Solent ski club has been providing adaptive skiing sessions for people with various disabilities for over 20 years.

Sessions take place on the second Sunday of every month at the Alpine Sports Centre in Southampton.

The club has been a charity since 2017. It is funded by member subscriptions, ski session fees and donations. 

Club Chairman, Peter Ramm said: “The aim of the club is to put a smile on their faces. Ultimately, we take a view that everyone has a disability when they come skiing because they put a plank of wood on their feet.”

Solent Ski Club hope their guidance can provide disabled skiers with more confidence and therefore greater independence and enjoyment when on the slopes.

Peter Ramm said: “The primary driver is safety, it’s about having enough people around them to ensure they can ski safely.”

The club also aims to develop the skiing knowledge and skills of all members.

Qualified ski instructors, trained ski guides and many volunteers are present at all sessions.

Florence Davies, a skier at the club said: “My favourite thing is probably getting to speak to and enjoy laughs with other people that share similar difficulties to me. Getting to know other people and finding my independence.”

Ellie Wheatley, another participant, who is partially deaf due to a condition called CMV which was passed onto her at birth by her mother, said: “It’s good for my confidence, it gives me opportunities to get out and interact with the wider world. There’s no sport where you’re at a height, you’ve fallen over half the time, but you’re still smiling at the end of it.”

Solent Ski Club look forward to January 18^th, where they will take a group of their disability skiers on their annual trip to Folgaria in Italy, to enjoy the experience on real snow, in the mountains.

The wait is over for Winchester’s burger lovers, as a new Five Guys restaurant has opened in the heart of the city centre.

The American burger chain, world famous for its customisable smash burgers and seemingly bottomless fries opened on Monday, December 2nd.

It was a soft launch without any ceremony for the restaurant, but the new staff and management immediately had a growing queue of customers on their hands.

Five Guys has taken one of three units from the former Debenhams department store. The other two are Nando’s which opened last month and Pizza Express.

Founded in Virginia in 1986, Five Guys launched in the UK in 2013 and has become a popular choice for burger lovers, including celebrities such as Tommy Fury, Mollie King, Ed Sheeran, and Maya Jama. 

There are now 1,800 restaurants worldwide including 171 in the UK. 

The new Winchester branch is expected to be a popular addition to the city’s food scene.

Five teams of firefighters responded to a call in Kings Worthy on Sunday afternoon, regarding a property that was ‘one hundred percent involved by fire with the roof space well alight.’

The call was made just after midday on the 27th September, and crews from Winchester Fire Station, Eastleigh Fire Station, Sutton Scotney Fire Station, Andover Fire Station and Whitchurch Fire Station attended. A total of 35 firefighters were needed at the scene.

The blaze quickly spread across two floors of the detached house, but firefighters took precaution to prevent the fire from spreading to other properties. However, many of the house’s windows were smashed as a result of the fire, leaving the house ‘uninhabitable’.

A cordon was put into place with a search and rescue team also on scene. All persons living at the property were accounted for, with only one woman at the home when the fire started. There have been no reported injuries.

The fire is believed to have started in the roof, and it was due to early detection by a smoke alarm in the loft space that the woman was able to evacuate the building safely.

According to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, ‘Four jets and seventy-five litters of Compressed Air Foam (CAF’s) were used to tackle the blaze.’

Councillor Malcolm Prince said he saw thick black smoke coming from the area, and that the fire started at about 12pm.

 It is not yet known what started the fire. An investigation is to take place to establish the cause.