produce to our customers,” Mr Edwards said.

(please click image to download it as a PDF file to your computer)

Doors open at 2 pm and the event closes at 9 pm.

If you would like to attend please register your details with Su.yeoman@wolseley.co.uk or call 01752 604342.

Please provide your name, company, job title, email address and telephone number.

(click image to download it as a PDF file to your computer)

The meeting is to enable the States of Guernsey to update attendees on the progress that has been made with their Supported Living and Ageing Well Strategy, which is currently in development.

Jurat Stephen Jones at the Guernsey Institute of Directors debate on 6 October 2011 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

A Panel, chaired by Jurat Stephen Jones, will present and discuss the overall need for a Strategy and explain the progress of the current version to date.

There will be an opportunity for attendees to pose questions to the Panel.

The Panel currently includes:

• Mark Cooke, Chief Officer Health & Social Services Department
• Stephen Langford, Chief Officer Housing Department
• Ross Paisley, Chairman, Guernsey Voluntary Service
• Sue Fleming, Matron St. John’s Residential Home

The meeting will also discuss how the sector can best engage with the States of Guernsey on strategy in the future and explore a proposal to form a representative body to encourage this and regular discussion between organisations to identify and address key challenges, issues and opportunities etc.

Mark Cooke said “as part of the 2020 Vision, HSSD has made a public commitment to working more closely with the voluntary sector.”

“I am grateful to be offered this opportunity to talk to interested parties in the course of the development of the Supported Living and Ageing Well Strategy.”

“I look forward to the event on Monday, 13 May,” he said.

St Peter Port’s Market Square during the start of World Aid Walk on 6 May 2013 (click image to expand – ©RLLord)

St Peter Port’s Market Square will host the first Guernsey Volunteering Expo on 8 June 2013.

The Expo will showcase local charities and voluntary organisations and give members of the public who have considered getting involved in some sort of volunteering the chance to browse informally around the stalls and speak face to face with organisations that may need their help.

The first week in June annually marks National Volunteering Week and the Expo will be the culmination of a week-long programme of promotional activities across the island aimed at highlighting the benefits and opportunities for volunteering in Guernsey which range from hands-on involvement at fetes and events to supporting a charity using professional skills such as preparing accounts or developing a business plan for the future.

The Expo is a joint event being hosted by the Guernsey Community Foundation, The Association of Guernsey Charities, and local online volunteering portal.

Laurel Le Tocq of the Guernsey Community Foundation said “we want to make it as easy as possible for charities, voluntary organisations and new or potential volunteers to come together and felt that the best way to achieve this would be to invite everyone to an event that is not intimidating and where there is no obligation to sign up to anything there and then.”

“We know that a lot of people would like to get involved in voluntary work but they simply don’t know where to start,” she said.

“This is the perfect place to start. We thank the Town Centre Partnership and the Constables of St Peter Port for giving us the relevant permissions to make this happen.”

The Volunteering Expo begins at 10 am and ends at 2 pm on Saturday 8 June 2013.

Charities and voluntary organisations are invited to book one of 36 pitches available in the Market Square.

To book a pitch (free of charge) contact Laurel Le Tocq at the Guernsey Community Foundation on 748056 or email laurel@foundation.gg.

Deadline for booking is Friday 24 May 2013. Pitches will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.