Community

A nursing home in Holbeach has been awarded “beacon” status for its care of patients. Holbeach and East Elloe Hospital Trust has been awarded the Quality Hallmark Award by the National Gold Standards Framework (GSF) in End of Life Care after successfully completing its accreditation. The award, which lasts for the next three years, will be presented at an awards ...

Harvest Church Spalding is joining in the first-ever global Alpha advertising campaign, which features Bear Grylls. The survival expert said: “My Christian faith has brought light to a dark path, warmth to a cold mountain and strength to a failing body. I remember crawling onto the summit of Everest and clearing the snow from my mask to see the curvature ...

The Spalding branch of the Western Front Association is inviting the public to hear its guest speaker next Thursday.(Sep 22) Former Boston farmer Martin Middlebrook – one of the county’s best known military historians and authors – is finally bringing to an end over 40 years of writing and lectures on military history. He wrote his first book ‘The First ...

A free workshop is being offered, giving advice on how to apply for a new Big Lottery grant for one-off community events and activities. Between £300 and £10,000 is available through the Celebrate! programme for one-off events or activities which bring local communities together. Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS) is holding the ‘Celebrate – writing a good funding application’ ...

Wet weather failed to keep the crowds away from the annual Moulton Park Country Show. The show, which was celebrating its 21st birthday, offered a whole host of attractions, including vintage tractors, a classic car show, an arts and crafts fair and vintage fair rides. Members of South Lincs Herpetology Society gave people the chance to get up close and ...

Winners of the first-ever best front garden competition in Sutton Bridge have been announced. The event was staged with the support of Sutton Bridge Parish Council and sponsored by Silverwood Craft & Garden Centre in Long Sutton. The short-listed finalists were invited to a presentation with tea and cakes at Silverwood where the winners were revealed. First prize went to ...

The second South Lincolnshire Walking Festival gets under way next month with a plea for financial support. The festival runs for five weeks through September and October, with 80 varied walks for families to choose from. But financial pressures mean its future is under threat and people are being asked to chip in to keep it going. Festival co-ordinator Beverley ...

Users of Gedney Dyke Village Hall will have a warm glow this winter thanks to a £7,785 grant. A new Calor Gas central heating system is to be installed, replacing a costly electric heating system, which was put in when the hall was built in 1977. The grant issued to the Main Street building, which is a registered charity, comes ...

Sainsbury’s Spalding’s Local Charity of the Year got off to a tremendous start. Launch weekend at the Holland Market store for 12 months of support for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) raised £1,318. Velo One cycling club’s Dan Carr (whose eight-year-old son Oliver has Type 1 diabetes), Josh Wallis and Neil Palmer helped the cause by clocking up 146 miles ...

Young people on the National Citizen Service personal and social development programme organised a fun day in Spalding to raise funds for two charities. Among the attractions at the Memorial Field clubhouse were snakes and bearded dragons to handle, an owl display, face painting and refreshments. The event raised about £700 for Medical Detection Dogs and Cancer Research. As part ...

Members of a Spalding cycling group are taking on the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride next month. Spalding Spinners’ Kev Gray, Jason Booth and Mark Orton will be doing the fundraiser with Surrey friends Mark Tierney and Adrian Pharaoh. They start the ride on Friday, September 9, and expect to complete just over 1,000 miles in nine days – ...

There is very little anyone could teach Norman Beckett about pastry. And after 40 years’ employment, Spalding Bakery threw a surprise presentation for him on Tuesday and offered cake to all 560 staff members. During Norman’s time, which started as a process worker at Ruskington, the company has been owned by Adams Pork Products, Tulip, Kerry Foods and now Addo ...

A Holbeach charity shop has passed the £20,000 mark in donations to local good causes in 2016. And that means Chosen is over halfway to its fundraising target of £40,000 in 2016. And the good news is that the Fleet Street shop is looking for more beneficiaries. Joint manager and treasurer Iris Boland said: “If you have a really good ...

Sainsbury’s Spalding has announced that its new Local Charity of the Year is JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). It follows an online and in-store vote by customers. To celebrate the announcement, a launch day will take place on Friday (August 5). Customers will get the chance to meet representatives from the charity and learn more about the work they do. JDRF raises ...

An intrepid group of South Holland fundraisers hope to have raised around £1,000 for charity after climbing Ben Nevis. The dozen climbers from Spalding, Cowbit and Donington decided to scale the 1,344-metre high mountain to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society for Dementia Research. The idea was started and organised by Sue Wilkerson whose mum, Mary Woods, died from the ...

An estimated 7,000 people made Bakkavor’s 30th anniversary fun weekend an event to remember. Employees and families from across the business nationally were joined by many people from the South Holland community for two days of fun at Springfields Events Centre in Spalding last Saturday and Sunday (July 23 and 24). About 5,000 employees and families from as far as ...

The annual Moulton Garden Crawl and Scarecrow competition at the weekend proved to be one of the busiest ever. Held over two days, the event was blessed with superb weather that helped swell the crowds. Organisers revealed that they were even in danger of running out of programmes such was the high volume of people turning up. Patricia Ayton-Smith, of ...

A free Bikeability course for youngsters is being staged in Spalding during the summer holidays.   The course takes place at the Castle Sports Complex on Monday, August 22, and is aimed at 11 to 16-year-olds.   Youngsters will learn vital skills to help them keep safe while cycling on the road.   It is a level three course which ...

Athlete Lee Addison has been awarded the Talented Student Bursary this year by the Sir John Gleed School PFA.   Lee was nominated for the award by the school’s physical education department after an extremely successful year of competition.   He recently competed in the National Schools long jump championships where he gained an excellent third place finish.   Lee’s ...

Be quick if you want to be in with a chance of winning a prize in our Holbeach best garden competition. We’ve had lots of entries already and the closing point is 5pm on Friday (July 29). We’re running the competition in conjunction with Holbeach In Bloom, which is offering three voucher prizes totalling £100. So whether it’s a fantastic floral front ...