Clubs/societies

Jellyfish, sharks, freezing water, and oil-spewing ships may be some of the obstacles six girl guiders may have to face as they swim the English channel this summer.

Team Twenty Ten are planning to swim 21 miles from the English to French coast in July, to celebrate the Girlguiding Centenary and to raise money for charity Street Child Africa.

A theatre group which has been around for more than 50 years is putting on its first play ever which centres around the paranormal.

The Staines Players, who were created in 1952, is putting on 'A Murder Has Been Arranged' in April, which is about a man named Sir Charles Jasper, who stands to inherit a large sum of money if he can survive a night in a haunted house.

Spelthorne Civic Pride volunteers will clean rubbish from the River Thames tow-path on Sunday March 28,

Volunteers will meet in Ferry Lane, Laleham at 10am to pick up the litter.

For more information, contact Jill Stephens on 01932 564543.

Bob Calder will give a talk on the gardens of Japan at the next meeting of the Thames Valley Horticultural Society.

The event will take place on Thursday March 25 in Christ Church Hall, in Kenilworth Gardens, Staines.

Visitors price is £1 and the event starts at 7.45pm.

For more information, ring June Gough on 10784 452 422.

Staines Town fans raised £1,800 for St Peter's Hospital on Saturday (March 6) as they walked to Woking for their chairman Alan Boon.

Five runners and 11 walkers followed the 11 and a half mile trawl from Staines' ground in Wheatsheaf Lane, through Chertsey, Addlestone, New Haw, before reaching Woking's ground for the local derby between the two sides.

Football fans and supporters of Staines Town FC supremo Alan Boon will be walking to Woking on Saturday (March 6) to raise money for a hospital unit.

The 63-year-old chairman of the club, who lives in Egham, suffered from a heart attack in May last year, and was taken to St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey where he was nursed back to help.

A bunch of veterans will be holding post in Staines and Shepperton on Saturday as they host a 'flag' day to raise money for their organisation.

The ex-soldiers and RAF men are part of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Families Association - Forces Help, which helps out veterans and servicemen with small troubles such as getting benefits or helping them get out of debt.

Martin 'Bill Sikes' Frank, 90, of Junction Road, Ashford, fought in World War II in the RAF, and will be based in the Elmsleigh Centre in Staines from 10am to 4pm on the day.

He said: "I have been with Forces Help for the past 40 years, and this is the first flag day of its kind. We are like the British Legion but not as well known, so this day will raise money for us and also give us a bit of publicity."

Other veterans will also set up a stall in Shepperton High Street on the same day at the same time.

An exhibition to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day is due to start in Spelthorne Museum.

The exhibition will start on Wednesday January 27 and run until Wednesday February 10.

It has been organised by Spelthorne Council, the museum, and Staines and District Synagogue.

Holocause Memorial Day is the international remembrance for victims and survivors of the World War II atrocity.

The exhibition is free to enter.

A swashbuckling traditional family pantomime is taking place in Wraysbury at the end of the month.

The Wraysbury Players will be performing Treasure Island in the village hall from Thursday January 21 to Saturday January 23.

Four Staines Town supporters were arrested and detained by the Metropolitan police on Wednesday December 9 during the second leg of the FA Cup game with Millwall.

Fans posting on the Staines Town internet forum described seeing a few Staines fans making 'cut throat' gestures to the Millwall fans, before they were approached by the stewards.