The deal, which is subject to the RFL’s final written confirmation that Andrew Glover passes their “fit and proper person” test, will secure the Wildcats’ long-term future and give this historic Club a fresh start under Spirit of 1873’s ownership.  At the core of our plans is securing the financial stability which will allow us to support the team on the field and give our loyal fans the experience and success they deserve.  The terms of the agreement will see the Club playing at its long-time Belle Vue home in 2011.

Right now everyone’s focus, across the Company and the Club, is on this weekend.  Along with all the traveling supporters we will be at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium tomorrow cheering on John Kear and the squad in their 5pm match against Castleford Tigers, as the Super League season kicks-off with the Magic Weekend spectacular.

A number of details still need to be finalised and we have a lot to do to get started, but we will make further announcements shortly to provide you with more information about the Company and the way we are looking to run the Club.  However, Spirit of 1873 re-confirms that, as set out in its 1 February press release, under the deal agreed today all existing memberships, season tickets and sponsorship deals will be honoured for the coming season.

We are looking forward to working closely with our Club’s famously loyal fans, the wider Wakefield community and all our sponsors and supporters to build a stable, commercially viable and successful future for this great Club.

We urge everyone to join us in backing John, the players, Spirit of 1873’s team and, indeed, everyone at the Club to achieve those goals – remember, together we are stronger!

The Story
Valerie Lepedat, 66 was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago and she has been courageously fighting the disease ever since. After Val’s first cancer surgery at Doncaster Royal infirmary she joined the Patient Focus Group. Val thought her medical and nursing treatment was excellent but the compassion and added support that she felt she needed at such a time was missing.  This inspired Val and a fellow member of the Patient Focus Group, Lynne Rothwell to do something to help all cancer patients. Val and Lynne came up with the concept of The Aurora Center a dedicated unit offering free treatments to improve the quality of life for cancer patients.

The Aurora Centre’s aim is to boost the self esteem and self confidence of patients whilst undergoing and recovering from related treatments of cancer. The Centre offers a wide range of professional beauty therapy treatments to improve body image for female and male patients suffering from the effects of cancer and the side effects of its treatment. Patents can book pamper days, therapeutic massage, skin care and make-up advice, reflexology and advice on hair loss by one full time and two part time therapists that are specially trained to deal with the effects of cancer treatment.

Aurora Centre, Doncaster

Often a patient will not only lose their hair as a result of radio therapy but also their eyebrows, eyelashes and the skin can often change colour. The Aurora Center offers free therapies that resolve all these side effects. It has been recognised that improving a person’s sense of well-being will dramatically improve their chances of overcoming their illness. The center also offers its services for free to the patient’s family and carers as they also need a little more care during the patient’s treatment. The Centre employs 5 full and part time staff everyone else involved is a volunteer.

Val is a co-founder and the leading volunteer of Aurora and has built the center over the past 7 years to the point where it now gives its services free to over 500 patients a year. The Centre is totally funded by donation but the premises are owned by the NHS and are on hospital sites as the NHS fully endorse what Aurora is doing. Val is involved not only in the day to day running of the Centre but also with its three major fundraising events each year, a large fashion show (all the models are Aurora patents often wearing clothes that don’t hide the physical damage of cancer and its treatment) a golf tournament and a fun run along with a constant itinerary of small fund raising tasks.

The Aurora Centre at the Doncaster Infirmary has been so successful that Val and the Aurora team have opened a second Centre at the Mexborough Montague Hospital about 10 miles from Doncaster. The team also has plans to open a Centre in Manchester next year.

Jayne, Val’s nominator said “I cannot quantify the number of hours Val puts into the charity each and every week or the many compromises she must have made to her own family life in order to support Aurora, but Val does this very quietly and humbly avoiding recognition and reward when in reality she is to many ‘the face of Aurora’”

Aurora Centre in Doncaster, Orangery

West Yorkshire Windows Donation
West Yorkshire Windows in Wakefield & Leeds supplied, built and fitted a new Orangery for the Aurora Centre that was finished at the end of November.  The Orangery will be used as a Reception area for the cancer sufferers and an area to relax.  On Sunday, Val got to see it for the first time.  Through out the entire build, she didn’t know anything about it.  The other part of her present was a trip to Tenerife with her family, including her son that flew over from Australia to see her.

