On July 18th a team of riders will be pedalling a ‘quadricycle’ 56 miles all in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Because of the restriction of the gears, this biking behemoth will mean 9 solid hours in the saddle!

The Great Weston Ride is a new biking event for the Southwest starting off in Bristol, continuing down through the Mendips and passing the rock of ages, the route finally finishes on the lawns in Weston super Mare. The Quad Squad organised by Emma Williams are hoping to raise over £3,000 for this very worthy cause.

Emma of Congresbury said this of her motivation:

“Members of the team have personal reasons for getting involved and It’s quite shocking and upsetting when I realised just how many people I knew had had some direct experience with Cancer. All those that spoke about their experiences wanted to get in the saddle and say thank you for the help and support they received from Macmillan during their difficult journey. It is really heart-warming to see friends and friends relatives step up to take part in this immense challenge enabling them to give something back to the charity that helped them and their families.”

The team intend to do the distance as a relay and not all at once. The Quadricycle provided by The Carriage Company on Weston seafront, is not geared and its 1st all the way. The latter part of the course is reasonably flat but the first 26 miles are demanding for someone on a normal bike, let alone a Quadricycle.

“I am both excited and apprehensive about the challenge. In theory 56 miles on a quadricycle sounds hard, in practice I think it’s going to be really, really tough. I have a strong and motivated team that are up for giving it everything they’ve got, and with the support and help from all our families and friends I genuinely believe we will enter Weston super Mare on the 18th of July, an exhausted but proud team of cyclists. Its going to be a huge physical challenge for all of us.”

Macmillan Cancer Support currently provides 98% of the nurses at the Weston General Hospital and fundraising manager for Weston super Mare, Ian Dore said:

”Make no bones about it, this is not a jog on a beach or a walk in the park type event. The Great Weston Ride, although fun is a tough one. To even contemplate doing it on something less than a fully geared bicycle is one thing, doing it on a Quadricycle ticks the insanity box! The Quad Squad deserve to reach and exceed their target not because just of the arduous task that awaits, but because it reflects their commitment in helping others, after Macmillan have helped them.”

You can show your support and help them achieve their goal by donating via this website http://www.justgiving.com/TheQuadSquad

On the 26th of June there is the opportunity to meet some of the team, make a donation and see the Quadricycle at the Weston super Mare Town Council Community Show

All change – will the new broom’s sweep clean. We will all have to wait and see! I will pass on changes that could affect small to medium businesses as and when they reach my desk.

To put my positive spin on things, we must treat this as an opportunity, but that will entail reacting to change very quickly to get the best for our individual businesses.
I am very impressed that one of the first objectives is to cut through some red tape – “bring it on”!!!

The world markets are on radar but just observing and the numbers will tumble and rise in line with policy changes.

RBS announced a further 2,600 job cuts bringing the total to 22,600 – were they over staffed???!!!
22 June is the first budget (hold tight).

Two thirds of businesses not ready for carbon reduction. MORSE report that 72% of respondents are unaware of how to reduce their emissions.

It has now been definitely confirmed that John Penrose MP has taken the post of Minister for Tourism which, as a seaside town, is great for us!

Quote of the Week:
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it” – Dennis Kimbro

The sun is out and we thrive on good weather – more traffic, busier – says everything is generally a degree or so upbeat.

Dates are whispered for the opening of the Grand Pier, the promenade and water park. Weston 200 is progressing well, with a busy programme from the Royal Hotel – firework displays and the Red Arrows booked for August.

Not sure about the country’s economy until we get over the election and they all decide what is happening.

New legislation is in place, not that we need it! Sick notes are out and well notes are in; paternity pay or at least time off, is increasing if booked in the correct manner – visit www.businesslink.gov.uk to get the full story.

Interesting but scary – from 1997 Council staff earning over £30,000 a year went from 3,300 to 38,000, but small businesses have had to take a cut in margins and of course, some lost everything. You could own an airline of course – not much sleep there! But Apple shares hit an all time high with a 90% increase in quarter 2 profits.

Quote of the week:

“Always tell the truth, that way you don’t have to remember what you said”.

I arrived home from work today to find that the various political parties have been pushed through my letterbox, and despite the fact they will all be going straight in the recycling bin, something caught my eye that made me extremely angry, a leaflet from the BNP.

