CHILDREN in Gloucestershire can get a personal letter from Santa this Christmas for a small donation.

The NSPCC, a charity specialising in child protection, will send a child a personalised letter from Santa for a suggested donation of £5.

Last year, more than 23,000 letters were delivered to children across the South West.

Donna Statham, NSPCC community fundraising for Gloucestershire, said: "Christmas is such an exciting time of year for children.

"Every £5 raised by a letter could help ChildLine be there whenever a child seeks help either online or by phone. Every £25 raised could enable us to deliver one hour of support through the NSPCC's helpline." Interested parents can call 0845 839 9304.

FASCINATED pupils at Alderman Knight School got to see an Olympic gold medallist up close and personal.

Katherine Grainger's visit yesterday to the Tewkesbury special needs school caused great excitement.

After winning the double sculls event at the London Games with Anna Watkins, Katherine became one of the nation's gold medal-winning heroines.

And she was only too pleased to show off her medal as well as take part in PE lessons.

The 36-year-old, who is from Scotland but now lives in Maidenhead in Berkshire, said: "It's lovely and an amazing thing to be able to do.

"There was no flexibility in my training programme so that meant I couldn't come down here before the Olympics."

Aware

She said not all the children were fully aware of what she had achieved but those that were fired lots of questions at her, such as what it was like to sing the national anthem.

The visit came about as Katherine knew Lizzie Smith and Sarah Donnan, whose nine-year-old daughter Linda Donnan-Smith attends the school.

Lizzie said: "Katherine came because she's got a lot of affection for Linda but also because she is very much a people person and has a lot of empathy for Linda's special needs.

"It was fantastic. The school was thrilled and we were really pleased that we were able to get Katherine there and that the children had the opportunity to interact with her and get her involved in their PE lessons."

Katherine added that she had known Lizzie and Sarah for a long time, having met them for business reasons.

She said they had helped cheer her on to victory at the Olympics by attending her big race.

Her visit to Tewkesbury was the second by a British Olympic rowing star in three weeks.

Zac Purchase thrilled Tewkesbury School pupils on September 28 by launching their new rowing club.

BRAVE teenager Rhys Masters found out just weeks ago he has bone cancer – but he has already refused to sit back and feel miserable.

Two days after his diagnosis on October 2, the 14-year-old launched a campaign to raise funds for other young people fighting the disease.

On Thursday he had his hair shaved off and £590 was donated by his fellow pupils at Chosen Hill School. And in just over a fortnight he has raised a staggering £3,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The schoolboy, from Barnwood, is aiming to get one of the charity's specialist units opened in Gloucester.

Rhys said: "I'm coping with my diagnosis quite well I think.

"I thought instead of just letting my hair fall out why not do something about it?"

The Gloucester Martial Arts member added: "I went to Birmingham for my biopsy and they have a fantastic Teenage Cancer Trust facility there.

"There isn't one in the south west so I decided to raise money towards one.

"I have been surprised by the support as I had hoped for about £100 so getting £3,000 already is amazing."

His fighting spirit has inspired his three brothers, Jake, 25, Ryan, 10 and Rowan, six and several family friends to also have their hair shorn in a show of support.

Rhys' mum Dawn Masters said they first noticed something wrong when Rhys complained of a pain in his leg.

The 36-year-old said his diagnosis was a "total shock to the system" and added: "It was the most awful, painful feeling, knowing he's your son and you can't do anything to help him."

Rhys will undergo three months of chemotherapy at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and next year will have an operation to remove the tumour from his right thigh bone.

Dawn said: "He was absolutely distraught when he found out but two days later turned round and said 'right I'm going to shave my head for charity'. I'm so proud of him.

"It's quite humbling really."

Support Rhys' campaign by visiting www.facebook.com/Rhys MastersTeenAgeCancerTrust.

BIRTHS have been suspended at a maternity unit serving Cotswolds' mums.

Fears over working practices reported by staff and patients using the Cotswold Maternity Unit, at Chipping Norton, prompted the closure.

An internal review has now been launched by Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Trust.

