Count-Down to Christmas kicked off in style

Christmas began yesterday. It began with a flurry of Christmas fayres and for me, culminated in the glorious SCAF Christmas Dinner at Kingsweston House.

The evening began with mulled wine and carols in the main hall, before we sat down to a meal of pate and toast, and a very full Christmas dinner buffet. You couldn't find better surroundings, and the whole thing cost just £15, thanks to the generosity of Kingsweston House, and their support for the community. Kingsweston House is one of the jewels of Bristol's heritage. It is easy to forget what an amazing piece of history sits on our doorsteps, and looking at the extraordinary restoration job that John Hardy, the owner, has done, easy to forget how close the house came dereliction in 1995.

The wonderful evening, and the venue, also marked a fitting end to another year of tireless work from Ash Bearman, David Thomas and all those who make SCAF such a proactive community organisation.

Is Bristol City Council allergic to excellence?

Amazing. In its mission to improve and provide facilities for young people in the city, Bristol City Council wants to cut funding from what should be the jewel in its crown, the nationally acclaimed Bristol Broad Plain Boys Club and Riverside Youth Project. Why? Because they don't like the name, and say it doesn't do enough to bring in girls. Despite the club's inclusion of girls in its activities. It's almost as if the City Council is allergic to excellence... Read my Guardian blog about it HERE

Waking the sleeping giant: Getting Bristol Back On Track!

On Friday 21st, members of FOSBR gathered at Wilder House, home of the West of England Partnership, to issue a rallying cry for funding for a Portishead-North Bristol Rail Loop line to be included in the bid for Government funding.

As one railway worker put it, Bristol railway network is a sleeping giant. There is a railway infrastructure running in and around the city, with disused stations like Henbury just waiting to be used. With 2,500 houses planned for the area just North of Henbury, as part of a 33,000 house building plan in the area; with Bristol Zoo development to take place at the top of Blackhorse Hill - having a railway service across North Bristol is a no-brainer.

I will be writing to the Chair of the South West Regional Assembly to make the case for the line, and hopefully members of other political parties will be doing the same. It's time for the sleeping giant to wake up. It's time to get Bristol back on track.

Lockleaze Primary Cinema hit!

Yep, that's a pop corn machine in the corner. It's all in preparation for Lockleaze Primary School's screening of "Kung Fu Panda" , on Tuesday evening. The school organised the cinema event to bring parents and their children together, and to make the school more of a heart of the community.

The evening was a storming success. I helped out on the door. Tickets had sold out, and over 90 people came to enjoy jacket potatoes, soft drinks, the film - and of course, pop corn. The evening was enjoyed by parents, children and siblings alike. Hopefully this will be the start of many more similar evenings at Lockleaze Primary and across schools in Bristol.

Lamplighters Roast - one of Bristol's best kept secrets

...If you carry on down Hung road, on the south side of the Portway, you find the superb Lamplighters Pub.

There's something a bit other-worldly about the Lamplighters as you walk down to it - it's so unexpected and has an aura of real history about it. And as you walk outside, you find yourself over looking the mudflats of the estuary, fishing boats, and the club house of Shirehampton Sailing Club.

But they also do a really superb roast - pictured, steaming away merrily, here. Its so good, you'll note my eyes have turned red with anticipation. No mean slices of meat, they serve a half chicken, dripping in gravy, with all sorts of veg, and two kinds of potatoes. And as I was ordering, the bar staff brought bowels of Yorkshire pud bits out as bar snacks for customers.

As we all become ever more health conscious, I commend to you the health values of the great British Roast - full of protein, and I should think this plate contains a hefty proportion of my 5-a-day. Healthy eating doesn't have to be depressing looking salads, as this meal shows. Our great British roast is as healthy a meal as any! Long may it reign in our pubs!