It's Wednesday, it's 6pm & it's time yet again for Cotswold Community, your local community programme which brings you news, views & interviews from the various voluntary organisations that makeup our community here in the Cotswolds. This week we'll be interviewing Nicola Grieve who is the Information & Interpretation Officer for the Cotswolds Conservation Board, the organisation that exists to conserve and enhance the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Established in 2004, the board is the only organisation to look after the AONB as a whole and is a statutory body created as a result of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

The main aims are:

 - to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB
 - to increase understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the AONB, ensuring that these complement the conservation and enhancement of the area.

So, if you're passionate about the area you live in, enjoy walking through the numerous paths & fields that dissect our area or are just amazed at the beauty of the Cotswold landscape then you'd be a fool to miss this edition of Cotswold Community (Wednesday 16th May). To find out more go to: www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk 
 
We'll also talking to Graham Greenall, the chairman of the Cotswold Olimpicks committee, who will be coming into the studio just after 7pm to talk about the games and the last minute preparations. The latest info at www.olimpickgames.co.uk

So join Freya Leng & Robb Eden for this week's Cotswold Community.

Following the special feature last week on a UK based Singer Songwriter, Roger Knott, we continue the Unsigned UK artists theme and take a look at a new album from another Singer Songwriter based in the UK .

Grahame Lister an Australian by birth but now based in Essex in the UK is a veteran of the British Pop and Country music scene and his latest album,  just released on "Bushranger Records, " entitled "Bring it on " is a real beaut. We will be playing most of the tracks from the album during the programme and hope to be able to talk to Grahame at sometime around 12.30pm.

As usual at around 12.15pm we take our regular look at the USA charts "Mediabase " for radio spins and "Billboard  charts " for single sales and radio spins combined.Then at around 1.00pm the easy listening segment features four tracks one each from Charlie Rich, Grahame Lister, Bobby Gentry and Tim McGraw.

Around 1.30pm the Classic segment features tracks from Willie Nelson, Billie Jo Spears, Joe South and Jerry Reed.

So we do hope you can join us for some if not all of Cotswold Country on Saturday 12.00pm -2-00pm on NCCR.

all the best John Bowlt

This week on Cotswold Country we have a very special guest on the telephone from his home in Bedfordshire.

Roger Knott is a UK singer songwriter who has had five albums recorded in Nashville and released in the UK over the last seven years and has been featured three times on Country Radio stations in the USA and local BBC Radio together with various Country and Americana stations throughout Europe.

We will be talking to Roger on the telephone at around 12.30pm and featuring songs from his latest album "The Field and the Sky " and songs from some of his previous albums throughout the programme.

As usual at around 12.15pm we will take our regular look at the US Country charts and then at around 1.00pm  the Easy Listening segment will feature two tracks from Roger Knotts latest Album and two from his previous albums.

The Classic segment at around 1.30pm this week features tracks from Hank Thompson, The Dillards, Faron Young and Gram Parsons. 

So we do hope you will be able to join us for some if not all of Cotdswold Country this Saturday 12.00pm - 2.00pm on NCCR .

all the best John Bowlt

On Cotswold Community this week we take great pleasure in telling our listeners about the UK’s first Olympic miracle! Ilmington School’s Olympic-inspired anthem is on course for victory & you can hear all about it today (Wednesday 25th April).

Hear all about it  - a story when 106 children and a couple of enthusiastic adults from a quiet Cotswold village dared to give the world a song. The song, ‘Rings Around the World’, inspired by London 2012, was released on 21 April and the response has been overwhelming. Local newpapers were the first to pick up the story then coverage and airplay on local radio stations. Now the national media are beginning to bite, with the BBC inviting the children to record a performance of their song for Songs of Praise.

So what does the song sound like? Hear it on Cotswold Community this Wednesday.
 
The Ilmington Primary School Rings Around The World CD is available from HMV in Stratford Upon Avon and online at www.wix.com/ringsaroundtheworld2/rings-around-the-world-2012#. Funds raised will go to the school and to the Africa School Project.

AND our other guest will be Stuart Priest who's coming in to talk about Batsford Arboretum in the second half of the show. Stuart will be telling us about all the recent changes and about his job as Director of Operations at the Arboretum and Garden Centre. Stuart has lived locally for the past 25 years and is a town councillor in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Cotswold Community is always keen to be in at the start of a new initiative so this week we've invited Hester Hunt to the studio. Hester is helping to launch the Gloucestershire arm of a new organisation called Local Healthwatch. As part of the changes to the NHS users of health and social care services will be asked their opinion on how services are performing. Local Healthwatch will come into being in April 2013 and will:-

Influence – helping people to get involved in improving of local health and social care services.

