Queen Edith’s news 2022 vol.3 – March

 

Queen Edith’s News

Issue 182 • Friday 25 March 2022
Emailed to over 1,600 local homes

Children’s Hospital takes another step forward

Planning permission has been granted for the early designs and floor plans of the Cambridge Children’s Hospital on the Biomedical Campus. The hospital will provide essential hospital care for children and young people from across the whole region, as well as care where it can nationally and internationally. It aims to pioneer genomic and psychological research alongside clinical expertise in physical and mental child health – the aim is to not lose track of the individual child during hospital treatments. There’s more about the project here.

Guest speaker at online AGM

Our Queen Edith’s Community Forum online annual general meeting is next Thursday (31 March) at 7pm, and we’ve got a great speaker for you all to watch at home. There’ll be an email coming round during the week with full details, or check back here, but in the meantime, make a note in your diary.

Get a postal vote for the election

We have a local council election coming up at the start of May, and if you think you might not be able to make it to the polling station in person, why not get a postal vote? Last year, the number of postal voters in Queen Edith’s rose by 50% and we had the highest proportion in the city. All you have to do is to print out and complete the simple form, and either post or email it back to the City Council. You’ll then get your ballot paper in the post just before the election, and you can post in your vote from anywhere. See the application form here.

Star Shine Night Walk returns

The Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s Star Shine Night Walk returns in May as an in-person event! Gathering walkers of all abilities, backgrounds and life stages, it will make the city streets glow green to raise funds in memory of loved ones on the specially designed route, taking in some of Cambridge’s most iconic views and beautiful green spaces. Walk in support of our local hospice, in memory of a loved one, with hundreds of others doing the same. The charity is aiming for a record number of walkers, so sign up, spread the word and join in! More details here.

Work on the green space at Wandlebury

There’s another Volunteer Work Party at Wandlebury next Tuesday (29 March), to help care for the country park’s green spaces and wildlife. It’s described as a chance to get active, meet others and enjoy learning. All instruction, equipment and tools will be provided. More details here.

Spare books needed

The free Book Exchange outside the Wulfstan Way shops could do with a restock! If you have any popular books which you no longer have any need for, the organisers would love to receive them. All you need to do is to drop them off in the colourful book exchange filing cabinet itself.

Administration vacancy at Morley

Our new ‘job vacancies’ section (see below) proved very popular last week, and we hope it will prove helpful. Morley Memorial Primary School has an opportunity to join its administration team in a part-time role as Finance Officer, for example. Scroll down for details of these and other health and education vacancies.

Help deliver our magazine next month

The next issue of Queen Edith’s magazine is being put together for publication the week after Easter, and as usual, we’ll need your help to deliver it. Our delivery team now includes over 120 local residents! If you helped with either of the last two issues, don’t worry, we’ll be in touch. But if you’d like to join us, we’d love it. All you’ll need to do is to collect a bundle of issues for a nearby road on the weekend of 23/24 April, and deliver them in your own time. We have people of all ages doing it, and even family groups! If you’re interested, just add your name here and we’ll get back to you.

Junction to host Festival events

Several events in the forthcoming Cambridge Festival – which starts next week – will take place at Cambridge Junction. They include CCH Creates! An Artist-Led Exploration Of The Science And Ideas Behind Cambridge Children’s Hospital as well as Punk Alley (“a loud, wild, and unapologetic joyride of live original punk music and high energy dance”) and performances by comedian and environmental researcher Matt Winning and writer and academic Diarmuid HesterYou can see a list here.

Choral performance cancelled

Sadly, COVID-19 has caused tomorrow’s Erasmus Chamber Choir performance at St John’s church to be cancelled.
Queen Edith’s magazine supporter of the week

A better way to get to your flight

Cambridge Premier Chauffeur Agency is an executive chauffeur company based locally, aiming to provide exceptional service at surprisingly affordable prices. It’s a much better alternative to driving yourself and airport parking, starting from £55 each way to London airports.
Full prices and contact details here.

This Week at The Light Cinema

★ Our multi-screen cinema’s lineup of films this week include Ambulance; Clifford; Death on the Nile; Encanto; Jujutsu Kaisen; Mamma Mia!; Morbius; Sing 2; The Bad Guys; The Batman; The Duke; The Nan Movie; The Phantom of the Open; The Power of the Dog; Umma; Uncharted; and X.

