My church (CofE) doesn’t meet in a church building but instead currently meets in a secondary school. 10% of what is given is passed onto other charities, including a homeless charity in Reading. Many people in my church will give to those in need but would always want to do this anonymously. Currently my church are considering whether we can fund the fit out of a new community centre, which would be run by a newly established Charitable Incorporated Organisation and would be run not for profit. Any money to fund this new community centre would come from individuals in the church; fundraising and potentially grants that we can access.

Previous churches (all sorts of different types / denominations)that I’ve been a member of have through individual giving contributed to building programmes that were then used by the community including youth groups; basketball (as we had a full size sports hall); dance classes; societies, etc. all throughout the week. I am aware that in some instances, individuals have mortgaged their own properties / downsized / moved to cheaper areas to help fund facilities and / or to give more away to those in need.

Absolutely no requirement to pay to go to church though.

I also had a Btwin Triban 3 which I sold to fund my GT Grade, although it’s just the Claris version. I think that the GT Grade measured up quite big in terms of standover height compared to the Btwin so probably worth trying one. Been very impressed with how versatile it is although tempted to upgrade the basic cable disc brakes at some point.

Aldi for us. Mrs JMS wasn’t originally sure about doing weekly shop there but it’s what we always now use for main shop. Helps with our £247 spend per month on food and household goods, i.e. kitchen rolls, etc. for two adults and 10 year old as mentioned on other thread.

£247 a month for two adults and a 10 year. Mainly do my main food shop at Aldi but top up more locally at various others. I use a shopping list and just take enough cash, which has helped even more as avoids impulse buying.

Can well believe the article. I volunteer as a money coach for a charity Christians against Poverty and we help people to budget, save so that they can spend. We encourage people to have three accounts, one for direct debits; one cash account, and then a savings account. Living on cash does seem counter cultural but those on the course have found that it’s really helped in terms of increasing saving levels. The more worrying statistic is the percentage of people who have felt suicidal due to debt.

Really sorry to hear about your wife. Some good advice from others on here. My wife was diagnosed with epilepsy but thankfully is now seizure free and is no longer on medication. It can be frightening. Really hope that this is just a one off. However, I found that having a good support network of friends / family was invaluable. Make sure you look after yourself – it can be tiring to be a carer. My employer was very good and did let me work at home if my wife had suffered a seizure. We also had to make adjustments, i.e. I would always make sure that if she was in the bath that I would be in the same room as sometimes she would have seizures. Depending on the type of seizure, it can affect memories, i.e. after one seizure my wife didn’t know who I was for about 1/2 hour, but try to stay calm whatever happens.

I’m hoping to get the Alu 105 model. Intend to get full guards so thanks for letting me know what fits. Guess I’ll see how I get on with the flared bars. Will be using bike for a very short commute to work, road riding plus exploring byways/bridleways around Wokingham. Still have my mountain bike for Swinley.Haven’t had a GT since someone stole my Zaskar many years ago 🙁

Thanks for all the comments and the picture. I’ll try to get hold of a 53cm version.

Thanks croxs for the very kind offer but unfortunately I’m in Berkshire.

Thanks. Seems to indicate that the 53cm would be most suitable for me.

Thanks for the very useful advice. One shop I went to had suggested the large.

Was about to list my daughter’s NS bikes co stem, which is 40mm. Takes non OS bars whereas I found that virtually all short stems usually take OS bars. It’s quite chunky but wanted something robust. Would certainly be sub £20 including p and p. Am in Wokingham, Berks. Email in profile if interested.

Used to own a second hand Chariot Cougar 2 and did take it round parts of Bedgebury – seemed pretty stable although remember following someone with a one seater Chariot who had it up on one wheel for some parts. They are pretty quick to collapse partly down and then open back up if you really get stuck. Usually you can just unhitch, which occasionally had to do when I took the trailer behind our tandem…

Unfortunately haven’t tried one as the bike shop didn’t have my size but I have seen one in the flesh. Seemed very nice – light frame – think they said it was 1350g; decent groupset and brakes. Can also take mudguards and rack. Think it can take up to a 35C tyre. Have seen some other reviews, which all seem favourable http://road.cc/content/news/121785-first-ride-gt-grade and http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/06/14/first-look-gravel-crushing-new-gt-grade-road-bike/
The same bike shop had the Merida 500 Cyclocross (also for £1k) but they were saying that many people were going for the GT Grade due to the better spec

Former Rabbit owner here + Mrs JMS used to help at vets. Found that they do have different temperaments, even if the same breed. We had quite a placid male Rex but latter when we had a female rex, she took an instant dislike to our new baby girl when she came along and was becoming very aggressive. If all possible, might just be worth just checking how the rabbit in their existing environment responds to you and your family.

