To coincide with nationwide Older People’s Day and the 26th United Nations International Day of Older Persons on Saturday 1 October, the Spireites have decided to mark the day at their game against Bradford City.

The UN designates the day to take a stand against ageism by drawing attention to and challenging negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older persons and ageing.

According to the last census, more than 25% of the town’s population are aged over 60 compared to an average of just over 22% across England as a whole, making the way we treat our more senior members of the community extremely important.

This season, for the first time, to recognise the valuable role that older persons play in society, the club offered free season tickets to supporters aged 80 and over whilst initiatives such as the Senior Spireites lunches, the weekly gentle exercise & social group and walking football are just a few of the many areas that the club and Chesterfield FC Community Trust works closely with older members within the area.

Indeed, walking football, which has taken off significantly, began here at Chesterfield and has spawned organisations such as Chesterfield Ex-Spires, who have moved up from walking football to full-pace five-a-side games for over 60s.

There is a weekly walking group which sees walkers set off from The HUB – behind the Community (East) Stand – at 10.30am every Thursday. The HUB is the venue for a weekly Spireites Speakeasy that brings older supporters together every Friday lunchtime. It also hosts the local Bridge Club and is adjacent to the Memorial Garden where friends and family can remember loved ones no longer with us.

In recognition of Older People’s Day, guests of the club at the match will include 102-year-old supporter Gladys Smith, Albert ‘Des’ Collins – who at 93 is one of the club’s oldest former players – and 80-year-old comedy entertainer Bernie Clifton.

Some of Derbyshire’s most promising sporting talent is bidding to follow in the footsteps of this summer’s Rio stars after being handed financial backing through ICON.

City of Derby swimmer Adam Peaty won Olympic gold and team-mate Lewis White, from Swadlincote, a bronze at the Paralympics, having both received support from the programme, set up to create a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.

Other ICON-backed athletes to appear out in Brazil included Chesterfield tennis player Liam Pitchford.

Now 119 athletes from across the county (listed by area below) in 33 sports will receive up to £250 each of the £18,150 fund allocated for 2016-17, which has been raised through county sports partnership Derbyshire Sport’s business network.

Those on the programme will also receive free leisure passes in the area where they train and be given valuable PR exposure.

Chesterfield athlete Ella Barrett, who has this year won the England Under-20 Indoor Championships over 400m, as well as a silver medal at the England Senior Outdoor Championships, is among those to have benefited from ICON support in 2015-16.

The 18-year-old Chesterfield AC athlete said:-

“I have had competitions up and down the UK in this past season and the bursary I have received has helped pay for the travel and also entry fees, which can really add up.

“The leisure pass has been really valuable because I have been able to get in the gym every week – and also in the swimming pool on the way back from injury. The media coverage is great for helping to show sponsors that what you have achieved is of a high standard.”

The ICON bursaries have been made possible by the contributions of all 10 Derbyshire local authorities, plus business members from across the county. Each successful applicant must live in one of the county’s nine district and boroughs or compete for a Derbyshire-based club and must already compete at a high level.

All should already be representing their country or Great Britain, have won a national championship medal, are part of a recognised development squad or a development squad aligned to a professional club or have been selected for the Derbyshire Institute of Sport.

Hayley Lever, Director of Derbyshire Sport, added:-

“There’s been some superb performances by athletes from across the county in the past 12 months. It’s not easy to reach the high level that this talented group have.

“They have helped put Derbyshire on the sporting map, and we look forward to hearing about more successes with the help of ICON support and that of their family, coaches and clubs.”

Ashgate Hospicecare along with other hospices across the country, will be taking part in Hospice Care Week, which takes place between the 3^rd and 9^th of October, highlighting how the work of hospices is vital and increasingly relevant to our local communities with the aim to help illustrate what hospice care is all about and to also challenge common misconceptions about hospice care.

The theme for this year, which is ‘Hospice care is…’ will be highlighting the many and varied aspects of hospice care and what it can mean to people, their families and communities as well as removing the common myths about hospice care. Throughout Hospice Care Week, Ashgate Hospicecare will be partaking in a series of small events ranging from a bake off, an awareness stand in the Chesterfield centre and a tweetathon!

The tweetathon, which will be a feature throughout the week on Twitter with the hashtag #AshgateLive, aims to provide an insight into the many different services the hospice provides, from care provided at the hospice, to care provided in patient’s own homes and at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

Lucy Nickson, CEO of Ashgate Hospicecare, said:-

“We’re celebrating Hospice Care Week and would encourage you to find out more. Hospice Care Week is all about raising awareness; a week of celebration and action, helping to change perceptions and understanding of what hospice care is really all about.

“We know that many people in North Derbyshire still simply don’t realise the full extent of the services and care provided by Ashgate Hospicecare and we want to change that. Hopefully Hospice Care Week will provide an opportunity for us to ensure more people learn something new about us.”

The annual campaign aims to raise the profile of hospice care across the UK by encouraging businesses, schools and local communities to undertake a fun activity throughout the week. Across its full range of services, Ashgate runs a 21-bed Inpatient Unit, a 16-place Day Hospice, and a range of therapy and support services on site. Services are funded mainly through donations and are provided free of charge to patients and their families. The majority of services delivered are in the community, enabling people to stay at home.

16 year old Ginetta race car driver Seb Perez from Chesterfield travels to Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit this weekend for the last two races of the season, rounds 24 and 25 of the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship.

He started his second full season in the race series for youngsters back in April this year and has seen him in action at 10 very demanding race circuits across the Country including Donington Park and Oulton Park  in a very busy race year for him.

