Community

by Jess Horn – South Holland District Council community development officer Are you looking for something fun to do with your family in the summer holidays? The South Holland community development team in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council’s Children’s Services runs a fantastic initiative called Activate. It’s a series of events aimed at young people aged eight to 19 years. ...

A Spalding primary school took delivery of a new kitchen on Saturday (July 11). St John the Baptist in Hawthorn Bank was successful in a bid to the government to receive funding for a kitchen to be able to supply fresh hot meals to their pupils on site. The school said: “The kitchen comes in the form of a pod in which there ...

Stallholders selling refreshments had a great day as the sun blazed at Holbeach Food Festival. The Cask in Hand and Churchill Ciders sold out completely, while Laddies Ices had a steady stream of customers cooling off with a tasty treat. Billy Burton Hog Roast and Grasmere Farm, which offered hot sausages and burgers, were also very busy. Event organiser Nick ...

This mocked-up picture shows a proposed sculpture for Crowland. The piece will be inspired by Crowland’s heritage, drawing particularly on the St Guthlac Rolls, and is due to be installed on the green between Thorney Road and South Street in November. Richard Janes, a professional sculptor who takes his inspiration from local environments and places, has been commissioned by community-based ...

A group of pupils are encouraging others at their school to develop a love of books. The Reading Ramble Representatives at Spalding Parish Church of England Day School read with different age groups and reward them with stickers and bookmarks. One said: “We like reading with the younger ones because it helps them with their phonics but we do it ...

An audience enjoyed a free concert of more than 30 songs covering 100 years of music as the Ukulele Orchestra of Spalding performed in Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Gardens. More than 200 people relaxed and enjoyed the two hours of music and showed their appreciation with generous charity donations totalling £220.

A Holbeach in Bloom stalwart has brought more glory to the town after being commended for his All Things Bright and Beautiful windowbox entry in a competition. Graham Rudkin’s entry was one of 24 in the window box category at the Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show held as part of the Gardeners World Live event in Birmingham. The box, which ...

A rallying call has been made to help Spalding do well in East Midlands In Bloom judging on Tuesday (July 14). Last year the town received a Gold award and Spalding In Bloom committee member Coun Angela Newton is appealing to shop and business owners to make an extra-special effort so that the achievement can be emulated – or even ...

Report and photographs by Alastair Goodrum Fenland Aero Club’s annual Wings and Wheels open day at Holbeach St Johns airfield is a splendid day out for all the family and was blessed with glorious sunshine again last Sunday. (July 5) Early light rain soon passed through and the huge crowd was able to wander round more than 100 vintage, classic ...

All Year 6 pupils at Whaplode Primary School were awarded 25m swimming certificates on June 26. The youngsters have completed most of their swimming in the school’s committee-sponsored pool. The school’s business manager Mark Lunn congratulated the children, saying: “This 100 per cent pass rate has exceeded the school’s statistics and demonstrated its commitment to this valuable life skill. “A ...

A pub manager is asking neighbours to get in touch if they have concerns about noise during a planned charity music and beer festival. Steve Leather, of the Robin Hood, in Spalding’s Bourne Road, is planning the event for August 28, 29 and 30 and hopes it will raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The event will include bands performing ...

A new group formed to keep Spalding more litter-free collected 15 bags of waste on its first blitz. Spotless Spalding met on June 27 and included councillors and residents. Group organiser Coun Jack McLean said: “It couldn’t have been a more enjoyable or satisfying experience. We got lucky with the weather. It made all the difference when turning back to see ...

A Spalding youngster has been chosen as a runner-up in a national competition. Children from Years 3, 4 and 5 at Spalding Parish Church of England Day School took part in the ALCS 2015 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Competition which asked budding young journalists to tell them: “What reading means to you!” They were looking for personal accounts ...

Knitters are being asked to get stitching to help a Spalding charity create 10,000 hats – for fruit drink bottles. Age UK Spalding has taken part in a project by fruit smoothie makers Innocent to knit the tiny toppers for their products, with each hat worth 25p to the charity. The aim of the project is to educate older people ...

There was a full house at Regent Bingo Club in Spalding on Sunday for Pat Wilkinson’s final day after 50 years’ loyal service. She’s never worked anywhere else – and even popped in on her wedding day in 1982. “A lot of the customers wanted to see me in my wedding gown. I didn’t mind – I quite liked it,” ...

A Spalding animal lover will walk over hot coals on Saturday in a charity fundraiser. Michael Rogers (61), of Holborn Road, hopes to raise more than £250 for Paws2Rescue, which provides shelter for stray dogs in Romania and rehomes dogs and puppies. Mr Rogers, who will do the feat in Nuneaton, has been to the country twice already this year ...

The proceeds from old time music hall shows in Whaplode Drove has been given to Macmillan nurses and Papworth Hospital. The shows, in honour of the village’s late Henry Fowler, were performed by Whaplode Drove Players, a group brought together by Hadyn Dilley, Jess Ford and Trevor Taylor, Hadyn said: “The most wonderful, unselfish group of people you could ever ...

by Jess Horn – South Holland District Council community development officer Did you know that a lack of exercise now causes more illness in the EU than smoking? Getting active is really great for your physical health and emotional wellbeing. It not only reduces your risk of developing a number of health problems, including coronary heart disease, cancer and strokes ...

There are just a few days left to enter photographs for the 2015 Lincolnshire Churches Competition. There are two age categories in Long Sutton’s Market House Photography Group competition – adult (17 and over) and junior (16 and under), with cash prizes for three places in each. Photos must have been taken in Lincolnshire and a maximum of entries should be sent ...

Young artists in South Holland are being invited to apply for up to £1,000 in funding as part of a new bursary scheme. The Lincolnshire One Venues (LOV) group, which is a network of ten arts venues including the South Holland Centre in Spalding, has secured new funding from Arts Council England, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmee Fairbairn ...