October

THE day services and resources centre of a Woking charity that supports homeless people reopened after a major refurbishment. Representatives from partner agencies were invited to the York Road Project (YRP) outpost in Goldsworth Road to see the redecoration, plus new furniture, showers and clothes-washing facilities.

The centre, in the former Mojos bar premises, provides resources and advice for people who are at risk of becoming homeless. It complements the charity’s night shelter in York Road and longer-term accommodation in the area for rough sleepers and those who have lost their homes.

QUICK thinking by staff after a colleague amputated his hand helped ensure it could be reattached and saved. Wally Desaunois, 75, suffered the injury while cutting wood with an electric saw at Titan Garden Buildings in Ripley.

Mark Daniell, John Crabb, Angela Freeman and Fred Qureshi each got commendation awards from the South East Coast Ambulance Service chief executive after they applied a tourniquet and put Wally’s hand in the office fridge until paramedics arrived.

Wally regained some feeling the day after the hand was reattached at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, and has been told he will regain full use of it.

STAR TURN – Dark Destroyer Shaun Wallace, one of the experts from TV's The Chase, hosted a quiz night in West End, run by Karen and Paul Smith that raised more than £7,000 for a suicide bereavement charity. (Picture supplied)

COMMUNITY groups are being let down by Surrey County Council, said Elaine McGinty, chairman of the Phoenix Cultural Centre in Woking after the council cabinet refused funding for a new Fiery Bird live music venue and community centre.

Phoenix had applied for £1.5million from Your Fund Surrey (YFS) to put in lights, water and disabled access to turn the former town centre Bed Bar into a multi-use venue with an area for gigs and another for a range of activities and events.

The council said the application was not financially robust, and the project was too ambitious and difficult to achieve in the current economic environment.

November

A SHEERWATER woman completed the 5K Great South Run on crutches after breaking an ankle weeks before the event. It was the last challenge for Anne O’Neill in a six-month sequence of events she did to raise money for charities in memory of family members.

The charities included Epilepsy Action, the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, and SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy).

Anne completed the Great South Run in memory of her sister Brigid, who died unexpectedly in November 2001. “I was very proud when I crossed the finishing line thinking of Brigid looking down on me,” she said.

STAGE COUP – Students from the Susan Robinson School of Ballet in West Byfleet were chosen to perform in a professional production of The Nutcracker at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking. Twenty-three dancers successfully auditioned to appear as the party children and mice in Northern Ballet's performance of the traditional Christmas story. (Picture supplied)

A DISABLED former airman helped the Royal Air Force charity that supports him to reaffirm its commitment to Remembrance. Bob Greig, from Knaphill, is a RAF Benevolent Fund Ambassador who tells his story of recovering from serious injuries to live a fully independent life.

Bob, who joined the RAF in 1979, was a sergeant training as a parachute instructor when he was paralysed from the waist down in an accident after jumping from 6,000ft. The fund has supported Bob practically and financially since 1984, so that he can live independently in a bungalow in Knaphill.

WOKING College celebrated a remarkable Ofsted report which awarded an Outstanding rating in every category. Examination results show a 99% pass rate at A-level and a more than 64% pass rate at high grades A*-B.

The college also offers the best programme of extra-curricular activities in the county with more than 75 individual activities to involve students.

“We are absolutely delighted that Woking has its own Outstanding sixth-form college providing excellence in education for 16 to 19-year-olds,” college principal Brett Freeman said. “We are incredibly proud of what we as a college, our teachers, support staff and students have achieved.”

December

A LIFE-SAVING public access defibrillator was installed at Holy Trinity Church in Knaphill. The device, which gives a high-energy electric shock to the heart of someone in cardiac arrest, is believed to be the first permanently unlocked defibrillator in the area.

The church has a large number of visitors to the daily church activities, such as Knaphill Community Fridge and Holy Trinity preschool, and the warm welcome pop-up lounges.

“The church successfully applied for a part-funded defibrillator from the British Heart Foundation and this has been generously installed by Lewis and Tom from Bryant Electrical,” said church administrator Caroline Bowen.

WOKING Borough Council’s debt was forecast to reach £2.4billion by 2024-25 with the threat of bankruptcy unless a balanced budget could be agreed.

The ruling Liberal Democrats blamed “years of financial mismanagement by the Conservatives” and Ann-Marie Barker, the council leader, said she had launched Operation Recovery.

The Conservatives accused the Lib Dems of “staggering hypocrisy” for raising the borrowing requirement for the Victoria Square development by £45million. Ayesha Azad, the Conservative leader, said: “The Lib Dems and their Labour and Independent allies have had a majority since 2019. So everything we did between 2019 and 2022 was with Lib Dem consent and co-operation.”

HENRY Plaza in the town centre’s Victoria Place shopping centre saw visitors stop in their tracks as the atrium steps were filled with an incredible cascade of toys.

The display was possible due to the immense generosity of customers who donated more than 2,000 items through the centre’s “The Forgotten Toys” Christmas appeal.

The warm-hearted community response means the appeal has achieved more than double its original target. The toys were later donated to the charity Sebastian’s Action Trust, who distributed them to new owners to give them the opportunity of a loving new home in time for Christmas and beyond.