A new Rainbows is opening in Parnwell on Tuesday 1st November.

This is a great opportunity for girls aged 5-7 years old and is part of Guides. Girls can play games, have parties and make things while developing life skills.

It was previously due to open in January 2012 but interest has been high and generous donations have enabled them to open early.

Rainbows will run on every Tuesday evening from 4:45pm to 5:45pm at Parnwell Community Centre.

Jo Woodhams is the Rainbow Leader and is available on 01733 56689 for any additional information.

By Chelsie Briston

Teenagers these days are really different. I was walking my dog on a Sunday evening around Bretton park and saw some teenagers messing about with an elderly couple. I am 13 myself and I thought it was disgusting, their attitude was disgusting and their language was foul. I felt so sorry for them, if I didn’t have my dog with me I would have helped the old couple who were just walking and not disturbing anyone.

I think a lot of teenagers go around thinking they’re all cool because they’re at that age. At the same time they should be allowed their own time with friends but they shouldn’t stay out till 12am when they are only teenagers.  It makes me feel annoyed when they think they’re cool. When you’re a teenager you should be preparing for what’s coming in life and not act pathetic by abusing elderly people.

Parents should want the best for their kids and therefore not let them do stupid things. Some parents think at the age of 13 it’s alright for their kids to have bad attitude but it isn’t. They don’t have a good reputation at school and this will mean they won’t have a good reference and will have trouble getting a job.

Some adults bring there kids up how they were taught and some bring them up to be no better than they were as a teenager.

I Want To Tell Parents To Keep Control Of Their Kids At A Young Age And For Them Not To Act Like Some Teenagers Now-A-Days!

By Chelsie Briston

Get involved:

Follow @PosParnwell on twitter and Postively Parnwell on facebook.

Upcoming training:

Photography is on Monday 3rd October. This interactive session is being run by sports and corporate photographer Darren Crush. You’ll learn about:
• Setting up a shot
• Tips and techniques
• Camera settings and equipment
• Life as a press photographer / commercial photographer
• Processing photos

Equipment:

Feel free to drop a line to Claire by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  to borrow any of the equipment. We have available in the Parnwell Community Reporters resource library:

• Camcorder
• Flip cam
• Camera
• Voice recorder
• Tripod

Get involved:

Follow @PosParnwell on twitter and Postively Parnwell on facebook for ideas on what to report on.

Upcoming training:

A briefing with Community House – will be on Tuesday 27th September. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the community in Parnwell and find news stories to report on. Let us know if you’re able to attend and if you need directions.

Online News – will be on Thursday 29th September. This session is being run by Martyn Moore and will cover:
• How do people read online news?
• Thinking of your audience
• SEO (search engine optimisation) and use of keywords
• Writing for the web

Photography – has been moved to Monday 3rd October. With school and work commitments we hope the changed time will mean more of you can join us. This interactive session is being run by sports and corporate photographer Darren Crush. You’ll learn about:
• Setting up a shot
• Tips and techniques
• Camera settings and equipment
• Life as a press photographer / commercial photographer
• Processing photos

• Equipment:

Feel free to drop a line to Claire by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to borrow any of the equipment. We have available in the Parnwell Community Reporters resource library:

• Camcorder
• Flip cam
• Camera
• Voice recorder
• Tripod

What’s coming up?

The next training session are:

Wednesday 21st September – Photography

Where you will learn about:

• Setting up a shot
• Tips and techniques
• Camera settings and equipment
• Life as a press photographer / commerical photographer
• Processing photos

Tuesday 27th September- A chance to find out what happens at Community House (a great opportunity to find things to report on)

Thursday 29th September - Online News

Ideas of what you could report on:

Around 20 young people, aged between nine and 16, from Welland, Parnwell and Dogsthorpe areas of Peterborough volunteered two days of their summer holiday to brighten up the 20-metre underpass between Eye Road near the Welland Medical Practice and Saltersgate in Parnwell. The underpass near Bluebell Park in Paston is the next in line to receive a make-over with more locations being eyed for the future. http://bit.ly/p1h6Dp

Why don't you interview the council’s youth service (Rachel Rouncefield at 01733 746003 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and The Inspirations Studio (contact them here http://bit.ly/oldIGZ) who have organised this.

Latest activity:

We have two fab accounts of the training workshop on ‘News and Film for TV and Broadcast’ delivered by lighting camera man and Parnwell local, Kev.

Check out the tips from the training workshop written up by Georgia Heard and Charlotte Heard. (See below).

