Team outing - the Return to Raj Pavillions

If Masood (far left) likes a curry, it's definitely good...

I blogged many moons back about the glory of the curries at Raj Pavillions in Horfield ( just down from the Inn on the Green ) - and guess what, nothing's changed. So for a bit of a staff outing, we all went to the Raj Pavillions, where I regailed my long-suffering team with tales of how good the food was.

Masood is a bit of curry connoisseur, and is often known to bring in his own tempting culinary concoctions into the office where we all drool and regret the Tesco sandwiches we've brought in. To be honest, I was a bit worried about brining Masood out for a curry. His was a high standard to live up to...

But sure enough, the team at Raj Pavillions laid on a spread which amazed us all. It's what a real curry ought to be. Hot, yes. Chillis, yes. Good with beer - Yes. But also packed with layers and layers of delicate, beautiful spices and flavour.  Once again, thanks.

Do you know of a great curry place or restaurant I should visit? Let me know! Leave a comment here...  

Upper Horfield's blooming Housing Association

I have watched the development of Upper Horfield for several years now, and the local housing association, Bristol Community Housing Foundation ( BCHF) have always been at the heart of what's going on in the area. They provide a very good model of what is meant by 'The Big Society' - they are helping to create a good community not by thousands of rules and regulations, but simple things like encouraging people to take ownership of small plots of green space on their street; community clear-ups, and by giving Sue Moon, pictured here, the bulbs, space and most of all freedom to share her gardening expertise with the rest of the street by planting out the communal flower beds. She also makes a mean blackberry jam from local blackberries ( thanks Sue!).
If you want to see an alternative to using thousands of rules and regulations to create a healthy, good community, you could do a lot worse than visit BCHF at 400 Filton Avenue...

Horfield Health Centre

I was very keen to visit Horfield Health Centre, and talk to GPs about the plans contained in the Government's White Paper, to hand commissioning over to professional GPs. My dad has been a surgeon for over 30 years, so I've got a special interest in listening to what professionals have to say, and the valuable input they can provide in turning a policy into practice. It was a really constructive, encouraging and interesting meeting.

Horfield Health Centre is a real success - and with a growing population on its doorstep, is only going to be getting busier!

Bristol's Biggest Picnic - depsite dodgy weather!

......I must admit, the day didn't start hopefully. I'd managed to organise Bristol's Biggest Ever Protest Picnic on the same day as The Southmead Festival, St. Bernard's School fete - and the first rainy weekend for ages. "Nice one," I thought. "It's going to be an almighty failure." But how wrong I was. I'd underestimated English sturdiness against the weather, and the strength of feeling residents have for protecting their local green spaces. So the four picnics held across Bristol North West, at The Daisy Field, Okebourne Open Space, Horfield Common (thanks to Friends of Horfield Common!) and Lockleaze Open Space were a roaring success.

Fearful of the weather, and in mild drizzle, I'd moved the picnic at Lockleaze down a bit to the Romney Avenue entrance to make sure people came- but I needn't have bothered -dozens of people turned up to preserve that unique stretch of space just as it is for dog walkers, residents and wildlife.

We distributed a petition - www.savebristolgreenspaces.bristolpetitions.com - as well as encouraging people to write to the Council to register their concerns. This is the first stage of enabling people to make their views heard regarding the future of our community green spaces.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me organise these picnics - stalwart members of the community ( you know who you are!) and all those who braved the threats of rain to come out for a brilliant day of picnics!

Sea Cadets today, tomorrow... the world!

Appropriate, I suppose, that on armed forces day I spent a lot of the time talking to the new chairman of Filton Sea Cadets.
The cadets have done incredibly well, but working from very ramshackle premises at the Horfield TA centre. We discussed fund raising, the possibility of raising enough funds to completely rebuild the existing site - and the enormous potential for reaching out into local schools. As ever, I left thinking... a lot to be done.

Horfield Common Forever!

When I got elected as an MP, loads of people told me to take Sundays off and not do anything. And I tried, I really, really tried. But after my usual lunch in Cookies in Lockleaze, I stumbled upon The Horfield Common Picnic. The sun was shining, there was a live band...and a cake stall. How could I say no?!

And after the cake stall, I stumbled upon Sam Thompson, with her Friends of Horfield Common Stall, and we got talking about the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy. (Watch this space for more on that...)

They are raising concerns about plans to dispose of part of the common and are seeking comments and views from local people as to whether the land is used and valuable to the community or not.

The picnic today demonstrated just how valuable green space is for the community; and so much more could be done with it, especially since the community is so engaged and willing to make things happen.

