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Thursday, May 20, 2021

Newbury Weekly News

NEWBURY NEWS

‘My historic day out at Wembley’ NWN reporter Jon Ashby got an FA Cup final ticket...

Liz does white cane walk for India

AN Ashford Hill woman has taken a leap of faith and completed a ‘5k white cane walk’ every day for five days, in a bid to raise vital funds for a school in India. Liz Jackson MBE, 47, went blind in her twenties, but is now learning to use a white cane for the first time and de- cided to put her new skills to good use. The 47-year-old is sales and marketing director at Kings- clere-based BCMS and the company supports a school and orphanage in Kakinada, India, where it educates and looks after more than 500 chil- dren from the lowest tier of In- dian society. Vara Prasad, the principal of St Mark’s School, also looks after 30 widows and a nearby leper colony. Mrs Jackson said: “As part of the BCMS management team, I get regular updates on what’s been happening at St Mark’s. “Over the past few weeks, the news from India has be- come more and more distress- ing, with cases and deaths rising exponentially. Due to Covid, we can’t be there in person. The one thing we can do is provide financial sup- port, to deliver essential day- to-day care for the children. “I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I went totally blind in my twenties, and now I’m learning to use a white cane for the very first time. “If I was holding someone’s WEST Berkshire Council has given notice, under sec- tion 14/1 of the Road Traf- fic Regulation Act 1984, that it intends to make or- ders to close various roads across the district. The order, which will be made no less than seven days from the date of this notice, will prohibit any vehicle from

By JONATHAN ASHBY jonathan.ashby@newburynews.co.uk @jonathana_nwn

THE low rumble of ‘shoot’, the momentary silence as the crowd held its breath and the deafening roar when the Leicester City fans realised what had just happened – the FA Cup final was a special event to be a part of. As a Leicester fan, I was one of the fortunate 21,000 or so people to secure a ticket for the game at Wembley, which acted as part of the Government’s pilot events programme as the country emerges from what is hoped to be the final lockdown. Precautions were once again introduced to enable the safe return of fans to sporting events, following successful trials in the semi-finals and the Carabao Cup final. Those with LE postcodes were required to take the club coaches to and from Wembley, and proof of a negative lateral flow test conducted at a test centre was required. This was fastidiously checked on mobile phones both before boarding the club coaches

Liz Jackson MBE, centre, with former BCMS client Alison Cooper, left, and BCMS colleague Apeksha Tanna arm, 5k every day for five days wouldn’t be a challenge for me at all. relatives. Poor people are dy- ing on the roads.

“At St Mark’s, the children and widows are affected by some sickness every day and we need to provide both med- ical care and daily essentials, because the prices of our foods like rice, dhal, vegetables and oils have doubled.” Mrs Jackson, who was joined on her fifth and final walk on Friday by BCMS chief executive Jonathan Dunn, said that she had been sharing all the messages of support with Mr Prasad and he had been “incredibly heartened by the sense of solidarity” com- ing from UK. If you would like to sponsor Mrs Jackson you can visit her fundraising page at https:// gofund.me/3ff43b05 be implemented as and when required and dates and times of the individual closures will be advertised locally when fi- nalised. n The latest public notices, such as planning applications, road closures and licensing applications, can be found on page 50 of this week’s New- bury Weekly News .

“But, navigating this dis- tance, after only two training sessions, was definitely diffi- cult. “The support so far from the community has been fantas- tic. “We’ve now raised over £5,700 which will go directly to our friends in India – this will mean the world to them.” Mr Prasad added: “Indians are struggling and panick- ing and thousands are dying every day and millions are suffering without vaccines, medicine and oxygen. “People are losing their lives as families and mass cre- mations are going on and no- body is going near to see their travelling in any direction over Vanners Lane, Enborne; Old Lane, Hamstead Marshall; Burgess Lane, Hamstead Mar- shall; and Park Lane, Kint- bury. The closures are to enable remedial works to take place on or near the highway for Gi- gaclear. The restrictions will only

NWN reporter Jonathan Ashby with his father Gary at Wembley

and at various entry points around the ground. Two non-mandatory PCR tests were sent through the post in the days leading up to the game, to be done at home before and five days after the game. All the seats were sanitised before the game, every other seat was empty to help with social distancing, and masks were supposedly required everywhere throughout Wembley – although this wasn’t enforced. Neither was social distancing – but good luck with that one at an FA Cup final. All in all it was a smooth, seamless process which wasn’t a burden – aside from the extra financial cost of the coaches. And a moment if you’ll indulge me on what the day meant as a Leicester City fan. The title win in 2016 was a one-off, unexpected fairytale

which nobody had ever dreamed of. The FA Cup on the other hand was something that’s been considered winnable for all of Leicester’s 137-year history and has never happened, with the Foxes, before Saturday, holding the record for most finals – four – without winning it. That meant the magic of the cup, so dulled in recent years as the financial behemoth that is the Premier League took centre stage, was still alive in Leicester fans everywhere. It was the dream of our late chairman, Khun Vichai, to win it, and a huge banner with his face was looking down from the upper tier, alongside a quote of his: “Our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Saturday is a day that will be talked of for generations.

Village road closures for Gigaclear works

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All in all it was a smooth, seamless process which wasn’t a burden

Man denies trying to abduct schoolgirl A MAN accused of trying to abduct a schoolgirl has appeared in court. In the dock at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 12, was Omar Okeive Brown. The 39-year-old, who lives at Oxford Road, Newbury, faces two charges resulting from the incident, said to have happened at a bus stop in Purley. In the first instance, Mr Brown is accused of attempted kidnapping. He is said to have committed the offence shortly after 8.45pm after he got out of his car and approached the child, who is aged under 16 years and cannot be named. Mr Brown also faces an alternative charge of trying to take a child so as to remove her from the lawful control of her mother. Mr Brown, who was legally represented at the preliminary hearing, spoke only to con- firm his details and to deny both charges. The offences were said to have happened on August 7 last year and the alleged victim was not known to him, the court heard. Matthew Gauntlett, prosecuting, told magis- trates that the attempted kidnapping offence was so serious that it can only be tried by a judge and jury sitting at a crown court. Magistrates committed both matters to Reading Crown Court for trial. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June. Mr Brown was meanwhile released on unconditional bail.

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