January 100+ Club winners drawn

It was a bright and beautiful day for the next RDRA 100+ Club prize draw, held at the Cafe in the Park in Rickmansworth on Friday 26th January. We had a delicious lunch and marvelled at how busy the place was – the Aquadrome really is the heart of Rickmansworth! As per the last draw, we used a Random Number Generator to draw the winners and they will be contacted very soon – congratulations to them!

The RDRA 100+ Club raises funds for good causes in Rickmansworth to make it a better place to live in.

Click here to join the RDRA 100+ Club

If you have not renewed your RDRA membership yet, join the RDRA 100+ Club and be a member of both!

“…be in it to win it!” says Andrea Clark, first prize winner of £150 last month.

Youth violence prevention programme

Message from OWL

Tuesday 6th Feb, 5.30pm to 8pm at Watersmeet

Click here to book your place using the online form

A police-led youth violence prevention programme which diverts young people away from knife crime, gangs and county lines across Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere has entered its fifth year.

First launched in 2019 the anti-violence project – supported by partners – has grown year on year and the team have announced three new anti-violence awareness events for the first quarter of 2024.

Anti-violence campaigner Alison Cope will share the hard-hitting story about her late son Joshua with an audience of parents, families, young people over the age of 10 – as well as education and care professionals – at the free events across Hertsmere, Three Rivers, and Watford.

Those attending will learn about the true impact of knife crime, the signs to look out for and how to help the young people in their lives make positive choices.

Alison will also be joined by Russell Symons of Impressionable Minds, who will deliver an input on bullying, extremism, drugs, county lines, and alcohol awareness.

Further information about this event and topic is on herts.police.uk website

Local Warm Spaces during cold weather

Message from OWL

Three Rivers District Council has a list of welcoming spaces on its web pages at https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/community-and-living/cost-living-support#Welcoming%20spaces

There are places listed across the district each day where you can go for a cuppa, chat or just sit quietly in the warm to escape from the cold weather for a while.

You could ask at your local library for a list of the welcoming spaces near you or ring the Council on 01923 776611.

If you can, please find the time to check on any elderly or vulnerable friends and neighbours to see if they’re OK. 

If you are concerned about someone you can ask Hertfordshire Fire Service to carry out a free Safe and Well visit.  Further details are on their website here or ring 0300 123 4046.

Tour de Ricky in June

If you’re looking for a 2024 cycling challenge, how about The Tour de Ricky 2024 on 1st  June?

www.tourdericky.uk

There’s a whole five months to prepare for one of our 50, 100 or 200km rides from Woodoaks Farm in Maple Cross.

The rides are deliberately simple, not for profit affairs using a format known as Audax cycling. There’s a maximum speed (to discourage racing) and the emphasis is on tackling a challenge in good company and maybe making a few new friends along the way. Riders are self-supporting and mostly help each other out if anything goes wrong… although having the Watford Cycle Hub team and Freewheel on hand at the start usually ensures that everything goes smoothly.

Along the way, you’ll navigate down mostly quiet lanes, calling at a few stops to fuel up on cake and tea before returning to the farm for a celebratory cuppa (or something stronger in the onsite brewery).

The tiny entry fee goes to good causes. You’ll be supporting the Soil Associations’ Woodoaks Farm (our hosts), the Watford Cycle Hub (whose fantastic value training and workshops keep so many of us on the road), World Bicycle Relief (who bring the power of the bike to help developing communities in places like Kenya, Uganda, Columbia, Indonesia and Sudan) plus Willesden Cycling Club.

Signing up couldn’t be easier – pick the distance that interests you and follow the links on the Tour de Ricky website. You’ll be taken to the log in page for Audax UK where you’ll walked through the steps needed to join the ride.  There’s a personal declaration (so we don’t get sued if you break Hertfordshire or get arrested for sugar fuelled rioting), so your friends will have to sign up individually. But the T&Cs are quite simple so reading them won’t take you very long – please note that places are not transferrable between people.

We always get a great turn out from families and groups of friends and many of the solo riders comment on the welcome they have had from the groups they meet on the road.

Don’t hang around; we expect to sell out again; it is not always possible to sign up on the day and you can’t take a friend’s place.

Plus, if you can’t manage one of the audax rides, keep an eye on the website of SPOKES, the SW Herts Cycling Group – they’ll be running shorter, guided rides on the day from the farm so you can still join in the cake-based fun.

If you have any questions at all, do get in touch – if we can encourage you to ride or help out we’ll do what we can.

Liam FitzPatrick

Ricky Festival halted after 30 years

A message from David Montague, Chairman and Festival Director of Rickmansworth Waterways Trust and a former RDRA Committee Member, who appeared on television regarding this topic

Representatives from the Rickmansworth Festival Team attended a meeting hosted by Three Rivers District Council just before Christmas regarding the recent implementation of an Asbestos Management Plan for the Aquadrome.

The plan has designated the Aquadrome as a no dig zone and so nothing can penetrate the ground on the site. This includes digging, raking, staking or any activity which could erode or expose anything below the ground surface. It would preclude the use of stakes for fixing marquees or gazebos, and any vehicle movements on the grassed areas of the site would also be a concern. Any hirer of the ground would also need to pay for appropriate monitoring before and after the event at a cost of between £5000 and £8000 per day for two days of monitoring (a total of £10 – £16k).

Representatives from the Rickmansworth Festival Team attended a meeting hosted by Three Rivers District Council just before Christmas regarding the recent implementation of an Asbestos Management Plan for the Aquadrome.

Whilst it is possible to fix structures in place with weights or large water barrels this is really suited for working on a hard site when lifting vehicles can be used and access is not compromised by soft ground. Our Festival site manager has confirmed that whilst anything is possible the costs and extra labour required would go up significantly if we considered this possible to do on the site.  There may also be other requirements such as ensuring all contractors were trained.

Therefore I am afraid Rickmansworth Waterways Trust has had no choice but to make the difficult decision to cancel the event for 2024 and no Festival will be possible with these requirements in place.

TRDC stated that they were happy for the Festival to go ahead as long as the conditions of the management plan could be met. However the reality is that the management plan makes it impossible for a non commercial, volunteer led Festival to proceed with an event that uses the Aquadrome.

This is a really sad day for our community and I feel for all the other charities, community organisations and small businesses that have lost an opportunity to promote themselves. Thank you for all your help over many years since our very first event in 1993 and for contributing towards a great event. It will be sadly missed.

David Montague

Click here for the site investigation report

100+ Club winner presentations

Many congratulations to the 1st and 2nd prize winners of our first RDRA 100+ Club monthly draw, pictured below being presented their winnings by RDRA Chairman, Ash Pattni. Proceeds from this draw will go to signage for the Community Garden as well as RDRA administration costs. These photos are taken in the Community Garden, located behind the Rose Garden, opposite the TRDC Council offices in Rickmansworth and very near the Bowling Club.

Andrea Clark: 1st prize winner – £150

Andrea said: “I’ve been a Road Rep for many years, I’m thrilled to win this fantastic prize and it’s also helping local good causes so I recommend you join the 100 Club today – be in it to win it!”

Rosi Jordon: 2nd prize winner – £75

Rosi said: “What a treat to have won a prize! How nice to have the presentation up at the Community Garden & Orchard too.” Rosi is a champion of the Community Garden & Orchard and has worked on the project tirelessly. All volunteers and plants welcome!

3rd prize winner – £25: Wishes to remain anonymous and donated the prize money back into the RDRA good causes fund.

Click here to join the RDRA 100+ Club and win too!

Next prize draw: Friday 26th January