Chat Mats are a simple way of telling others whether or not their company is wanted in a public place. The enterprise behind Chat Mats is Coffee Companions www.coffeecompanions.co.uk

The hope is that by using these mats whilst having a drink, or a meal in a cafe or bar, people will make new connections, put down their mobile phones or tablets for a while, and that communities will be strengthened as a result. Chat Mats are for anyone anywhere anytime. There is lots of support in Gillingham for this initiative. Various groups and organisations will have a supply of Chat Mats and spread the word about them. We are ready to launch in June! On Saturday June 10th at 10 am on the Town Meadow, the new Mayor will be present to add her support and there will be a short but fun event including taking silly (or even sensible) photos with her, the Community Choir will be singing, and there will be plenty of Chat Mats. Thanks to generous sponsorship by the Lions Club of Gillingham, Mere and Shaftesbury, we have a huge supply of free Chat Mats with Gillingham’s Companions Hours printed inside. The Companions Hours will happen weekly in a variety of outlets in Gillingham. The central collection point for Chat Mats is the public library. Please think carefully about people who might enjoy being invited to a Companions Hour. All of us can have the experience of being out somewhere on our own, and wishing there was someone to share a few friendly words. Some people can be nervous about the social pressure of being in a public place, or might just want privacy. This is where the red side of the mat comes into its own. You and your friend can use the red side to reassure him/her/you that you can have a private conversation whilst enjoying being in the company of a group of people.

For more information contact Mandy Greenwood, Chat Champion – Gillingham. mandy_greenwood@hotmail.com 07876 298695

I haven’t been sent a tax return:

is it true I don’t need to do anything?

Many people are unsure of their legal responsibilities regarding tax returns.

The UK 16/17 tax year ends on 5 April 2017.

If HMRC sends you a notice to complete a tax return you have to fill it in. You have till 31 January 2018 to complete the 16/17 tax return if it is filed electronically. If you do it on paper you must send it in by 31 October. If HMRC issues you a tax return and you really do not need to fill it in, you can ring HMRC, explain why, and ask them to cancel the notice. Don’t just ignore the return: you will be fined.

But what if you haven’t been sent a return? The tax system relies on the concept of “self-assessment”. This puts the onus on you, to decide if you need to declare anything, and then to let HMRC know. So, if you haven’t been sent a tax return, you may still need to ask for one.

Let’s look at who might need to do this. You may be able to complete your own return, or you can ask us to prepare the return for you. You might find that you are due a refund of tax.

The following general outlines do not consider all possible reliefs and allowances that may apply to individual circumstances.

People receiving more than £5,000 in dividend income. 

Up to tax year 15/16, if you had salary or pension, plus dividends, you usually did not need to do a tax return. Your salary was taxed at source, and dividends were tax free, unless your income was higher than £42,000. For higher incomes, additional tax was due on investment income.

In 16/17, the way dividends are taxed has changed – and may change again depending on what happens to recent Budget proposals. In tax year 16/17, if you receive less than £5,000 from dividends there may still be no tax to pay. But if your investment income is more than this you probably do need to complete a tax return this year. The dividend income will be taxed at 7.5% (with higher rates for higher incomes.) The Chancellor is expected to reduce the tax free band for dividends down to £2,000 in tax year 2018/19.

The dividends do not count if they come from ISA accounts.

People who receive more than £500 in bank interest.

Bank interest no longer has tax taken off at source. If you have this type of Investment income you may need to start completing tax returns. There are tax free allowances depending on your overall income. Again, income from ISA accounts does not count.

People with rental income 

If you have any kind of rental income then you should be completing tax returns. Professional advice will help you do this correctly, especially now that the reduction in relief for loan interest will bring more rental income into charge.

Income from overseas

If you have rental or investment income overseas you may complete overseas tax returns, and you might think that all tax has been paid overseas. Don’t make the easy mistake of assuming that you do not need to put this income on UK tax returns. If you are a UK resident you are required to disclose worldwide income. There may be adjustments to stop you being double taxed.

If you receive money from offshore trusts the tax treatments are particularly complex, so it is best to ask for professional advice.

Other types of income that you might have received since 5 April 2016

Have you started working as a self-employed person – this could include E-bay trading?

Are you a restaurant worker receiving significant cash tips?

Have you received income from any kind of UK trust?

Have you taken money out of a single premium insurance policy, creating a chargeable event gain?

Child benefit claims can be taxable if either parent has income over £50,000.

Has PAYE worked correctly on your salary or pension?