For more information on the campaign, go to www.friendsofhorfieldcommon.com

Manor Farm Boys Club

It was an inspiration visiting Manor Farm Boys Club. Not only has it resisted the tide of political correctness in holding onto its single-sex status, and it's original name, but it is also an example of what can be done, not by endless meetings and discussion, but by just using initiative and getting on with it.

The club is a bit of a tardis - much larger on the inside than it seems on the outside. And they have made superb use of space, with a new gym and an art room and store-cupboards in every available corner.

The club also owns a cottage in Wales for community adventure weekends, which it lets out to other youth clubs and organisations across Bristol. When I visited, they were also making use of the demand for parking spaces by people coming to watch the (sadly unsuccessful) Rovers game, and charging for car-parking.

It was really encouraging to see community minded people taking the initiative and making the club work - even more so when you realise that most of those now involved in the club came through it themselves and have grown up to want to put something back in. That's real sustainability.

Filton Sea Cadets - fundraising needed!

If more children were given the kind of opportunities those at Filton Sea Cadets get, to learn a multitude of skills and discipline, our antisocial behaviour problem would be much diminished.

I went to visit Scott Stevens, ( pictured) of Filton Sea Cadets to see if I could help them raise much needed funds to renovate their premises at Horfield's T.A Centre.

What struck me most was the manners and courtesy of the young people there. I had a bit of trouble getting in, initially - and one of the boys let me in and pointed me in the right direction, and with exceptional courtesy made sure I knew where I was going and how to find the person I had come to see.

Scott himself has invested huge amounts of his own personal time and money in helping to renovate the crumbling premises in which the Sea Cadets are currently housed. They need all the support they can get - and there are few initiatives that are more valuable than this one. So if you can help, get in touch with the Filton Sea Cadets, by emailing Maz: Mazbissell@blueyonder.co.uk

Lunch for a song

Disaster struck yesterday - it looks like I've properly lost my wallet. Not temporary loss, the real thing. Card canceling loss. I'm waiting to see what horrors of identity theft await me...

But luckily for everyone at the Upper Horfield Community Trust's weekly lunch, I didn't have to sing for my lunch. A determined rummage in coat pockets and former handbags revealed enough change to buy a superb lunch at UCHT. We had hearty helpings of roast beef and many had apple tart and custard followed by tea and coffee for little over a fiver. Brilliant value and as you can see from the photo, a lovely way to spend a lunchtime.

The Garden of Eden Grove

The garden of Eden probably enjoyed nicer weather than the garden of Eden Grove. But good old English weather is not putting off Ray Hulbert ( pictured) nor the residents of Eden Grove and Upper Horfield from turning this patch of land into their own garden.

The progress is actually more impressive than my amateur photography suggests, and by the time the annual Upper Horfield Festival takes place in the summer, the hope is that the garden will be complete.

I never cease to be amazed at how much goes on at Eden Grove Community Centre and church. Below are just some of the things I've seen this week...

This is the new market at Upper Horfield Community Trust - which sells an enormous range of groceries and fresh produce, as well as offering teas and very tempting home made cakes.

..............No, it's not Richard Dawkins fighting religion.

It's Lee Cummings from Southmead Boxing Club, taking some youngsters aged between around 9-12 from Upper Horfield for boxing lessons in Eden Grove church.
( you can just see one of their legs in the corner.)

It was amazing seeing the energy released from these young people and it made me realise afresh just how important exercise and activities are for youngsters.

Boxing is slowly but surely becoming more popular in schools and youth clubs across Bristol. I've said it once, I'll say it again: If you get the chance, go along and see what kind of work boxing coaches like Lee do. It's impressive.

Post Offices want a hand up, not a hand out...

Today, Charles Hendry MP ( Shadow Minister for Postal Affairs) came to Bristol to talk about the closure of Wellington Hill West Post Office and 28 others across the city.

(Photo shows Mani Ghuman, from the Federation of Sub Postmasters, me, the Sub Postmaster of Wellington Hill West- David Mothersdill, Charles Hendry MP, and Adrian Mothersdill, assistant sub postmaster.)

True to form, Labour only seem to be able to talk money and subsidies when it come to the saving the post office network. We have pledged to match subsidy on the network to keep it alive, but what Labour cannot seem to understand, is that simply loading money into something is not the answer.


The tragic and infuriating thing about the closure of post offices is that if you actually speak to the sub-postmasters involved, they are itching with ideas as to how to make their post office outlet competitive. Sub-Postmasters don't want to exist on Government subsidy, but on business success.