This week at Cambridge Junction

★ This week Cambridge Junction has a great lineup including Andy Zaltzman: Satirist For Hire; Arts & Minds: Creative Café; Big 10 & The Dekkertones; Club Urania – March; DNB Cambridge; Dry Cleaning; Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage; Jesterlarf Comedy Club: April; Joan As Police Woman; Magnum; Matt Forde: Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right; Nathan Caton: Let’s Talk About Vex; New Routes: Lexie Green & The Indigo Blue + Tom Leader; Old Friends; Stick In The Wheel; Sunflower Bean; Therapy?; Twelfth Day + Chris Fox; and Warmduscher.

Coronavirus Update

Government advice remains as follows: get vaccinated; let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meet outside; consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces; and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and stay at home if positive. For details of how to book first, second or booster vaccinations, please visit The Vaccinators website and click on your age group.

Care home residents, people aged 75 and over and those with a weakened immune system aged 12 and over are being invited to get a spring COVID-19 booster. The NHS will contact you and invite you to book your spring booster when it’s due.

Cambridge’s positive COVID-19 test result rate has risen significantly again, to 1232 per 100,000 people, way above the average in England overall, even though this has also risen significantly to 831. Data here. 135 people went into hospital in Cambridge with coronavirus this week (a big rise on the week before); there were 8 coronavirus patients in hospital with a mechanical ventilator on Tuesday, but again, fortunately, no deaths reported this week within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. Data here.

Worth a look… 

  • Researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, based at the Institute of Public Health on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, have shown that people with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant are less likely to be admitted to hospital or die compared to those with Delta variant. Their study has now been published in The Lancet. Full story here.

Food Hub open tomorrow

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open tomorrow (Saturday) as usual, from 10.30am to 12noon at St James Church on Wulfstan Way. All in need are welcome, no questions asked. The Coffee Chat is back too!

Food donations may be brought to the church on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to 10.30am. The team tells us it’s usually particularly in need of tinned beans (not baked beans) and tinned fish, but all contributions are welcome.

Bin collections

Check when your bins will be emptied here.

Upcoming city events

Health and Education job vacancies

Traffic disruption

One.network is the website which shows current and forthcoming road works. You can see the map here.

  • Advance notice that the Cherry Hinton end of Queen Ediths Way will be closed for cabling work during the Easter period. Full details will be here before the work begins.

How to contact our local councillors

The Queen Edith’s Community Forum guide to our local councillors will ensure you contact the right one depending on your issue and the street where you live. Find it here.

Queen Edith’s city councillor Sam Davies writes a weekly email discussing what she’s been doing and what issues have come up in the area. You can add yourself to the circulation of Sam’s free email here. If our other councillors produce anything similar we will also highlight it here.

Have you been forwarded this email?
Click here to request your own copy each week. It’s free!

Queen Edith’s News

Issue 181 • Friday 18 March 2022
Emailed to over 1,600 local homes

Coffee chat returns at Community Food Hub

The popular coffee chat event returns alongside the Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub tomorrow and every Saturday. Anyone is welcome to drop by at St James for free refreshments (we’re sure there’ll be snacks too!) and meet other local residents. It runs from 10.30am to 12noon at St James’ Church on Wulfstan Way. We look forward to seeing you!

No parking on Cavendish Avenue for three days

Sign and lining works to install parking bays and waiting restrictions are to take place on the Hills Road half of Cavendish Avenue from Monday to Wednesday (21–23 March) for 3 days. Access for residents will be maintained but parking on the street will also be prohibited. Anyone with a vehicle that is normally parked on the street should remove it for the duration of the works.

Choral performance at St John’s

The Erasmus Chamber Choir will be performing an evening of sacred works at the church of St John The Evangelist on Hills Road at 7pm next Saturday (26 March). The programme will feature some of the most beautiful examples of Renaissance sacred music including works by Guerrero, Lassus, Byrd and Tomkins. Entrance to O Quam Gloriosum is free, with a retiring collection. A reminder that there’s also free entertainment at St John’s tomorrow night (19 March) at 7pm, with Hits From The Musicals. Singer Jo Dodds and pianist Roger Lilley return with a collection of famous songs from shows and films such as Cats, Mary Poppins and Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Just turn up!

