Letter from the editor – May 2026

The emotional benefits of creativity are huge. I experienced this first-hand, when I re-connected with my artistic nature a few years back. I was having a difficult time processing a traumatic experience, the steps I took in order to heal, included painting to express my feelings. Within a few months of re-igniting my passion for art, I started to share my work publicly; I then decided to make space in my life to become a professional artist.

I am now passionate about sharing the benefits of creative self-expression and have enjoyed learning a lot about mindfulness and therapeutic art as a result. I now work with people of all abilities including those with learning disabilities, supporting them to explore artistic endeavours. You only need to watch children playing, to be reminded that we all began with a wonderful natural creativity. As we go through life, many become discouraged, criticised for not measuring up to some form of ideal. But art is personal and it is subjective; the most important thing to me is always that the person creating, benefits emotionally from the process. Of course it’s enriching to learn and improve skills; this gives us a valuable sense of achievement that leads to improved self-esteem, but so can creating for the pure joy of it. I always tell people “if you end up with something you’d love to display, it’s a bonus - if you have fun creating it…that is mission accomplished.”
www.artbyrebeccab.com

The Village Spa

I’d firstly like to thank you all for your lovely comments and well wishes. To all those that have offered to buy vouchers and your courses ready for when we re-open, your gesture has been quite over whelming. I also wanted to let you all know that our voicemail will be checked daily, so if you need any advice please do reach out. You can keep updated on our website or via social media where over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing our beauty secrets with you.
I thought it would be nice to offer you Free online skincare advice and consultations online and over the phone.

As you can’t pop in to show me your skin at this time I thought I can still share with you my expertise and knowledge.
Great skin doesn’t just happen, it happens after a good consultation and choosing the right skin care products for your skin.
Register today and let’s get started -
Email me at: info@thevillagespa.co.uk
Anyone not getting our emails or who would like to be added please email or call 01883 342400.

The Breck Ball raised an amazing total of £61,460 last month! Lorin and the team would like to thank all those who contributed towards the ball as well as all the local businesses who donated generous prizes for both the raffle and auction.

www.breckfoundation.org

It’s hard to avoid coronavirus at the moment. In the world of education the uncertainty seems to be particularly acute and many parents and students are concerned about the practicalities of A-Levels, GCSEs, SATs and other exams. However these are unprecedented times and, as can be seen by the many hilarious memes and posts, many parents are struggling to keep order let alone worry about whether their child has grasped the nuances of fronted adverbials.

Being a Mum and a teacher, has taught me children need normality as much as possible, so my advice to all you homeschoolers is to not be too hard on yourselves. Try and keep to routine if you can with same bedtimes and mealtimes, my husband has even replicated the kids timetable at home although judging by his frazzled state around midday, I'm not sure how well it is going!

As a tutor, we have moved all our group classes online and it is clear the children are enjoying, not only the normality of learning, but more importantly the camaraderie of interacting with other children and having some structure to their day. In addition to this, the parents gain that much needed respite from the intensity of our daily lives right now. Technology, so often the curse of modern parenting has suddenly become a godsend.

I'd love to hear any comments or questions related to homeschooling, so please don't hesitate to email me at:info@goldenbrainacademy.com or have a look at our Facebook page or website.

“The Salvation Army has worked in partnership with Caterham Hill Parish Council, The Westway, Chris Botton, Tandridge Voluntary Action (TVA), local churches and others to set up the Four Parishes Response Hub. The Hub does not replace the amazing families, good neighbours and friends who have stepped up to be there for many in isolation in their streets. The 4 Parishes Response is there for those with no circles of support locally, where your support network is limited or has stopped as they are now in isolation. We offer assistance with shopping (there are payment arrangements available if you no longer have cash), collecting medication where the chemist is no longer able to do this, phone buddies who will call you for a chat over a cuppa on the phone. For those grieving, worried about the future, asking the big life questions or thinking about spiritual issues we can link you up with our local faith communities who are happy to explore these with you. We can also sign post to other services who are still open / available.

At the Royal Victoria infirmary in Newcastle they are bracing themselves for a wave of coronavirus cases.

I donned mask, gloves and protective apron to speak to a suspected Covid 19 patient who had come in with a fever and a cough.

'At the moment we're treating anyone who presents in hospital as an emergency, if they have respiratory symptoms, as if they may have Covid. And they will be isolated'

Dr Chris Gibbin explained ...

Britain's first confirmed case of Covid-19 – caused by coronavirus - was treated here.In Newcastle they think this is the calm before the storm

Dame Jackie Daniel, the Chief Executive of the Newcastle Trust told me

'...Just let's be clear, this is unprecedented, it's very serious, wer're going to have to try and work through it in stages... we will feel pressured for weeks and month potentially'

In Stockton on Tees I visited a GP's surgery with a special coronavirus room set up to receive people displaying symptoms. They have limited protective equipment but there were no tests available for health workers on the frontline.

Hello, and welcome to April's edition of The Caterham and District Independent.

This is not the letter I thought I would be writing this month. Instead of celebrating the borough's Easter events, the Covid-19 virus has catapulted us into a surreal world of empty calendars, failure to obtain basic groceries and conversations with loved ones via video calling, instead of face-to-face.

The decision to print and distribute this month's streamlined newspaper has been one we have spent a long time considering. In the end, two factors convinced us to go ahead. On 20th March Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden posted a message on social media:

'Public service news across TV, radio and print has never been more important than it is right now. I can confirm that broadcasters, journalists and the necessary ancillary staff are included as Key Workers.'

Secondly, we know the demographics of our readership include many people who aren't online and who rely on physical copies of our newspaper to keep them in touch with their local area. We have a public duty to keep them connected to the Tandridge community in these difficult times, as well as a part to play in helping break up the monotony of isolation.

Coronavirus began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China where to date there have been over 3000 deaths recorded. It spread to the UK and on the 31st January 2020 the first case of Coronavirus was confirmed in the UK at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. Within weeks the virus had spread and by the beginning of March cases had been detected in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland resulting in Boris Johnson declaring the Outbreak to be classed as a pandemic on the '11th March'

On the Friday 28th February the first case of the virus was confirmed in Surrey and there have been 7 subsequent deaths at a Surrey Hospital in Redhill (Surrey County Council and Public Health England).

More than likely we have all by now experienced the panic buying and consequently lack of precious basic commodities such as rice, pasta and milk in our local supermarkets however recent days have seen this behaviour improve due to the queuing system implemented in accordance with the social distancing rules and capping on certain items which are commonly purchased.

'The Caterham and District Independent'spoke to Elaine Jackson (Acting Chief Executive) and her team at Tandridge District Council (TDC) and discussed the impact on the borough which included the measures which the council have put into place to help the whole area.