If you changed jobs in 16/17 or maybe had more than one job, the PAYE system may not get the right result. People with several small pensions can find that the system tends to overcharge them. It can be worth checking if you are due a refund.

What if you are several years behind in declaring income?

HMRC has increasingly smart resources of information that allows then to join up the dots and identify people who have undeclared income in the UK. Rentals and investment income are probably the easiest for them to spot. When HMRC identifies arrears they ask individuals to declare the backlog, and they charge interest and penalties.

If you can make a voluntary disclosure the penalties charged are significantly lower than if disclosures have been required by HMRC.

HMRC also has new international information exchange agreements, including most of the main tax haven countries and uses smart systems to match up records. If you need to catch up on an offshore issue it is particularly important to have professional advice.

Arrears cases are almost always treated as civil offences, not criminal, so if you do need to catch up on tax matters you should not worry about being sent to prison. Instalment payments can often be agreed.

Most people find great relief from sorting out historic problems, even if the financial hit can be tough. One client was a young health professional who was 6 years behind in declaring significant self-employed income. He was terrified he might be sent to prison and it was hard to calm him down and persuade him that this was unlikely. Once this sunk in, he felt able to propose marriage to his then pregnant girlfriend. He is now married, an enthusiastic dad, and up to date with HMRC.

If you think you might fall into any of these categories, come and talk to Rose Duly CTA ACA at Andrews and Palmer. She will help you work out what you need to do, has many years’ experience in dealing with voluntary disclosures and can help you through the process.

01747 823147 rose@andpal.co.uk

Gillingham Runners

to Race 100km for Rare Disease Research

Finding a cure for a rare disease is a challenge, especially when nobody knows about it. Sue Browning from Gillingham and Adrian Geal from Motcombe, however, have decided to take on that challenge by raising much needed awareness and funds to find a cure for an autoimmune disease called Scleroderma. They are doing it by running the 100km ‘Race to the Stones’ this coming July.

Scleroderma affects just 12,000 people in the UK – the population of Gillingham. It causes the skin to tighten and thicken to the extent that sufferers can hardly move. It can also affect the heart, lungs and kidneys and, without a cure, it can be fatal.

Sue explains why she and Adrian have chosen the Race to the Stones to raise money for Scleroderma: “Adrian and I have a close friend, Sarah Lloyd, who developed severe Scleroderma in 2015. Whenever we mentioned it to others, they’d never heard of it.

“But we saw how badly and quickly it affected Sarah. Over a short period of time, she lost her ability to do the smallest and simplest of things. It was soul-destroying to see her deteriorate so fast. This race will be a challenge. But, so is living with Scleroderma and we want to do all we can.”

Sarah, who lives in Motcombe, was lucky to be given a life-line. In May last year, she had a stem cell transplant, which involved destroying her old immune system with intensive, high-dose chemotherapy and creating a new immune system using her own, previously harvested stem cells.

Sarah says: “I had tried every medication under the sun, but nothing worked. The transplant was very risky and it was a last resort. But it is working. I need to be patient as my recovery will take several years. There are, however, many sufferers who can’t have such treatment and finding a cure for them is vital.”

Sarah has been treated by the Royal Free Hospital in London since 1992. The Scleroderma Unit there is the largest in the UK to specialise in the treatment and research of Scleroderma. Sarah continues:

“My specialist, Professor Chris Denton, has spent more than 25 years trying to find a cure. I am so grateful, not just to him for giving me the transplant, but to Adrian and Sue for helping to raise funds for Professor Denton’s research. If I could join them, I would. I am just not there yet.”

The ‘Race to the Stones’ is known as the UK’s #1 Ultra Marathon. Sue says: “We want to complete the race in less than 24 hours and, in doing so, raise as much money as possible to find a cure for this devastating disease. We are very grateful for all the support we can get!”

To support Sue and Adrian, go to their Just Giving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/suebrowningadriangeal.         

All funds raised will go straight to Professor Denton’s Royal Free Scleroderma Unit and will be gratefully received.

For further information about Scleroderma, contact Sarah Lloyd, 07793 780931.

Gillingham & Shaftesbury Guide is a local conduit for businesses to inform local customers about services and to announce local events to the community.

The magazine, celebrating its 6^th birthday this June, was born from a wish to help small   companies struggling due to the lack of cost effective advertising. How could I help? A monthly publication seemed a significant project and commitment, but nobody offered what small businesses needed; low cost, local advertising directly to the homes of their possible clients. It has grown into a far more successful community project than I envisaged when delivering those first 2,500 copies to Gillingham in the pouring rain. Currently we deliver 7,000 Gillingham & Shaftesbury Guides, each month direct to your front door.