Memorial tree to be planted

The RedCross Area Residents’ Association has asked Queen Edith’s city councillor Sam Davies to join one of its founders, Minmin, to plant a tree in memory of Anna Garratt-Quinton, who was tragically killed last year while cycling near Addenbrooke’s roundabout. The brief ceremony will take place by the Red Cross Lane Community Notice Board next Tuesday (22 March) at 12.30pm.

Campus responds to last two years with art project

As part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus arts programme, a new project has launched with the aim of giving voice to what it’s been like for people living and working on the campus (or from home) during the past two years. The project is called The Dark Heals, and artist Andrea Cockerton is asking for people from the campus to express how it feels for them and how it has felt, to create a digital multi-media ‘wall’ and soundtrack which will be live streamed in April for all staff, and then available on demand.

Inspire others with your Eco-Home

The city-wide Open Eco-Homes event has featured many local properties in the past. If you have a well-retrofitted older home or a sustainable new one, there’s a chance to show others what you’ve done, during this year’s event in the autumn. More details here.

Art class opportunity

Well-known local artist Susan Abbs begins a new series of art classes next Wednesday morning (23 March) in Kinnaird Way, and there’s one space free. Susan says: “The idea of the classes in my studio is to create a fun, relaxed environment for like-minded people to explore their creativity. It is suitable for beginners and anyone interested in stepping out of their comfort zone. You will get to experiment with different mediums such as graphite, charcoal, inks, watercolour, collage, acrylics and oils. We will leave the studio sometimes for plein air painting and urban sketching. I will provide all the materials and light refreshments so all you have to do is turn up and play.” The fee for eight classes is £200. To enrol, please email susanabbs_art@yahoo.com

More offerings when Wine Bar reopens

The Cambridge Wine Merchants Wine Bar and shop on Cherry Hinton Road will be closed this Sunday and Monday (20–21 March) for renovations. However, on reopening next week, they’re introducing fine wines by the glass in the bar, plus extended opening until 10pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. There’s also their ‘bring your own food’ policy, and of course the Steak & Honour van every Thursday evening.
Queen Edith’s magazine supporter of the week

Care home open to new residents

Heathlands House is the new care home in the area, which opened in August 2021. Located in Bullen Close, off Cherry Hinton Road, Heathlands House has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. There is a welcoming on-site café, comfortable cinema, and a hair and beauty salon for the perfect pampering session. With beautiful en-suite rooms, spacious dining rooms, and well-stocked activity rooms leading onto landscaped gardens, it offers the highest standard of living. Take an online tour here.

This Week at The Light Cinema

★ Our multi-screen cinema’s lineup of films this week include Belfast; Clifford the Big Red Dog; Death on the Nile; Dog; Encanto; Jujutsu Kaisen; NT Live: The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage; Sing 2; Singin’ In The Rain; Spider-Man: No Way Home; The Batman; The Duke; The Nan Movie; The Phantom of the Open; The Power of the Dog; Uncharted; and X.

This week at Cambridge Junction

★ This week Cambridge Junction has a great lineup including Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham; Andy C: XO 3.0 Tour; Animals!; Club Urania – March; DNB Cambridge; Harley Kimbro Lewis; Jamali Maddix: King Crud; Kattam Katti; Matt Forde: Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right; Matt Richardson: Imposter; Short Scratchings; The Fiver – March; The Funky Club; Whole (Audio); and Wille And The Bandits.

Coronavirus Update

Government advice remains as follows: get vaccinated; let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meet outside; consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces; and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and stay at home if positive. For details of how to book first, second or booster vaccinations, please visit The Vaccinators website and click on your age group.

From today, you do not need to take any COVID-19 tests or fill in a passenger locator form when travelling to the UK from abroad. These changes apply whether you are fully vaccinated or not.

Cambridge’s positive COVID-19 test result rate has soared to 988 per 100,000 people, way above the average in England overall, even though this has also risen significantly to 617. Data here. 80 people went into hospital in Cambridge with coronavirus this week (a rise on the week before); there were 11 coronavirus patients in hospital with a mechanical ventilator on Tuesday (up from 8 last week), but again, fortunately, no deaths reported this week within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. Data here.

Worth a look… 

  • The latest ZOE COVID Study suggests there are over 250,000 new daily symptomatic cases of COVID, an increase of 47% from last week and a record high in the number of cases recorded in one day. They’re also seeing an increase among those aged 55 and over, who are more susceptible to serious illness. Professor Tim Spector’s weekly video update is worth a watch.

