Newton News Online

St. Andrew’s Church Craft and Flower Festival is this weekend with a preview on Friday 3rd from 7-9pm. The cost is £5 to include wine and nibbles.
Saturday 4th, 10am till 4pm at a cost of £2 with a Coffee Morning and in the afternoon a Photo Quiz/Hunt in the village (testing residents skills of observations and knowledge of Aycliffe).
Sunday 5th - 12noon till 4pm - £2, both sessions to include tea and biscuits.
Village events include Table Top Sale in the Village Hall from 11am-2pm and at 2pm a Photo Hunt. Refreshments available.
On Sunday in the Hall: Breakfast Morning and Fete from 11am-2.30pm with Cake Stalls, Face Painting etc.
With a Duck Race at Monks End in the afternoon; £2 per duck. All welcome.

Musical Minis, the fun time, educational music group for babies and preschool children is coming to Newton Aycliffe!
Classes include singing, dancing, instruments, puppets, parachutes, bubbles, balls and endless other props.
Sessions will start on September 8th at the Excel Centre and all children receive FREE membership packs with book satchels and t-shirts.
Places must be booked by calling Jacquie on 0191 3830488 or by e-mailing: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site - www.musicalminis.co.uk

Newton News will soon be offering great cash-saving offers on Bathroom and Plumbing supplies plus boiler/heating insurance cover.
Our intention is to save money for our readers by pointing them in the right direction for goods and services. We will be actively promoting Newton News advertisers to bring the best offers possible using our popular newspaper and useful, easy-to-use website links.
There are some amazing products available at fantastic prices and we will be featuring these in future issues.

A LOCAL optician who set his sights on pedalling coast to coast has completed the epic cycle ride and raised £500 for Vision Aid Overseas in the process.
Dave Pape, a dispensing optician at Specsavers in Newton Aycliffe, rode from Whitehaven to Tynemouth with a group of friends. The money raised will help Vision Aid Overseas provide eye tests and glasses to some of the world’s poorest people.
Mr Pape, 28, says: ‘This was the first time I had ever done anything like this. It was definitely worthwhile as I did it for a charity which plays a big part in my job.’
Newton Aycliffe Specsavers store director Sean Hayes says: ‘We are all very proud of Dave and the commitment which he made to raise much needed funds for Vision Aid Overseas. We are also collecting unwanted glasses which will be sent to people in the developing world who have little or no access to eyecare.’
Mr Hayes added: ‘It is an extremely important charity that really can change the quality of people’s lives, thank you to everyone who donated money through the box in store.’
The charity cycle took place last month and lasted three days, with Dave cycling around 30 miles per day.
Vision Aid Overseas was set up in 1985 and has provided 500,000 eye tests and given 250,000 people the ability to see with a pair of spectacles. More than 200 million people in the world suffer from poor sight and blindness simply because they need glasses.

Tesco have donated £1000 from their community fund to DASH who operate from the Youth Centre providing holiday play for over 100 disabled young people each summer.
The cash pays for transport to activities for children with complex needs and challenging behaviour over the holiday period giving their parents a well earned break themselves.
The photo shows Tesco Manager Martin Butcher and Assistant Manager Paul Davies with members of the DASH team.

Dear Sir,
The resignation of GATC, Councillor Helen Hutchinson, probably means the local Labour Party does not now have any representation actually living within the boundary of West Ward.
I use the word ‘probably’, because despite all of the hoo hah about him supposedly still being a member of The Labour Party - when he stood and was elected as an Independent for West Ward - Councillor Ray Bowman is still down on the GATC web site as being an Independent - very confusing - confusion that Ray has chosen not to clarify.
George Gray Snr, elected as a Labour Councillor, now stands as an Independent (understandable, given the shabby, bullying treatment he received); Councillor Enid Paylor, who serves on both GATC and DCC (West Ward and Aycliffe West, respectively), moved out of West Ward about ten months ago; Councillor Mike Dixon, DCC, Aycliffe West representative, does not live in the West Ward area. There is a rule that as long as a Councillor continues to live within about three miles of those that they represent, they do not have to resign their seat. However, living outside the area that one represents, at least as a GATC Councillor, is hardly an ideal situation.
Given the mass resignations from the former West Ward branch of the Labour Party, it will be interesting to see who the Labour Party choose as their candidate for the now vacant West Ward seat. Either way they may be on to a winner.
If their candidate does not win the seat and an Independent does so - as with two Independents at the last GATC elections - they simply ask the Independent to join the Labour Party. Job done!
Derek G Atkinson,
Denham Place, Liberal Democrat Party member.