As you can imagine, Val and everyone at the Aurora Centre were over the moon with their new Orangery installed by West Yorkshire Windows.

To view the Orangery designed and built by West Yorkshire Windows – you can watch the show on Sky 1 on December the 20th.

About West Yorkshire Windows
West Yorkshire Windows is the leading home improvement company operating throughout Yorkshire. Installing the latest range of Conservatory & Orangery designs accompanied with a range of energy efficient Double Glazing Windows & UPVC Doors.

To find out more about West Yorkshire Windows you can visit their fabulous showrooms in Wakefield or Leeds or if you prefer, call free on 0800 026 4455.

But as the great Bob Dylan says the times they are a-changing.

New options are putting curtains to shame – in both aesthetic appeal as well as the options they offer. Fitted Window Blinds come in a huge range of colours and designs, including wood, metal, plastic and more.

A fantastic attribute of fitted window blinds is the fact that they can work entirely with any window design. A certain type of window called tilt and turn windows can be tilted open or open fully on a hinge. With curtains there would be no way of opening the window and retaining privacy, but the fitted blinds can still be drawn on a tilted or opened window.

The blinds can also be fitted to doors and even Conservatories. The blinds also don’t require dry cleaning – as curtains retain dust easily, which can lead to allergies, they can be easily maneuvered when cleaning windows, and generally they offer a better option than curtains currently do.

The curtains also fade as the material ages, whereas shutters and blinds are extremely long lasting and durable.

Another great thing about blinds is that with curtains, they are either open or closed. The blinds can open slightly, letting light in but still retaining privacy. This can be especially useful with strong sunlight, preventing glare but also allowing light to filter in to the room.

Curtains have provided a great service, but surely it’s time for them to move over entirely to the more modern blind and shutter ranges available at West Yorkshire Windows.

The company has increased turnover by 15.4% despite the housing market collapse and saturation in the UK PVC-u window and conservatory industry. As many double glazing companies have struggled over the last 18 months with falling demand, Conservatory Outlet has steadily seen demand grow from its dealer base.

“Conservatory Outlet is not a normal trade window supplier.” explains Matthew Glover (Managing Director). “We put a lot of effort into helping our dealers generate leads and sales, rather than going out to find new dealers. All of our growth has been achieved through our Conservatory Outlet dealers growing.”

Conservatory Outlet provides each dealer with their own quality website, and organise driving traffic to the website with a combination of SEO and PPC campaigns. They also keep each dealer website updated with new product updates, news items and topics of interest.

The company has also invested heavily in two major product developments. Firstly, Conservatory Outlet has been one of the pioneering companies, developing the new Energy Efficient Windows alongside the BFRC. The dealers are now selling a high percentage of their double glazing windows as A Rated – the very best energy efficient window available.

Secondly, they have developed a cost effective version of an ‘orangery’. Most consumers expect orangeries to be expensive additions to a home, but Conservatory Outlet uPVC Orangeries are very affordable in comparison with traditional orangeries, or brick built extensions and sunrooms.

Matthew Glover explains, “We’re selling a lot of orangeries this year, with people preferring the look of the brick pillars and internal lighting pelmet. Basically, they look more like a proper room to the house, than a tradition uPVC conservatory”.

Of course, Conservatory Outlet still offer the full range of other uPVC conservatories, such as Lean-tos, Edwardian and Victorian Conservatories, but the company sees a definite switch to more contemporary designs.

Conservatory Outlet have 12 showrooms now in the UK, with outlets in York, Harrogate, Mirfield, Wakefield, Leeds, Kendal, Leyland, Holmes Chapel, Oswestry, Newtown, Pontypool and Raglan. From these showrooms they cover Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Shropshire and most of Wales.

The company is confident that the strong results will continue with similar growth in the second half of 2009 through existing outlets, and then a plan to add more dealerships in 2010.

As many of you know have heard, Cliff Richard has been ordered to tear down his very own £30,000 Conservatory.

Apparently his conservatory took up more than the allotted 30% of the floorspace of his original building, thus breaking the council’s green belt policy.

