Are you a parent of a baby or toddler 0 months – 3 years?

Are you looking for an activity to do with them that can help development and learning?

If YES we have news of a new activity here in Ashmore Park.

Rhythm Time is an enjoyable experience involving music and singing for babies, toddlers and pre-school children.

What happens at the Babies session for 0-months to 15 months?

• Singing – to help language development. All children sing before they learn to talk
• Dancing – to help eye tracking, balance and spatial awareness
• Exercise – to help with muscle development and to gain more control over movement
• Massage – to help with bonding, relaxation and circulation
• Exploration – to help with hand eye coordination, develop small motor skills and to encourage speech development
• Social – to help parents and children create new friendships

What happens at the Toddlers session for 15 months to 3 years?

• Unaccompanied singing – to encourage children to have the confidence to find their singing voice and to help them sing in tune
• Listening – to aid concentration and to develop the activity so it becomes something special
• Percussion playing – to explore different timbre, to help with coordination and to develop a sense of pulse
• Dancing – to develop confidence, self-expression and large motor skills
• Rhythmic imitation – to develop listening skills and to echo different rhythmic patterns accurately
• Rhymes – to develop and extend speech through the recognition of shape, pattern and form

When and Where?

At the moment the only sessions on offer are the sessions for babies and toddlers. Rhythm Time do offer sessions for pre-school (3 years to 5 years) but these are not currently offered by the Ashmore Park co-ordinator.

Times:

Babies session (0-months to 15 months) – Every Monday 10:30am. Spring term classes run between 9th Jan 2012 – 26th March 2012.

Toddler session (15 months to 3 years) – Every Monday 11:15am. Spring term classes run between 9th Jan 2012 – 26th March 2012.

Where:

St Albans Church, Griffiths Drive, Ashmore Park.

Cost:

First session is free and approx £4.15 per week thereafter. They have a range of payment options which include weekly, monthly and per term.

For further information please click here to be directed to the Rhythm Time website.

Calling all Strictly fans! Are you the next Alisha Dixon or Harry Judd?

There’s a new ‘Learn to Dance Ballroom and Latin’ class in Wednesfield at Perry Hall Primary School on Coleman Avenue.

There’s no fuss, no hassle, no pressure just great fun and exercise! As a couple activity it’s ideal to bring a friend or partner along too!

Come and see us every Wednesday at Perry Hall Primary School, Coleman Avenue, Wednesfield.

Beginners 8:30pm – 9:30pm
Improvers 7:30pm – 8:30pm

£2.50 per person

For more information contact Bill Gilruth on 01902 607845, email billgilruth@aol.com or follow @BillGilruth on Twitter (Qualified IDTA Dance Instructor)

Photo: BBC / Strictly Come Dancing

A charity gig is being held in Wolverhampton on Sunday, 31 July, in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The event is taking place at the Robin 2 Club in Bilston, with doors opening at 7pm.

Funk band Mezzotonic will be headlining, joined by other local acts including The Limelight, Diamond Lil, Flatline Stereo and acoustic acts Adam Carr and Sam Draisey.

The gig is being organised on behalf of TATA Steel Automotive in Wednesfield to raise funds for its charity partner Marie Curie Cancer Care.

All money raised will support Marie Curie Nurses, who provide free care to local people with terminal cancer and other illnesses in their own homes.

Tickets are available for £3 at The Robin’s website or from any of the performers, and £4 on the door on the night.

For more information about the event, please call 07500 045473 or email: adam.carr@tatasteel.com

For more information about Marie Curie Cancer Care, please visit: www.mariecurie.org.uk

TATA Steel Automotive based in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton are this year raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.  As part of their fund-raising campaign  employees have arranged a charity gig at the Robin 2 Club in Bilston on the 31st July.

The line up included MEZZOTONIC (Headliners), The Limelight (as previously featured on WV11), Diamond Lil, Flatline Stereo, Adam Carr and Sam Draisey.

The night kicks off at 7:30pm, with doors opening at 7:00pm and is due to finish at 11:30pm.

Tickets are £3.50 in advance and £4.00 on the door with 60% of the takings going to the charity and can be bought online here.

