Registered Charity 523829
  The Sedbergh People's Hall Management Committee would like to take this opportunity of apologising to all those hirers whose bookings have been affected by recent events and to set out the new rules agreed with the Licensing Authorities and the Police for the holding of events where alcohol is to be provided.
  Following an incident after a disco and involving the Police, the Hall and Committee were placed under 'special measures' by SLDC and the Police. At this point, all events at which alcohol was to be supplied and to which under-18 year olds were to be admitted had to be cancelled, unless run entirely by the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS). Under the new Licensing Act of 2005, any premises in which alcohol is supplied has to have a supervisor who has his own personal licence under the Act; Michael Garnett has undertaken to act as the voluntary DPS for the People's Hall, in the interests of the people of Sedbergh.  The Committee was also obliged to provide new conditions to be attached to our licence for approval. These had to show we are aware of our responsibilities under the Licensing Act and that we are fulfilling the four objectives required by it. These four objectives are:

1. The prevention of crime and disorder
   

  By the time you read this the children out here will be back at school after their seven week summer holidays. It seems quite strange that they break up at the beginning of December and return at the end of January for the summer holidays.
  We were invited to spend our one day Christmas break with some South African friends whose daughters are working overseas, one is a teacher in the UK and one is a radiographer in Saudi Arabia. Most white South African families have offspring working overseas and mainly in the UK. Hopefully a large percentage will return to South Africa as it needs their skills.  The cynic's will tell you that there are no jobs or future for white youngsters. Whilst I agree that the balance of power has shifted from white to black and the black and coloured population are favoured for most of the jobs this has been done to try to redress the inequalities of the apartheid years. In a meeting we had with a minister (economics) she told us that the discrimination against white youngsters could not be justified long term wise and that if we were to have a true "Rainbow Nation"  (words of Desmond Tutu) then no type of discrimination could be tolerated, a sentiment I totally agree with as do most South Africans regardless of colour.
  Well that's the soap-box bit and now about why we are here.
  Our first four months have been quite eventful but we now appear to be playing from the same song sheet which helps when we have a thirty piece orchestra. Initially we were looked on with suspicion and our motives were questioned. I think this came from an inherent distrust of anyone white and offering help. We constantly assured the community that our motives were not for our gain but for their benefit and to teach them skills. I think we have finally won and I heard Susan, the Thandi manager, telling someone that these English people are much different in that they help and want nothing in return, hopefully we have our first result.
  You have to get used to a completely different culture and way of life. Some people are working one day and gone the next and when you ask a few days later - "Oh yes, Norman died at the weekend" - no one knows how old he was or where he came from just that he has died.
  We recently took 2 eighteen year olds, a boy and a girl, from the community to work in the farm kitchen at weekends, and this week I received a call from the chairman of the community trust thanking us for employing these two young people and if possible could we give preference to the young girl.
  When I questioned the reason I was told that her Mother had died 18 months ago and her Father had died last week leaving her at 18 the head of the family. Her worry was how to deal with her 5 year old brother who kept asking "when are we going to see Daddy in hospital?" - hopefully we can help her through this difficult time.
  This week we had a group of farmers from all over Africa to hear about our empowerment project and our Fair Trade status. Susan is the face and voice of Thandi and she spoke about the project and its future and then took questions. The first question was "why is there a white man on an empowerment project?" so Susan beckoned me over to explain our roll. Not one to miss an opportunity I spent the next ten minutes talking about our present roll of teaching business studies and developing the existing business into hopefully a successful venture and then with the aid of The Thandi Friends Project (now a registered charity) building workshops, craft center, computer center, laundry etc etc to provide training facilities and jobs for the community. I also explained that as soon as the first SafMarine ship delivered its cargo of early season fruit to the UK a container full of "goodies" for the project would return.  After the meeting I was asked by Sylvester, who came from the Cameroon,  how he could get bicycles as his people had no transport. Then William from Uganda wanted to know how they could get volunteers to help them develop and Wellington from Zambia asked if we could help get his pineapples to an overseas market. Jack from Congo wanted to know what is Fair Trade and so the questions kept coming.  Most people have access to email through government bodies or the churches etc and so we gave our email address to them all and said when they got home they should email us with questions and we will then try and help or find someone who can.
  I think the one thing that touched me was the simple request for help. Not money but help and Thandi was the forum where Africans from all over the continent had met and talked in peace and love. May this happen again and again.
  I spent the last morning of school term at our farm school along with three retired teachers from Manchester. One of these ladies has a cottage at Hall Bank and they all spend quite a bit of time in Sedbergh. They had just spent a month touring South Africa and had a week with us in Hermanus. We were all introduced to the children as coming from Manchester, England - the home of Manchester United. This is the one thing all these children know about - so I quickly breathed in and stood tall thinking I might be mistaken for one of the United icons!.  We had a tour of the school and I think the main thing we noticed was the lack of resources.  The science Lab with no equipment, the library with few books, the lack of text books, writing paper, pens etc etc and yet children eager to learn and staff dedicated to improving the lives of these children. I asked the headmaster about orphans and yes, about 15% are orphans who live with uncles and aunts or other family members, all except one 15 year old boy who had been sent to live with an Aunt in Cape Town who drank and would beat him, so he ran away back to the village and is now looked after by the community and fed by the school. About 50% of the children have only one surviving parent.
  A good friend, Eliza James, works for the Oxford University Press in Cape Town and she also runs a charity called "Sold on Success". She has been instrumental in organizing the free loading and unloading of our container at Sheerness and Cape Town. But she has also raised money to provide our farm school children with a Christmas box. Each box had a bag of sweets, crisps an apple, a small chocolate bar and a toy, maybe a water pistol or face paints or a colouring book and so on.
  Since we came out here 4 months ago twelve people from the Sedbergh area have visited us and the project. We are grateful for their support, both financial and moral, and for the emails and the Christmas cards we received which gave us the feeling of still belonging to Sedbergh.   
  And so as the sun sets in the West casting shadows from the Baobab trees over the herds of wildebeest, zebra and buck grazing on the endless plains a distant lion roars as it sets out on its nightly hunt for food. Then comes the silence when all that can be heard is the "click" as I flick through the channels on the sky digi box looking for something worth watching. We say "Goodnight from Africa" and greetings at this joyous time of year for a happy and peaceful 2006.
  You can see further information on our Web Site at www.thandifriends.org.uk