Now I’m not the first person to jump up and fight for a cause, but I cannot believe that we live in a country which would allow such a racist group of people to have the right to form a political party. I’m not saying that everyone in the BNP is a racist, but everyone who supports this political party is supporting racism and whilst the BNP aren’t taken seriously at the moment, history has shown that it doesn’t take much to push people towards a radical idea if the alternative isn’t appealing enough. On top of this they haven’t even spelt the name of our town correctly: ‘Western super Mare’!

You just have to take a look at some of their manifesto to imagine what would happen to our country if they ever got into power:

Defence

• Closure of all foreign military bases on British soil - To alot of people this sounds like a good idea, however what better way to alienate a country from the rest of the world.

Economy

• Selective exclusion of foreign-made goods from British markets and the reduction of foreign imports - Now they say selective exclusion, but how far will that extend? More importantly what do you think this would do to prices in the general market? Well if cheap affordable products where banned from the UK, we would see a massive hike in prices as we would have no option but to buy products made in this country, instead of having the choice of what we buy.

• Restoration of British economy and land to British ownership – The same thing happened in Zimbabwe, white land owners who had legally purchased their land and built their lives around it, had it seized, and in some cases violence and murder was used resulting in the deaths of many people who had done nothing wrong.

Immigration

• Immediate halt to all further immigration – This would be economic suicide, what the BNP and most of the people who support a stop to immigration fail to remember that Britain has a varied mix of people from various different races such as the Romans, Vikings, Celts, Saxons etc, and that immigration is what has caused our country to thrive and become an important world power. I believe that we need to bring in a system used in countries like the United States and Australia and only allow people in if they will benefit the economy but never should we halt immigration altogether as we forget that over 300,000 Britons leave the country every year.

• Introduction of a system of voluntary resettlement whereby legal immigrants are afforded opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin assisted by a generous financial incentive both for individuals and for the countries in question – Will these people be concentrated into camps upon their departure of the country? This has to be the most ridiculous section of the the BNP manifesto. What they are saying is that legal immigrants, and their descendants should get out of the country, but don’t worry we will give you some money for your troubles. If this isn’t racist persecution in the making I don’t know what is.

Transport

• Motorway speed limits raised and ban on hidden speed cameras – Understandably alot of people are going to like this one, in fact one thing the BNP have realised is that to win votes you need to have policies which people are going to like, however any educated sensible person will soon realise that alot of their policies would be unachievable and the funding for them would most likely come from stealth taxes and general rises in what we have to pay to the government.

In conclusion I will not be voting BNP this election, nor any future election for a party with policies that closely mirror those of the Nazi Party that came to power in Germany during the 1930s and 40s, and although I never see a time when the BNP would gain any kind of majority (in the last election they scored 0.7% of the vote which is less than 500,000 of the voting public), I urge you not to support the death of everything that makes us British.

Matthew Stone is the Editor of the Weston Echo. He is also an established I.T. Professional working for a local database marketing company

All the indicators are sharing my concerns that business is going on hold for the run up to the election. The uncertainty is having an effect on everything and the sooner it is over the better.

My advice is to batten down the hatches and weather the storm, those that do it well will be the survivors and the strength in our future growth and economy. We might expect a stead growth for the rest of the year and some recovery in property sales.

Finance is available – it is not easy, but once you have jumped through the hoops, loans are trickling out. I will be happy to direct clients in the best direction for their business sector.

June is going to be a great month for Weston. Most of the upgrade and road repairs should be completed and there could be some major events near the end of the month. Weston and North Somerset should come alive, so hang in there we have a lot more to look forward to than most.

Weston 200 is gathering more support. The Royal Hotel, which is the centre of our birthday celebrations, has an impressive line up of artists and special events – even Elvis is appearing!!!

The wheel is coming back (great news) and the water park is underway and our now regular steam fair is on the programme – make sure you get a copy of “What’s On” from North Somerset Council. All the events across North Somerset are promoted there and it’s free!

Get involved! Join the North Somerset Business Club, the Chambers of Trade, the Hotels Association, the Federation of Small Business – meet and talk to other businesses. Keep up to date and informed of opportunities.

And finally:

In the 1500’s bread was baked and divided as follows:

• The burnt base was given to the poor
• The middle bit for the working families
• The top to the guests or the rich

And so we have “the upper crust”!

Terry Gilbert is Business Support Manager for the North Somerset Enterprise Agency www.northsomersetenterpriseagency.co.uk as well as being the director for the Weston Town Centre Partnership and Chair for Weston 200 and Weston Arts Social Enterprise.