Community

The star attraction at the annual Johnson Community Hospital ball this summer is Strictly Come Dancing stars Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag.  The pair will hit the dance floor as special guests of The Strictly Johnson Glitter Ball at Springfields Events and Conference Centre in Spalding on Saturday, July 8. The ball committee is offering sponsorship packages for the ...

A South Holland couple are aiming to raise awareness about a charity that has the potential to save lives.     Philip and Heather James, of Fleet Hargate, are championing the cause for the Medical Detection Dogs charity.   They have launched an online petition which is aiming to get 10,000 signatures to ensure the charity’s lack of funding will ...

Who doesn’t need more laughter in their lives? It’s supposed to be the best medicine (except maybe for those recovering from abdominal surgery!) On Blue Monday – the January day deemed by some to be the most depressing of the year – we decided to try out a Laughter Yoga session in Spalding. Here’s Louise Chapman’s take… Laughter yoga felt ...

Carers and individuals connected with people living with dementia are invited to a training course aimed at helping them to set up therapeutic gardening activities. ‘Gardening for the Brain’ is a new one-day training course being held by South Holland District Council in conjunction with Green Synergy, a charity which uses community gardening and horticultural therapy to help improve people’s ...

Artists have just a couple of weeks left to enter a competition designed to showcase the best work created by professionals and amateurs across the region. Deadline for entries into the 17th South Holland Open Arts Exhibition is Monday, January 30. Artists can submit their work and an independent panel of judges will choose the pieces which will be displayed at ...

Holbeach Library is due to open in its new location next month – and volunteer opportunities are on offer. Lincolnshire Co-op’s £1.2million project to create a hub of community services will also see the town’s Post Office and the retailer’s pharmacy move from High Street to its Fleet Street site alongside a revamped food store. Everything is set to re-open on Monday, February 13. There ...

A Spalding man who earned the Rotary Young Leadership Award has been recounting his rewarding experience. Jack Wycherley (26) was The Rotary Club of South Holland candidate and went to a members’ meeting on Tuesday (January 10) to be presented with the award and talk about his experiences at Grafham Water, near Huntingdon, last July. He spoke about the friends he had made, the ...

Food manufacturer Bakkavor has teamed up with Spalding-based health and wellbeing charity Tonic Health to promote healthy eating among local schoolchildren. An educational workshop for children aged between 5 and 12 on the importance of fruit and salads for a healthy diet was led by Sam Hetherington, development chef at Bakkavor Salads in Spalding. The workshop at Tonic Health’s base at Broadgate ...

Spalding Academy students will not be part of the Joint Spalding Secondary Schools’ Prom this year. They will have their own prom, leaving Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School as the only partners in the annual Year 11 event. The decision has upset some Spalding Academy pupils and parents, who claim they have not been given a reason and ...

Laura Hudson likes a challenge, but she’s having to keep mum about the outcome of one of them for now. The Donington 27-year-old has competed in the current series of ITV hit show Ninja Warrior UK, being screened on Saturday nights. Her effort over the demanding obstacle course, which finishes with an attempt to “beat the wall” – a run ...

by Karen Johnson South Holland District Council community development officer It is really exciting to learn when a new community fund is announced and in particular one that I am personally involved in. That’s why it is great to tell you about the East Coast Community Fund. Each year for the next 20 years, approximately £390,000 will be available from ...

Holbeach Tesco has now handed over a total of £16,500 towards the regeneration of Carter’s Park.   On Tuesday (Jan 10), Holbeach Parish Council was presented with £4,500 collected in store by staff and parish councillors. This added to a £12,000 grant by Tesco from its Bags of Help scheme in which money raised from the government’s 5p carrier bag charge is ...

With the festive season a fading memory, your credit card bill on the horizon but your summer holiday not, you could be forgiven for finding little to laugh about this month. But help is at hand in the form of a one-hour laughter yoga and mindfulness session in Spalding on Monday.(January 16) Holistic therapist Linda Nightingale (pictured) is a Laughter ...

A service to celebrate the life of a “gentleman” who lived in and loved Spalding and was a very active member of the community is to be held next week.(January 12) George Hastings died at his home on December 19, aged 88. Mr Hastings – the last mayor of Spalding Urban District Council and the first chairman of South Holland ...

Organisers of the Holbeach Music and Beer Festival have handed over £6,000 profit from the 2016 event. The funds raised have been donated to the Holbeach United Community Sports Academy and will go a massive way to helping with the running costs. The Community Sports Academy provides a footballing home for nearly 200 young footballers with teams ranging from Under 6 to Under ...

Spalding High School’s deputy head girl Rosie Stevenson is on a fundraising mission to ensure her place on a trip of a lifetime. The 17-year-old has been selected to spend a year as a volunteer in Honduras for Project Trust where she will spend 12 months working as a teacher in either a primary or secondary school. Rosie, who is ...

This huge display of toys is just a fraction of the immense total donated for this year’s biggest and best ever Give A Gift campaign for underprivileged children.     Hundreds of donated gifts are now on their way to families in and around Spalding who may otherwise have had nothing on Christmas Day.   A single mum of a ...

Only a few days remain to add your donation to the Give A Gift campaign for an underprivileged child – the appeal finishes on Saturday. (Dec 18) We’re overwhelmed by the generosity of readers so far and want to make one final call for donations for local children who may otherwise wake up on Christmas Day without a present. The ...

A mammoth fundraising effort by a mum whose daughter has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital for two years paid off handsomely. The Christmas fair held at Janet Pell’s bungalow in Broadgate, Weston Hills raised £2,205. Mrs Pell, mum to cancer sufferer Mandy Beecham, made 221 phone calls to local businesses seeking raffle prizes. She said: “It was ...

About 70 sheltered housing residents enjoyed a free Christmas party on Sunday.(Dec 11) It was the second annual staging of the event hosted and funded by Spalding and District Round Table. The senior citizens were transported to Surfleet Village Hall for a meal by Dunmore’s Catering, entertainment by singer Dennis George and Ex Gleed and Welland Brass Band Association and ...