Spalding Police have warned car owners after an increase in incidents where insecure vehicles have been entered and an untidy search made where offenders have been looking for items to steal.
Windows to vehicles have also been smashed where items have been left in full view of offenders who have entered the vehicle and taken items such as wallets, handbags and mobile phones.
They say: “Please make sure your vehicle is locked and all items left out of sight or removed from the vehicle.”
Drug companies are profiteering from the NHS to the tune of £1 billion because they have unjustifiably hiked prices of cancer medicine, experts warn.
Cancer patients are let down by greedy drug companies who delay availability of well-established treatments and raise the prices beyond what the NHS can afford, academics said.
They pointed out the prices of 14 cancer drugs - which cost just pennies to make - have increased by more than 1,000 per cent over the past five years.
Treatments for cancers including leukaemia and breast cancer can be produced for less than one per cent of the prices charged in Britain.
But the NHS pays more because health bosses fail to contest the price or challenge the firms.
Dr Andrew Hill, senior researcher Liverpool University’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics says the price hikes are “particularly worrying”.
He said: “We were surprised to find several companies consistently raising the prices of cancer treatment.
“Twenty treatments have shown rises of over 100 per cent in the last five years, and in two - busulfan (used to treat leukaemia) and tamoxifen (breast cancer) - prices have increased by over 1,000 per cent.
“We have found that some companies take over the supply of some generic cancer medicines and then raise the price progressively.”
The amount paid by the NHS was “under the radar” and added: “This figure will probably be in the high hundreds of millions of pounds per year, or possibly £1 billion.”
He said: “They are not negotiating well enough, they should be looking at any company that starts raising the price of any drug.”
Cancer patients are now living longer as the disease becomes chronic rather than acute and access to drugs - produced for pennies - improve lifestyle quality and extend life expectancy.
Dr Hills and co-author Melissa Barber were unable to calculate the exact cost to the NH.
But they told the 2017 European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam the NHS paid £380m more in 2015 than it had five years earlier because of greedy drug companies.
In their report Hills and Barber say the price of chemotherapy drug melphalan rose by 230 per cent in the UK, rising from 55p for 2mg in 2011 to £1.82 in 2016.
In stark contrast, the Italian authorities fined the South African drug company Aspen millions when in 2014 they threatened to stop supplying ovarian cancer drugs if healthcare chiefs did not agree to a price hike of up to 1,500 per cent.
In their report Dr Hills and Barber said: “The negotiation strategy adopted by Aspen was so aggressive as to reach the credible threat of interrupting the direct supply of the drugs to the Italian market.”
Ms Barber said: “Tamoxifen, used to treat breast cancer, can be manufactured for less than two US dollars per month of treatment, and imatinib, used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia, can be produced for $54 per month.
“Showing that certain cancers could be treated for very low prices could transform the future of people with these cancers in very low-income countries where there are usually few or no treatment options.”
Professor Ian Banks, chair of the Patient Advisory Committee, said: “Research presented at the ECCO Congress covers the whole of the cancer field, including important policy issues like those raised in these abstracts.
“The availability and pricing of treatments are of great interest and concern to cancer patients, and we consider it important to encourage the widest possible debate on them, as well as on other issues that affect patients’ quality of life.”
The British Generic Manufacturers Association called for competition and claimed the prices were hiked by companies because there was only one supplier.
A spokesperson said: “That is because the total market size is too small to be attractive for generic companies to enter, since they would not recoup the million-pound plus costs of developing, testing and registering a new generic medicine.”
A 57-year-old woman charged following a shooting incident in South Lincolnshire today (Monday) admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Mary Jane Taylor, of Little London, Long Sutton, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Alan Taylor (58) as a result of an incident at Whaplode on December 8.
Taylor, who appeared before Lincoln Crown Court via video link from Peterborough Prison, denied a more serious charge of attempting to murder Mr Taylor on the same date.
Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, told the court that the Crown accepted the guilty plea to the lesser offence.
Judge Michael Heath adjourned sentence for the preparation of a psychiatric report and Taylor was remanded in custody to appear back before the Crown Court on March 21 for sentence.
