The Schools’ Art Competition has been organised by the Parish Council since 1989.

Unfortunately for the last two years, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been unable to host the competition, however luckily this year we have been able to.

The standard of the work was very high with the children producing some amazing artwork following the theme of ‘Art and Culture in the Parish and County Durham Area’ 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners were presented with book tokens for £15, £10 and £5 by the local ward members who had the enjoyable but difficult task of judging the paintings.

The 1^st prize winners’ pictures were judged by the Durham Police & Crime Commissioner Joy Allen.

The overall winners received a trophy from the Chairman of the Parish Council, Councillor Jimmy Jamieson at the Parish meeting in July.

The winners were as follows:

Nursery Category

Silver Tree Nursery – Sophia Ferguson

Reception Category

Brandon Primary Academy – Full Reception Class

Years 1 & 2 Category

Browney Academy – Full Year 1 Class

Years 3 & 4 Category

Brandon Primary Academy – Hollie Morland

Years 5 & 6 Category

Brandon Primary Academy – Ammar Putra Dean

The Parish Council are looking to appoint an Administrative Assistant, for Maternity Cover, commencing mid June.

The Admin. Assistant would be required to work 18 hours per week (days and times to be arranged).

Salary £20,043 pro rata.

Essential requirements

• Good level of literacy, numeracy, education
• Experience of office and admin.
• Good all round IT skills, especially Microsoft word, Office and Zoom
• Experience of website admin. and maintenance
• Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative as well as part of a team
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written
• Work to tight timescales
• Abide by General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
• Friendly and approachable attitude

Desirable requirements

• Local government experience
• Experience in working with the public
• Sound book keeping skills
• Ability to develop and maintain good relationships with other authorities, external bodies and the public
• Car driver
• Knowledge of Brandon and Byshottles Parish area

Please send your C.V. and two references to Mrs. Susan Howe,
6 Goatbeck Terrace, Langley Moor, Durham DH7 8JJ
or email info@brandonandbyshottlesparishcouncil.gov.uk
Closing date Thursday 14^th April 2022
Tel : 0191 3789947

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED.

Notice of Election – North Ward

Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations

Declaration of Result of Poll

Brandon and Byshottles Parish Council has recently hosted its very first Community Awards.

The event took place on Saturday 12th March at 2pm at St John’s Hall in Meadowfiled, with refreshments served by Bespoke Events.

The objective of the event was to recognise and celebrate deserving people within our Community for their fantastic work and achievements, especially during the pandemic. Participants and winners received either a certificate or a trophy.

The categories were:

Support work during the Pandemic

Young Person’s Award

Sports Clubs

Working with the Elderly

Environmental Projects

The event was sponsored by the Parish Council and Aldersons Family Funerals.

To view photographs of the Community Awards Ceremony, please visit our gallery: Community Awards

Notice of Uncontested Election – West Ward

Notice of Vacancy – Brandon & Byshottles (North)

An event is running this Autumn in Ushaw Moor as part of the Being Human Festival (the UK’s only national festival of the humanities) The Autumn Activity Trail.

To complete the trail, local families simply need an activity sheet (these can be downloaded from our website (Autumn Activity Trail), paper copies will be distributed through some local schools and they can also be collected from the garden on allocated Saturdays).

The September event has passed now, however it will be running again this month (with a drop-in craft workshop and craft packs available on Saturday the 23rd of October) and the 20th November when we will also be having a performance from a poet and storyteller. Everything is free.

In addition to these events, all autumn we are running a creative competition. The prize is £100 to spend at a local family-friendly business and to enter, all you need to do is create something (painting, sculpture, poem, photo, short story, etc. – anything goes!) which shows ‘what nature means to you’. More details can be found here: Creative Competition.

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/autumnactivitytrail/ and a Facebook event for the craft session: https://fb.me/e/16wJtRxj4

Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. It’s paid monthly – or twice a month for some people in Scotland. You may be able to get it if you’re on a low income, out of work or you cannot work. Universal Credit is being rolled out to replace Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Employment & Support Allowance and Income Support. The full rollout of Universal Credit is scheduled for completion in 2024.

Between March 13th 2020 and January 14th 2021 there were 4.5 million Universal Credit claims. Over a third of Universal Credit claims have been made since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Find out more about Universal Credit using our Universal Credit guide. It covers who can apply, how to apply, how much money you can claim, a glossary to help with Universal Credit terminology and more.

Here’s the Universal Credit guide https://www.jobcentrenearme.com/universal-credit/

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

On behalf of the Parish of Brandon & Byshottles Parish Council, the Chairman, Members and Staff at the Parish Council send our deepest condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family on this deeply sad occasion.

As a mark of respect flags throughout the Parish are flying at half mast.

What is the census?

The census is a survey that happens every 10 years and gives us a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales. The next census takes place on Sunday 21 March 2021.

Your answers to the census questions will help organisations make decisions on planning and funding public services in your area, including transport, education and healthcare.

When to complete your census

Every household should complete the census on Sunday 21 March 2021 or as soon as possible after. If you’ve responded before 21 March and things have changed, you can let us know by calling for free.

The census should take about 10 minutes for the household questions and 10 minutes per person.

Visit the website to find out more: https://census.gov.uk/