His last outing at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in April saw him finish Round One of the series in 11th position and better it to 10th in Round Two the second race in the 2016 season openers.

A  sensational race weekend was had by Perez at Rockingham a few weeks ago where he took a 5th place and 2 podium 3rd places. Previous to that he took a first place win at Knockhill in Scotland.

Two weeks ago we saw Perez in action in a three race programme at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, well on track before racing had even started.

Free practice the day before saw Seb keeping in the top 10 out of the pack of 20 cars and topping speeds of over 90mph.

Qualifying on Saturday morning saw him have a fantastic 15 minute session with his fastest lap on 9 out of 10 laps placing him in 3rd position for his first race a little later during the day, he was only 0.403 seconds behind pole position man and JHR Developments team mate Sebastian Priaulx.

After qualifying Seb commented:-

“We had a tricky start to a drying circuit after rain earlier and being on a more dry set up made it harder, as time went on we got faster and pleased with a third place.”

Race one saw Seb line up on the second row of the grid, as the lights went out Perez got a good start but by the first corner at Copse there were a lot of contact and he got pushed wide down the back straight and lost ground at Becketts finishing lap one in 11th position.

By the end of lap 2 he had made up twp places into 9th place and a battle commenced between Perez, Tom Wood and Gerri Nicosia for the next 3 laps before being overtaken by rookie driver Harry Dyson who held Seb out for 2 laps pushing him into 10th place.

Good positioning and a good move on lap 8  saw Seb back into 8th position for 3 laps where he stayed to take the chequered flag in eighth.

After race one he said:-

“After the coming together’s at Copse I was pushed out wide, I was a sitting duck it seemed as if the world was passing me,  but we managed to get some places back.”

Race two saw Perez in 8th place and row 4 for the start, he seemed a little apprehensive and knew that a podium wasn’t to be on the cards.

Needless to say by end of the first lap Perez was in 5th place, by lap three he had made it into third with first place swapping and changing all the time between Tom King and Lewis Brown and Seb putting the pressure on them for a second place. Perez took a blistering fastest lap of the race on lap five at over 78mph.

He maintained third place until lap 8 struggling with the pace, dropping a place or two to finish overhaul in 7th place.

Seb commented:-

“I was happy with a fastest lap of the race, I knew a podium wasn’t on the cards but held a good battle for third pushing both King and Brown.

“I struggled at the end to continue the pace all the way through and the odd person got through.”

Final race of the weekend on Sunday saw Perez completing the 11 lap race starting on the Fourth row and 7th on the grid.

The first lap saw him drop two places to 9th after getting overtaken by rookies Dan Harper and Tom Wood and by end of lap two the place had been reversed with Perez now in 8th again gaining the place back from Wood and hot on the heels of Harper. He kept the position until lap 5,

Shortly after the safety car was deployed after Johnson ended up in the gravel, as the lights went out on the safety car the tightly grouped up pack made a dash pushing Perez back down to 10th, by lap 10 he had made up a position finishing the race in 9th.

After the weekend Perez commented:-

“After a good qualifying race one didn’t help, It was a tricky weekend and not ideal.”

He added:-

“Onto Brands Hatch, our last two races of the season, I enjoy the GP Circuit and one of the best in the Country, its a quite demanding circuit and enjoy the GP loop and its fast. We only get a short test on Friday then straight into qualifying  on Saturday morning”

Perez leaves Rockingham in 10th position in the championship with 293 points after a mixed weekend.

Editorial by Paul Horton / Images by Paul Horton Motorsport Photography

Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust recently welcomed its new chief executive Simon Morritt. He becomes the seventh leader of the Royal ‐ which serves more than 400,000 people across North Derbyshire – since it opened its doors to patients in 1984.

With more than 25 years of NHS experience under his belt, including a range of board‐level director roles (the last five years as chief executive of Sheffield Children’s Hospital) Simon joins the Royal at an exciting but challenging time; and is in no doubt about where his focus lies.

Simon Morritt, new chief executive of the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, comments:-

“I consider it a real privilege to have this opportunity.

“The Royal is already a successful hospital, but with strong values and ambitions that aim for continued improvement. My focus is on delivering strong performance, so local people know that they will get the best possible care and experience when they come into our hospital. I also want the Royal to use its ‘Proud to Care’ values not only to improve what it does for patients – but also to be determined to improve the workplace for its valuable staff.

“There are some huge challenges for the NHS, but I believe that the Royal’s strength lies in the close partnerships and relationships it has already built. By working in networks with other hospitals, community services and social care we can lead and shape the new services that will transform how we look after people’s health and well‐being. The NHS is changing and I am looking forward to taking the Royal forward ‐ and to help it thrive as it makes its own choices about its future.”

Dr Helen Phillips, Chair of the Trust, says:-

“We are looking forward to welcoming Simon to the Board of Directors. He brings the talent, energy and vision we need to succeed. At a time when the ‘system transformation’ of health and social care is priority, I am confident that Simon’s demonstrable skills as a ‘system leader’ will put the Royal in a strong position to create services that are right for the populations we serve.

“We are looking forward to seeing some real pace in delivering our six strategic outcomes – including achieving a Care Quality Commission ‘outstanding’ rating and being in the top 20% of Trusts as a good place to work.”

The selection and interview process for the new chief executive involved some of the Trust’s elected public and staff governors who represent local people and staff on the hospital’s Council of Governors. The Council formally approved Simon’s appointment in June this year.