Paisley

The Annual Paisley Duck Race takes place on Saturday 12th May, raising funds for St Vincent's Hospice, Accord Hospice and Paisley and District Scout Association. Events start at 11.30 beside Anchor Mill at Thread Street with live music.  The Corporate Race will be started at 2.30pm by June Brown (Eastenders' Dot Cotton) and the public race starts at 3pm. Ducks are available by calling Helen Dykes on 07989159036. For further information see www.paisleyanddistrict.org.uk/events/duckrace

2012 will be the 6th annual Erskine Bike Meet.  The meet takes place on Sunday 27th May from 1pm - 5pm.  Non-bikers are more than welcome. On offer will be BBQ, soft drinks, various stalls, live music and plenty of activities.  You can also wander about, socialise, learn about the work Erskine does and meet the residents. Car drivers can park off-site then be transported by McGill's free shuttle bus. Priority in the limited parking area in the grounds is given to residents, the rest of the area is for motorbikes. For more information go to www.erskinemotorbikemeet.co.uk

Show and Tell presents John Peels Shed at Paisley Arts Centre on Friday 25 May, 7.30pm. A beautifully written show for music and theatre lovers at Paisley Arts Centre. In 2002, John Osborne won a competition on John Peel's Radio One show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. This five-star, sell-out smash theatre hit of the Edinburgh Festival is an ode to radio, those records and anyone who's ever sought solace in wireless. It’s a wonderful piece of humorous and poignant storytelling, charting John Osborne's formative years through the music, radio and people he experienced. After the show Gordon McIntyre from John Peel favourite’s ‘ballboy’ will play an intimate show above the theatre in the Haunt Bar. The performance is first come first serve for those who attended John Peel’s Shed. John Peel’s Shed is inspired by radio Head (Radio 4’s book of the week) and script edited by Joe Dunthorne (Submarine). John Peel’s Shed cost £10 (£6 conc) and tickets are available online at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/onlinebooking or by calling 0141 887 1010. For further information please visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/events or follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/renfrewshirearts.

Five Linwood teenagers had some colourful fun recently when they rolled up their sleeves for a Commonwealth Games-themed graffiti art project in their town. The young people spent five days working with the council’s youth services team during the spring break to brighten up an underpass next to Linwood’s Phoenix Retail Park. Jack Rankin, 15, and Connor Ahmed, 16, came up with the project idea and worked with John Kennedy, Community Learning Officer, to plan it and to secure £2,127 from the Scottish Government's Cashback to Communities Fund. They were joined by Adam Burnett, 15, Lewis Marchetti, 15, and David Carson, 16, to develop ideas and together the five youngsters produced a design broadly based on the Commonwealth Games: The picture has abstract police sirens with people riding away on bikes but then evolves into people cycling in the velodrome towards a gold medal with the slogan ‘what’s you’re game’. John Kennedy, Renfrewshire Council Community Learning Officer said: “We spent the first day of the project working in Linwood Baptist Church hall to plan everything out. The youngsters really took the lead with ideas and producing the design. We then moved onto the underpass to paint on the design and had Amy Whiten and Ali Wylie from Recoat Design working with us. “The project let the young people to do something positive in their town and work on their own initiative. They were a pleasure to work with and they delivered something creative in their community that they can be very proud of.” Jack Rankin said: ...

An event to celebrate the affiliation of Dunbartonshire Chamber to Renfrewshire Chamber took place at the Erskine Bridge Hotel on the 1st May. Around 40 members from across the two counties came together to hear about the benefits of affiliation and network. The official paperwork was signed by both Presidents; Tom Johnston from Renfrewshire Chamber and Gary Groves from Dunbartonshire Chamber. Affiliation with Renfrewshire allows Dunbartonshire Chamber members to access the products & services of a fully accredited Chamber including HR & Legal, Health, Merchant Services as well as the association with Scottish and British Chambers. Members from either chamber are encouraged to support local events and network – providing potential business opportunities for the members. Commenting on the affiliation, Chief Exec’ Bob Davidson said “…we are delighted that Dunbartonshire have decided to affiliate with Renfrewshire. We look forward to sharing our learnings and experience and helping them grow & develop. We aim to do more joint events such as today and give members the opportunity to network and expand their contacts”. For more info on the Chambers visit www.renfrewshirechamber.com and www.dunbartonshirechamber.co.uk

Renfrewshire Junior Gaelic Choral Association is being established by Renfrewshire Council in partnership with Mòd Phàislig 2013. The choir will develop the children's musicianship skills as well as providing them with the opportunity to sing in Gaelic and compete in local and national Mòds. The musical director will be Donald Feist, well known musician and conductor who works with NYCoS and is also the conductor of Govan Gaelic Choir. The age range of the choir is 7 - 12 years although there may be exceptions made to the age range at the discretion of the Musical Director. The rehearsals will take place at Paisley Grammar School from 5.45 pm - 7.15 pm on a Friday evening. The first session on 11 May will be a taster session. Please make all your children in the 7 - 12 age range aware of the choir and encourage them to come along and be part of something a little bit different and very exciting! If you have any queries please contact Liz MacDonald, Chief Executive's Service on 014 840 3227.

