Ashgate Hospicecare has announced the appointment of Barbara-Anne Walker as the charity’s new Chief Executive.

The Chesterfield-based hospice works to provide specialist palliative and end of life care to local people and their families across North Derbyshire and the High Peak and Dales and is proud to be celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year.

The charity which has grown rapidly in the last five years, responding to the growth in demand from patients who are living with a life-limiting illness, wanted to secure an exceptional leader to continue its success in delivering excellent clinical services, and to uphold the Outstanding rating given to them by the CQC in 2015.

Barbara-Anne, formerly an Operations Director with the British Red Cross, joins Ashgate Hospicecare with 30 years’ experience within the voluntary and public sectors throughout the UK.

Jean Horton, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Ashgate Hospicecare, comments:-

“The Board of Trustees is absolutely delighted with the appointment of Barbara-Anne as our new Chief Executive.

“She has a proven track record of being a very successful senior leader, and her skills and experience are exactly what we need to lead our Hospice.

“Her passion about the work done by Ashgate Hospicecare and palliative end of life provision makes her determined to develop our services so we can reach as many people as possible who need our quality specialist care and support.”

Barbara-Anne began her career in the third-sector working in HIV and sexual health services; she has held management roles at Macmillan Cancer and British Red Cross and until recently she was Deputy Chair of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.

Barbara-Anne said:-

“I am thrilled to join Ashgate Hospicecare in this 30th anniversary year. It’s a real privilege to become the Chief Executive of one of Derbyshire’s most cherished charities and to work with such a committed and special team of staff and volunteers. Their compassion and the warmth of their welcome shines through everything they do.

“For 30 years Ashgate has grown and developed services in the hospice and in the community to meet the needs of people with life-limiting illnesses. We are blessed with the support of many local people who give up their time to volunteer for the hospice and to raise the vital funds that we need every day to provide our services, including many generous donations from local businesses. I am passionate about making sure that Ashgate continues to be at the heart of the local community, whose generosity and goodwill has enabled us to respond to their needs and to provide outstanding care.

“There are exciting opportunities to build on the achievements of the last 30 years to take Ashgate Hospicecare into the future, putting patients and their loved ones at the centre of everything that we do. We know that there are still people who need hospice care, whom we are not yet able to reach. I am looking forward to working with my Ashgate team to ensure that we are able to provide our care and support to everyone who needs us.”

Roger Start, Consultant Histopathologist and Clinical Director of Pathology at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Ashgate Hospicecare Trustee, said:-

“I am delighted that Barbara-Anne is joining us as our new Chief Executive. She has worked for some of the biggest charities in the UK and I’m confident she will lead the further development of our vital services so that we can help more of our community who need us.”

Parents have just one week left to apply for their child’s primary school place for September 2018.

Chesterfield have completed the signing of former West Ham winger Zavon Hines and secured Millwall central defender Sid Nelson on loan until the end of the season.

Hines, 29, joins the Spireites on an 18-month contract after scoring seven goals in 22 appearances for Maidstone United. Nelson, who is 22, has just completed a loan spell at Yeovil Town.

Jack Lester, Spireites manager, is delighted to have signed the pair. He said:-

”Zavon is an exciting player who can play on either wing or down the middle and he gives you energy.

“Sid is a very aggressive player who is a leader for a young lad. He comes very highly recommended by Millwall manager Neil Harris and he’s an important signing for us.”

Hines, who made 31 appearances for the Hammers, said:-

“It’s all happened very quickly, but I’m happy to be back in the Football League. Hopefully I can repay the faith that the manager has shown in me.”

Hines also had stints at Burnley, Bradford City, Dagenham & Redbridge and Southend United before joining Maidstone in August.

Nelson, who has made 38 appearances for Millwall, said:-

“It’s a pleasure to be here. I know this is a big club for this division and we’re in a position we shouldn’t be at the moment.

“I am someone who gives 100 per cent, week in, week out and I want to try and help get the team moving up the table.”

Consultation on the future of transport across the Sheffield City Region (SCR) is set to go live next Monday, 8 January.