The midwife-led unit, opened by David Cameron in 2010, saw 33 births this year. It is for women with low-risk pregnancies, not expected to need interventions in labour, including epidurals.

An OUH spokesman said:"A number of actions have been taken and the suspension of births will enable a full review of the unit to be completed."

The review is expected to take three months.

The unit said women already booked in or considering giving birth there would be contacted to discuss options. The site would continue to provide antenatal support, babies' hearing tests, breast-feeding advice and postnatal care.

A 56-YEAR-OLD Cheltenham mother and union official led a group who stole £100,000 from Unison.

Former Gloucestershire Unison branch secretary Karen Boyle, of Helens Close, Hester's Way, was jailed for 12 months for her "despicable" and "manipulative" actions as ringleader of the fraud.

Honeymoon

Along with members of her own family and a fellow union official, she took the cash between 2006 and 2009 and spent it on items including champagne, children's clothing, holiday and honeymoon taxi rides to the airport, vehicle repairs and even Easter eggs.

Boyle benefited to the tune of £40,000.

She appointed her husband Patrick, 62, to help.

He was sentenced to a three-month jail sentence suspended for two years, with an 8pm to 6am curfew. He was also banned from entering a pub for two years.

Their daughter Michelle Oakey, 37, who was sent down for four months, made £15,000 out of the scam.

She and her husband Matthew Oakey, 33, used Unison money to pay for their wedding and honeymoon.

Return taxi trips to Birmingham airport from their home in Richmond Gardens, Longlevens, totalled £450.

Matthew Oakey, the former branch administrator, only escaped jail to care for their children.

Instead, he was sentenced to six months suspended for two years.

He was also sentenced to 240 hours of community service and a six-month curfew.

Karen Boyle's deputy Karen Marlow, of Rodney Close, Longlevens, took £15,000 from the branch by falsifying expense claims and being paid for work she did not do.

She was jailed for six months.

All five were sacked by Unison, which called the police when its checks revealed the scale of the thefts.

All five admitted conspiracy to steal, three days in to an expected 11-week trial.

Detective Inspector Ian Ginn, who led the investigation, said: "Unison has been fully supportive of our investigation and helpful throughout and we'd like to thank its for its assistance."

A Unison spokesman said: "These individuals were responsible for a gross betrayal of our members and of the values of this union and we welcome the severity of the sentences."

OPINION, P8

FALLING profit levels have been blamed for the loss of 82 jobs at a Tewkesbury anti-terrorism firm.

Allen-Vanguard, which specialises in making bomb detection devices, has revealed that its manufacturing operation in Alexandra Way, Ashchurch, would stop by the end of this year.

It said its total workforce of 105 would be scaled down to 23, with those remaining providing technical, engineering, sales and support capabilities.

Nobody at the Tewkesbury site was willing to speak yesterday, but in a statement, the US-owned company said: "Following extensive consultations with employees at its Tewkesbury facility, Allen-Vanguard today announced that it will cease manufacturing operations at the site to be effective by the end of 2012. These actions will regrettably result in redundancies at the site."

Company president and chief executive Dennis Morris said: "In the course of our business planning, it became clear that the projected revenue for the Tewkesbury products is dropping significantly and the trend is projected to continue for the foreseeable future.

"These market factors required the company to streamline its cost structure to align with business expectations."

The company said it would now contract out its electronics production work to other manufacturers in the UK.

It said it would move production of its remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to Ottawa, Canada, as well as exploring alternative methods to maintain ROVs for its customers.

The company would also transfer assembly of its search products to Canada, where regulations permit, and outsource in the UK where required.

Mr Morris added: "We understand it is difficult for the affected employees. We are in discussions with those by this announcement as to its impact on them and we will provide services and support to make the transition as smooth as possible."

Shelby Powell, a member of Tewkesbury Chamber of Commerce's committee, said: "We're very sorry to hear about the redundancies. It's very sad for the employees and bad news for the Tewkesbury economy.

"It reflects the tough economic climate there is at the moment."

MORE than 10,000 jump racing fans made their way to Cheltenham Racecourse yesterday to welcome in the first day of the National Hunt season.