Spalding community broadcaster Tulip Radio has gone off air after splitting with its new partners over “irreconcilable differences”.
Tulip stopped broadcasting on Friday, with directors blaming “some issues with our technical systems”, but also a falling out with Peterborough-based broadcast charity Hereward Media.
The Lincolnshire Free Press reported last month that Tulip Radio had been rescued from closure after Hereward Media came in at the 11th hour with a rescue deal on December 13 which kept the station on air.
Speaking to the Free Press yesterday, Tulip Radio station director Chris Carter said: “We had some issues with our technical systems which meant that we were unable to play any music on Friday.
“However, over the last week to ten days, we were increasingly concerned about the direction in which Hereward Media was wanting to take Tulip Radio.
“We didn’t feel that the best interests of Tulip Radio were best served by continuing an association with Hereward Media so it has withdrawn its offer of support, free of charge, to the radio station.”
Alex Geairns, Station Director of Hereward Media, said: “We believe there has been a steady backtracking by Tulip Radio as to what had been agreed. In a crunch meeting last Friday, it was made clear to us that since we entered into the partnership, Tulip Radio had received numerous other offers of technical and presentational help.
“They seemed to consider that they would be better served by people who didn’t want anything to change and, in addition, they wanted to shut the station down immediately.
“In contrast, our original strategy was to implement what we believed was necessary, indeed in our view essential, to our rescue plan for Tulip Radio.
“At first, we were led to believe we could simply get on with things but this was not the case and, subsequently, we had to scrap our plans for a new logo, brand, on-air identity, signage, and new, responsive website as the reaction of the Tulip Radio directors was so hostile to these revisions.
“Therefore, as of 6pm last Friday, Hereward Media formally cut ties with the broadcaster after a catalogue of unhelpful behaviour.
“As a charitable organisation, we have invested a significant amount of resources to make a success of this project. But irreconcilable differences have forced us to retreat in order to protect our charity.”
Tulip Radio was relaunched four weeks ago after the deal with Hereward Media which involved providing both broadcasting and technical skills to keep the station on air and see it into its 16th year of community work.
But Mr Geairns said: “We wanted this to be ‘The Station You Can Really Call Your Own’, for the people of Spalding and South Holland, and had even begun taking on the training of local presenters.
“But you can’t keep banging your head against a brick wall when so much necessary information (financial information about Tulip Radio) is being withheld.
“As it is, we believe Hereward Media is within its rights to claim standard market rates for the hours put in and the expenses incurred.
“Something is very wrong when both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 18, just days after Hereward Media came forward with their rescue bid, and then we have to taken action to get clear of this nightmare.”
An appeal for volunteers willing to train and become voluntary police chaplains has been made by Churches Together in All Lincolnshire.
The role sees volunteers providing a listening and support service for police officers as they protect people who live and work in the county.
It is open to men or women aged 18 or over who are physically fit and able to work in a pressurised and, at times, challenging environment.
The Rev. William Ruddle, Lead Chaplain for Lincolnshire Police said: “The police perform a profoundly important role in keeping the people of Lincolnshire safe and protected.
“Therefore, the opportunity to support those who look after us is a privilege many will find attractive as chaplaincy is a chance to give back to those who put themselves on the line for us every day.”
Volunteers can work according to hours which suit them, but police checks will be made before appointment and they will also need to be fully trained.
For more details, call Mr Ruddle on 07903 730591.
Bourne Westfield Primary Academy is one of six teaching schools in Lincolnshire that will benefit from a £142,500 cash injection from the Government.
The school, one of six in the county to be part of Lincolnshire Teaching Schools Together (LTT) made a successful bid for funding from the Department for Education.
It will go towards closer partnership working between Bourne Westfield, its (LTT) partners and more than 240 other school across Lincolnshire, ensuring improvements in teaching and learning.
Marie-Claire Bretherton, Chairman of Lincolnshire Teaching Schools Together, said: “Our aim is simple – we want to work in partnership with school leaders and governors to ensure that every school in Lincolnshire is a good school.
“We are finding that school leaders are increasingly taking responsibility for school improvement and are seeking partnerships which will help them succeed.
