Some of South Holland’s leading food producers are backing a new campaign to help unemployed young people get onto the career ladder.

Feeding Britain’s Future is a national project creating opportunities for jobless 16 to 24-year-olds learn the skills necessary to impress potential employers and discover the range of careers available in the food industry.

About 150 spaces have been created for unemployed young people in South Holland by at least ten firms, including Pinchbeck-based Greencore Food to Go which is running four sessions this month when advice on CV writing and interview skills is available.

Martin Hobbs, Greencore’s human resources manager, said: “We got involved with the scheme after a directive from our head office in Nottinghamshire and last year, we did one session in one day for unemeployed young people.

“This year, we’ve extended it to four days on a weekly basis and the feedback we’ve had from the young people has been fantastic so it’s something we want to back.”

Nationally, the project is a partnership between food producers, the Institute of Grocery Distribution and Jobcentre Plus involving more than 150 businesses and about 15,000 young people at 1,150 locations.

Mario Pastore, manager of Jobcentre Plus in Spalding, said: “There are just over 400 registered unemployed young people in South Holland so it’s great news for jobseekers when businesses come together to create opportunities that will help them into work.

More than 30 jobs will be created in Spalding with the opening of frozen food chain Iceland and Costa Coffee.

Iceland will employ 20 people when it opens in the former Allied Carpets store on Winfrey Avenue, on Tuesday, October 1.

Acca Ltd, which is operating the Costa Coffee franchise, is set to open in the former Burton Menswear store, in Hall Place, before the end of the month and will have 12 employees.

Builders are expected to finish fitting out the coffee shop by the end of this week.

Agents for Acca said: “A Costa Coffee in this location would support the vitality and viability of Spalding and bring associated economic benefits through linked spending in the surrounding area.”

Iceland area manager Steve Cropper said his firm’s new store represents a “considerable investment” in Spalding.

He said: “We are delighted to be opening our new store on Winfrey Retail Park.

“Our range of frozen, fresh and grocery will add greatly to the food shopping choice in the Spalding area as our nearest store is over 14 miles away.”

Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce president Phil Scarlett said it’s great news that big brands are opening in Spalding as it will encourage others to follow.

He said: “There were jobs in both premises before the closures, but I think these numbers are an increase so there will be a net gain in employment, which is exactly what Spalding needs.”

An autistic youngster is sporting a smile a mile wide after a cash donation to buy a new iPad.

Thomas Stebbings received a cheque for £300 after his mum Lauren submitted an application to the Smile Fund.

The fund is a £10,000 pot being offered by Spalding and District Round Table to benefit the community.

Lauren, of Miller’s Rest, Whaplode, said in her application that the money would help buy the hi-tech device and cover for Thomas, which will help him communicate and learn more easily.

She said: “It will really connect him with the applications he uses at school.”

Thomas, who attends Gosberton House School, and his sister Charlotte received the cheque from the Round Table’s Matt Clark and Mark Luck.

They were watched by Lauren, who was delighted and very grateful for the generous donation.

And you could soon be in Lauren’s shoes – on the receiving end of a Smile cheque – if you have a project you need cash for.

It is ever so easy to apply.

Spalding and District Round Table has teamed up with the Spalding Guardian to allow readers to submit their application – and there are very few limits to who can apply.

Applicants can be individuals, a group, club, organisation or maybe even a school.

Projects can include anything from a new sports team kit to a day out – or even just money to decorate a room in your house.

To apply, send a letter including your name, address, beneficiary of the cash, amount requested and the reason for the request to Spalding Guardian Smile Fund, Priory House, The Crescent, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 1AB.

A middle-aged man has been taken to hospital after coming off his motorbike on the A151 between Weston and Moulton today.

The accident happened at about 7.10am when police and ambulance crews were called to the scene.

The motorcyclist was taken to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, as a precaution but he isn’t thought to have been seriously hurt.

Motorists faced rush-hour delays in The Deepings area after a spate of accidents in villages along the A15 corridor.