                  Nearly there ! Our proposed purchase of the majority shareholding of St.Mirren FC is now at a very advanced stage. With the funding model agreed in principle we now need formal commitments from as many individuals as possible. You are receiving this email as you have previously pledged to join 10000Hours but we do not yet have the necessary completed paperwork to process your application. We urgently need these forms back if we are to achieve our projections and move towards making a firm financial offer for the shares. Here's what we need from you; 1. Completed Individual Membership Form You can download a copy of this by clicking here 2. Completed direct debit instruction You can download a copy of this by clicking here 3. Send the documents to us The two documents should be posted to our registered office address; 10000Hours 109 Douglas Street Glasgow G2 4HB Thank you for your support and your patience. We are nearly there now so please help us get over the line and make the supporters purchase of St.Mirren FC a reality.   If you have recently completed and sent in the necessary forms then thank you and please disregard this email. Similarly if you now feel you no longer wish to join the organisation you can click here to unsubscribe from our mailing list. Regards Richard Atkinson, on behalf of the10000Hours Team 10000hours.org info@10000hours.org Can't view this email properly ? Click ...

Here is a list of places you will be able to vote at on the 3rd May 2012, please check first before going along as some of these places are subject to change. http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/ce-LocalGovElectionPollingScheme.pdf/$FILE/ce-LocalGovElectionPollingScheme.pdf

Renfrewshire Council would like to thank drivers for their patience in dealing with the congestion caused on the area’s roads by the recent lane closures on the M8. Transport Scotland, the Scottish Government’s transport agency, has now finished its work on the motorway at the White Cart Viaduct, one week ahead of schedule, with all restrictions on the road lifted as of yesterday(Monday 30 April). The essential bridge-strengthening work had been ongoing since March, and resulted in drivers spreading out from the M8 on to surrounding roads, particularly those in Renfrew and Paisley town centres, causing peak-time congestion. While the Scottish Government is responsible for motorways and trunk roads, such as the M8 and A737, the council looks after all other local routes in the area. A council spokesperson said: “We understand the past few weeks have been frustrating for Renfrewshire road-users, but want people to be aware we have been working very hard to minimise the disruption as best we could. “Staff worked extra hours to monitor traffic flow and adjust town-centre traffic lights, many of which are connected to a computer-controlled system. We have also had workers out at other junctions to manually change traffic signals. “But the truth is the sheer volume of traffic spilling on to the area’s roads from the M8 at peak times was very difficult for the road system to handle. “Thousands of vehicles were being displaced from the M8 each day, and this placed severe limits on what we could do to contain the congestion. “We are pleased our colleagues ...

Quentin Blake is one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful illustrators and is known by young and old alike, his name having been synonymous with his illustrations for Roald Dahl’s books. Recently he has been commissioned by hospitals in the UK and Europe to produce works which have a therapeutic effect on their patients. An exhibition of these works is touring the UK and Paisley Museum is the only Scottish venue to have been chosen to showcase these pieces and allow visitors to experience the effects for themselves. The exhibition opened on 27 April and runs until 24 June. Many of the pieces from the collection entitled Welcome to Planet Zog have been created to brighten and stimulate childrens’ wards in hospitals, and Paisley Museum have therefore been very keen to involve Yorkhill Children’s Foundation in order to arrange to display a range of these pieces around the Royal Hospital for Sick Children Yorkhill to add some colour and child friendly drawings by a renowned children’s illustrator to the various public waiting areas within the hospital. Yorkhill Children’s Foundation funds innovative medical equipment, improvements in child and family facilities, paediatric research and training, patient and family support, entertainment and fun activities for children and other projects and service enhancements invaluable to the treatment, care, physical and mental wellbeing of sick children and babies, and their families, from throughout Scotland and beyond. Since 2001 the charity has funded an incredible £9 million towards this work, ensuring that children and babies treated at Yorkhill Hospital ...