More information can be found online at www.wvgig.co.uk and you can contact Adam Carr for details on ajcarr1989@gmail.com.

Ashmore Park Choir  will be giving a Christmas Concert at St. Thomas’ Church, Wednesfield on Tuesday 14th Dec at 7:30pm.

The choir will also be singing carols on the following dates:

Friday 17th Dec – Wednesfield Library at 5pm

Sunday 19th Dec - Essington Fruit Farm at 12:30pm

Wednesday 22nd Dec – Sainsbury’s, Wednesfield at 6pm.

Photo by Horia Varlan used under Creative Commons license.

Christmas is coming…..whether you like it or not!

UPDATE: For more events check out our Christmas 2010 posts.

Here’s a round up of Christmas events that are happening in and around Wednesfield – if you know of any more, please let us know in the comments…

Friday 3rd December – 4pm onwards
Christmas lights switch on in Wednesfield High Street – this begins at 4pm with the lights being switched on at 5:30pm

Saturday 4th December – 10am
St Thomas’ Church on Wednesfield High Street holds it’s Christmas Fayre from 10am onwards.

Saturday 4th December – 11am
St Alban’s Church on Griffiths Drive in Ashmore Park holds it’s Christmas Fayre from 11am onwards.

Saturday 4th December – 2pm
St Gregory’s Church holds it’s Christmas Fayre with tombola, cake stall, bottle stall, tins n things, bric a brac, refreshments and lots more.

Monday 13th December – 2pm-3pm
Christmas Offa Festive Fun: Emma Purshouse and Wyn Saha from Offa’s Press will be at Wednesfield Library reading Christmas poetry and stories.

Monday 13th December – 7:30pm
Performance by the 21st Wolverhampton Boys & Girls Association Marching Band
Location: Christmas Tree / Amphitheatre outside the new Wednesfield library

Tuesday 14th December – 6pm
Performance by the Wednesfield High Gospel Choir
Location: Christmas Tree / Amphitheatre outside the new Wednesfield library

Wednesday 15th December – 12:30pm
Performance by the Greycoll Pipe band
Location: Christmas Tree / Amphitheatre outside the new Wednesfield library

Thursday 16th December – 6pm
Performance by the Azaad Dhol Drummers
Location: Christmas Tree / Amphitheatre outside the new Wednesfield library

Friday 17th December – 5pm
Performance by Ashmore Park Choir
Location: Christmas Tree / Amphitheatre outside the new Wednesfield library

Music Bugs is an award winning company which offers pre-school music sessions.

Music Bugs is now coming to Wednesfield and sessions will take place at the new Community Library on Wednesdays from 10:10am, starting 3rd November, 2010.

Young children love to sing simple songs and rhymes, dance and move and play percussion instruments, and that is what Music Bugs is all about!

Come along for a FREE taster session. Contact Claire on 0844 578 1049 or e-mail clairejones@musicbugs.co.uk.

In a structured class full of excitement, we sing counting songs, nursery rhymes, action songs, finger play songs and much more. Add to this puppets, instruments, hobby horses, scarves, pom-poms and even bubbles and parachutes and you have the recipe for a lot of fun.

Music Bugs helps to develop a wide range of skills to prepare children for nursery/school, including language, concentration, mathematical concepts, creativity, confidence, fine and gross motor skills and social skills to name but a few!

Our emphasis is on learning through play, and most of all having fun in an informal atmosphere.

Who are The LimeLight and how did you get your name?

The LimeLight are a 4 piece group who formed in January 2010. The group consists of Danny Hill (15) on lead guitar, lead vocals and occasional drums, Alex Jones (15) on bass and backing vocal, Aiden Best (15) on rhythm guitar and backing vocal and Ben Leighon (12) on drums and backing vocals.

The LimeLight name came about when Alex was researching his music instructor Simon Lees. Alex found that Simon had played at a venue called The LimeLight in Crewe and he felt this would be a great name for the newly formed band. Luckily, the band were in agreement and the name was selected!

When did the band form and how did you all meet?