Who was I to take on this project? I live in Gillingham with my husband and our 3 sons who have grown up integral to the town community; I worked at a school and volunteered at North Dorset RFC. In the past I’d run businesses; a coffee shop specialising in cream teas and a lettings agency set up after leaving Reuters. I’d written articles and designed adverts for magazines in West Sussex. It would be a challenge.

What do I think is the secret of my survival?   Our fantastic community ethos and contributions! It is not a newspaper but celebrates good news through editorials, and promotion of free community and charitable events. Our quizzes are popular, as are the recipes. The size and glossy format mean people keep it to use sometime later. The listing of local clubs and groups is a wonderful opportunity for their promotion.

Our low costs mean we are affordable for every business.   The Guide manages to cover its costs, also paying the army of teenagers who deliver it.   It doesn’t make a profit; that is not the purpose. It is here to help businesses, community and customers. I now run a full time secretarial business during the week. The Guide is my weekend ‘hobby’, although I spend time each evening catching up with correspondence.

Our deliverers are fantastic; so are their families. Registered with the council they need to be 13 or over, tend to stay till 16 when they move on with a reference and experience.   By then many have trained their siblings; the transition is seamless. I am also incredibly lucky to have the multi-talented Jenny who looks after my accounts but can turn her hand to designing, correspondence and lay-out, she is also an invaluable sounding board.

People use our advertisers because they consider them to be ‘my friend’. They trust the magazine and therefore the advertisers. Although we do have a popular version online and use social media, the Guide is targeted at everyone. We have superb feedback from         advertisers who return time and again, plus lots of positive feedback from readers.

So what does the future hold?   With a turbulent business future ahead I hope to help my customers survive. I’ve plenty of ideas to give back more to the community. I’m always looking for new ideas and innovations to produce the Guide, entertain and inform readers. Most of all I am here to help the local businesses who trust in me.

“people need to see an advert several times before putting trust in that product or service.”

Your Community Leisure Centre

Last summer, trustees and staff felt a quiet sense of pride and achievement as RiversMeet celebrated five years since its re-launch as a community-owned and led venture, demonstrating that the community model can be a viable way to provide leisure services.   Alan Waistell, General Manager,  stresses that ‘it is important that every person and organisation within the local community understands that this is very much their centre.  As a non-profit making charitable trust, any trading surplus generated is re-invested into the centre.  The support received over the past few years from Gillingham and the locality enables us in 2017 to look forward to continued development and success, bringing new ideas and leisure opportunities to people of all ages from the local community.’

The Facilities

Over the past year, the centre has strived to improve and expand the facilities and activities on offer.  The extended Dance Studio now incorporates a fantastic Light Show, taking classes like ‘Clubbercize’ and ‘Spinning’ to a new dimension and providing an ideal venue for ‘Disco Parties’.

Even if not using the centre itself, it is well worth visiting the community owned Café @ RiversMeet to discover the reasonably priced menu of hot & cold meals, snacks, icecreams and refreshments.  In warmer weather, you can relax outside under the trees and if accompanied by children, visit the newly refurbished adjacent park.  The café can also cater for parties and functions held at the centre and there are lovely function rooms available to hire on the top floor.

The impressive new Soft Play Area has become the perfect local venue for babies, toddlers and children to have fun and keep fit, whilst parents and carers can join in or relax in the comfortable viewing areas.  During holidays, the giant inflatable is used for high energy instructor led Nerf Mania Sessions and in the swimming pool at weekends and during school holidays, two brand new ‘Giant & Mini’ Inflatables also provide fun and entertainment for all ages.

Membership & Activities for All

Whilst the centre continues to offer ‘pay as you go’ options, Alan confirms that it is the  ‘no contract/no tie in’ flexible range of memberships which are now the preferred choice as  they are easy to alter, cancel or freeze.  The top ‘platinum’ membership includes unlimited use of the gym and pool and all exercise classes offering exceptional value.

RiversMeet now provides a huge range of activities.  For children, Swim School starts with ‘Ducklings’ and progresses up to ASA Level 10.  Older children can join Junior Gym, the Junior Lifeguard Academy or start Swim Coach Training.  There is Trampoline and Gymnastics Coaching from preschool age upwards, a thriving Junior Badminton Academy, and NPLQ     Lifeguard Training for those aged 16+.  Outside organisations also provide Tae Kwondo, Rugby Tots, Dance, Moo Music and Swim Club.

