What's On

Age UK Northamptonshire gratefully received donations of chocolate Easter eggs and Easter bunnies from Morrisons and TK Maxx which are being delivered to older people across Northamptonshire as part of their emergency COVID-19 delivery service.   The generous donations from Morrisons on Victoria Promenade in central Northampton and nearby TK Maxx are being delivered to the most vulnerable in the county, alongside hot meals and essential food items like tinned food, soup, pasta, rice, cleaning products and toilet roll. The emergency delivery service also sees Age UK Northamptonshire collecting much-needed prescriptions from chemists and delivering them safely to the doorsteps of older people. The donated Easter treats are being delivered Monday to Friday so that older people in the county have something to enjoy in time..

Masterchef semi-finalist Christian Day has teamed up with two of the rising stars of the Northamptonshire food and drink scene to launch a ‘Social Isolation Supper Club’. The former Northampton Saints lock forward, currently competing in BBC 1’s flagship amateur cooking show, will star in a live cookalong jointly hosted by James Peck of Burnt Lemon Chefs and Benjamin Jelley of Jelley’s Organic Vodka via Instagram on Saturday, April 18. Virtual ‘dinner guests’ will be able to order a box containing a pre-prepared three course meal and all the ingredients needed to make three organic vodka-based cocktails designed to perfectly..

New national league tables have revealed Northampton College is now in the top 10 best-performing colleges in the country. Data released as part of the latest 2018/19 National Achievement Rates Tables (NART) shows Northampton College is placed 7th out of almost 200 colleges for 16 to 18-year-old education and training, up from 11th in the previous year’s rankings. The rating cements Northampton College’s position as the leading provider of Further Education in the South East Midlands and among the very best in the whole country, thanks to a continuing and determined focus on ensuring each individual student reaches their full..

Borough and District Councils across Northamptonshire have started the process of rolling out additional business rates support being provided by Government during the Coronavirus outbreak. Businesses are currently experiencing a range of significant and unprecedented pressures due to the Coronavirus pandemic and in response the Government has made available a number of financial and support packages to help during these difficult times. The best source of information to find out about all packages on offer is through the Government Business Support website, found here -https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/. Retail business rate discount has been increased to 100 per cent for the 2020-21 financial..

Northampton Borough Council is making parking free for key workers throughout April in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Mayorhold Car Park will close to consolidate staff and all other car parks will be made free of charge from Monday (30 March). St John’s and St Michael’s multi-storey car parks will be set aside solely for key workers who need only show their work pass or appropriate identification on exit to avoid payment. But they will also be able to use any of the other council car parks across the town and enforcement in all car parks will be suspended until..

A wander around Northampton’s Cultural Quarter offers glimpses of the optimism and confidence of the Victorian era. It’s worth exploring some of the fascinating history, and enjoying what the town has to offer us today. This month Laura Malpas visits an absolute gem, the stunningly pretty Royal Theatre, part of Royal & Derngate. An ancient town, with written records going back well over eleven hundred years, much of the  Northampton we see today was built in the Victorian era. Famous for its leather working industries, the town’s prosperity and its ‘high..

The county’s favourite annual charity bike ride, Cycle4Cynthia, has raised almost £600k for Cynthia Spencer Hospice over its sixteen-year history, but that impressive total has not come solely from those on two wheels. Indeed, a large chunk has been down to the generosity of local businesses, which have given either financially or, just as importantly, in kind, enabling the Hospice to offer its vital specialist care services to its patients and their families. Among them is leading commercial law firm EMW, which has just announced that it will act as lead sponsor of the ride for the third year running...

A £100,000 fund has been launched to help firms across Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire continue to access vital business support services in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Membership Relief Fund has been created by Milton Keynes Chamber of Commerce and its sister Chamber in Northamptonshire to enable Chamber members to get a rebate on their Chamber membership fees. Milton Keynes Chamber chief executive Paul Griffiths said: “These are extremely challenging times for all our businesses and we need to work together to get through the challenge. “We understand cash flow issues may become a challenge for businesses until..

Amongst a crowd of professional chefs, including the holder of three Michelin Stars, Pierre Koffmann and Chef Patissier Benoit Blin MCA, and some well-known local faces, such as Reece Collier, Head Pastry Chef at The Grove Hotel and Daniel Richardson, Head Chef at Hartwell House Hotel, Milton Keynes College proudly opened its exciting new Patisserie Academy yesterday evening (18 May). The Claire Clark Academy; centre of patisserie excellence, which will realise a joint ambition of both Milton Keynes College and Claire Clark, will nurture the next generation of pastry chefs in the UK. Milton Keynes College’s Principal and CEO, Dr..