“This funding will enable us to work together to harness the expertise in the system and direct support where it is needed most.”
The chance to join Lincolnshire County Council is being opened up to people across South Holland and south-east Lincolnshire.
All 70 county council seats are up for election on May 4 and anyone aged 18 or over who has links with the county, either as a registered elector or having lived here for at least a year, can stand.
An open meeting for anyone interested is at Boston Borough Council in West Street, Boston, on Monday, March 6, at 6pm.
For more information, call Lorraine Bush on 01205 314224 or e-mail lorraine.bush@boston.co.uk
About 25 jobs could be at risk after an announcement that four Lincolnshire branches of a high street building society, including Spalding, are to close.
Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) Group, which runs the Norwich and Peterborough (N&P) network, revealed plans to shut 48 branches across the UK due to the rising popularity of online banking.
N&P branches in Sheep Market, Spalding; North Street, Bourne; Market Place, Market Deeping; and Stamford are the four branches in Lincolnshire down for closure later this year.
As well as branch closures, hundreds of customers will see their current accounts closed as the N&P brand is set to disappear from the high street altogether.
Mike Regnier, chief executive of YBS, said: “The driving forces behind the proposed branch closures are shifts in market conditions and an increasing desire among customers to transact digitally, rather than on the high street.
“Therefore, we no longer believe it is the right commercial position for us to continue to maintain these 48 branches across the N&P and YBS network.”
The N&P branch in Spalding celebrated its 55th anniversary in September 2016 and, last month, donated £100 each to three charities, including Friends of The Garth School in Spalding.
Mr Regnier said: “The N&P brand has been part of YBS since 2011 and, inevitably, some of our colleagues and members will be disappointed by these proposals.
“However, the values of the N&P and Yorkshire brands are synonymous and we believe that by operating with YBS as our sole high street brand, it will allow us to run the business more effectively and efficiently, enabling us to deliver better products and services for our members.”
A Spalding headmaster has branded changes to the way schools in the town and England are funded as a “rearrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic”.
Steven Wilkinson, headmaster of Spalding Grammar School, delivered a blistering attack on plans by the Department for Education (DfE) to “end the historic postcode lottery in school funding”.
Last month, the Lincolnshire Free Press reported that county schools could get an extra £4.6 million a year under plans for a new National Schools Funding Formula announced by the DfE last month.
But Mr Wilkinson has backed concerns by the Grammar School Heads’ Association (GSHA), which represents England’s 163 grammar schools, that most of them “will be funded below sustainable levels”.
Mr Wilkinson said: “Whilst it is true that Lincolnshire is set to gain overall as an authority, all but three of the grammar schools in the county are set to lose under the new arrangements.
“Many of them would stand to lose even more if the Government did not put in place its proposed floor whereby the maximum a school could lose is three per cent.
“Both our school and Spalding High School have worked, and are continuing to work, very closely together with primary schools on a liaison programme which is entirely inclusive and designed to attract to our schools those with the ability to benefit from selective education, regardless of background or deprivation.
“Spalding Grammar School has, through a number of years of prudent financial management, been able to build up a healthy reserve of funds.
“What is disappointing to me is that, under the proposed new funding arrangements, those reserves will need to be kept and drained solely for the purpose of keeping the school running, rather than invested in the improvement of facilities for the education of our students.
“Inevitably though, unless there is a major increase in education funding across all sectors, not just grammar schools, we will need to face some hard decisions.
“For the moment, sadly, the Government’s education spending plan seems akin to a rearrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic.”
Fears that most grammar schools in England could see their funding drop under the reforms has led some heads to warn of spending cuts.
Michele Anderson, headmistress at Spalding High School, said: “It is vitally important for parents and the local community to be aware that the financial cuts to all public services we have seen in recent years has also had a critical impact on school funding.
“Despite what successive governments have said about maintaining educational budgets, we have seen our budget reduced in real terms for several years now.
“This, alongside inequalities in national funding, curriculum and examination change across every key stage or the rising cost of (buildings), salaries, national insurance and pension contributions, mean that schools constantly struggle with the challenge of maintaining provision and setting a balanced budget.
“If our school was in London, we would be allocated £5,500 for each of our Key Stage Three (KS3) pupils per year.
