Local News

Love is in the air at Delapré Abbey, as the historic home launches a competition to treat one Northamptonshire couple to the wedding of their dreams. ‘Wedding with Thanks’, which will see one lucky couple say ‘I do’ next year, has been organised by Delapré Abbey – to thank and celebrate carers, key and essential workers in Northamptonshire who have gone above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis. Richard Clinton, Chief Executive, Delapré Abbey, said: “Many couples have had to put their weddings on hold, so this is our way of giving back and saying thank you to those who have worked tirelessly to make an extraordinary difference during these challenging times. The wedding is on!” Wedding with Thanks includes Delapré Abbey’s Bouverie Suite for the ceremony and the reception and a three-course meal for up to 70 people, courtesy of Tom Hewer Catering. The prize package also includes everything..

Charities find it difficult to raise essential funds at the best of times, and the COVID-19 pandemic is having a catastrophic effect on many. Sammy Jones checked in with Animals in Need (AIN) to see how they are coping. You never know what creature will be next through the doors of the aptly named Animals in Need centre. In less than two weeks this spring, volunteers received 10 cade lambs (rescued from the food trade for a life at the sanctuary), two orphaned badgers (who will be reared ready for release), one guinea pig, one injured swan, 11 teeny ducklings, a few pussycats, five four-legged friends of the canine variety, and cluck-load of hens – 120 in all. When you consider the charity has another 400 fur babies, feathered friends and other animals in situ (some seeking homes, some permanent residents) that's one heck of a lot of work, and..

Northampton Borough Council held its annual Full Council and Mayormaking meeting today via video conference. The role of First Citizen of Northampton has now passed from Councillor Nazim Choudary to Councillor Brian Sargeant, who became the 780th Mayor of Northampton during the historic ceremony. His wife, Ray Kelly-Sargeant, will he his Mayoress. Cllr Sargeant has served Northampton Borough Council for the last decade, serving as Chair and Deputy on the Licensing Committee, Deputy Chair on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and on the Civic Committee, preserving the town’s Mayoralty traditions for future generations. Cllr Sargeant’s family has a rich history in the town – with his family name dating back to the 11th  Century. Many of Cllr Sargeant’s ancestors were also Mayors of the Borough, dating back to the time of King James l, in 1616, 1628, 1636, 1642, 1644, 1656 and 1671 and 1683. The family have also been..

A 71 year old grandmother of six has inspired family fundraising in honour of the hospital that saved her life after she contracted COVID-19. Christine Leggett first noticed symptoms of the virus when she began to feel achy and lethargic. As her breathing was not affected she was advised to stay at home to recover from her symptoms. However a decline in her condition and difficulty breathing in the days after first noticing symptoms meant that Christine needed to be bought to hospital to have treatment. Christine described arriving at the hospital “The ambulance arrived and the paramedics said I had a temperature and low oxygen and needed to be admitted. When we arrived I was taken through to a large room that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Everyone dressed in all the protective clothing and plastic sheeting separated different areas. A chest x-ray was taken and..

Leadership and the Fight Against Crime  There is a new (ish) sheriff in town and the impact of his command is already being felt at every level of Northamptonshire Police. His name is Nick Adderley and he has led our county’s force since August 2018. I and the other Northamptonshire MPs met up with him, the Northamptonshire Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner and the Fire Chief in Parliament a few weeks ago for an in-depth briefing on the successes and challenges facing the Police and Fire Services in Northamptonshire. It was clear from the briefing that the Chief Constable is making a decisive and positive impact on the force. Leadership matters and can make the difference between success and failure. The Chief Constable cares passionately about the men and women who serve with him and he is instilling a new..

A Northampton-based shoe company has donated nearly 100 pairs of shoes to nurses at Northampton General Hospital to show its support for those on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. Established in 2010, Its Got Soul specialises in creating comfortable and durable shoes that don’t compromise on style. Selling shoes predominantly online, via their website, the company have been able to operate as usual and so sort out opportunities to help others in need. They saw the incredible work NHS staff were doing and decided to hand over 88 pairs of shoes, to nurses at Northampton General Hospital. With healthcare workers having to consistently change out of shoes and clothing when exiting infected areas, Its Got Soul saw this as an opportunity to provide female frontline workers with a free pair of shoes to wear at work or in their daily lives. Teresa O’Driscoll, Owner of Its Got Soul,..

An anonymous £600 donation from the husband of a coronavirus survivor has seen NHS heroes fighting on the frontline of COVID-19 at Northampton General Hospital treated to a slap-up curry. Staff at NGH tucked in to onion bhajis, chicken tikka masala and pilau rice provided by Saffron restaurant in Castilian Street following the cash gift from a man known only as ‘Mr J’. The mystery man sent the cash in a letter to Saffron, thanking the restaurant for its ongoing support of key workers and asking them to use the money to fund hundreds of meals for staff who saved his wife’s life during a three-week spell fighting the virus at NGH last month. The letter stated: “My family and I are so indebted to Northampton General Hospital. My wife was critically ill with coronavirus. She is lucky to come back to her loved ones due to the best care..

The fundraising team at Cynthia Spencer Hospice is asking members of the local community, including individuals, businesses, schools and colleges to consider making a pledge to support the hospice when they are able to.  In recognition of the difficult times that local community members and businesses find themselves in the hospice charity is instead asking people to make a pledge of support that they can give when lockdown eases and things have improved.  Fundraising manager John Helm said: “We would never want members of our community to give what they can’t afford right now. So instead we’re asking people to make a pledge that when the time is right they will support us in whichever way they can. This could be by pledging to sign up for one of our 2021 challenges, shop at our eBay page, register to be a volunteer or join our lottery amongst many other pledges. ..