Alan & Chris Clowes,  South Africa

  When starting a new school year it is always cheering to look back at the previous year and reflect on our achievements.
  It all started with those wonderful GCSE results, our best ever and amongst the very highest in Cumbria, considering that we have a truly comprehensive intake.  It was an outstanding achievement by last year's year 11.  The group returned to our Presentation Evening on Tuesday 15^th November, with their parents, to celebrate not only their academic prowess but most importantly their transition to adulthood.  We were very proud of every one of those students and reflected on what made each individual so special to us.  The memory of the year group will be with us for a long time to come.
  Equally stunning were the year 9 National Tests (SATs) results last summer, again our best ever and an amazing achievement, the best results for a comprehensive school in Cumbria.  Well done year 10, who are now working hard on their GCSE courses. 
  The current year 11 spent 3 days in October on their Successful Learner Course at the Great Tower Campsite and they are now gearing up for their GCSE exams, having got their mock exams out of the way.  The current year 9 will begin to focus rigorously on their National Test targets during this spring term.
  But as you know education at Settlebeck is more than assessments, exams and academic success, and once again the autumn term was.
  I want to single out the year 8 & 9 French trip which was enormously successful in November and Alison Brown once again led a team of teachers and 65 students on a wonderful series of educational visits around Opal Coast and Paris.  All the staff and students had a great time and agreed that it was very memorable. 
  The year 7 Derwentwater trip in September was also very ably led, for the first time, by Janet Oughton who arranged a great programme to both challenge the students and develop the bond between them, that is such a vital dimension of our students' experience at Settlebeck.
  In addition Mike Orme has settled in as the new boy's PE teacher and with Angela Nicholas there have been a series of challenging football and netball fixtures this term.  Year 11 have been to the Dukes Theatre to see The Accrington Pals for their GCSE drama courses, year 7 & 8 students had a workshop on Appalachian dance and music, year 8 had a Parisian Fashion Show, year 10 attended the Smartwise Heroes Roadshow in Appleby on Risk & Personal Safety, and all years have been involved in running our Open Evening, our Christmas Fair and our charity fundraising for Jeans for Genes and Macmillan Cancer Research.
  It was particularly cheering for the school to be awarded a plaque for our students' community involvement, from Jane Robinson and at the end of term the whole school celebrated Caroline Lamb's, Princess Diana Award for her tremendous achievement in writing, performing in, designing and generally leading our Sweeney Todd musical last year.  Well done Caroline.
  We are very pleased this term that our year 10 RESOLVE, peer mediation service has begun to support students who find themselves in conflict situations, and the new extended health services provision will begin (through our school nurse) later this month.
  It was a great year and a very busy autumn term and we would like to thank all those parents, governors and members of our community who got involved, contributed and supported the school.  Your contributions are what make this school so successful and dynamic.
Dave Smith, Headteacher

Zrece - February 2006 and Fundraising.  Antiques and Curios Show
  Year 9 students will be going to Zrece very early next term, on Friday 10^th February and returning to Sedbergh on Thursday 16^th February.  During this stay they will meet Year 9 students from Zrece's 'Primary' School (years 5-9) and will spend some time in the school for sports and activities.  They will visit Ljubljana, the Patojra caves and local tourist attractions, use the centre's excellent sports facilities and climbing wall and will experience some cross-country skiing in Rajla, the nearby skiing resort.
  Unfortunately, the airfares have increased this year for the period we were booked to stay and the costs have again exceeded our expectations.  This means that we will need to raise money to cover the extra costs again, over and above the maximum cost that we guaranteed to parents.  This is in line with our intention to raise money each year to offset some of the travel costs, to encourage all Year 9 students to visit Slovenia as part of our contribution to Sedbergh's Town Twinning initiative.  We will be fundraising for the trip and using our Trust Funds' charity status to enable all donations to be made as Gift Aids, which raises 28p in the pound from the taxman.
  The Town Band has already supported the trip with an excellent concert in our school hall

  This photo has been submitted by a reader with a bit of a challenge. Can anyone identify the year, place and who is pictured on it? Submit any information to The Lookaround Office in the usual way please.