Sub-Postmasters don't want to exist on Government subsidy, but on business success.

Many sub-post masters wanted to offer all sorts of services - mobile top ups, council counters but were prevented from doing so by Post Office ltd. When Post Office ltd. finally caught onto the fact that these were good things, the post masters had missed the boat and other stores had cornered the market. Even now, sub-post masters have been constrained in their drive to make their business a going venture instead of a subsidy dependent appendage of the state.

Labour MPs who voted for the closure of post office branches ( including all Bristol Labour MPs, except Kerry McCarthy who, I understand , was not present for the vote ) whitter on pathetically about Tories and subsidies. The point is, that whilst we have pledged to match the subsidies, the Post Office network shouldn't NEED the subsidies. It is full of bright entrepreneurs who want to inject vitality and health into the network to make it more self-sustaining.

Before we start closing down our valuable and irreplaceable community network of Post Offices, let's liberate the Post Masters to really make a go of it, as so many are itching to do. Only then, when we have liberated Post Offices to compete in the modern world, reassessed the amount of subsidy that the post office needs in that light, should we even begin to think about closing any down. Closures before that point are little less than the unnecessary decimation of hundreds of communities.

Post Office Closures? This Government ain't bovvered

What do we have to do to get the Government to listen?
Despite a massive protest march, over 1000 petition signatures, a full report which I submitted to Post Office Ltd, and literally hundreds of detailed consultation submissions from local residents, the Government is going ahead with its closure of Wellington Hill West Post Office, Northville Road in Filton, Middleton Road in Lawrence Weston and dozens of post offices across the city. The effect that this will have on local residents cannot be calculated.

During my campaign to save our local post offices I have spoken to so many people for whom their local post office is literally a life-line: The elderly who simply have no way of performing daily tasks without their local post office; the disabled who will not be able to make the difficult journey to their next nearest post office - and one war hero who told me how he had sacrificed everything for his country in the second world war and couldn't understand why the Government was stripping away his local amenities in his old age.

If those in charge of the consultation had actually talked to ordinary people and listened to how they would be effected, perhaps they would have reached a different decision. But as it is, it is hard to believe that the so-called 'consultation process' was little more than a PR exercise, and an excuse to go ahead with the closures regardless. The Government seems to be saying, like Catherine Tate's Lauren, 'Am I bovvered?'. No wonder people have lost faith in politics, and lost faith when the Government says it is going to 'listen'. What is particularly amazing is that our local Labour MP voted in favour of the closures in Parliament.

It is unlikely, however hard we exercise our democratic rights, that we are going to be able to reverse these disastrous decisions to close our post offices. But I for one will be looking more closely at the consultation process, and if there is any way we can challenge the decision on the basis that the consultation was flawed, you can be guaranteed we will do it. If you feel that you have evidence that the consultation process was flawed, please get in touch: charlotte@charlotteleslie.com or telephone: 0117 9736811

I would like to thank, once again, all those residents who campaigned so hard to keep our post offices open. It is testament to a failing regime that nobody seemed to listen. But that doesn't mean we will stop shouting.

JOIN THE BIG POST OFFICE PROTEST MARCH!

Yep, Bristol's biggest Post Office Protest March is taking place tomorrow, April 5th, starting from The Beehive Pub at 10am.

We'll be marching past Wellington Hill West Post Office and up the hill to form Bristol's biggest ever post office queue outside Henleaze Road Post Office.

Bring placards, banners and a stong voice!

Then back to The Beehive for some well needed refreshment after, I think.

See you there!

Save our Post Offices!

This weekend I launched our campaign to save our post offices. A leak to the Evening Post reported that the post offices facing the axe in Bristol North West are Wellington Hill West, and Middleton Road.
Labour has already closed one in four post offices in Bristol North West, and is closing 2,500 around the country.

Labour's refusal to support post offices shows a complete lack of appreciation of what function a post office actually performs. Not only does it fulfill the obvious functions, but also provides a focal point for place for people to meet and chat - particularly the elderly.

I was out campaigning on Saturday, and I have lost count of the elderly people who told me they did not know what they would do if the post office closed. Cynics have asked what we would do differently - well, here's what!

Conservatives plan to:

• Give Sub-Post Offices more freedom to offer a wider range of business services
• Push for more Post Offices to be 'One Stop Shops'
• Encourage local Councils to open 'Council Counters' in local branches Allow the Post Office to work with carriers other than the Royal Mail
• Prevent the Royal Mail taking business away from sub-Post Offices by under-cutting the prices they can charge for postage

Post Watch have advised that the best way to make sure that our protest against the closure of these post offices to carries weight is for local people to submit comments on why, specifically, the post office should stay open.