“At our school, the allocation is just over £3,000 per KS3 pupil, a difference of over £150,000 per year on our budget which would make a massive impact to what we could do at the High School.
“I support the ideal of the National Funding Formula as we have seen regional inequalities such as this for far too long.
“However, it is still disappointing to see that far more more schools appear to lose under the new system than originally anticipated.
“Even so, Spalding High School is not planning to ask parents to fund core provision.”
Jonathan Maddox, headmaster of Bourne Grammar School, said: “We are and, for as long as I can recall, have been the worst-funded secondary school in Lincolnshire on a per-student basis.
“But because we know this, and know that it is likely to continue, we deal with it and run a very tight ship.
“Our decision to expand our intake was taken for a range of reasons, but long-term financial security - knowing that our funding position was unlikely to improve - was certainly one of them.
“This strategy has worked well for us and as we have expanded, and the cuts to our funding have come through, we have managed every aspect of our school with constant and forensic financial scrutiny.
“We are guided by our auditors who, in addition to assisting us in our financial strategy, provide annual benchmarking data which confirms, consistently, that our school is run efficiently.
“As much of our annual budget as possible goes directly on providing for the education of our students and we do not need to make damaging cuts to balance our budget.
We are able to run the School on our current budget, and on our projected budget, so we will not be cutting subjects, we will not be cutting pastoral care and we will not be sending students home for one afternoon or for one day every week.
“The Government is introducing a new funding methodology for schools this year and, as one of the worst-funded, we hoped that we would benefit.
“But we did not assume that we would benefit and our financial projections were made, assuming that our funding would reduce over the next few years, as it seems that it will.
“However, we have planned and budgeted for this situation so I can confirm that there are no plans to ask parents to make voluntary contributions to our coffers.
“Parents should expect to continue seeing their children receiving a superb all-round education, at a well-equipped and well-staffed school, without them needing to worry about how it is all paid for.”
Blacksmiths have a rare chance to ply their trade from a living history museum in Spalding – and to save it from closure.
Geoff Taylor, from the Friends of Chain Bridge Forge, revealed in a letter to our sister paper, The Spalding Guardian, that the possible risk of the forge paying business rates could force it to close.
That risk hangs over the forge at a time when it has lost its working blacksmith and is relying on old hand Chris Hammond.
Geoff said: “Chris is 70 and blacksmithing isn’t an older man’s activity.”
He says the forge needs a blacksmith or blacksmiths to come in to give it an income, which would save the day.
Geoff said: “It would be great to find another blacksmith or maybe two of three of them to put them together.”
He says directors of the forge have had to put their hands in their own pockets when money is needed.
Geoff is unhappy the district council didn’t give the forge S106 cash when it asked for around £10,000 to help ease commercial pressure and cash flow, update its website and upgrade innovation facilities that inspire young people.
He spent last year generating work for the forge.
“At the moment I am having to turn work away,” he said. “The forge would close if we can’t get money coming in that pays our day-to-day bills.”
The forge runs South Holland Life website and is involved in innovative projects, including creating oral histories and helping dementia sufferers. Blacksmiths can call Geoff on 07960 587724.
• Email your views to lynne.harrison@iliffe publishing.co.uk
Modest war hero and D-Day veteran Tony Blackman (92) received France’s highest decoration, the Legion d’Honneur, watched by fellow ex-Paras, ex-servicemen and civic leaders.
The Chevalier class (knight) award was presented by Honorary French Consul Monsieur Robert Mille, who said: “I am here on behalf of the French people to express our undying and heartfelt thanks for all you did to liberate France.”
Tony was aged 18 and a corporal in the 12th Battalion (Airborne) Devonshire Regiment when he landed on Sword Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
He trained on gliders but was switched to a sea landing craft.
Tony said: “I am only 5ft 3in and with all the equipment I took a soaking down in the water until somebody grabbed hold of me and managed to pull me up.”
Speaking about the Legion d’Honneur, Tony said: “It’s not for me – it’s for my mates that I left behind in Normandy, but it’s great, the medal is exceptional and I am pleased.”