Signpost – giving people the right information to decide what services they may need.

Advise – supporting people who want to complain about health and social care services.

Gloucestershire County Council has the responsibility to make sure that our county has a Local Healthwatch organisation and Hester will be here to tell us all about it.

AND YOU CAN WIN A BOOK......... Helen Sellick, Chief Operating Officer of Hodder Headline books will be talking to us on the phone just after 7. Helen says "April 23rd is a symbolic date for world literature. It is both the birth and the death day of Shakespeare, as well as the death day of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist.  It is in their honour that UNESCO appointed it the international day of the book and it was therefore the date chosen to celebrate World Book Night 2012 www.worldbooknight.com

To find out more join Robb, Freya, Hester & Helen this Wednesday 18th April.

This week on Cotswold Community we welcome John Ellis who represents Chipping Campden at the Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum (GMTF). The GMTF is an independent membership organisation representing Chipping Campden, Churchdown, Cinderford, Cirencester, Coleford, Fairford, Nailsworth, Newent, Northleach, Stonehouse, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury, Tewkesbury, Winchcombe and Wotton-under-Edge.

Each town, parish or community organisation nominates a representative to sit on the committee & membership brings benefits to the town including a Development Fund for community projects and free expert advice  through the Forum's Technical Assistance programme, as well as opportunities to share good practice, source advice and expertise at networking and 'look and learn' events.

The Forum network of representatives from the county's rural towns, large parishes and other community organisations encourages the exchange of information and ideas in a climate of mutual support.

To hear more tune in to Cotswold Community tonight (Wednesday 28th March) at 6pm.

This week on Cotswold Community we'll be talking on the telephone to Jennifer Taylor, the Community Partnerships Manager at Cotswold District Council. Jennifer and her team work in partnership with other agencies, such as the police, health and voluntary organisations and alongside individual communities themselves to deliver services or activities which help communities become stronger and more resilient. For further information contact the Community Partnerships team on 01285 623000.

Our other guest will be joining us just after 7pm. Tim Norris, Chairman of the Stow Civic Society will be in the studio to talk about the special events coming up to mark Stow’s Civil War week which includes the unveiling of a plaque in the Square on the 366th anniversary of the Battle Of Stow.

For more information visit www.stowcivicsociety.webeden.co.uk/

Tune in this Wednesday March 14th for another edition of Cotswold Community.

If you like a bit of adventure then why not  tune in to this week's Cotswold Community (Wednesday 7th March) as we will be talking to the District Commissioner For Scouting In The North Cotswolds. Steve Perry oversees all things scouting & is eager to tell us all about the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers & the 14-18 network.

We'll also be talking to George Hill who is a volunteer worker for the 'Connect' project in this area. Connect helps people 55 years over and living in rural Gloucestershire to get on a computer and get online. The learner is entitled to up to 8 hours worth of session time and Connect runs both group and home sessions with the aim of working at the pace of the learner and to help them with their specific needs. Connect is also looking for volunteers to help run the sessions. For further information, to arrange sessions or to volunteer, contact GRCC on 01452 528 491 - tell them that NCCR sent you!

Freya won't be around this week, but she will be calling in from Bourton-On-The-Water where she will be attending the Town Council meeting.

Check us out - Cotswold Community this Wednesday from 6pm.

This week on Cotswold Community we will be talking to Victoria Magee who works as a therapist qualified in reflexology and sports massage at the Natural Therapies Clinic in Moreton. Victoria has just started offering reflexology for pregnant mums to overcome some of the discomforts of pregnancy naturally.  She also runs baby massage and reflexology classes.  At the same time she  is working with Gloucestershire College and the Stow Children's Centre & hopes to be able to run a free course (funded by Gloscol) as an introduction to reflexology aimed at mothers with little or no qualifcations to do a basic course with the view to getting into work or further education.

For more information log onto: www.natural-therapies-clinic.co.uk or call 01608 650077.

Also joining us on the phone will be one of the star attractions in the green area of the Moreton Show last year. Eco-campaigner Brigit Strawbridge will be talking to us this week about her conservation work with bees and how she has been raising awareness in the Cotswolds.

Join Robb Eden & Freya Leng this Wednesday 29th February for an uplifting, smoothing, pleasurable experience called Cotswold Community!