TO SUBMIT YOUR SIGNATURE TO OUR PETITION, AND A COMMENT, VISIT THE CAMPAIGN WEBSITE WWW.SAVEPOSTOFFICES.COM

Post Office Closure = End for small business...

About 3 months ago, I popped into Debbie's butchers on Filton Avenue. Debbie told me how since the post office had closed ( as pic.) business had plummeted and she was worried she would have to close.

Last week, I went in, and the butchers was closing. Across the road, Avenue Fruit and veg were also shutting their doors for the last time.

Next week there will be an announcement to close more post offices in the Bristol area, and at least two of those in Bristol North West.

Filton Avenue is, sadly, testament to the huge amount of damage ripping the heart of a community, like the Post Office, can do. When the announcement is made, I will be fighting tooth and nail - not only for the post offices under threat, but for those who use them, and the small businesses who depend so much on the post office's trade. Tragically, it's too late for Debbie's Butchers and Avenue Fruit and Veg - but we owe it to them to fight against letting the same thing happen again.

No orange oil at the Raj Pavillions...

There are few things better than a proper curry after a couple of good ales. So after sampling some of The Inn on the Green's best (actually, only a half, plus several samples of some of their huge array at the bar) , the newly selected Conservative prospective MP for Kingswood
and I thought it only right and proper to observe a great British tradition and go for a curry.

Little did we know as pushed open the door of the Raj Pavillions on Filton Road that we were about to have one of the best curries either of us has tasted. I'm not a great adventurer when it comes to curry. I'm not too keen on the layers of mysterious orange oil slick that heavily-sauced curries sometimes float in, so tend to opt for a slim-line and unadventurous chicken tikka. No sauce. But something called a Chicken Handi caught my eye.

It was when Sanjay, the waiter, (far left!) came up and advised us on choice of rice that we suspected we were in for more than your average post-pint curry. "Most of my customers don't need a menu" he told us. "They usually ask me to advise them on what's good to have." And the handi was very good. No orange oil slick, just a richness of layers and layers of real flavour. Fantastic.

The Raj Pavillions has been around for almost 30 years. If you've not been there yet, go. Tomorrow. Now if you must. And don't worry about the menu - Sanjay knows what he's talking about. They do sit-down meals and take-away next door. But because the food's so light on the orange-oil, be warned. In an hour's time you'll have recovered and be wanting more...

Raj Pavillions - 14 Filton Road, Horfield, Bristol - tel. 0117 951 9799 / 0117 9513310

Know of another top curry spot in Bristol? let me know!

Well Done Ray! (now get in that limelight...)

Yesterday, Ray Hulpert (better known to some of you as the Vice-Chair of Upper Horfield Community Trust, member of Eden Grove Methodist Church, and general all-round local dynamo) received his MBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace for services to the community.Spot the star of the day... ( Hint: he's hidden himself at the back...)

It is both heartening and humbling to see a man like Ray, who has devoted his life to serving his community, without fuss, and without fanfare, receive the honours he deserves. To be absolutely honest, people like Ray put politicians to shame. One of the odd and unedifying things about political work, is that you are expected to trumpet your achievements all over the election literature you put through peoples' doors. And there's usually a press release... If Ray, and others like him, had press released everyone one of his achievements, and put it on literature through our doors, I don't think the Evening Post would have room for much else, and we'd wade through six feet of paper every morning to open our doors.

I took Ray to tea at the House of Lords, with a lady I used to work with, Baroness Perry of Southwark. It was a lovely way to end the day. At the end, we all lined up for a photo outside the House of Lords. (Photo above.) It was only when I got home and uploaded my photos that I realised - Ray had managed to put himself at the back again... (second on the right.) in the photo to celebrate his own MBE!

Ray, you are a lesson and an inspiration to us all.

Horfield Youth Center's bloomin' lovely

I dropped in on the hard work going on at Horfield Youth Club, this afternoon. All sorts of impressive looking gardening tools were being wielded by youth club members, under the watchful eye of Pete Hockett who runs the club, and Becky and Pete from 'Grounds 4 Change'.

The Grounds4Change programme helps young people brighten up their area. Over the summer a patch of rubbish-strewn weeds next to Horfield Youth Club has been transformed into a wood-chippings flower bed. But it is about more than simply spade-work. Becky was giving youth club members instructions about what was and was not weeds, and I found out there was to be a test on Latin names of plants when all the hard work was done. I used to do Latin at university. I made myself scarce before anyone found out...