Thursday’s ceremony at Spalding Golf Club saw presentations of certificates to Tony from Spalding branch of The Parachute Regimental Association and The Rifles, a successor regiment to the Devonshires.
Paras Spalding branch chairman Major David Almond said the 12th Battalion landed with the objective to relieve Caen. Tony fought in the area of La Bas de Ranville and helped repel the German counter attack before the Allied breakout. Further actions followed before Tony was seriously wounded on June 25 and spent months in hospital.
Tony and wife Rita moved to Weston in 1999 and began fundraising for the Royal Anglian Regiment and The Veterans’ Association, collecting at Harold Payne’s Anglia Motel in Fleet. In 2014 the couple met Prince William at the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations at Arromanches.
Police are hoping to identify two men pictured on CCTV after a theft from Sainsbury’s in Bourne on Friday.
If anyone has any information, please call police on 101, quoting reference number 1700030628.
A two-year jail term given to a driver who caused the death of an aspiring actress from Donington is “an absolute joke”, according to a friend.
Sophie Graves (21), of Wyberton, has started an online petition calling for the man involved in a crash which claimed the life of barista (coffee bartender) Jessica Danby (19) to have his prison sentence extended.
Philip Paddington-Wheatcroft (54), of Main Road, Sibsey, near Boston, was jailed after a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on January 20, where he admitting causing death by dangerous driving on October 1, 2015.
Jessica was riding to work at Caffe Nero in Boston when her moped was hit head-on by Paddington-Wheatcroft’s Audi Q7, after he overtook a lorry in dense fog on the A52 at Frampton Fen.
The young actress died of her injuries at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, on October 2, 2015, after a crash Sophie described as “just pointless”.
Sophie, a supermarket worker who was a friend during their time together at the former Kirton Middlecott School (now Thomas Middlecott Academy), said: “I grew up with Jess from Year 7 to 11. We did drama together in Years 10 and 11 so we got a lot closer and we became really good friends.
“I was at work on the day of the crash when I got a phone call from one my friends to say that Jess had been in an accident.
“It didn’t seem real because I’d talked to her only a few days earlier and I couldn’t believe it when she died.
“Jess was so young and she had her whole life in front of her, so her death in this crash was just pointless.”
Almost 250 people have signed Sophie’s petition which states that Jessica’s death was caused by Paddington-Wheatcroft’s decision to “overtake a vehicle in foggy conditions and reduced visibility”.
Sophie said: “The driver made that decision to overtake someone else, knowing full well that the weather conditions were extremely foggy.
“For me, two years in jail for him is an absolute joke and no sentence at all.”
The petition has the support of Jessica’s father, Jim Danby, who posted a message which said: “I’m still numb about all of this because the amount of punishment someone should receive for taking a life cannot simply be measured in years.
“Our family will suffer, the man who killed her will suffer and his own family will suffer, in varying degrees, for the rest of our lives.
“But if firmer punishments are not imposed, how can we hope to bring improved safety to the UK’s roads?”
The Lincolnshire Free Press contacted the Attorney General’s Office in London who confirmed that they were aware of the case, but had not yet received a request for it to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.
Under the scheme, anyone can ask for a Crown Court sentence to be reviewed in serious cases, such as murder, rape, robbery and causing death by dangerous driving.
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The case of Jessica Danby fits within the profile of cases that our lawyers can look at.
“They would look over it and consider whether the sentencing would likely be looked at for increasing at the Court of Appeal, if not enough information was given at the hearing or if the sentencing was within the judge’s guidelines.
“But there is a strict time limit of 28 days after the sentencing within which to ask for a review.”
To find the petiton, visit www.change.org and type ‘Jessica Danby’ into the search bar.
Driver jailed for causing ‘tragic and avoidable death’ of Donington teenager
Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys, Americana Season, South Holland Centre, Spalding
Sunday night at Spalding’s South Holland Centre may well have been the “Barbecue ‘67’ moment for an audience of 300-plus people.
Just like the visit of Jimi Hendrix, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Cream. Pink Floyd and The Move 50 years ago this May, Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys is a show the people who were there will talk about for generations to come.