You can also read the first in a series of work that will look at what being reliant on a wheelchair in Peterborough really means. The first piece 'Does being wheelchair-bound mean you are overlooked?' can be found below. 

Equipment:

Feel free to drop a line to Claire by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to borrow any of the equipment. We have available in the Parnwell Community Reporters resource library:

• Camcorder
• Flip cam
• Camera
• Voice recorder
• Tripod

What’s coming up?

The next training session is:

• Wednesday 21st September – Photography
• A chance to find out what happens at Community House (a great opportunity to find things to report on) – Tuesday 27th September, 3.30-4.30pm
• Online News – Thursday 29th September, 3.30pm-4.30pm

Ideas of what you could report on:

Young people in Parnwell have been praised for their community spirit in this Peterborough Evening  Telegraph http://bit.ly/pAwGro why don’t you interview people in Parnwell of all ages to see what they think about this?

In the same report above it talks about the Community Action Plan, why don’t you interview the Parnwell Local Delivery Group about what this is intended to do for the community? To arrange an interview contact June Campbell on 01733 342194.

Michael Lynch of Parnwell was involved in raising money for a toddlers operation – Tyler http://bit.ly/ocsISN. Why don’t you interview both him and the fund raising operation and generate awareness in the local community about this charity work? Contact Karen Newton at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Happy reporting!

Before I continue I am not a champion of human rights nor a crusader for the disabled. I  am just an average 48 year old man who became wheelchair reliant approximately 18 months ago. To identify myself  by name may affect my future endeavours so for these articles, and a bit of fun, I will call myself 'ayjay62'.  Having got over the trauma of not being able to walk (further than 50 metres) I now find I have to overcome another set of major difficulties which able-bodied people never or rarely come across: How do I get into town?  Why don't shops pay some attention to their layouts? Does anybody give a toss?

Of course, most people do care. In fact, most people couldn't be more helpful. Although the way some wheelchair users behave I wonder why these kind people do help. To those who do help I say "thank you very much. Your assistance is greatly appreciated".

Getting from A to B...

My main beefs are transport, shops and even some  public services.  My electronic wheelchair weighs approximately 180 kg and I am a big guy and my weight combined with the chair weight  exceeds  300 kg. Use the council transport service provided for such cases I hear you say. I would be happy too but the lifting gear does not lift over 300 kg.  Even the driver told me that chairs were getting bigger and heavier and he had to refuse several customers purely because of weight restraints.

So, use public buses. Again, I would be delighted to do so but the buses don't have wide enough doors to allow access. The only way into town for me is to use my powered chair, fine on a good day but not practical in poor weather or if I am not at my best health-wise, or a private taxi  service which charges £16 return from the outskirts of the city to the bus station. Like most wheelchair users I am living off my benefits however, I am lucky enough to have my wife's part-time salary which makes me financially better off than many disabled people  but  if I can't afford these taxis others must have the same or greater issues.

Navigating the shops...

Shops vary greatly  in size and floor area and I can understand that they are there to make a profit and they have a need to display their wares as much as possible but is it unreasonable to expect to be able to, at least, get access to  these shops.  I am a consumer like everyone else and all I ask is a little thought when laying out floor displays. Just enough room to give wheelchairs or mobility scooters space to negotiate what otherwise become obstacles.

Public buildings... open for all?

Over the last 18 months I, like many others like in my position, have had to attend several public service buildings for interviews, medical examinations etc.  On at least four appointments I have shown up on time as requested only to find that I can not get my wheelchair into the offices where I am required to be or, even worse, on two occasions my wheelchair would not even get into the external doorway to the building thus causing a delay in being seen to address the necessary issues. This cannot be right in the days when we have Disability Acts requiring that businesses and services are required, by law, to rectify these problems.  As a caveat to my last comment I would like to thank the many agencies who, learning  of my mobility problems, have made every effort to either visit me at home or arrange suitable venues.

As I stated at the beginning of this piece I am not and do not wish to be a crusader or trouble maker but over the next few weeks and months I do intend to address some of these issues with the businesses and agencies concern to bring to light the plight of wheelchair/scooter users and to seek answers to and hopefully, improvements where possible.

Tell me what you think...

I would welcome your comments, views, concerns or problems you may encounter which I will use as evidence and ammunition and I promise you I will keep your identity private so please feel free to use me as a sounding board: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Part of the community reporter scheme is to ‘get trained’ up on media techniques by people of that profession. The most recent meeting was lead by a camera man, Kevin Edwards, and as a fellow film enthusiast I picked up some brilliant, and brutally simple, tips and tricks to improve the quality of my productions.