All three crashes happened on Thursday morning, the most serious when a 33-year-old man on a bicycle was in collision with a Vauxhall Astra on King Street, West Deeping.

It happened at about 7.10am and the cyclists was taken to Peterbrough City Hospital with serious head, back and leg injuries before being transferred to Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.

The road was closed for almost five hours and didn’t fully reopen until 12 noon.

Anyone who saw the accident should call Lincolnshire Police’s collision hotline on 01522 558855.

Meanwhile, a Peugeot 306 and Ford Ka collided on nearby King Street, Langtoft, just after 9am and paramedics treated drivers of both vehicles for minor injuries.

Finally, police were forced to close Bourne Road, Folkingham, for several hours after a BMW X5 and Peugeot 206 collided just before 9am.

A number of casualties were treated for minor injuries by paramedics, while firemen cleared up diesel spillage and recovered both vehicles.

The road was finally cleared at about 11.20am.

A Donington business woman nailed it when she ditched her career in media advertising for something completely different.

Since Beverley Rose opened in the Market Place, the nail technician from Bicker has won a second place and silver medal in the prestigious London Nailympics in 2011, where she was up against competition from all over the world.

Next month she heads off to Manchester to test her gel polish skills against the nation in Professional Beauty North at the GMEX Centre in Manchester - along with her 19-year-old daughter, Courtney who has joined her in the business.

Beverley said: “Winning at Nailympics was a great accolade for a little nail technician in Lincolnshire.

“I had never entered before and I was gobsmacked.

“It shows that with the correct skills you can offer a service to match any in the world.”

Her success didn’t end there. In May she was invited to the finals of Scratch Stars - an awards ceremony held at the Cafe de Paris.

She said: “It was certainly a glittering occasion. To be invited your skills are assessed at the London College of Beauty and it means you have been voted for by people from the industry.

“It shows that you have excelled and have prowess within the industry. You have to enter yourself for this award and I am about to do that for the 2014 competition.

”I’m also planning to enter the salon in the Salon Gold Awards - although I’m so busy it’s often hard to find the time.”

To perfect her skills, Beverley regularly flies off to Los Angeles for four days intensive training that earns her the Master Educator for UK title.

Her school, the Nail Harmony Training Academy, is run from her salon on Sundays and Mondays and teaches the art of gelish gel polish, acrylics, hard gel, basic manicures, pedicures and Kooky nail wraps.

Beverley said: “You can see why I don’t have time to enter any more competitions.

“I’ve been teaching for three years and am just taking my PTLLS training.

“I can honestly say I’ve never looked back since changing career. Nails have always been my passion - even before I trained I used to do my colleagues nails at work.

“But what working in advertising did give me was the ability to talk to anyone and that has certainly helped me develop my career and take it to the top.”

For information of treatments available or nail training courses, email bev@nailharmony.co.uk

MP John Hayes is backing a fight by Cowbit residents to save Ye Olde Dun Cow from being bulldozed to make way for nine new homes on the site.

Members of the Save the Dun Cow Campaign presented the South Holland and The Deepings MP with a petition containing nearly 700 names on Friday.

The derelict Dun Cow, which was wrecked by a fire, is the only pub in the village – and residents want to see it restored and run as a pub.

The MP said: “I think it’s a very desirable outcome and I am very enthusiastic about their plans.

“It’s much better to keep it as a pub than develop it for housing because we have lots of housing in Cowbit and only one pub.

“I have been a long standing supporter of village pubs and I will continue to support them.”

The Save the Dun Cow Campaign is trying to have the pub listed as a “community asset” under Localism legislation – and South Holland District Council will give a verdict on any application.

Jonathan Matthews, from the Save the Dun Cow Campaign, said residents were pleased Mr Hayes was supporting them.

He said: “Mr Hayes was pleased with the progress that the campaign had made and stated that this was precisely the kind of exploit the Government had envisaged when drawing up the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) and Localism Act 2011, a community coming together to save important public amenities and assets for future generations.”