The band, lead vocalist Lindsay Lou Rilko, husband and mandolin player Josh(ua) Rilko, bassist PJ George and all-round “crazy person Mark Lavengood on Dobro resonator guitar, are the best thing to have come to Spalding since Ruby Turner brought the house down in February 2014.
With songs of maturity, serenity and tranquility, the stand-out highlights being “Here Between”, “River New” (with PJ George on lead vocals) and May Erlewine’s “The River Jordan”, this was pure class bluegrass.
But anyone expecting a “take your partners” barn dance from Lindsay Lou and her men, the group name reputedly “Flatbellys” coming from someone who told them “It’s good to see you Flatbellys out here pickin’ with us Greybeards”, would have got a shock.
The soaring, towering, unerring vocals of Lindsay Lou Rilko shook the auditorium to its very core, exploding with atomic energy songs from the band’s most recent album, Ionia.
Front Country, The Railsplitters, Hillfolk Noir and The Stray Birds all left their bluegrass mark on Spalding.
But Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys are another Americana, genre-defining experience entirely.
After the concert, Lindsay Lou said: “This was our smoothest trip (to the UK) yet because every time we came here before, I got sick.
“I heard, from a number of people, good things about Spalding and it does feel like a family, the whole basis of which is to share all these songs with people who have never met us before.
“That lays the foundations for the bluegrass music we see through own lenses which comes out sounding different.”
Of all the rave reviews Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys have had since its foundation in 2009, the words of Seth Bernard who co-founded Michigan-based social enterprise Earthwork Music captures the band best.
Seth said: “This is what happens when musicianship serves the heart and soul... when four people travel 50,000 miles a year together in the same vehicle and have music for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“This is what happens when (a) family band makes a record in the living room and the music arrives with the vibe of the place and time permanently imbedded within it.
“This is next-level Lou-Grass...the acoustic soul of the Great Lakes on a pilgrimage to Nashville.
“This is the magic of the moment between bandmates who have put in the time it takes to raise the bar... Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys have earned it.”
Lindsay Lou said: “Bluegrass and country music started in the 1950s, but I grew up listening to a lot of jazz and soul singers.
“We all have different influences, but we’ve honed in on our chops (sharpened the band’s musical technique to perfection) with the bluegrass sound and everything it’s taught us.
“But over time, we matured our own sound and our next record will have electric guitar and drums on it.”
However, what sets Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys apart from other bluegrass bands is the penetrating, rousing and virtuoso vocals of Lindsay Lou herself.
Mandolinist Jimmy Gaudreau, of bluegrass royalty The Country Gentlemen, described Lindsay Lou as a vocalist “who can sing anything you throw their way”.
Even better, the band’s own website said: “Lindsay Lou has the kind of voice you can get lost in.
“One part jazz singer, effortlessly transitioning octaves, one part blues shouter, soaring over the band like a clarion call, and one part folk singer, rousing them all together in song.”
Lindsay Lou said: “I used to sing in choirs and my mum would always listen to Carly Simon who was one of her favourite singers.
“Music has played a big role for me in a spiritual sense, a kind of secret space to find yourself within.
“But Josh has probably spent the most time of anybody, really investing himself in bluegrass properly.
“He comes from a really strict religious background which he has freed himself from.
“But he still embodies that traditionalist approach, whereas I don’t feel married to any musical genre.
“I’m a disciple of music with a capital M.”
Review and interview by Winston Brown
CONCERT PREVIEW: Voices from the Great Lakes at Spalding riverside setting for a Nashville night out
Generous Brownies in Holbeach have been collecting crayons and colouring books to brighten up the lives of children less fortunate than themselves.
All 26 members of the 1st Holbeach Brownies have been involved and their gifts will go to children in Romanian orphanages.
They have been making the generous collections for several years after being approached by Roger Quentin of the Tenderness Foundation, who will arrange to have them shipped abroad.
Roger visited the Brownies on Thursday evening to pick up the goodies.
Brown Owl Jayne Dean said: “When he is talking to the other leaders and myself, Roger tells a harrowing story about the conditions in the orphanage. It’s upsetting.
“But when he’s talking to the girls he paints a sorry picture but not an upsetting picture because they are too young to understand.