Food Hub open tomorrow

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open tomorrow (Saturday) as usual, from 10.30am to 12noon at St James Church on Wulfstan Way. All in need are welcome, no questions asked. The Coffee Chat is back too!

Food donations may be brought to the church on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to 10.30am. The team tells us it’s usually particularly in need of tinned beans (not baked beans) and tinned fish, but all contributions are welcome.

Bin collections

Check when your bins will be emptied here.
Green bins which were missed on Monday in the Gunhild Way area will be collected tomorrow (Saturday 19 March), so please leave them out.

Consultations

★ Parking issues (open until 21 March): tell the councils exactly what and where the problems are. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Visit the Consult Cambs site and register to be a user by clicking ‘Register’ at the top (or sign in if you’ve done before); then
  2. Visit the map page. Scroll over to the appropriate area of the city; then click the tiny “+” top left, and you’ll be given a series of “pins”. Drag one or more to the right place (and add a comment in each case).

Upcoming city events

Health and Education job vacancies

Traffic disruption

One.network is the website which shows current and forthcoming road works. You can see the map here.

  • Advance notice that the Cherry Hinton end of Queen Ediths Way will be closed for cabling work during the Easter period. Full details will be here before the work begins.

How to contact our local councillors

The Queen Edith’s Community Forum guide to our local councillors will ensure you contact the right one depending on your issue and the street where you live. Find it here.

Queen Edith’s city councillor Sam Davies writes a weekly email discussing what she’s been doing and what issues have come up in the area. You can add yourself to the circulation of Sam’s free email here. If our other councillors produce anything similar we will also highlight it here.

Have you been forwarded this email?
Click here to request your own copy each week. It’s free!

Queen Edith’s News

Issue 180 • Friday 11 March 2022
Emailed to over 1,600 local homes

Footpath closed for three months

The footpath linking Babraham Road and Worts Causeway, alongside the upcoming new housing development, has been closed while archaeological work takes place and a water main is diverted. Developer This Land says that the work should be complete by May/June, when it plans to reopen the path. Note that this path is not a formal right of way (it is a permissive path over private land), but the developer intends to continue to allow its use in the future. You can read more about the ‘Eddeva Park’ development here.

Sponsor our MP to help those fleeing Ukraine

🇺🇦 The Disasters Emergency Committee brings together 15 leading UK aid charities, and is leading the funding efforts to directly meet the needs of refugees and displaced people in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. South Cambs and Queen Edith’s MP Anthony Browne is cycling from London to Cambridge in a fortnight’s time for DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and local people have already pledged many times his original target in support. It’s one of the fundraising projects where donations will be matched pound-for-pound, in this case by the government. If you’d also like to support Anthony you can do so here, or if you’d prefer simply to donate to the DEC Appeal, you can do so here.

Hits From The Musicals show next week

There’s a free show at St John’s church next Saturday night (19 March), featuring Hits From The Musicals. Singer Jo Dodds and pianist Roger Lilley return with a collection of famous songs from shows and films such as Cats, Mary Poppins and Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Refreshments will be provided. The retiring collection will be aid of the church. Just come along at 7pm. It should be a good evening!

Find out more about Age UK

The COPE (Cambridgeshire Older People’s Enterprise) Evelyn Charnley Memorial Lunch Club meets every third Wednesday at Queen Edith Chapel in Wulfstan Way. Next week (16 March), attendees will be able to hear from Ann Chapman about Age UK‘s Services. As ever, tea and biscuits are provided, or bring your own lunch if you wish. For more details please phone COPE on 01223 364303 or email cambridgecope@hotmail.co.uk

New Sports Centre planned for Perse School

Plans have been submitted to the city council by the Perse School for an indoor swimming pool and sports building. The school has nearly doubled in the number of students since its last indoor sporting provision was built, and it recognises the lack of access to swimming facilities available for use by schools. The school says that if built, its new facilities will be available to clubs within the community. You can see the plans here (click ‘Design & Access Statement’ for the general information).

Chat about green building

Most houses in the UK will need some level of retrofit to meet our climate targets, so as local Association for Environment Conscious Building member Wookey tells us: “Nearly everyone that owns a house ought to be at least somewhat interested in this.” The group has very informal monthly meetings for chats, alternating on- and off-line, and the next one is on 17 March at 7.30pm. If you have an interest in green building, or questions about your own house/project/plans, you’ll be most welcome. More information here.