Based on the most recent session, here are some great tricks on ‘bettering’ your film

1. It sounds silly but I never realised the true importance of sound in a film until this workshop. An audience will find it a lot harder to engage in a film without sound than a film without a moving image. (This is true although it would be a rip off seeing a film with no image...)

• So, TIP ONE: Make sure you are able to tell a story with just camera angles alone as you can’t always rely on sound. To improve on your camera angles, watch a TV programme without sound and see whether or not you can understand the storyline after ten minutes.

2.  Editing a film with sound in the background is a nightmare! An audience will always pick up on when a song jumps due to bad editing. TV programmes that film discos or parties will never actually film a scene with the music playing in the background.

• TIP TWO:  When filming anywhere, make sure there is no sound in the background. A scene which needs music, e.g. a party, should first be filmed with only the characters talking and everyone else dancing and pretending to talk in silence. When the scene is edited, you can add music in later.

3. One of the most important rules to remember is that you can never film too much!

• TIP THREE:  Yes, it may seem a waste of time if you literally film everything but when it comes to the editing process, these odd scraps of film could really help you in filling in a space; especially when creating a report with interviews. Sometimes it is nice to break away from watching the interviewee speak and to show a clip of what they are talking about.

Those are three of the most important, and interesting things I learnt from that session. Other information, such as how different light changes the image and ‘crossing the line’, was also mentioned - but it would take me an age to explain on this report.

Thanks for the opportunity... Georgia Heard

Lights, Camera and Action

We have new reporting equipment for you all to use to bring your reporting pieces to life. We have:

• Camcorder
• Flip cam
• Camera
• Voice recorder
• Tripod

If you would like to use any of this please get in contact with Claire – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In the News

The Community Reporters are in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. Check out the piece written on our good work with two articles by Phoebe Fuller and Chelsie Briston included. http://bit.ly/rrf1t5

Latest activity

We have the photos up from the Community Reporters gathering outside the Community House in Parnwell. (see below).

Recent training

On Tuesday 30th August the Community Reporters learnt about creating news and film for TV and broadcast from local Parnwell resident and expert in the field, Kevin Edwards. Why don’t you write a piece about what you have learnt or put your new skills into action and borrow some of our new equipment and get filming?

What’s coming up?

The next training session is:
• Wednesday 21st September - Photography

On Thursday 25th August we gathered as many Community Reporters as possible to pose for a photo outside Community House in Parnwell. The photo was to accompany a story being written by the Peterborough Evening Telegraph about the progress of the project so far...

From left to right: Peter Sidwell, Shamsa Nagji, Phoebe Fuller, and Chelsie Briston. Just some of the community reporters outside Community House in Parnwell.

Chelsie Briston, Phoebe Fuller and Shamsa Nagji interview Nyree Ambarchian from Athene Communications.

Latest activity...

Chelsie Briston has written a great piece about the efforts of local people to set up a Rainbows group for Parnwell. (See below).

On Thursday 25th August we gathered as many Community Reporters as possible to pose for a photo outside Community House in Parnwell. The photo was to accompany a story being written by the Peterborough Evening Telegraph about the progress of the project so far.

What's coming up?

The next two upcoming training sessions are:

• Tuesday 30th August - Creating news and film for TV and broadcast
• Wednesday 21st September - Photography

As a community reporter I attended the Parnwell Fun Day with a few other reporters, it was a great day for all of Parnwell, it was packed of families, the sun was shining therefore it brought more families out.

At the event, stalls were held and free rides for the children, music to bring the families into the event and zumba (which is dancing fitness) was going on too.

As community reporters we were interviewing families and people running some of the stalls and events.  We interviewed one stall that really interested me.

Johanna Woodhams and Lu Nelnye want to start a Rainbows club for 5-7 year old girls in Parnwell.

Being a rainbow you are learning, socialising, being creative and being able to trust others, developing confidence on speaking skills and everything around life and also having loads and loads of fun!

We asked Lu and Johanna if they have had any of experience doing something like this before and Lu said: "I’ve had success running Brownies and would like to let younger girls have the chance, Rainbows educates girls whilst they can have fun with their friends."

Lu and Johanna attended the Fun Day doing a tombola as part of raising money to go towards opening rainbows with equipment; once enough money has been raised and it is ready to open, Lu and Johanna are hoping to get 10 girls into their Brownies.

Lu and Johanna are looking for volunteers so if you are interested to help out, do not hesitate to call Lu on 01733 566 891 or her mobile 07786 283 913.