An online questionnaire, running until the end of March, will give people across the region the chance to have their say on the SCR’s ambitious draft Transport Strategy. The strategy aims to grow the regional economy by £500million, boosting economic growth by making it easier for people, particularly those in the most deprived areas, to get to work or places of education.

Find the consultation online at http://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/transport-strategy-consultation/

Looking ahead as far as 2040, the strategy aims to make the best use of the latest transport technologies, and to improve air quality – particularly in those areas that suffer most from pollution.

The strategy, which has been produced together with local authority partners, highlights the fundamental role that transport plays in enabling economic growth. It also demonstrates a commitment to national transport programmes that benefit Sheffield City Region.

Martin McKervey, Transport lead for the SCR’s Local Enterprise Partnership, and Partner at international law firm, CMS, Cameron Mc Kenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, said that the strategy would be refined based on comments received during the consultation.

He said:-

“While we have already achieved a great deal in terms of building a thriving, super-connected and successful economy, such as making multi-million pound road improvements, introducing new tram-trains and contributing to the continuing growth of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, we know there is more that needs to be done.

“We want to make it easier for commuters to reach core cities in the North, improve air quality through sustainable travel, and also do the very best we can to enable people in our most deprived communities to reach places of employment, education and leisure by public transport.

“That’s why I would encourage everyone to have their say on this strategy, which will shape our ambitions for transport across the region and impact upon the day to day lives of all of us in decades to come.”

A key aim of the SCR Transport Strategy involves growing the city region’s economy by £500m, by increasing the numbers of people able to get to key employment sites and education by public transport in 30 minutes. It also aims to increase rail commuting between the SCR and both Greater Manchester and Leeds City Regions by several thousand journeys daily, and ensuring 90 per cent of the region’s population can reach a long-haul airport by public transport within 90 minutes.

Other aims include creating healthy, safe streets by increasing sustainable travel, delivering reduced accident rates, improving air quality, having a zero-carbon public transport network by 2040 and boosting footfall in the main retail and leisure areas by 15 per cent.

There is also an aim to increase transport-focused R & D investment by £330million, and to increase productivity by £75million through reducing journey times and using technology-based efficiencies.

This public consultation will also involve businesses, public transport operators, Peel Airports which runs Doncaster Sheffield Airport, special interest groups such as Friends of the Earth and Natural England, and stakeholders such as MPs, local authorities and parish councils.

The SCR strategy has been published as Transport for the North (TfN) launches a consultation on its own new draft Strategic Transport Plan later this month.

The TfN plan outlines the transport infrastructure needed to transform the economy of the North over the next 30 years, in line with the Northern Powerhouse agenda, stretching from the Sheffield City Region to the North East and from Liverpool to Hull.

Details of SCR’s Transport Strategy consultation will be on display in key transport and community points across the Region. People can respond through the online system, by email, or by writing in.

Chesterfield residents are invited to attend a special community assembly meeting where the borough’s portion of Council Tax bills will be discussed.

The meeting will place on Wednesday 10 January from 6.30pm at the Town Hall, Rose Hill.

Chesterfield Borough Council’s leader, Councillor Tricia Gilby and chief executive, Huw Bowen, will give a presentation about the key issues and financial pressures facing the borough before hosting a discussion about the 10 per cent of Council Tax bills which is used to pay for borough council services.

Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions of the leader and chief executive as well as Councillor Amanda Serjeant, the council’s deputy leader and Kevin Hanlon, director of finance and resources.

Councillor Tricia Gilby, Chesterfield Borough Council’s leader, said: “All Chesterfield borough residents are welcome to come along to the meeting and give their views.

“Although Chesterfield only receives 10 per cent of the Council Tax paid by our residents, services provided by Chesterfield Borough Council include: refuse collection, street cleaning, leisure and park facilities, regeneration, statutory functions such as environmental health and planning, markets, theatres and tourism.”

Derbyshire County Council receives 74 per cent of Council Tax to pay for services including education, adult care, children and young adults care, and roads. Derbyshire Police receives 11 per cent and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue receives five per cent to run their services.

Residents in Staveley and Brimington also pay for services provided by their town and parish councils, which means the proportion of their bills going to each authority is slightly different to in other areas of the borough.