Help is at hand for artists and community groups hoping to secure extra funding for their work. Durham County Council will be holding advice sessions throughout September for people applying for money through its Arts Development Small Grants Scheme.
The grants scheme offers funding of up to £500 for projects that contribute to the creative and cultural development of the county and which support the council’s arts development priorities.
The 20-minute consultations will give people the chance to find out whether their project is eligible and pick up tips on how to complete and submit an application form.
Advice sessions will take place on Thurs 9 Sept. 4.30pm to 7pm at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre
Appointments must be booked in advance by contacting the arts team on 0191 370 8803 or e.mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The scheme is open to professional artists, community and voluntary groups, arts organisations, social enterprises, and parish and town councils. However, applicants must live or operate in County Durham and their project must also benefit the county’s residents.
The deadline for applications is noon on Thursday, 30 September. Applicants will be told if they have been successful within four weeks of the closing date. For more information and to download an application form visit www.durham.gov.uk

The Sales Hut at Clarence Chare will reopen on Sunday 5th Sept. at 10am and each Sunday thereafter until 31st Oct.
The usual assortment of good value garden products will be available. Onion sets are expected in the next two weeks.

Amanda Whitaker had a rollercoaster ride at the Oulton Park Gold Cup recently. The Newton Aycliffe girl racer was driving Amaron Racing’s Formula Ford 1600 Elden Mk8 and the TIGA SF78 Formula Ford 2000 at the prestigious race meeting.
She made a great start to take 4th at the first corner then dived past David Wilds to take 3rd at the end of lap one. A few laps later she was passed by Ian Ashley, a former F1 and F5000 driver and overall winner of the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1974 - the year Amanda was born! However, Amanda showed her determination at her favourite circuit - and closed back onto the gearbox of Ashley. She was thwarted by a flat spot on her engine coming out of the corners, just preventing her from getting a run to make an overtaking move and finished 4th just behind Ashley and ahead of Wilds.
In the Formula Ford 2000 race, she qualified unusually low in 21st position and 5th in class, but had engine problems stopping it from revving highly. On the formation lap of the race, she felt the problem may have been cured after work done by her team. But it was all for nothing - although she made a good start to jump a number of drivers off the line, she was hit by a spinning car into the first corner, turning her car into the path of another and she ended the race in the tyre wall. She walked away from the crash but the car was damaged, although repairable.
"That was such a disappointing end to what was otherwise a good weekend. In the Formula Ford 1600 race I had a really good charge, and although it was a shame I couldn’t quite make the podium it was nice to be competitive." she said. "But in the Formula Ford 2000 race there was nothing I could have done more to avoid the crash - I was right across to the edge of the track and had nowhere to go - the other car just caught my rear wheel."
She badly bruised her left leg aggravating the ligament injuries in her horrific crash at Mallory Park a year ago. She plans to be back in a racing car soon in time for the next meeting in November.

Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre Junior Football Club in association with Great Aycliffe Town Council again hosted a Festival of Football over the bank holiday weekend at Aycliffe Show. A total of 26 teams aged 7 – 10 years from all over the North East converged on the Oakleaf together with parents and coaches.
The under 8 football festival welcomed a team from the famous Wallsend Boys Club but on the day it was Boro Rangers from Teesside who shone. The under 9 competition was equally as close but after a hard fought round of matches Willington Youth left with the trophy.
The weather changed on Sunday with strong winds making football very difficult but the 12 teams in the Under 10 competition battled through a group stage to a semi final. The first semi was between Newton Aycliffe Juniors & 21st All Stars with the Juniors winning a very tight game. The second semi was between two first time visitors to the tournament with Riverside and Waldridge from Chester le Street, eventually deciding the game on penalties. It was an excellent final with 2 well matched teams but 2 goals in the second half clinched the trophy for Newton Aycliffe Juniors.
Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre Junior Football club are an FA Charter Standard Community Club offering football for everyone If you are interested in joining our club contact Berni 07939 045 242 or check out our web site www.naycafc.co.uk