They are hoping for the Parnwell Rainbows to be open in January 10th 2012.

Chelsie Briston - Community Reporter

This week we’ve had some fantastic new reports created by the Community Reporters. See below for a write up of the Parnwell Fun Day by Phoebe Fuller, and a pub review by Val Fidler.

We’re over half way through the ‘training phase’ of the project now. On the horizon we have the ‘Creating news and films for TV’ workshop on Tuesday 30th August. The session will cover filming techniques, using equipment effectively and what to consider when creating news programmes and films for broadcast. This will be invaluable for anybody wishing to get into TV media.

What’s going on in Parnwell – opportunities for Community Reporters:

Friday 19th August – Line Dancing Social with Mark Furnell 8pm til late at Club Caliente
Monday 22nd August - Zumba Fitness 11am – 12pm at Club Caliente
Tuesday 23rd August – Parnwell Friendship Club meeting at Club Caliente 2pm – 4pm
Wednesday 24th August – Youth group BBQ at Ferry Meadows 1pm – 4pm
Friday 26th August – Camp Night with Mark and Ryan 8pm til late at Club Caliente

These events are advertised on Positively Parnwell and Club Caliente for more details.

Why not turn up to any of these events and interview the people running the event or attending to enjoy it. You could take some photographs or write a review of your thoughts on the event.

Other ideas on topics for reports:

Parnwell Skills Exchange has been shortlisted for the Future Friendly Award – why don’t you interview Faye about what this means for Parnwell. Contact Faye at 01733 553251 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to organise an interview.

The Primary Care Trust is currently consulting on options to change the city’s healthcare to save money. Option 3 involves merging Parnwell, Dogsthorpe and Welland surgeries together – what do local people think about this?

Yesterday evening (Wednesday 17th August) I decided to go for a drink with some friends. They were driving from different parts of Peterborough to me in Parnwell and so we decided to find somewhere near me to go for a drink.

Little did we realise just how difficult this would prove! We started off at Club Caliente at Parnwell Centre - Closed!

Our next stop was a little further out - the Royal Arms on Eye Road. When we arrived it was all boarded up with an 'under offer' sign in the driveway.

Stop number three was the Wheatsheaf on Eastfield Road. This was open, but it lacked any atmosphere and we decided against staying.

Finally, we headed closer to the city centre to the Boathouse in Longthorpe. Reliable and always nice.

It's just a shame we had to head so far out of Parnwell to find a decent drink!

Val Fidler - Community Reporter

Parnwell fun day was held on Saturday 2nd July at the Parnwell community centre. The event turned out to be a huge success, with everything from Bungee jumping to Zumba dancing.

Stall success:
There were a total of 7 stalls at the fun day, selling numerous items such as plants, cards, toys and clothes. Peter, a stall holder at the event said: “This is my third year doing the stall. I think there is fantastic community spirit here,”

Rainbow Magic:
One particular stall that caught our eye was a stall raising money to set up a Rainbows group in Parnwell. The group is due to start on January 10th 2012, and will be held at the Parnwell community centre every Tuesday from 4:45-5:45. It is £2 a session. The group are looking for friendly volunteers to help out with the group. The group is the first Rainbows in Parnwell. It comes off the success with Brownies and Guides.

Awesome Activities:
Activities such as Bungee Jumping, fairground rides, wine tasting, a Barbeque and Zumba dancing were going on throughout the day, all free. When asked what they thought of the event, there was an extremely positive response.

Chris Hart said: “I think the whole event is very good. The fayre is brilliant, all the rides are free, which of course is great for the kids. It really brings the community together.”

Sharon Longstack seemed to have a similar view, saying: “I think it’s lovely, there is a great community spirit. The weather’s nice as well, which also encourages a lot of people to come.”

What the organiser says: 
Pamela Chelmiah, the organizer of the event, said “I got here at 7:30am to prepare. This year, I decided to put the event on from 2:00-6:00, because in previous years, there have been a lot of stall holders arriving in the morning, but the public come in the afternoon.

This is the third year of the event, and so far it’s been extremely sucsessful. I try and keep everything local, for example all the ale at the wine tasting is local and all the meat on the Barbeque is locally sourced and free range. I always try to be eco-friendly. Sainsbury’s are our sponsors and have provided us with goody bags for the children. The event has cost 15,000, but I believe it’s all worth it as it’s been a huge success.”

This year’s Parnwell fun day has been a huge success, thriving with people full of community spirit. I would definitely recommend attending if there is one held next year.   

Phoebe Fuller, Community Reporter