The treasurer of a pre-school playgroup who stole thousands of pounds from the organisation has been jailed for eight months.   Andrew Rivett, who was an accountancy worker in his day job, began stealing within a short time of being appointed to his position with Tydd St Mary.   He took almost £5,000 but when the money was discovered missing ...

Two special schools in Spalding have received funding to enable important improvements to enhance pupils’ learning and recreation. The Garth School in Pinchbeck Road has received a £9,438 grant from The National Lottery Awards for All Scheme for much-needed upgrading work in the playground area and some interactive play panels for use at break times. Meanwhile, The St James’s Place ...

Approved funding for three food enterprise zones in Lincolnshire – including one at Peppermint Park in Holbeach – should act as a “catalyst for growth” in the agriculture and food industries in the region, according to CLA East. The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has secured £29.45m of Government funding for a range of major projects designed to drive ...

By Karen Johnson South Holland District Council community development officer With the clocks changing, now is a good time to take advantage of the extra hour of daylight in the spring evenings. Being physically active can significantly reduce the risk of several major health conditions. Walking is one of the most accessible activities available to us. It is free, fun ...

Two housing developments unpopular in their communities look set to get the go-ahead despite being outside areas identified as best for future development. South Holland is yet to formally adopt the latest local plan to indicate where new homes expected to be needed before 2036 should be built. Therefore guidelines dictate councillors should support “sustainable” new home proposals. As a ...

A call for calm has been made to a community incensed after their village shop was robbed – weeks after a burglary and then an attempted break-in. Cowbit Village Stores owner Colin Foxwell was alone in the store when he was threatened with a machete by three masked men who cleared the tills of cash and shelves of alcohol and cigarettes. ...

Villagers in Holbeach St Marks will be able to buy basic groceries from a new shop being manned by volunteers. The store, aptly named Essentials, will open in the village hall for the first time on Friday.(March 24) Nick Worth (pictured), village hall committee chairman, said: “It is something villagers have been asking for for a number of years and the village hall ...

Dozens of South Holland businesses have been left reeling by huge rates rises. In one case, a small retail computer shop in Spalding has seen its bill rocket by 300 per cent, from £835 to £3,515. Steve Timewell, director and owner of Lincs Computers in Clover Way, Wygate Park, warned that the “crippling” rise could have ramifications. “This is totally ...

Women aged 50 or over are being urged to use a free breast screening service based in Long Sutton for the next couple of months. The mobile screening unit, run by the Lincolnshire Breast Screening Service will be at Long Sutton Medical Centre in Trafalgar Square until approximately the end of May. Women aged between 50 and 70 from this practice will be automatically invited for screening. Women aged ...

A Spalding man accused of downloading over 60,000 indecent images and videos is to face trial later this year.   David Paul Alexander Kaye (43), of Spring Street, appeared before Lincoln Crown Court on Wednesday (March 22) when he denied three charges of making a total of 62,166 indecent photographs and videos of children between December 25, 2015 and July 22 last year.   The case was ...

St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice says its new shop and café in Spalding will open by the end of July.   As reported in The Voice last August, part of the former White Hart Hotel in Market Place – a Grade II listed building – will house the shop and 30-seat café, which will open six days a week. The charity’s current shop in New Road ...

Too many children and patients are missing out on vital immunisations and life-saving cancer screening in South Holland. Figures for take-up of MMR vaccines in Lincolnshire have been identified as requiring improvement and South Holland’s are the worst, according to a summary report of quality assurance visits to south Lincolnshire’s 15 GP clinics. Take up for screening for bowel and ...

Two of the biggest challenges currently being faced by GP surgeries in south Lincolnshire come from 30 per cent of patients being over the age of 65 and a third of patients being of Eastern European descent, a report says. An increase in the migrant population has impacted on complexities of health, communication and education, whilst surgeries also battle to ...

For many, the sending of a card or gift to their mother this Sunday is not an option, although they are often in their thoughts. This poem may reflect the thoughts in many minds.                        Mother’s Day With a pretty bow tied around a bunch And I may even take her out for lunch Again it’s that special day of ...

It is with absolute disbelief that I write with regard to complete police inaction following a theft from my property a while back. I have already had cause to bring this to the attention of the wider public, when it happened to a neighbour, with a letter published in this paper on December 2 last year. Having made the journey to ...

I have today received my council tax bill for 2017/2018. I note that £205.47 from a total of £1,572.28 (13.07 per cent) is due to the Police and Crime Commissioner. I never agreed to the creation of this position and feel it is a waste of time and resources. I would rather see that money added to the adult social ...

I agree with much of Mrs Woolard’s letter (March 16) – Holbeach is struggling! However, I take great exception to her comment that “Holbeach appeared to accept the decision without protest”. I do not believe Mrs Woolard attended the public meeting at the Methodist Church on August 15, 2016, where the room provided in accordance with South Holland District Council (SHDC) wishes ...

Is it really all those years ago that a small number of councillors, of whom I was one, went to visit two outlet shopping centres, prior to the proposal to open one at Springfields? We went to see the ones at Bicester in Oxfordshire, and Street in Somerset. The principal difference between them and the one near Spalding was, and ...

People in South Holland feeling the pressure of heavy debt or poverty have a new place to turn to for help. Spalding and the surrounding areas covered by postcodes PE11 and PE12 have been identified as having a definite need for a CAP (Christians Against Poverty) debt centre. So one is opening in Spalding on Monday, April 3 – but ...

By Stuart Brown Cyber security specialist 2017 it seems will be the year of ransomware. Already this year malicious developers, or black hat hackers, have released newer and more powerful versions of computer programs that, put simply, “demand money with menaces”. Ransomware works by anyone clicking on a download link of an infected picture or file that has been tampered ...