Two people who carried out a street mugging in Spalding are to be sentenced later this month after admitting robbery when they appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.

Shane Osbourne (26), of St Thomas’s Road, Spalding, and Chantelle Learmonth (21), formerly of Spalding but now of Silverlands Avenue, Quinton, Birmingham, each pleaded guilty to robbing Charlene Blackbourne of a handbag and contents.

The charges follow an incident in Winsover Road, Spalding on May 16.

Osbourne also admitted perverting the course of justice between May 20 and 28 May.

Both were remanded in custody to await sentence.

A woman was throwing illegal drugs down a drain while police were speaking to a man after stopping their car.

Zena Lunness (34), of Hereward Road, Spalding, discarded cannabis and heroin on the afternoon of September 5, but police recovered the drugs and arrested her.

Lunness, of Hereward Way, Spalding, appeared before magistrates sitting in Grantham on Thursday for sentence on possession of cannabis, possession of heroin, three thefts from shops and failing to answer bail.

She pleaded guilty at previous hearings.

Lunness was given an 18-month supervision order with a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

She must pay a £60 victim surcharge, £6 compensation to Spalding store Peacocks and £17.98 to the Lincolnshire Co-operative store at Whaplode.

Her solicitor, Mike Alexander, described Lunness as a young lady in the hold of a strong drug addiction.

During her interview with the probation service, she asked what was the point of it and wanted to go into custody – but she reengaged and admitted she knew what she had been doing was wrong.

Mr Alexander said: “She does want to stop using drugs.”

Marie Stace, prosecuting, said Lunness and another went into the One Stop Community Stores in Holbeach on April 27, selected two cans of lager and left without paying.

Lunness went to Peacocks on July 6, selected a pair of shorts and tried them against someone before leaving without paying. On August 13 she stole two Airwick fresheners worth a total of £17.98 from the Co-op.

A South Holland district councillor has been handed a major role in holding the man overseeing policing in Lincolnshire to account.

Coun Paul Przyszlak was elected vice chairman of the county’s Police and Crime Panel at its September meeting where Norman Norris was elected chairman.

Formally a member of Lincolnshire Police Authority, which was replaced by the panel in November 2012, Coun Przyszlak will play an important part in monitoring the work of Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Alan Hardwick.

“I’m looking forward to this new role and all that it entails which includes a visit from the Home Affairs Select Committee at the end of the year,” Coun Przyszlak.

“I’m also looking forward to holding the Commissioner to account in what will be an interesting year for the Police and Crime Panel.”

Select committee members are to visit Lincolnshire later this year as part of a review of PCCs and in the aftermath of Mr Hardwick’s decision to suspend Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Neil Rhodes over a misconduct allegation in February.

The suspension was quashed by a High Court judge a month later and Mr Rhodes was finally cleared in August after an independent investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by him.

But the panel came under fire from the select committee over its handling of the affair which led to Mr Norris becoming acting chairman in June when Coun Ray Wootten resigned over claims that he had “inadvertently” misled MPs about a 72-day delay in the panel discussing the suspension.

Mr Harris said: “I am delighted to have been elected to the position of chairman of the panel for Lincolnshire at what is an important time for policing in the county.

“I will lead the panel and ensure we are robust in our scrutiny of the Commissioner as we support him in making Lincolnshire a safer place to live, work and visit.”

A spokesman for the Commissioner said: “Mr Hardwick looks forward to working effectively with the new chairman, vice chairman and rest of panel members.”

A man was “having a bad day” when he lashed out and kicked a phone box in front of Spalding Magistrates’ Court.

But it got worse because he was spotted by an off duty police officer.

Marie Stace, prosecuting, said Jools Kennedy kicked out at the kiosk, smashing two sides of the glass, shortly after 3pm on July 18.

Kennedy was taken to custody at Boston Police Station where he answered “no comment” to questions surrounding the damage, but admitted he was in the vicinity and had no lawful excuse to damage the kiosk.