“They are told the only way the children will get these things is if they bring them in. It’s a way of learning about other cultures ... trying to get the message across without being too brutal.”
• 1st Holbeach Brownies meet at the hut behind the HSBC bank on High Street every Thursday evening. The group is open to girls aged seven to ten years.
For more information call Jayne on 01406 422248/07807516031.
• A full page of pictures in Thursday’s (February 2) Spalding Guardian.
Paratriathlete Clare Cunningham inspired youngsters at Gosberton Academy when she visited on Friday.
Clare, a former Paralympian swimming gold medallist, finished seventh in her triathlon category at the Rio Paralympics last summer.
She put all 136 children from the seven year groups through their paces sh she oversaw circuit training.
Then she held an assembley and hosted a question and answer session with the eager youngsters, who had carried out plenty of research to prepare them.
Head of Academy Sarah Gray said: “It was such a good day – the children loved it. When one year group was doing the circuits, the rest would be cheering them on. They also enjoyed seeing Clare’s special bike and her medals.
“When they came in after lunch the air of axcitement was fantastic. We are launching quite a few sports clubs this year and our message to the children was that you can achieve if you put your mind to it.”
• Two pages of pictures in Thursday’s Spalding Guardian (February 2).
Spalding High School has once again organised a clothes, shoes and textiles collection with Bag2School, the UK’s leading textile recycler and fundraiser.
The aim was to raise funds for the school and help the environment by diverting unwanted textiles away from landfill.
All students and their families from Years 7 to 13 participated and sixth-former Rebecca Wright said: “Bags2School is a fantastic opportunity for the school community to fundraise and it is always incredibly well-supported by staff and students alike.”
As well as raising vitally needed funds for the Spalding school, a recent DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) report has shown that textile collection schemes are helping to reduce the volume of textiles discarded as municipal solid waste.
However, as a nation, we still send 350,000 tonnes of textiles to landfill every year and so the scheme also helps to raise awareness amongst the children of the benefits of recycling and reuse.
A school spokesman: “We would like to thank our pupils, their families and friends, as well as staff, for their support in making this school fundraising event successful.”
Our picture shows some of the school’s sixth formers with bags, from left: Olivia Childs, Michal Zuk, Maisie Dobbs, Rosie Stevenson and Rebecca Wright. Photo (TIM WILSON): SG270117-110TW
People living on their own in a group of parishes around Sutton Bridge could see a friendly face at the door under a new plan to tackle loneliness.
The Rev David Oxtoby says the idea of door-to door deliveries of hot soup lunches, including a bread roll and dessert, was pioneered in his former parish in Stamford and now he wants to bring it to Sutton Bridge, Long Sutton, Gedney and Tydd St Mary.
He said: “What’s that got to do with isolation? It was never about the food - it was always about the human contact.”
Mr Oxtoby wants to reach out to people who never see anyone from one day to the next and is looking for residents to pledge their support, either by telling him they would welcome lunches at a small charge – or by agreeing to get involved in making or delivering the lunches.
He’s also keen to hear from food manufacturers in the area who might be able to support the plan.
Mr Oxtoby: “I had a local business approach me at the end of last year saying ‘we would like to support a charity in 2017’ so I wrote a proposal about this and I will hear from them at the end of this month whether I have been successful.”
If the scheme gets off the ground, he wants the soup lunches to be available to everyone who would like to receive them, young or old, and regardless of their income because it’s all about giving people an opportunity to chat to someone trustworthy.
Mr Oxtoby says all volunteers will be DBS checked.
He says people living alone are unlikely to talk to strangers at the door but, when it’s someone they can trust, they can have the chance of a chat before the person delivering the food goes on to the next call.
If you would like to receive a lunch, or would like to volunteer – perhaps even organise the whole scheme – please call Mr Oxtoby on 01406 258572.
• Do you have an idea for tackling loneliness? Email lynne.harrison@iliffepublishing.co.uk
Millions of pounds could come to South Lincolnshire for key fenland wildlife projects if a Nature Improvement Area (NIA) gets the go-ahead.
