Lincolnshire police aims to raise an extra £2.7m next year by a 5.8 per cent rise in council tax. Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones has revealed his proposed budget for the year and the rise would equate to 23p a week on a band D home. The increase appears to have support in the county as respondents to consultation ...

Bobby Bear, PCSO Naomi Newell and PCSO Tim Nicholls visited key stage 1 pupils at Cowbit St Mary’s Primary School last week to talk about the police. PCSO Newell said this included “how we are here to help people and respond to emergencies”. She added: “We discussed safe strangers and what to do if a child was lost, why we ...

Approval has been given for the Peele Community College to become an academy. The regional school commissioner has approved the move which would see the college join Holbeach in the Lincolnshire Educational Trust (LET). The Long Sutton school was rated as ‘inadequate’ in the latest Ofsted report published in July. As a result, it could be joining the LET if ...

A photographer who helps families capture precious memories of lost babies is taking on the London Marathon. Mum-of-two Marie Sampson (40) will be raising money for Remember My Baby, a charity that provides baby remembrance photography to parents who lose their baby in hospital. Marie, who suffered the loss of her twins, is one of the professional volunteer photographers who ...

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn – one of South Holland’s maternity hospital options – is celebrating the first year of its Midwife-Led Pathway, which included the reintroduction of the Home Birth Service. Launched in February 2017 the Midwife-Led Pathway aimed to provide a less clinical approach for women having low risk pregnancies. A spokesman for the hospital said: “Since ...

Lincolnshire school pupils achieving a grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSE is above the national average. The latest figures released by the government have shown the county to be about average in several categories. But the news was a bit more mixed for schools in the Spalding area. While 97 per cent of students at Spalding Grammar ...

NHS staff from black and ethnic minority backgrounds have been sharing their experiences of working in Lincolnshire at a countywide conference. Anna Kusztyb works across the county for Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS), and was among those speaking at the third annual Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) conference on Friday afternoon. The event, which is run in partnership ...

In its first recruitment drive of its type in Lincolnshire, the force has received 136 applications to join its ranks as an officer who speaks fluently in more than one language. In December, Lincolnshire Police put out a job advert specifying applicants must be fluent in English and Polish, Latvian or Lithuanian. Now the deadline for applications has come, Lincolnshire ...

South Holland school pupils have netted a football refereeing qualification. Twelve pupils from Spalding Grammar School were put through their paces by Lincolnshire FA referee tutors during the weekend-long training course, held at the school. The course entailed a two-hour evening induction session, followed by a full weekend of theoretical and practical workshops in order to provide the young people ...

Tickets and details have been released for this year’s St Barnabas Hospice Lipstick and Champagne Ladies Ball in Spalding. Booking ahead for Saturday, May 19, the charity ball will take place at Springfields Events Centre. Function band Starstruck Live will perform hits spanning from the 60s to today, and a there’ll be a disco. Vikki Allen, Community Fundraiser for St ...

Proposals to improve public access on a stretch of coast from Sutton Bridge to Skegness are out for consultation. Natural England has published a plan for the 57-mile stretch which, it hopes, will become part of the England Coastal Path. The path is a 2,700 mile walking route and the newest national trail being developed. Currently there is an eight ...

Almost 1,500 people under the age of 19 have a caring role and are supported by Lincolnshire County Council. But it’s estimated that there area many more who are missing out on support. The figure was revealed on Young Carers Awareness Day last Thursday. The county council is calling for more young carers to get in touch and let the ...

Just months after leaving the corporate side of property and business consultancy to launch her own company Elizabeth Allen has been joined by a new recruit. Elizabeth worked with Erica Orme for a number of years and the pair have reunited working for Elizabeth Allen Land Agents. Erica originates from Zimbabwe and moved to south Lincolnshire in 1998. Educated locally ...

The Peterborough Biscuit Business Event is back for a second year, showcasing the area’s business community. Taking place at the East of England Arena and Events Centre on February 7, the event showcases the excellent business community that operates within a 40-mile radius of Peterborough, however any business in any area of East Anglia is invited to exhibit. The event ...

A councillor has said he finds it “difficult to believe” that around a third of South Holland businesses eligible to get central government funding to partially cover a rise in businesses rates are yet to come forward. South Holland District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Finance, Coun Peter Coupland is concerned that around £100,000 worth of funding available in this financial ...

The Lincolnshire accountancy firm Duncan & Toplis has appointed a new HR director to head up HR services across its entire group of companies. Heidi Thompson joined the firm that has offices in Spalding this month, bringing with her more than 20 years’ experience running HR departments across the UK. Having previously consulted for businesses across the private and public ...

There has to be a very good reason to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane. And one Gedney Hill mum certainly has good reason as she is raising money for a charity very close to her heart. But she will be marking Valentine’s Day by leaping from a plane. Aimee Bilham (35) will be raising money in memory of ...

Lincolnshire police is starting a new project to support the wellbeing of staff. Officers and support staff often face difficult situations and the force is looking to help them deal with the challenges of being on the front line. “Wellbeing has always been high on my agenda and so I am delighted to be taking this to the next level ...

A community owned group dedicated to organic and biodynamic vegetable, herb and flower seeds is to hold a workshop in Gosberton. The Seed Co-Operative, which was a BBC Future Food Award 2017 finalist at the BBC Food and Farming Awards, will hold its first workshop of the year at Gosberton Bank Nursery on February 17. David Price from the Seed ...

Free water will soon be on offer from Costa branches in South Holland as part of a bid to reduce plastic bottles. Anglian Water is among those which have linked up the Refill campaign to create a national network of retailers offering new refill stations to top up water bottles. The first business to join the national drinking water scheme ...