There might have been grey skies overhead, but the crowds were in bright spirits.

"There's a really great atmosphere here," said Andy Clifton, from the racecourse.

"One of the best things about this Showcase weekend is that people get to see things they wouldn't usually see, whether it's having the chance to get their photographs taken with the Gold Cup, seeing one of the horses, walking around the weighing room, or meeting a top jockey."

Doors open today for the second day of the meeting today with the first of seven races getting under way at 2pm.

Jockeys will also take the reins to compete in the Greatwood charity race, raising money for the charity's work with retired horses.

"WE are on cloud nine".

Karen Beckett and Terry Sanderson, from Longlevens, have won their dream wedding thanks to an incredible effort by friends and family.

Karen, 32, and Terry, 29, of Longlevens, rallied friends, family and colleagues to help them collect as many tokens as possible to win The Citizen competition.

"It feels like a dream, we are on cloud nine," said Karen, a classroom assistant at The National Star College. We had all of our friends and family collecting, we had posters up in windows, shops. We did as much as we could. We even had strangers handing us the voting slips!"

The pair met five years ago at the college, where Terry is the maintenance worker. A year later they were engaged.

"Terry got down on one knee outside what used to be Moda, in Cheltenham, exactly 12 months after our first date," added Karen, who has a daughter; Lettitia, 15, from a previous relationship and a son, Jack, aged three, with Terry.

"We have been engaged for a long time, so this is amazing, we really can't wait."

As well as the venue of the Hallmark Hotel in Matson, where they were announced the winners on Thursday night, their wedding prize includes a dress from Mystia, rings from Chappelle jewellery, flowers from Plantations Florist, mensware from Slaters, photography by Vicki Haines, a cake by Just Beautiful Weddings, a mini-moon at Magdalene Chapter hotel and a spa day at Montpellier Chapter hotel and a candy cart from Charmaine's Foods.

"YOU can remember him and only that he is gone, or you can cherish his memory and let it live on."

Those are the words in the poem He is Gone by David Harkins, which was picked by Martin Ablett's wife Jan as the family said their final goodbyes to him and laid him to rest.

The former teacher at St Edward's Junior School in Charlton Kings passed away after he collapsed following a Cheltenham Town Football Club's match against Oxford United.

Family, friends, pupils and colleagues filed into St Mary's Church in Charlton Kings yesterday for the 64-year-old's funeral and to remember their friend and mentor.

The former head of physical education in St Edward's, Mr Ablett was a staunch supporter of Cheltenham Town Football Club.

His coffin was brought into the church to the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful, after which close friend Father Pat O'Keeffe shared a moving eulogy. He talked about the many Christmases he shared with the family, including how he met Mr Ablett.

He said: "We are here today to support Jan and Martin's family. He was a close friend of mine and I'm sure, to so many of you here.

"We are influenced by the people around us. Everybody around us has an influence on us, moulding us and helping us grow into what we are today.

"I never thought I would be saying these things so soon, but thank you Martin."

He went on to share anecdotes from when he met Martin in 1970, when the teacher approached Whitefriars School for "his first and only job".

Martin went on to teach English, maths, history and physical education, and coached the school's rugby first team for 17 years with Father O'Keeffe.

Martin also played rugby, where he spent hours on the field sprinting down the wing.

As the priest told of the fond memories the two men shared, there was sad laughter in the church, with murmurs of "I remember that".

Church

Martin met Jan in 1982, when they shook hands outside church.

Father O'Keeffe said: "If that wasn't an omen for marriage, I don't know what is.

"Family was the most important thing to Martin.

They lived out their life fully. All that he had, all that he matured and grew, he gave to her in their marriage."

He ended by saying: "Martin, you never did solve my problem of finding a prop forward, but for these many, many other things you gave to me, and to so many others here in their life, thank you."

The poem was read by close friend Keith Howick, before lasting goodbyes were mired with tears to the hymn To Be a Pilgrim.

Martin leaves behind his wife Jan, son Mark and mother Paddy.

FASHION guru George Davies helped to inspire pupils as they took to the catwalk at The Cotswold School.