Save food, help the planet

The council’s waste service is supporting Food Waste Action Week and wants us all to know how much food waste is bad for the environment and our pocket. 4.5 million tonnes of food which could have been eaten is thrown away in our homes every year! There are lots of great hints and tips here to save money and help the environment as you do so.

Lunchtime vacancy at nursery

Homerton Early Years Centre, in Holbrook Rd, is looking for a lunch supervisor on two or three days a week (Wednesday to Friday, 11.30am to 1pm). It’s a friendly and welcoming team! Anyone interested in finding out more about the position, or visiting, should contact the Head of Centre, Alex Pearson, on 01223 508766.
Queen Edith’s magazine supporter of the week

The local blinds and awnings specialists

W&P Blinds is a local, family run business established in 1974. The company can supply and fit both domestic and commercial blinds and they offer a free home visit service to measure, provide advice and samples to view. They also guarantee a friendly, helpful service at all times, as many local residents will testify! Find out more here.

This Week at The Light Cinema

★ Our multi-screen cinema’s lineup of films this week include Ali & Ava; BTS On Stage – Seoul; Belfast; Clifford the Big Red Dog; Cyrano; Death on the Nile; Dog; Don’t Look Up; Dune; Encanto; Jujutsu Kaisen; Licorice Pizza; NT Live: Leopoldstadt; ROH: Rigoletto; Red Rocket; Sing 2; Spider-Man: No Way Home; The Batman; The Duke; The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone; The Power of the Dog; and Uncharted.

This week at Cambridge Junction

★ This week Cambridge Junction has a great lineup including Alabama 3; Breabach; Catherine Bohart: This Isn’t For You; Iain Stirling: Failing Upwards; Jamali Maddix: King Crud; Magical Bones: Black Magic; Nouvelle Vague; Orlando Weeks; Soul Nation Presents Trevor Nelson; Squidge; The Fiver – March; The Funky Club; The Greatest Magician; Triffids!; Whole (Audio); and Yvonne Hercules.  

Coronavirus Update

Government advice remains as follows: get vaccinated; let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meet outside; consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces; and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and stay at home if positive. For details of how to book first, second or booster vaccinations, please visit The Vaccinators website and click on your age group.

Cambridge’s positive COVID-19 test result rate has stopped falling, and is now at 592 per 100,000 people, still significantly above the average in England overall, which has risen to 370. Data here. 67 people went into hospital in Cambridge with coronavirus this week (about the same as the week before); there were 8 coronavirus patients in hospital with a mechanical ventilator on Tuesday (twice as many as last week), but fortunately again no deaths reported this week within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. Data here.

Worth a look… 

  • Covid cases appear to be rising in older people as increased socialising, waning immunity and a more transmissible version of the Omicron variant threaten to fuel a resurgence of the virus. Read the news story here.
  • Please note that the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust continues to request that unless you have a medical appointment or need to attend the Emergency Department, please do not come to the hospital site. More here.

Food Hub open tomorrow

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open tomorrow (Saturday) as usual, from 10.30am to 12noon at St James Church on Wulfstan Way. All in need are welcome, no questions asked. There’s also free tea and coffee!

Food donations may be brought to the church on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to 10.30am. The team tells us it’s usually particularly in need of tinned beans (not baked beans) and tinned fish, but all contributions are welcome.

Bin collections

Check when your bins will be emptied here.

Consultations

★ Parking issues (open until 21 March): tell the councils exactly what and where the problems are. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Visit the Consult Cambs site and register to be a user by clicking ‘Register’ at the top (or sign in if you’ve done before); then
  2. Visit the map page. Scroll over to the appropriate area of the city; then click the tiny “+” top left, and you’ll be given a series of “pins”. Drag one or more to the right place (and add a comment in each case).

Traffic disruption

One.network is the website which shows current and forthcoming road works. You can see the map here.

  • Advance notice that the Cherry Hinton end of Queen Ediths Way will be closed for cabling work during the Easter period. Full details will be here before the work begins.

How to contact our local councillors

The Queen Edith’s Community Forum guide to our local councillors will ensure you contact the right one depending on your issue and the street where you live. Find it here.

