Over 25 members took part in Bingham Leisure Centre’s annual Christmas special fitness class. They then joined their instructors for a social drink afterwards to celebrate Christmas and a great year of exercise, which has seen popularity in the classes at the Leisure Centre soar.
Sarah Wake, a fitness instructor, said:
“It was great to see people and, after a few days rest, everyone was raring to go. They soon managed to burn off their Christmas pudding.”
The Christmas special consisted of a mix of the popular BodyPump and BodyAttack classes with a few extra special circuits to celebrate.
Members also got a tantalising taste of the new routines to be launched this month. The classes are designed for maximum fat burning, toning and weight loss, and are suitable for all fitness levels.
The new releases consist of new moves and new music to accompany the workouts, keeping members energised and motivated with every visit. There have been some minor changes to the timetable and the Tuesday Body Pump class will now run from 7.10-8.10pm.
Classes cater for all abilities and are a great social atmosphere in which to train, helping you to get fit for the year ahead. You can take advantage of the centre’s special offer – join before the 1st February and pay no joining fee, receive a free fitness starter kit and a free extra month membership. Call Bingham Leisure Centre on 01949 838 628.

New and returning members are welcome to join us at 7.15pm on Wednesdays in Carnarvon School, Nursery Road, Bingham for our rehearsals. If you enjoy singing or think you might try us out; remember singing is good for your health and there are no auditions to stress you. Tickets will be on sale in April from BDCS members and Sylvia on 01949 839 991.

Saturday 18th February is another date for your diary when we will be hosting a Singing Workshop from 10am until 3.30pm at Carnarvon School. We will be helped and encouraged by Matthew Hopkins, director of music at Nottingham Trent University.

The fee is £15, which includes lunch, tea and coffee and use of the music. For more details telephone 0115 989 4836 or send an email to derektabron@uwclub.net.

The list of authors in the Borough of Rushcliffe continues to grow. Maud Harris of Bingham has just released a kindle book called ‘Three years in starch (unlikely angels)’.
Maud told The Local News: “I trained as a nurse from 1959 to 1962 in Bristol. I have lived and worked extensively in hospitals, forces medical centres and casualty units in England, Cyprus and Germany. I trained as a Relate counsellor in the 1980s and had valuable experience of trauma counselling after and during both the Falklands campaign and the Gulf War.
“I started writing the first part of the book in Cyprus in the 1960s as a young wife with time on my hands. I shelved the project and returned to it over the years and added more bits as they happened. You can read about night duty on the haunted ward, the man on the hospital balcony with a gun, when Sister’s cap fell in the bathwater and the policeman who said we stole his pint of milk, plus much more both sad and hilarious.”
The book is available in the Kindle ebook format via amazon.com/dp/B006ARE2M4

The 1st Bingham Scout Group is the third largest in Nottinghamshire and they have increased membership every year for over 10 years, and by more than 40% in the last five years alone.
Scout leader, John Green, told The Local News: “We are now struggling to provide places for all the young people wanting to join. We need help. Scouting in Bingham is thriving; never have so many youngsters wanted to be a part of it.
“So many in fact, that the group needs to open extra sections to cater for the increasing numbers, and finding the extra adult help to do that is proving difficult. Enquiries from parents who want their youngsters to join continue to come in and it is now impossible to satisfy all of those requests. The only way forward is to find more adult help and open extra sections for all of the age groups.
“We need people who are interested in working with children of any age group. We need people who would like to help children enjoy interesting activities and develop their life skills.
“Potential volunteers shouldn’t be put off because they know nothing about tying knots or lighting fires; the young people learn these special skills and so can you.
“All we need are responsible and interested adults who can give up some time – and the amount of time and the level of involvement can be varied to suit.
“Volunteers don’t have to be parents of youngsters in the group. In fact, they don’t need to be parents at all, just be over 18.
“No special skills or experience are needed and training will be provided. If these roles working directly with the young people don’t appeal, help is also needed with administration (looking after records, finance etc), or occasional help with particular sessions.
“Whatever a volunteer has the time and inclination to do, a suitable role can be found, and it will look good on a CV too.”
For further information about the 1st Bingham Scout Group, or about volunteering to help, please visit the website at 1stbinghamscouts.org.uk. You can also contact John Green on 01949 975 057 or send an email to gsl@1stbinghamscouts.org.uk.

The new rotary year for the Bingham and District Rotary Club starts on the 1st July each year, at which time they have a change in president.
The club’s publicity officer, Anthony Hall, told The Local News: “At our meeting last week, designated as our change over meeting, president Anni Gell recalled some of the events and highlights that took place during her year in office. One of the most important being the move back into Bingham for our regular meetings at The Horse & Plough on Long Acre.
“This was supported with a short presentation slide show, following which she handed over the president’s chain of office to incoming president, Robert McConnell. This then prompted the move of future presidential succession when Robert handed the senior vice-president badge over to Andy Voce, who in turn passed on his junior vice-president badge to Maureen Stockwood.
“Robert gave a brief indication of his intentions for the coming year and revealed the charities he wishes to support were The Meningitis Trust, The Aquabox Program and Rainbows.”

Bingham author, Peter Youds, has published the fourth book in his acclaimed Ties of Blood series of historical novels. It marks the 200th anniversary of Albuera, the bloodiest battle of the Peninsular War.
‘The Hardest Fight’ represents the halfway point of the series, as it takes us to the bi-centenary of the Battle of Waterloo in 2015. The novels feature a lively cast of characters – both real and imagined – and together they tell the tale of this most dramatic of conflicts, as the British fought to remove Napoleon’s French from Spain and Portugal.
The first novel ‘Alone With Glory’ (2008) dealt with the dramatic events of the Corunna campaign. ‘The Colour of Blood’ (2009) picked up on events before and after Talavera, while ‘A Different Kind of War’ (2010) took the story as far as Busaco and the Lines of Torres Vedras. The latest novel reveals what happened in 1811, one of the most dramatic years of the war. The novels are anything but a litany of dates and battles.
Peter said: “My aim is to get people interested in this fascinating period. The best way is to tell a good tale and the real events taking place in the Peninsula all of those years ago make that easy. There is a very big cast of characters in the novels and that allows the reader to get a real flavour of what was happening in different places at different times, rather than one hero doing all the hard work.”
The Hardest Fight is available now at £11.99 (including postage and packaging) and is published by Bicorn Books. The books in the Ties of Blood series are available online only at bicorn.co.uk.

By Margaret Barnett
The Inner Wheel Club of Bingham have reached the end of another year. President Josie Henson is pictured right handing over a cheque for £2,000 to the scout district commissioner for the West Bridgford and South East Notts area, Jock Shaw. The money was raised throughout the year from a fashion show, flower arranging evening, various lunches and dinners, all of which gave our members plenty of enjoyment whilst contributing to a very good cause.