As I think ChrisDW mentioned, the Kitecrowd Kite Forum http://forum.kitecrowd.com/ might be worth looking at re trying to sell some gear – think this site possibly replaced the Flexifoil one that Cougar mentioned

Great thread and very good advice. While you don’t need a harness, I used to find that using a harness for power kiting / buggying was useful to spread the load across my body, particularly when flying larger kites, albeit I am quite a lightweight.

Thanks for the further suggestions – the step through frame would make sense as I know he suffers from lack of flexibility in his legs. Gave him some details re pricing – think he just needs to persuade my Mum that it’s a good investment! 🙂

Thanks very much for all your suggestions and advice. Not sure what my Dad’s budget is but it will be his main form of transport as he doesn’t own a car.

Member of Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) – £290 but employer pays
I have also sometimes paid for Membership of Chartered Management Institute (MCMI) – £149 although cost depends on what qualifications / experience you have

Another possible website to use is http://www.commutefrom.com/ as you can set out what house price you are looking for; what travel time via train you want to particular stations in London and it will tell you the average property price.

wwaswas – realise this isn’t an option for everyone but have you considered purchasing a property in or near to Treforest re accommodation? Realise house prices have increased but I used my savings to buy a house in the Valleys (whilst studying at Cardiff but the Valleys were / still are much cheaper). Clearly will depend on many factors…

Used to have loads of kites (only have a few now) – used to buy and sell via http://forum.kitecrowd.com/ which might be worth checking out re advice and I also used this to pick up 2nd hand kites. Might also be worth seeing if there any kite festivals on as this was the way that I got to try out other kites. Alternatively, some kite shops and clubs will let you try. Looks like you have some good locations to fly judging from your pics.

Another Wokingham resident here – there are about 5 trains an hour (during peak) to Reading although TVP is just over 2 miles from station. Caversham seems to be well regarded by others albeit more expensive. I know some people are contemplating buying in Maidenhead – thinking that in terms of a long term investment they will capitalise on uplift in property values once Crossrail comes to fruition (due to Maidenhead in 2019).

Signed both

SD-253
Re home exchanges, it really depends on the individuals as to what they are looking for re size of place, location, facilities, whether they have access to car, etc. We’ve exchanged with much larger / smaller properties than us so don’t be put off!
On the Intervac site, you specify how many people your property can sleep, put up photos of your property; set out what facilities you have and what countries you are looking for; when you can exchange, etc. IMHO it pays to be flexible re where you want to go as this will give you more options…

I enjoy many of the modern hymns – for example those by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Prefer playing hymns on keyboard with a reasonable size band – bass, drums, etc. rather than some of the dreary ones we used to have to sing at school…

SD-253 – apologies for slow response.

Yes – that was £49 divided by nights – it’s £49 per year. I have used a Christian house exchange organisation (where you paid for each exchange) before but mainly use Intervac as there is loads of choice. There are no other costs – someone will be using your electricity, gas but you will be doing the same.

It was set up by teachers! Been exchanging for 30 years (first with my parents when I lived in Thamesmead and then with my own family) and have noticed that more people are doing exchanges; seems to be attracting more affluent people (judging from the size of houses and the pics provided) although we generally prefer less plush places. Sometimes you meet families – sometimes you don’t but often meet their friends, which I like – daughter had play date; had drinks / food with various neighbours, etc.

I’ve been to most countries within Europe – went to Valencia and Belgium last year. It’s generally easier to get an exchange abroad than within the UK although done plenty of UK exchanges.

Hope it works out for you

Wow – I thought I was thrifty until I read this.