For adults, as well as the gym and pool, there is an extensive range of Exercise Classes, including Pilates, Yoga, Veraflow, Super Seniors and Aquafit.  The site also proudly hosts the Marnhull & Gillingham Badminton Club, as well as Slimming World and many other local clubs and organisations.

Find Out More

If you would like to know more about RiversMeet, Alan encourages you to visit and receive a warm and friendly welcome from the team, who will be happy to show you around and talk about you and your family’s leisure needs.  You can also follow the centre on Facebook or visit their website.  The team at RiversMeet really look forward to welcoming you to your community centre soon!

PIC BY STEWART TURKINGTON
www.stphotos.co.uk
07778 334771

Yeovil oven cleaning specialist says “spring into action with a clean oven”

With the impending arrival of spring, many households begin to prepare for the dreaded spring clean. Martin McNeill from professional oven valeters Ovenu believes this time of year is the perfect excuse for homeowners to give their ovens a well deserved spring clean. 

Even the most enthusiastic spring cleaners, donning rubber gloves and tackling the oven is still one of the most loathed household chores. If people are not thorough with their oven cleaning, fat and food can cause future problems, which could result in an oven fire.

Martin from Ovenu Yeovil said: “As outside temperatures plummeted during the winter many people turned to their ovens for hot wholesome meals, but more you use your oven the more debris and grease can start to build up and this can affect its efficiency.”

The Ovenu valeting process involves dismantling key components of an oven such as the door, interior panels, fan and shelves and placing them into design-registered equipment, which uses non-caustic products to clean the oven parts.

Martin adds: “Taking the time to get your house in order can be a very satisfying experience, but when it comes to cleaning the oven, most people would rather close the door and put it to the back of their minds! 

“By regularly cleaning and maintaining an oven, it will ensure it performs at its best and even help prolong its life, and not need to replace it as often.” 

The whole process takes around three hours and leaves the oven, hob and exterior in immaculate condition. Ovenu is accredited by the British Accreditation Bureau to ISO 9001 and all cleaning products used by Ovenu are environmentally friendly, bio-degradable and conform to the latest government REACH regulations. Ovenu’s Carbon Remover is also approved by the Vitreous Enamel Association.

For more information contact Martin McNeill at Ovenu on 01747 835830 or log onto https://www.ovenuyeovil.net/

A new venture began last month for St Mary’s Gillingham as those who came to the 10am service were given the choice to remain in the church building for more liturgical and traditional worship or to move over to the hall for worship that was a little more ‘hands on’. Nearly 50 adults and children made the journey across the street to coffee, croissants, a chance to think about the world, and then listen and discuss the bible reading. With an opportunity to take part in two activities based on the bible reading, people continued to chat while they created and after some edible praying and preparation for communion, they returned to church to receive communion and sing the final hymn. People commented ‘I love how it is for adults and children’, ‘Brilliant, will come again’ ‘Enjoyed the experience very much’. ‘Your Choice’ will continue on the third Sunday of each month, the next one being 16th April at 10am. If you’d like to find out more contact evepegler@gmail.com

Shaftesbury and District Chamber of Commerce were proud to support a Young Enterprise event which took place in Shaftesbury town hall on the 28^th January. Four Young Enterprise companies set out their stall in a trade fair. The Young Enterprise Companies were: Blandford School “Just”, selling scented candles made using re-cycled glass containers, Shaftesbury School “Aurum”, selling lavender filled pouches, Gillingham School “Forget-me-Not Plants”, selling grow boxes, and Sherborne Girls’ School “Unify”, selling tie-dye T shirts.

The Chamber was extremely impressed with the professional approach the companies took and how much they had achieved since starting in September. Their prize was  awarded to the team from Gillingham School. Mystery shopper Teresa Hatcher awarded Shaftesbury School a prize for the best shopping experience and Sherborne and Blandford received runner-up prizes.

The Mayor of Gillingham, Cllr Barry Von Clemens championed the initiative for local school councils to link with Gillingham Town Council.    At the beginning of his Mayoral year  Cllr Von Clemens had  stated that “young people have a voice and we are here to listen”.

Representatives of Gillingham School’s council attended the Gillingham Full Council meeting held on Monday, 23^rd January 2017 and presented a report of their current activities.   Members of the town council welcomed this report and agreed that Gillingham School Council and St. Mary’s Primary School Council, who had asked to join this initiative, should be invited to send written reports, on a quarterly basis, up-dating the town council of their issues and concerns.  This will provide a platform for the young people to engage with the first level of local government, to experience how democracy plays its part in their everyday lives.