What Should Cliff Richard Have Looked For?

1/ A Quality Guarantee!

- With West Yorkshire Windows, your conservatory will be under full guarantee for ten whole years, offering you peace of mind…Sir Cliff is wishing he had that at this moment in time.

2/ Planning Permission Guidelines

- We will let you know what you’re allowed to do and what you’re not – when you need planning permission and when you don’t, and everything else you need to know.
We have a useful article on Conservatory Planning Permission here.

3/ Advice from Industry Professionals

- With advice from our staff you won’t be in the same situation as Sir Cliff! Our completely tailor-made conservatories and Orangeries, will give you the freedom to create the extension you want.

4/ We Always Get it Rite First Time

- Okay, minus the odd spelling mistake or two, we always get conservatory fittings spot on! Our builders are well known and liked in the home improvement business. And if by some fluke of nature, something goes wrong, don’t worry we won’t run off! We’ll be there to sort it out.

5/ Quality, Quality, Quality

Conservatories and other products of the highest quality, suited to the lifestyle of the rich and famous at everyday prices.

Don’t worry Cliff! Conservatory Outlet will fit your replacement conservatory and help you every step of the way!

Throughout 2008 a series of adverts on Yorkshire TV shot Andrew Glover, the face of the advertisements to fame in the Yorkshire region. With the phrase ‘You better be quick, these deals can’t last forever’. West Yorkshire WIndows, a Conservatory Outlet dealer, promoted a series of special offers on Conservatories and Energy Efficient uPVC Windows.

The emphasis was based around encouraging customers to visit the West Yorkshire showrooms in Wakefield and Leeds. Also, the adverts drove traffic to the website and telephone enquiries to the call handling centre in Leeds.

The adverts were soon rolled out to the Granada TV region with Chris Mitchell fronting the regional campaign. Format was the same, but with different offers for the conservatory showrooms in Preston, Kendal and Holmes Chapel.

Matthew Glover, the Managing Director of Conservatory Outlet explained, “Although it is not cheap to advertise on ITV, we have found that our formula of having a front man (Andrew/Chris) explaining the latest special offers really drives interest to our website and showrooms. So, we are extending our campaign further.”

The company has committed to continue advertising every month, with a high density campaign over the summer months to take full advantage of peak conservatory buying markets, and the warmer weather. The latest advert includes a massive 35% off Tailor Made Orangeries and Conservatories, with only a £99 deposit and buy now pay in 12 months facility – Interest free credit also available.

The TV advertising is backed at West Yorkshire Windows by a strong internet marketing strategy with lead generation through pay per click and search engine optimisation strategies. The website is highly user friendly, with plenty of quality content containing all the information one would need about the latest contemporary conservatories, uPVC windows and doors.

Conservatory Outlet retailers install over 40 conservatories per week throughout Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Shropshire, Mid Wales and South Wales. They currently have 12 conservatory showrooms in York, Harrogate, Leeds, Wakefield, Mirfield, Kendal, Preston, Holmes Chapel, Oswestry, Newtown, Pontypool and Raglan Garden Centre with West Yorkshire Windows using the Leeds and Wakefield showrooms.

In the past some people have bought a conservatory and chose to not have the perfect fit blinds installed. After a few months they’ve come back or gone somewhere else to get blinds fitted.

However, West Yorkshire Window’s Perfect Fit Blind system is a unique product that allows a variety of blind types to be fitted to double glazed windows and doors, without the need to drill, screw frames or surrounding plasterwork. They integrate fully with the window or door, allowing the blind to operate as one with the opening, ensuring the ideal combination of shade with ventilation.

Not only can we do Pleated blinds, but we can also do Roller blinds with the same Perfect Fit system. All of our fabrics are available with both the Pleated and the Roller blind system.

If you are unsure as to your blind measurements you can visit our site for information on how to measure your windows.

We have been inundated with visitors and you would be so pleased to hear their comments, they have been so impressed.

It would be lovely to meet you ‘properly’ and you are welcome to visit us!

Look forward to seeing you and the very best wishes for the future success of West Yorkshire Windows.  You certainly deserve it!

Our grateful thanks

Dianne, Alan and Katie