Community Yearbook 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Thursday, 16 January, 2020

Tilly’s wonderdrug

Aldermaston tradition

The Government had been locked in negotiations with US drug manufac- turer Vertex, which had turned down a £500m offer last summer. But after continued pressure by campaigners, a deal was

A GIRL with cystic fibrosis received the “best Christmas present ever” . Following a four-year campaign, 12- year-old Tilly Green – of Bradfield Southend– finally received

the medication that will drastically improve her quality of life. And although Tilly had only been taking the medication for a couple of weeks, her parents said she had already showed an improvement.

eventually struck. Although Tilly had campaigned for Orkambi, she is now on Symkevi because of her age. Mrs Green said:“It is

Will lights up town LET there be lights! Pop star Will Young took time out from a UK tour to switch on Hungerford’s Christmas display. He was joined by town mayor Helen Simpson and Constable of the Town & Manor Nicholas Lumley. At least 2,000 people gathered in the High Street and they were entertained by Hungerford Town Band, The Community of Hungerford Theatre Company and Hungerford Primary School Choir– while Father Christmas himself put in an appearance.

Laura follows in father’s footsteps THE Conservatives maintained their grip on Newbury following the General Election. Despite facing pre-election criticism that she wasn’t ‘local’, Laura Farris – the daughter of former Newbury MP Michael McNair-Wilson – received a whopping 57.4 per cent of the vote. In a case of history repeating itself, the mother-of-two won by a majority of 16,047 – almost identical to her father’s 16,658 in the 1987 General Election. Mrs Farris said she“couldn’t bear the thought of losing my dad’ s seat without saying I really tried”. When asked what she thought her father would say about her being elected, she said:“ I think he’d be very surprised, but also very proud.” Our happy place NEWBURY was ranked as the 26th happiest place to live in the UK. The town was also ranked as the fourth happiest place to live in the South East of England in Rightmove’s 2019 Happy at Home Index. Areas were judged on 12 factors, ranging from how safe residents feel and how friendly the neighbours are, to how good the local services are, the level of community spirit and the qual- ity of cultural activities in the area. Hexham in Northumberland was the happiest place to live ahead of Harro- gate and Richmond upon Thames.

Izzy’s a golden girl IZZY Fry was part of the Great Britain EACH year Aldermaston performs the Nativity plays of the 14th-century Mystery Play Cycle to tell the story of the first Christmas. Around 70 members of the community came together, in medieval costume, for the 63rd consecutive year, to perform this well-known story for four nights, taking us back to simpler historic times through language, music, costume and place. Set not on the pageant wagons, as they were in the streets of York, it was in the beautiful 12th- century St Mary the Virgin parish church, Aldermaston– recently designated one of the Church of England’s 100 National Treasures.

fantastic news that Tilly now has Symkevi – the best Christmas present ever. “Tilly’s only been on Symkevi for a few days, but already she’s been coughing up mucus and gunk that we suspect has been hanging around in her lungs for some time. Getting rid of all of that will mean there is less chance of her getting an infection.”

Cystic fibrosis (CF) causes thick mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract and other areas of the body. Tilly and her parents, Ross and Nikki, had been fighting to get Orkambi and other life-changing CF drugs available through the NHS. Austin car row FOOTBALLER Charlie Austin waded into the row over Hungerford’s controversial 100-homes development. The West Bromwich Albion forward and former Hungerford Town FC player, who went to John O’Gaunt School, took to Twitter to ask:“ When these new houses get built in Hunger- ford, can you tell me how the town will cope with all the new traffic? “Yes, more trade for the town but seriously, it’s going to cause trafic carnage!” Bewley Homes had won permission for the King’s Ride development in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) off Salisbury Road and ground-breaking work has already begun. Meanwhile, former town councillor Jan Giggins wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, urging him to‘call in ’ the matter for review.

side that won a gold medal at the Euro- pean Cross Country Championships in Lisbon. Fry was representing her country in the under-20 and individ- ual events, where she finished an impressive sixth in a time of 14.33.

Lanterns on parade NEWBURY town centre was transformed into a magical wonderland at the annual Festival of Light Lantern Procession . place over the previous month and around 800 people took part in the procession with lanterns of all shapes and sizes.

The Newbury Athletic Club member was the first of the six GB athletes to finish in a field of around 100 of the best cross country runners across Europe. Fry’s superb result helped the GB squad win team gold, along with Saskia Millard of Herne Hill Harriers AC, who finished 11th, and Amelia Samuels of Wolverhampton & Bilston in 12th. Fry said: “I don ’t think it’s properly sunk in yet. The whole trip has been a bit sureal from start to finish.”

Designs included a flying pig, stars, angels, a house elf and hundreds of traditional pyramid lanterns. Around 3,000 people watched the array of lanterns, accompanied by the Samba rhythms of Beatroots.

Organised by the Corn Exchange and funded by Greenham Trust and Arts Council England, the Festival of Light is now a tradition within the town’s outdoor arts programme. Lantern-making workshops took

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