The man behind Next and George of Asda helped judge the Bourton-on-the-Water pupils' annual fashion show.

Through his charitable trust he sponsored the top prize, which included valuable work experience at his Draycott-based design company.

The show was devised by previous head girl Erin Hawkes, who scooped the L'Oreal Professional Young Design Talent Award for her graduation collection at Central St Martin's College.

The fashion show was in aid of the Gloucestershire Domestic Violence Support and Advocacy Project.

Fire broke out in the bedroom of a Gloucester home yesterday.

A five-strong crew from Gloucester South Station was called to Clement Street at 5.09pm.

A small fire had started in the bedroom of a house and was quickly extinguished using one hosereel.

Firefighters were at the scene for 40 minutes.

Today's weather will be dry with some sunshine, according to the Met Office.

Temperatures will reach 14C by about 3pm and there will be little wind.

Tomorrow may start with mist covering some areas but sunshine breaking through later.

The high will be 14C.

Italian hooker Tommaso d'Apice chose Gloucester over Italy this summer.

The former Aironi front-rower explained why Kingsholm proved such a draw.

TOMMASO d'Apice happily threw his international career into doubt by signing for Gloucester this summer.

When Italian franchise Aironi folded at the end of last year the 24-year-old was offered a deal by newly-formed club Zebre.

But the Benevento-born hooker was ready for a new experience and spurned the offer.

Rejecting the Zebre deal and leaving his home country meant putting his Italy aspirations on hold: a calculated risk, but one d'Apice is confident will pay long-term dividend.

Plenty of Italy stars ply their trade in the Premiership or France's Top 14, but the Italian federation likes their promising talent to break through on home soil in an ideal world.

So in the short term at least, d'Apice knows out of sight equals out of mind – but if he impresses at Kingsholm, he fully believes the rest will follow.

"I'm very happy at the club now and I'm giving it my best," he explained.

"It's my choice to be at Gloucester. I was at Aironi, and they folded at the end of last year.

"My contract finished and I needed to make a choice about where I would be for this season.

"I had contact from Zebre, but I wanted to do something different, I wanted a new experience.

"I've lost Italy because of this, they haven't selected me because of this choice.

"But now I can tell you I'm really happy with everything, certainly that decision, and how things are going now.

"Changing country, adapting to a new language and a new place, that's been very difficult. But the guys have been fantastic.

"The first month or so was hard, but now I feel good and I hope to play as much as possible in the first team: but also there's time on my side for that too.

"In the future I would love to play for Italy of course. And I certainly don't think coming here will stop me from doing that in the long-term.

"But for now I want to do the best I can for Gloucester, and to push myself as far forward as possible here.

"That's the first aim, and hopefully if I can do well here then things with Italy can follow off the back of that."

D'Apice was just five when he caught the rugby bug, growing up in the shadow of Naples.

By the time he was 18 he was breaking through at Calvisano – but then that franchise folded and he signed for Roma.

His club form earned him recognition with Italy A, and in turn a strong Churchill Cup landed him a dream spot at World Cup 2011.

Everything was hurtling along nicely then, especially when he moved to Aironi after returning from New Zealand.

But ending up in limbo for the second time in his short career after another franchise fold, d'Apice felt it was time to try his hand at something different.

Former Gloucester captain and Kingsholm favourite Marco Bortolami was quick to offer advice on where he should end up.

The big lock told d'Apice: show true grit at Kingsholm and you will be welcomed with open arms.

D'Apice continued: "I played with Marco for two years, and he told me great things about Gloucester.

"He said it's a great team that is based on hard work.

"He told me that if you work hard then you will always have the chance of playing. And that's definitely the case.

"I was at Calvisano when I was 18, then Calvisano folded and I went to Rome, then onto Aironi and that club folded too.

"It was pretty frustrating to have a second club fold like that, so it was definitely time for something new.

"I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than playing rugby, and to have the chance to do that for Gloucester is an honour.

"It's a very exciting time at the moment, for me personally and for the club too.

"The new coaches have us all fighting hard for places in the team, and there's a very good feeling."