The court heard Kennedy was in the early part of court ordered supervision at the time and was seeing the drink and drugs help agency, Addaction.

Solicitor Daven Naghen said: “He was having a bad day. He had got no particular reason to damage the phone box. He accepts he was lashing out.”

Kennedy (23), of Essex Road, Stamford, pleaded guilty to criminally damaging BT property worth £129.

Mr Naghen said the damage to the glass was £30 and the rest of it was call-out and labour fee for repairs.

The court ordered Kennedy to pay £129 compensation, £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

He was conditionally discharged for 12 months.

A man carrying bags of cannabis was stopped and searched by police after he made “gestures towards them”.

Officers were on a patrol at 8pm on February 9 in Church Street, Spalding, when their attention was drawn to Paul O’Reilly.

Marie Stace, prosecuting, told magistrates that police asked O’Reilly if he was okay, but he was then abusive.

She said his pupils were dilated and officers carried out a Misuse of Drugs Act search.

O’Reilly admitted he was carrying cannabis and had nine small bags of a green, herbal matter.

Miss Stace said police searched his home, finding three bags of the banned substance.

The total weight of the cannabis seized was 18.8 grammes.

Solicitor Jeremy Roberts, mitigating, said O’Reilly had collected his Jobseeker’s money and used some of it to buy the drug.

Mr Roberts said: “He apologises for being a little abusive, but as soon as the officers said they wanted to conduct a search, he immediately said ‘I have got cannabis on me’. He was very up front.”

O’Reilly (22), of Halmer Gate, Spalding, was fined £75 with £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge when he admitted possessing the class B controlled drug.

A man stole his step-sister’s caravan and sold it for £100 after he had been living in it and had done it up.

Tony Halsall (47), of Pinchbeck Road, Spalding, had been staying with his family in Devon since 2008.

Marie Stace, prosecuting, said after Halsall’s father passed away in 2009, his step mother told Halsall he was welcome to stay on.

Originally, he had his own caravan, but that burned down, and he moved to a caravan owned by her daughter, his step-sister.

She said there were problems in the family in August last year and Halsall packed up and left, taking the caravan with him.

Miss Stace said he had no permission to take it.

She said Halsall told police: “He had lived in it for so long he had forgotten that it wasn’t his.”

Halsall pleaded guilty on Thursday to theft of a £600, four berth caravan belonging to Julie Wells, at Buckland Monachorum.

He was fined £145 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Magistrates also ordered him to pay £100 compensation.

Solicitor Daven Naghen, for Halsall, queried the value of the caravan given in the charge as Halsall had sold it for £100.

Mr Naghen said Halsall completely renovated the caravan and after three-and-a-half years, when things weren’t going well in the family, he gave it no thought and left in it.

“He had lived in it, he had done the work on it,” said Mr Naghen. “He now accepts that he wasn’t the true owner and accepts that he would be guilty of theft.”

The future of Holbeach town centre could look clearer if plans for a meeting of parish, district and county council officials goes ahead.

Reviving empty business premises and increased parking provision are both expected to be on the agenda if the meeting parish councillors want to have with South Holland District Council’s economic development team and county highways officials takes place.

Representatives from both organisations are to be invited to Holbeach in the coming months to visit the town centre and talk with parish councillors who believe the town is losing out to Long Sutton and Spalding.

The idea was proposed at a council meeting on Monday when members discussed a letter from Holbeach property owner Ian Venni who claimed the town’s biggest problem was a lack of shoppers.

Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Venni said: “I’ve lived around the Holbeach area most of my life and the main improvement I’d like to see is with footfall, but parking seems to be the biggest issue.

“We’re told that there’s ample parking on Boston Road South but most of the people who shop in town are elderly and they aren’t willing to park on Boston Road South and walk all the way up to the other end of town.

“There’s an ample possibility for parking on both sides of High Street for people who want to shop in town for an hour.”

Coun Isobel Hutchinson said: “We’ll invite both district and county council officials to come down but whether they will or not is another matter.