A Northampton organisation that inspires active lifestyles for the town’s communities has donated over £1,000 worth of food and drink to those in need during the COVID-19 lockdown. Trilogy Leisure, who operate Cripps Recreation Centre, Danes Camp, Duston Sports Centre, Lings Forum, The Mounts Baths, the Forum Cinema and Berzerk Soft Play, which are all currently closed, have emptied their vending machines and will personally deliver the contents to local charities including The Hope Centre, Northampton General Hospital and Weston Favell Food Bank. “It is such a challenging time for our health workers and our charities in Northampton. As a not for profit organisation ourselves we wanted to do everything we could to help support those most in need.” said Ian Redfern, Managing Director of Northampton Leisure Trust. “With our centres currently closed, the food and drink in our vending machines is not being purchased. Instead of just throwing it..

What food would you miss most if you lived abroad? Pork pie? Crumpets? Or perhaps a simple plate of baked beans on toast? Well for one Nigerian-born businesswoman, now living in Milton Keynes, going without her favourite childhood treat simply wasn’t an option so she started making her own and has now turned that passion into a thriving enterprise, thanks in part to a project helping food and drink manufacturers in the region. Hannah Jolaoso founded Chicsnacks in December 2017, adding her own unique twist to the  traditional West-African snack, chin-chin – a crunchy, deep fried pastry – and after receiving technical support from FEAST2 (Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team), the scheme which also offers access to funding, sector events and mentoring to eligible businesses, her confidence is growing as quickly as her product range: “When I was little I would help my mum in the kitchen, kneading the dough..

Northampton is set to mark VE Day 2020 in a unique way this year, with a virtual programme of events taking place on the 8 May, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of war in Europe. The celebrations, coordinated by Northampton Borough Council, will be streamed throughout the day, and can be viewed on the Mayor of Northampton’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MayorOfNorthampton An action-packed schedule, beginning with an 11am sermon delivered by Father Oliver Coss, will be followed by an extraordinary remote performance from the All Saints’ Choir. Speeches, readings and poems will also be shared throughout the afternoon, by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Northampton, the Lord Lieutenant, the Chairman of the Northamptonshire Royal British Legion and the Chairman of Northamptonshire Reserve Forces and Cadets Association. The day’s pre-planned proceedings will be honoured in a virtual manner; with a bugler playing the ‘Last Post’ just before 3pm,..

The building of a state-of-the-art Digital Academy at Northampton College is now underway, with the first spades going in the ground during a virtual sod-cutting ceremony carried out via a live video conference call. With current social distancing guidelines rendering it impossible for all partners in the project to be at Booth Lane for the ceremony, it was decided to embrace the digital technology the building will offer by staging it over the internet using Microsoft Teams. The £6.3million project has received 50 per cent funding from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership’s share of the Local Growth Fund. It will see a 1,300 square metre extension built onto the existing main college building at the Booth Lane campus and aims to attract more than 5,000 additional learners by 2030. Students will have access to a state-of-the-art learning environment that includes an Esports arena, a TV studio, digital workshops,..

Over the last six years, local breakfast giant Weetabix has supported the celebration of some of our most passionate foodies through its sponsorship of the ‘Local Food Hero’ category in the county’s prestigious annual sector competition. Now, as headline sponsor of the ‘Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards’, that role has become all the more crucial as the company not only helps to support sector businesses facing the toughest of challenges, but also honours those which, through their impressive responses to the crisis, have become stalwarts of their communities. Weetabix Food Company Marketing Director, Francesca Theokli, says recognition of our heroes is vital and indeed, while the awards may currently be operating very differently from their usual format, the company’s commitment to the competition is unwavering: “The Awards were launched twelve years ago to help support and promote the fantastic food and drink sector we have here in the county,..

Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme is calling for pieces of music and songs inspired by the places in the Nene Valley to create a book of songs. In partnership with Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nenescape will be launching a community songbook. In November 2017, a 25-minute piece of music, ‘Nene’, was performed by over 1,500 local young people at the Royal Albert Hall, Derngate in Northampton and Peterborough Cathedral. It has since been rearranged by composer Benjamin Till into nine short sections for community choirs and singing groups to perform, and it is now available for free and in full on Nenescape’s website. The pieces follow the flow of the river downstream, starting at its source at Badby and ending where the River Nene meets the sea at the Wash. While so many of us are spending much more time at..

NHS heroes fighting on the frontline of COVID-19 are being treated to a slap-up curry – paid for by the grateful husband of a woman who spent three weeks battling the virus at Northampton General Hospital. The anonymous man, known only as Mr J, sent a letter to Saffron in Castilian Street, Northampton, thanking the restaurant for its ongoing support of NHS staff throughout the crisis. The letter contained £600 cash and a request to use the money to pay for food to be delivered to doctors and nurses at NGH. The restaurant, which has previously donated dozens of meals to the hospital and offered a 50% discount to all COVID-19 key workers, has pledged to top up the donation to £1,000, meaning staff can look forward to hundreds of chicken tikka masalas arriving at their workplace in the coming weeks. The letter stated: “My family and I are so..