Danny has been singing and playing guitar since the age of 5 and has won competitions UK wide for his talent. Danny and Alex were best friends throughout primary school, so they got together to form a duo. They played as a duo for a number of years – mainly at school events. Danny and Alex met up with Aiden at Wednesfield High School, and Danny taught Aiden how to play guitar. The school are highly supportive of their talent with and The LimeLight can often be found performing at functions along with the school choir.

Ben is considerably younger than the other 3 lads and has only been playing drums for a few months, having been taught initially by Danny. In this time he has become a super little drummer and is actually a better drummer than he realises!

Since forming the band, the lads have gone from strength to strength and are the best of friends.

What are your musical influences?

The boys genre is indie/alternative/rock and they have many musical influences such as: Guns and Roses, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Killers, The Jam, and many more!

Do you write/perform your own songs?

At the moment the band perform mainly cover versions from their influencing artists. However, they have recently written and produced 6 of their own songs and have many more in the preparation stage. The band have performed these new songs at recent gigs and they have been very well received!!

Original songs include: Gimme a Call, Date, Win or Lose, I See You (a sure fire hit single, watch the video below!), Say What You Like and Paradise No More. If you want to see the bands real potential – come and see them live!

How may gigs have you played so far and have you had any interesting or crazy gigging experiences?

The band have played around half a dozen gigs and have many more planned at local venues such as  The Slade Rooms and The Varsity. The band are also performing at a charity event at the Robin 2 club in Bilston to raise money for Compton Hospice and The British Heart Foundation. The gig will be a very big event which will raise money for two very worthy charities and will also be great exposure for the band.

The band’s first gig was in Wellington at The Plough. Due to some parental concerns about motorway travel, the band were driven to the gig in Danny’s Dad’s old Toyota Town Ace (nick-named the Ute!!!). It’s not the fastest of vehicles and when full of band members and equipment, it’s lucky to do 50 mph with the wind behind it!!! Nevertheless, it got the band safely to their destination, and their first gig went down a storm! It’s is now referred to as the tour bus – and will no doubt be used for many future events!

Where do you hope to be in 12 months time?

In 12 months time, the band hope to be performing to 12,500 people at Wembley Arena!!!

Where can our readers see/hear more?

You can find more information on the band and listen to their music via the following links: Facebook, website, YouTube and MySpace.

The band also have the following gigs booked:

16/07/2010 – The Varsity, Wolverhampton(18+) – £4 admission on the door
03/08/2010 – The Ashmore Pub, Wednesfield
04/09/2010 – The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton – £5 admission
23/02/2011 – Robin 2 (private) – £5 admission (all proceeds going to Compton Hospice & BHF)

The band are also available for functions. Please contact 07977 412 361 for more info.

And finally…..when you’re rich and famous, will you come back and play in Wednesfield??

Definitely!!!! The band are very proud of their roots and they would probably return to their old rehearsal room at The Ashmore Pub for a gig or two to thank their fans!

Thanks to the band for answering all of our questions, we with them the best of luck!

The Fayre is a charity event and all funds raised will be donated to local charity Compton Hospice.

WV11.co.uk will have a stall at the fayre and will be handing out flyers to promote the website – we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the kind of local news you’d like to read about as we approach our 1st Birthday, so make sure you come and say hello!

The Fayre is a charity event and all funds raised will be donated to local charity Compton Hospice. Opening the Fayre will be special guest, Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett who was elected Mayor of Wolverhampton in May this year.

Following a hugely successful event last year even more activities have been added for 2010, these include; music from Wolf radio 107.7 DJ Dicky Dodd, dancing, live music, refreshments, face painting, raffles, bouncy castles, a bucking bronco, choir performances, as well as a variety of stalls and competitions. Clothes charity BCR will also be collecting any unwanted clothing.

Wednesfield High are holding an adult 5-a-side football tournament – entry costs £20 per team and all proceeds will go to Compton Hospice. Energy company E.ON are partnered with Wednesfield High supporting event and providing the trophy for the winning team.

Matt Smallwood, Director of Engineering and Project Manager, said: “The Fayre is a great community event that celebrates all that is positive in the local area and everyone is welcome.”

Anyone interested in entering a team for the tournament should contact Matt Smallwood on 01902 558574 or email msmallwood@wolverhamptoncyp.org.uk.