“We have to be a bit more proactive about promoting Holbeach in the same way that Long Sutton and Spalding promote themselves.”

South Holland Enterprise Day and Business Awards organisers are celebrating a major coup with one of Lincolnshire’s leading business figures set to attend the event.

Ursula Lidbetter MBE, chief executive of Lincolnshire Co-operative since 2004, will be one of the guest speakers at the event to be held at Springfields Events and Conference Centre on November 20.

Spalding and District Chamber of Commerce members, hosts of the event, are hoping at least 250 businesses will be represented on a day that will also include trade exhibitors, a networking buffet lunch and six awards to be presented to some of South Holland’s most outstanding firms.

Chamber secretary David Norton said: “Ursula is certainly a leader in the business community and we’re very pleased to match up our event with her diary.

“It’s important to say that she’s very interested in chamber activities and is very keen to ensure that the economic prospects of the county, and in this instance the south of the county, are registered and reflected as far as possible within the circles that she moves in.”

Ursula was born in Lincoln and went to Hull University where she gained a degree in operational research and management.

She joined Lincolnshire Co-operative in 1985 and as chief executive, she runs a society with about 200,000 members.

In 2012, Urusla was awarded an MBE for services to business and she is currently chairman of both Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce and Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Spalding chamber president Phil Scarlett said: “We’re providing a wonderful opportunity to hear Ursula who is such an inspirational speaker, with a tremendous knowledge of business in Lincolnshire and experience of running a multi-million pound business.”

Villagers are to be asked if they would support a dream to take over a library and create a community hub.

Early work is being carried out by Pinchbeck Parish Council looking into whether it is feasible to take over the village’s library and extend the use of its current building for community groups.

A survey has been sent out to around 1,900 homes in East and West Pinchbeck, asking for residents’ views on taking over the library and using trained volunteers to manage it.

The library, in Knight Street, is due to be closed as part of Lincolnshire County Council’s cuts to save around £2million.

The survey also asks if people would be willing to become volunteers and whether they would like to see the adult study centre/library building retained for use by community and other groups.

Parish councillor John Allen said: “The building is completely under-utilised at the moment so as a parish council we thought we would have a look at retaining the building and bringing it under our control and utilising it as it should be for the community.”

The building could then be used for parish council meetings, training sessions, play groups and social groups and volunteers would be trained to run the library.

The council is now applying for a grant which would pay for a feasibility study into whether the plan would be commercially viable.

Mr Allen added: “We need to look at what is viable, whether it will pay for itself and how much it is going to cost.

“But first we need to know if people in the parish would support it.”

The survey, which also asks villagers’ views on plans for new play equipment on the Glebe Field, can be obtained by emailing pinchbeckparish.btconnect.com and should be returned to Pinchbeck library as soon as possible.

He patrolled the streets for about 30 years but now a retired Spalding police sergeant has taken on a new beat in tackling shoplifting.

Stuart Brotherton is putting his policing career to good use after taking over this month as co-ordinator of Spalding Shopwatch with the support of Spalding and District Chamber of Commerce.

His main role is persuading shops in the town to sign up to a radio security system designed to alert traders to suspected shoplifters before they have a chance to strike.

Stuart takes over from Barry Inman, a former police community support officer who ran the scheme for about eight years.

At a chamber meeting last Tuesday, Stuart said: “I retired from policing at the end of June but before I left, I provisionally agreed to take over from Barry as Shopwatch coordinator for Spalding.

“I thought there was plenty of scope in it and the aim is to keep shoplifting down because preventing it is better than detecting it.

“It’s a part-time role but it’s very intensive and there’s plenty to do.”

More than 20 Spalding retailers are in the scheme which Stuart now jointly runs with one in Sleaford and one of his first jobs is to try and persuade shops in Holbeach to become part of it as well.

He said: “I plan to get as many businesses involved as possible so that everyone, including the police, will then be able to work together as a community to deter crime in the town centres.”