Re holidays, I’ve done about 40 house exchanges, mainly through an organisation called Intervac. Costs £49 a year but as we are limited to school holidays for going away saves a considerable amount and last year meant that I got 21 nights of accommodation for three of us for just over £2 per night :-). Also means that you always have decent cooking facilities, which suits us, rather than needing to eat out which we very rarely do.

I’ve considered the OU on a number of occassions but the costs seemed quite high and for me I found the benefits similar to those mentioned by Olddog.
I did a Post Grad (Part time) in Law over two years whilst working. It was quite intensive (compared to my other two Post grad courses). Reckon I averaged a minimum of 12 hours study a week, comprising two to three nights of lectures every week for 3 hours + studying on Saturdays. Hope it works out for you whatever route you take

I’ve just bought my 7 year old daughter a Frog 62 having outgrown a Beinn 20 (older version).
There is less info on the Frog site re sizing (compared to Islabike site) but to give you an idea. Daughter is 1.28m high, inside leg about 57cm but standover height fine – about 3in of seatpost showing. Reach on the Frog is IMHO quite long – it’s about 19.5in c-c top tube. Although she is managing OK, I’ve just fitted a 40mm stem (instead of 90mm). Hoping it will last her for a while!

Perhaps I’m fortunate living in Wokingham, Berks to have a range of shops (but equally it’s an expensive place to live) but just some examples this month to get my bill for two adults and my 7 year old daughter down to £200 a month:
– Bread (800 grams) – often pick these up for 12p from Tesco at certain times. Otherwise, it’s two 800g white toastie loaves for £1 from Morrisons Local
– Eggs free range (6 for £1)- Lidl
– Milk – 2 litres for 97p from Morrisons Local
– Chicken breast – bought 6 lots this week reduced at M & S – £7.20 instead of £20. As Chekw has said, easy to stockpile
– Bananas are usually about 12p each
– Porridge Tesco everyday value oats – 75p for 1kg pack which I think lasts me about 2 weeks or so

I just check the amount per grams/ml, etc. as often the marketed deals aren’t as good as them seem, i.e. grapes are still usually cheaper bought loose than the packaged deals.

My wife does sometimes cook from scratch and bakes particularly well 🙂

Just checked my spreadsheet and we spent £200 last month for two adults and a very hungry 7 year old, which is the lowest spend this year for us.

I’ve taken to doing smaller more frequent shops (to avoid wasting food), someetimes check deals via moneysavingexpert website, compare prices via mysupermarket even if just buying from the store as it helps work out which is best value; visit a range of different shops from Lidl for basics through to Tesco and M & S at times when I know the latter two are are more likely to discount, bulk buy when deals on, etc.

Just bought my 7 year old daughter a Frog 62 (having always had 2nd hand Specialized bikes and an Islabike 20). The 62 denotes minimum leg size (cm) although standover height is OK for my daughter whose inside leg is a bit shorter. Top tube seems long (haven’t measured) so I’m going to put on a shorter 50mm stem. Useful review of the Frog 62 page 42-45 of Review.

Sorry to hear about this. I regularly ride Swindley with some other guys so we will also keep an eye out.

Used to live in Worcester in one of the less desirable areas (Brickfields) according to the estate agents but it was fine – guess it depends on what you are used to. Would agree with what MBoy has said and would suggest checking with Worcester City Council (who I used to work for in planning) re flooding issues and also any future expansion plans

Would be very interested to hear what you finally go for as I also have a 7 year old who having moved school means it is about a 3 mile trip but I would probably cycle on from my workplace. Some of the roads through town are pretty busy so am thinking the best option is a second hand tandem – possibly a Dawes Twocan, Discovery Twin (as used to have one of these and had a 9 year old stoker with some seatpost showing from memory), Double Edge or alternatively a Thorn Kiddyback – these seem to go for about £300-£500. I’m a lot shorter than you at about 5ft 9.

Just bought some from On-One. Prices from £1.99 (excl P & P). Inner tubes

Well stocked up now. Thanks very much…

Bought this one Oxelo suspension scooter for my daughter when she was 6 from Decathlon who have a good selection. Liked the 2 year warranty and the fact that it has a 100kg limit. It also rolls very nicely and folds down easily + seem to be able to get spares cheaply via Decathlon.