Queen Edith’s city councillor Sam Davies writes a weekly email discussing what she’s been doing and what issues have come up in the area. You can add yourself to the circulation of Sam’s free email here. If our other councillors produce anything similar we will also highlight it here.

Have you been forwarded this email?
Click here to request your own copy each week. It’s free!

Queen Edith’s News

Issue 179 • Friday 4 March 2022
Emailed to over 1,600 local homes

Brick planters for Nightingale Ave and Luard Road

The county council has released this plan for the permanent Nightingale Avenue ‘modal filter’. The temporary planters are to be replaced by red brick versions. If you have any comments on the design, please contact our county councillor Alex Beckett. We’ve also seen similar plans (here) for Luard Road. Comments on that should be directed to Trumpington county councillor Philippa Slatter.

New residents association for Fendon Road area

Fendon Road and Fendon Close residents have established a Residents Association ‘to promote a safer, greener and more pleasant environment for all users of the road’. Sir Brian Heap has been elected as Chairman, Stephen Pratt as Secretary and Olga Perisic is an elected representative on the Committee. New members from residents in the two roads are welcome and should contact steve.pratt17@virginmedia.com

Hedge removal under way

There is some approved tree and hedge removal currently going on at the southern half of the new Worts Causeway housing development (now called ‘Eddeva Park’, by the way). This includes a 9-metre-wide section located on the northern boundary with Worts Causeway and a section of hedge about 25m in length on Babraham Road, both for access points. The work is being undertaken before bird nesting season, and plans can be seen here.

Council public meeting on Monday

The next online council South Area Committee Meeting is on Monday (7 March). There will be reports and discussions on Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods, and Area Committee Grants for the next year. Questions can be submitted throughout the meeting by email. To discuss any issues with a local councillor beforehand, contact details are at the end of this newsletter. If you’d like to watch the meeting, full details can be found here.

Free Beginners’ Boxing Course

The city council’s Active Lifestyles Team is offering a six-week Beginners’ Boxing Course for adults (18 years and over), completely free, at Albion Boxing Academy on Cherry Hinton Road. The course starts next Wednesday at 5pm and is suitable for people who are new to boxing and would like to improve their self-esteem and overall wellbeing. Participants will learn basic boxing skills, which will strengthen your core, improve your agility, strength, endurance, and overall wellbeing. More information here.

Green bin collections back to normal

Green bin collections are due to restart on a fortnightly basis across South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City on Monday (7 March). The HGV driver and loader absence issues that Greater Cambridge Shared Waste faced throughout February have improved, although there are still vacancies. The service says that “Even if we find that a particular green bin round cannot initially be serviced, there should be no impact on residents as crews will to work together to cover this on the same day. So, the main message to residents is to put their green bins out as per the published schedule.”

Can you help at our coffee event?

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is hoping to relaunch its ‘Coffee Chat’ which runs alongside on Saturday mornings, but is in need of a few volunteers to help set up, serve teas/coffees, and clean up. If you’d like to join in this fun voluntary role, please email Steve Rothwell at s.rothwell3@btinternet.com

What’s our MP been up to?

South Cambs and Queen Edith’s MP Anthony Browne covers the CSET busway, shelving the ‘OxCam Arc’ and ensuring ARM lists on the UK stock market in his latest newsletter. You can read it here.

Last chance to advertise in Queen Edith’s magazine

Advertising space in the first 2022 issue of Queen Edith’s magazine will be closing in a few days’ time. The April issue will go through the doors of all 5,500 homes in the area, and a quarter-page advert for your business starts at just £80. Full details here.

Free film showing on women in science

Next Tuesday (8 March) is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Cambridge Biomedical Campus is supporting CRUK, Cambridge Institute, in hosting a free screening of the film Picture a Scientist at 11 am. The film chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. More information here.

Wildflower Volunteer Work Party

Help local wildflowers by joining a work party with On The Verge Cambridge and Cambridge Past, Present & Future, tomorrow (Saturday 5 March). Volunteers will be cutting back scrub on the edge of Wandlebury in order to save the fragile flowering plants that live on the chalk grassland. All instruction, equipment and tools provided. More information here.

New times and free trial at yoga class

There are new times for the Vedanta Wellness beginners and intermediate yoga which takes place at the Morley School. Sessions are now at 7.15pm to 8.30pm on Thursdays. There’s a free trial too. Interested? There’s more information here.