Jason Rooke, chairman of Spalding Shopwatch, said: “I’m delighted to have Stuart on board and I can’t really think of a more ideal co-ordinator for Shopwatch with his policing experience.

“He’ll no doubt move things on very quickly and I’ll be there to support him.”

‘Dangerous’ Fredrick Ward has been jailed for six years after nearly killing one of his friends by stabbing him in the neck.

He was also given a three-year extended parole licence which places him at risk of being returned to jail until September 2022.

Ward (35), of Chestnut Avenue, Spalding, admitted wounding John Neild with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm on December 9 2012.

Judge Michael Heath described Ward as dangerous and told him: “You are extremely fortunate that he did not suffer fatal injuries. It is almost a miracle that you didn’t kill him.”

Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, said the stabbing occurred after Mr Neild and another friend went to collect Ward from his home as they planned to take him out to cheer him up.

Ward sat in the rear seat of the car behind Mr Neild and then suddenly stabbed him in response to a remark.

Mr Dee said: “The complainant felt a blow to the side of his neck.

“He was aware of blood gushing from a wound. It was obvious he had been stabbed.

“Mr Neild got out of the car and they went to a nearby house for towels to stem the flow of blood until the ambulance arrived. The complainant thought he was dying.”

Mr Dee said that the stab wound cut through an artery and Mr Neild lost so much blood he later had to undergo a transfusion.

Hal Ewing, defending, said that at the time of the incident Ward was depressed after suffering the loss of a leg following a motorcycle accident.

He said Ward regretted what happened.

“It was not a repeated assault. It was only one blow. It reflects a momentary loss of control.

“His two friends went to his house to see him and to take him out to try to cheer him up.

“He does not understand why he lost control in the way he did.

“It would seem a comment was made simply as a joke but it was a comment which clearly upset Mr Ward and led to a reaction he accepts was completely beyond any reaction that could be justified.

“He knows what he did was utterly wrong.”

A meeting is to be held to drive forward plans for a community shop after villagers voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the idea.

A trio of residents from Gedney Dyke sent out surveys to 500 homes in the village and neighbouring Gedney Drove End to gauge interest in re-opening the village shop which closed during the summer.

More than 100 replies were received – enough for semi-retired entrepreneur Lyn Watson, chartered accountant Nina Waymont and builder and groundworker Alan Day to forge ahead with the idea.

Mr Watson said: “Every return supported the reinstatement of the shop, with residents offering to buy shares, donate money, help with fundraising and assist in running the shop on a voluntary basis.

“The reponse was unbelievable.”

A meeting will be held at Gedney Dyke Village Hall from 7pm on Friday, September 20, to discuss the next steps.

South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes has pledged his support.

Treasurer Mrs Waymont said: “It is great that John is taking time out of his busy schedule to support us.

“He is actively trying to find sources of funds for us and it is hugely reassuring he is willing to support local causes when he has so much to do on a national basis.”

The shop would be a community shop – owned and run by villagers – and would include the reinstatement of the village’s post office, which also closed recently.

Mr Watson said: “Most people said we will never get the post office back. On the contrary, I have it in writing that the Post Office will work with us to reinstate the facility.

“It’s great news, please come and support us – we can do it!”

Britain’s top Government minister responsible for courts is “concerned” about steps to close Spalding’s court house.

South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes met the Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon Chris Grayling, after Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service admitted it is doing a listings review taking into account “changing workloads”.

Most Spalding court sittings have been stripped out this year and, after the end of October, it will open only on Thursdays.

Mr Hayes said: “I spoke to the Lord Chancellor about the magistrates’ court and I explained that I was aware that there was no pressure coming from the Government to close the court.

“I said I was concerned that due to some undesirable local decision making, based on imperfect advice, that we might suffer closure by stealth or the court would go into abeyance. Obviously he was concerned about that.”

Mr Hayes agreed to set out his case in a letter to the Lord Chancellor.

The MP said: “Access to justice matters to the Government and there is no Government plan to close the magistrates’ court.”

He says switching Spalding’s workload to other courts means it will do less and less.