South Lincolnshire Fenlands Partnership wants the designation to cover land between Spalding, Market Deeping and Bourne, including Twenty, Thurlby, Baston and Tongue End.
The area already has major wildlife sites, including Willow Tree Fen Nature Reserve, midway between Pode Hole and Tongue End, as well as the internationally important Baston and Thurlby Fens, which are rare wetland sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs).
The partnership’s aim is to create fenland and other wetlands centred on the nature reserves of Baston, Thurlby and Willow Tree Fen for the benefit of wildlife and people.
The partnership is holding a public workshop about its NIA bid on Saturday, February 11 at Waterside Garden Centre, West Deeping, and places for that are already fully booked.
Amanda Jenkins, the partnership project officer, said: “After the workshop we will produce a vision document for the area and, if local people support the idea, we hope to apply for NIA status in late spring.”
The application goes to Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership.
Mrs Jenkins says if successful, the NIA designation will enable the partnership to “draw down funds” for projects in the area.
In Greater Manchester, a locally designated NIA was given £2.2million by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2014.
The partnership’s proposed NIA here extends to some 7,000 hectares.
One aim of the project is to create ‘buffer zones’ around Baston and Thurlby SSSIs to protect them as they are home to rare wetland plants while the Counter Drain that runs in front of them has fish species like the spined loach.
Mrs Jenkins said the partnership is working with farmers in the area through a new initiative, the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund, and companies involved in mineral extraction.
She said: “We are in discussions with a mineral company regarding purchase of a 30 hectare mineral reserve and more generally about restoration of sites in the area.”
Mrs Jenkins said the project is as much about people as it is wildlife, and a key aim is to extend and improve public access to green spaces.
Another aim is to encourage residents to get involved in wildlife gardening and bookings are being taken now for a workshop to be held at Waterside Garden Centre on Saturday, March 4.
To book a place on the wildlife gardening workshop please call 01476 550427.
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Two South Holland police officers have been recognised for their bravery in disarming a knifeman who threatened them and others in Crowland.
Sergeant Nick Waters and Police Constable Daniel Brant were both awarded Chief Constable’s Commendations at an awards ceremony in Lincoln on Thursday.
The pair, both members of the South Holland community policing team, were sent to a house in Crowland where ambulance and fire crews had been called to help a man thought to have been unconscious.
But the emergency suddenly turned violent when the man seized some kitchen knives and threatened to kill the emergency crews.
Sgt Waters, a serving police officer for nearly 15 years, said: “Initially, the First Responders from the fire service, along with an ambulance crew, attended because there was concern for the man’s health.
“But once they arrived, the man became quite aggressive, got some knives from the kitchen and chased the emergency crews into an upstairs bedroom where they shut the door behind them.
“The man concerned then began attacking the door with the knives, making threats to the people inside the bedroom.
“One of the emergency crews called the police which myself and PC Daniel Brant attended.”
Sgt Waters revealed that help arrived from another fire crew who placed a ladder outside the bedroom window, allowing him and PC Brant to climb up and get into the room where the emergency crews were trapped.
“Our priority was to get ourselves in-between the emergency crew and the man with the knives,” Sgt Waters said.
“He was still outside the bedroom, threatening to the people inside the house and people outside as well.
“But we were able to protect the people in the bedroom by speaking to the man and challenging him with taser guns, before arresting him for affray.
“The most unusual part was how the situation changed so quickly from being quite routine into a terribly traumatic experience for the fire and ambulance crews.”
Neil Rhodes, Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police, said: “Sgt Nick Waters and PC Daniel Brant were faced with a dangerous and potentially deadly situation.
“However, they have acted calmly and decisively to bring a volatile incident to order.
“Police officers sometimes need to show authority and sometimes they need to show empathy, but mostly it is a fine balance of the two.
“I am really proud of their actions which made sure of a safe conclusion for all involved.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire, Marc Jones, said: “I have enormous admiration for the tremendous dedication, commitment and courage shown by our frontline officers, on a daily basis, as they put their own safety on the line to protect our communities.”
The ceremony was also attended by the High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, Mrs Jill Hughes, who said: “It was a humbling experience to meet so many amazing people and to be involved in recognising these acts of valour and public service was a great honour.”