St John’s open daily

The church of St John The Evangelist on Hills Road has been in touch to say that it is “open all day for private thought or prayer in this time of huge upheaval and worry across the world. You may like to take time to pray or bring to mind the people of Ukraine and all those whose lives are in turmoil.”
Queen Edith’s magazine supporter of the week

Will Writing and Estate Planning made affordable

Inheritance Legal Services is an award-winning company specialising in Will Writing, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Funeral Plans and Estate Planning. The friendly, family run company on Cherry Hinton Road has been thriving on excellent customer service for over 10 years!
Find out more about the company’s services here.

This Week at The Light Cinema

★ Our multi-screen cinema’s lineup of films this week include Ali & Ava; Belfast; Clifford; Cyrano; Death on the Nile; Dog; Encanto; Lady Bird; Little Women; ROH: Rigoletto; Sing 2; Spider-Man: No Way Home; Studio 666; The Batman; The Duke; The Godfather: Part II – 50th Anniversary; The Phantom of the Open; and Uncharted.

This week at Cambridge Junction

★ This week Cambridge Junction has a great lineup including Butterflies; Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen; Ferocious Dog; Hammer & Tongue March; Iain Stirling: Failing Upwards; Jesterlarf Comedy Club: March; Jungle Cakes; Melt Yourself Down; Nouvelle Vague; Tom Houghton: Honour Tour; and You Heard Me; 

Coronavirus Update

Government advice remains as follows: get vaccinated; let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meet outside; consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces; and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and stay at home if positive. For details of how to book first, second or booster vaccinations, please visit The Vaccinators website and click on your age group.

Cambridge’s positive COVID-19 test result rate continues to fall quickly, now at 557 per 100,000 people, but still significantly above the average in England overall, which is 307. Data here. 65 people went into hospital in Cambridge with coronavirus this week (about the same as the week before); there were 4 coronavirus patients in hospital with a mechanical ventilator on Tuesday, but fortunately no deaths reported this week within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. Data here.

Worth a look… 

  • A new study has revealed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted local mental health admissions. Co-author and consultant liaison adult psychiatrist Dr Fiona Thompson said: “Our findings highlight that social factors make a huge difference, and interventions to reduce psychiatric admissions should focus on building resilience and social connectedness.” Read more here.
  • Scientists at the ZOE COVID Study recently analysed the length of time it took for people to test negative, following their first positive test. They found that, on average, it took 8 days after the first positive test to log a negative test. They recommend therefore to take a test as soon as symptoms are experienced (so always have some in the house), but anyone recording a positive test should wait 6 days to retest, as it’s unlikely they’ll test negative before then (and tests will soon no longer be free). Those aged 75 and over could wait up to 10 days to retest as the research suggests that those in this age bracket may take longer to recover.

Food Hub open tomorrow

The Queen Edith’s Community Food Hub is open tomorrow (Saturday) as usual, from 10.30am to 12noon at St James Church on Wulfstan Way. All in need are welcome, no questions asked. There’s also free tea and coffee!

Food donations may be brought to the church on Saturday mornings from 10.00am to 10.30am. The team tells us it’s usually particularly in need of tinned beans (not baked beans) and tinned fish, but all contributions are welcome.

Bin collections

Check when your bins will be emptied here.

Consultations

★ Parking issues (open until 21 March): tell the councils exactly what and where the problems are. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Visit the Consult Cambs site and register to be a user by clicking ‘Register’ at the top (or sign in if you’ve done before); then
  2. Visit the map page. Scroll over to the appropriate area of the city; then click the tiny “+” top left, and you’ll be given a series of “pins”. Drag one or more to the right place (and add a comment in each case).

Traffic disruption

One.network is the website which shows current and forthcoming road works. You can see the map here.

  • Advance notice that the Cherry Hinton end of Queen Ediths Way will be closed for cabling work during the Easter period. Full details will be here before the work begins.

How to contact our local councillors

The Queen Edith’s Community Forum guide to our local councillors will ensure you contact the right one depending on your issue and the street where you live. Find it here.

Queen Edith’s city councillor Sam Davies writes a weekly email discussing what she’s been doing and what issues have come up in the area. You can add yourself to the circulation of Sam’s free email here. If our other councillors produce anything similar we will also highlight it here.

Have you been forwarded this email?
Click here to request your own copy each week. It’s free!