ONLY the whole package will be good enough for Gloucester to emerge in credit from a testing Premiership double header, believes Nigel Davies.

The Cherry and Whites host Leicester at Kingsholm next Saturday (kick-off 4.45pm) before taking on Harlequins at The Stoop on November 3.

And Gloucester boss Davies has called on his charges to bring all facets of their developing game together in order to pull off results against last season's Premiership finalists.

Gloucester saw off Bordeaux Begles 25-13 on Thursday night, securing their try bonus point before half-time.

But that opening-half verve was replaced by second-half wobbles, and the Cherry and Whites had to grind home rather than cakewalk to victory.

Rugby director Davies and his coaching team have completed a review of Gloucester's season so far – and now he will tweak his side's playing style this week.

Davies explained: "We finished our coaching review on Wednesday, and quite a lot of interesting things have come out of that.

"It was too late to put any of that into the team for the Bordeaux game, but certainly this week coming we'll be highlighting some of those things we need to tidy up and iron out.

"I had to have a gauge of where this team was, and they were definitely low on confidence and lacked that winning instinct.

"So we had to build from very shaky foundations and we had to concentrate on a few areas, and we've done that.

"And because of that we've been able to grind out some results.

"I think now we've got to look at moving that forward, and other aspects of our game forward.

"We've got a reasonably solid foundation in terms of what we started out to achieve, and we needed to, because we had to grab a foothold.

"We saw some flair in the first half against Bordeaux, and this team's capable of producing those special moments, there's no doubt about it.

"But now it's about producing the whole package, and that's going to be a real challenge for us.

"But we've got a lot more resilience maybe in the side this year than what they had last year."

Gearing up for Gloucester's toughest fortnight of the season so far, Davies said some of the sternest contests in rugby make the Premiership such an engaging challenge.

He continued: "It's great having those back-to-back challenges, that's why it's such a fantastic league.

"We look forward to those challenges.

"We may have to make some changes, but that's fine – all the guys know what the standard is and what's expected of them.

"We'll have a good week now off the back of the coaching reviews we've done, and we'll look to keep improving.

"We've lost one in eight and I'm sure if we'd said that to anyone at the start of the season we'd have taken that.

"And the good thing is – we're not playing to our potential but we're getting results.

"The grit and resilience, and the ability to adapt, that's fantastic.

"We have to have that adaptability, any successful side has that.

"If we can add a few more moments like we had in the first half, and add a bit more control, then this team has surely got potential."

Mike Tindall, Tim Taylor, Sione Kalamafoni and captain Jim Hamilton all trudged out of Thursday's Amlin Challenge Cup victory with injuries.

But Davies said only skipper Hamilton's blow is a potential cause for concern.

Hoping to have more concrete information by Monday, Davies added: "It's very difficult to say in the first 48 hours, but Jim doesn't look great.

"He suffered a rib injury so we'll just have to see.

"The others don't look too bad but we'll know much more clearly by next week.

"Kalamafoni took a bang on the knee but that looks like a soft tissue injury, while Tinds had a sore neck and Tim Taylor just took a heavy bang to the head."

Suspended snooker ace Stephen Lee could be set to return to the professional circuit while a match fixing probe is carried out.

Lee, the world number seven, who trains in Cheltenham, was suspended by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) after suspicious betting patterns were linked to a match between him and John Higgins.

The ban came only a week after Lee was told he would not face criminal charges over match-fixing allegations dating back to 2010.

Lee's manager Adam Quigley, who owns Pockets Snooker Club, in St George's Place, said his client denied any wrongdoing and would fight to clear his name.

He also revealed they were filing an appeal over his initial suspension with the WPBSA which, if successful, would allow Lee to return to competitive matches while the investigation is ongoing.

 He said: "We have filed an appeal and from what we understand it could take three to five days to go through.

"Hopefully it will mean Stephen can get back to playing.

"He is absolutely determined to clear his name."

The match under investigation, on October 11, resulted in a 4-2 victory to Higgins. Lee had looked likely to draw level at 3-3, but missed a pink and black combination.

His performance was immediately questioned in a series of tweets by his West Country rival Judd Trump.