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Derbyshire County Council announce £1 million to support people affected by coronavirus

Derbyshire County Council has set aside £1 million worth of funding to support residents and businesses who may be affected by coronavirus.

Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis announced the £1 million fund today to complement the government support announced in the budget and said it was an initial amount and could rise, depending on how seriously the virus affected the county.

Nationally, a £500 million ‘hardship fund’ was announced by new Chancellor Rishi Sunak in Wednesday’s budget, which will be given to local authorities in England to help support vulnerable people through the coronavirus outbreak.

The hardship fund is one of a number of national measures to support the country through the coronavirus outbreak, including extending sick pay and suspending business rates for many firms in England, also announced in the budget.

Councillor Barry Lewis welcomed the government’s hardship fund announcement and said that all authorities needed to work together to support those affected by the virus.

There are currently four confirmed cases of coronavirus in Derbyshire, with the number predicted to rise over the coming weeks.

Councillor Lewis said:“We are pleased to be able to announce an initial fund of £1 million to support Derbyshire residents and businesses who may be affected by the coronavirus in the coming weeks.”

“We just don’t know how this will affect people personally, or how it will hit local businesses, but we want people to know that support is available to help them get through the outbreak, whether it’s advice and information or financial support.”

“So even though we can’t predict the impact of coronavirus, we are acutely aware that businesses – particularly small and independent traders – and people organising events will be worried and we want to be ready to assist where we can.”

“The £1 million fund is an initial amount, and we will consider further allocations when we know more about the government schemes and local needs, which is why we especially welcome the announcement in the budget that there will be support for local authorities to help their communities when they need it most.”

“Any further increases in the fund will, of course, need to be balanced against the additional costs the council faces in delivering its own services, particularly to vulnerable residents, during this period.”

Further details of the Derbyshire fund will be made available shortly.

Find out more information about the coronavirus on the Derbyshire County Council website.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

‘Greta Thunberg effect’ hailed as an opportunity for innovation and employment in Chesterfield

The ‘Greta Thunberg effect’ has been hailed as an opportunity for innovation and employment in Chesterfield by leaders from the town’s tourism and rail sectors.

Elizabeth Fagan CBE, Chair of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, Jon Veitch, Managing Director of Talgo UK and Rupert Carr, Director of Birchall Properties, the company behind PEAK, spoke at the annual Celebrate Chesterfield Conference (11 March), which was organised by Destination Chesterfield in association with the University of Derby.

The creation of PEAK resort, an HS2 station and maintenance depot, as well as investment in the borough by Spanish train manufacturer Talgo, makes Chesterfield well-placed for the UK’s projected growth in rail travel and staycations brought about by the public’s growing concern for the environment.

Earlier this year Chesterfield Borough Council also announced its plans for the borough to be carbon neutral.

At the conference it was announced that Chesterfield is at the forefront of Talgo’s All Britain Strategy. The company, which has a 60% market share of the high speed rail industry in Spain, established its head office in Chesterfield early this year. It now has plans to open a research and development centre, co-located with Barrow Hill Roundhouse, with recruitment due to begin shortly. The company is currently bidding to supply trains to HS2.

Jon Veitch, Managing Director of Talgo UK, shared his ambitions for Chesterfield and the UK

Jon Veitch praised Chesterfield’s connectivity, saying: “Chesterfield provides us with an ideal location to access clients throughout the UK and take advantages of the growing opportunities within the rail sector being driven, in part, by the Greta Thunberg effect. Already this has had a detrimental effect on air travel in Spain, further opening up opportunities for Talgo. We anticipate a similar effect in the UK and we want to be at the forefront of the rail revolution in the UK.”

Speaking at the conference, Elizabeth Fagan CBE said: “The 2008 Climate Change Act allowed the opportunity for the UK Government to declare its ambition on carbon reduction and set legally binding targets, HS2 allows our region to be at the forefront of declaring itself carbon neutral as well as being a leading bastion in energy efficiency and development and use of clean energy technology.

“HS2 is a once in a generation opportunity for the town, enabling employment opportunities to be unlocked. We must ensure we take this moment in time to deliver our carbon neutral ambition to improve the skills of the people who work in this region and ensure that Chesterfield, D2N2 and Midlands region is at the forefront of leading this UK-wide ambition.”

Elizabeth Fagan CBE, Chair of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, on stage at Celebrate Chesterfield

The decrease in air travel, coupled with Brexit, has led to a growth in the UK staycation market. According to research from UK hospitality job board Caterer.com, 70% of the British population are planning a break in the UK for 2020, an increase in the predicted number of staycations compared to those taken last year.

Riding on the staycation boom, it was announced at the Celebrate Chesterfield conference that construction on the David Lloyd Adrenaline World has begun at PEAK. It represents the beginning of the phase one delivery of the resort which, when completed will be an integrated leisure, health, sport and education destination on the edge of the Peak District National Park; set on the 300-acre Birchall Estate in Chesterfield.

At the event, Councillor Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, praised the Destination Chesterfield campaign recognising the difference it has made to investment in the borough. There is more than £1 billion of development currently happening in Chesterfield, with key developments Chesterfield Waterside, PEAK and an innovation centre at Northern Gateway all set to come out of the ground in 2020.

She said: “Ten years ago, Chesterfield Borough Council made the very bold decision to invest in establishing Destination Chesterfield. It is has proved to be a great success helping us attract new companies, like Talgo, to Chesterfield, creating new jobs and transforming local peoples lives and benefitting local communities. The next 10 years are equally exciting, as we have developments like PEAK and Waterside coming out of the ground as well as proposals on the table for the next phase of making Chesterfield a thriving borough.”

Cllr Tricia Gilby was to describe the opportunities for Chesterfield over the next 10 years in 3 words: “exciting, sustainable and inclusive”.

Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield added: “Destination Chesterfield as a project has put the town on the map. We have a higher regional and national profile which is certainly a tick in the box for current and prospective investors. HS2 moving into the town has further raised our profile and I am confident that international investors will now be looking towards the town.”

Mr Veitch added; “We are delighted to be investing in Chesterfield. The town is on the cusp of sustainable, generational change and we very much want to be a part of Team Chesterfield and its future.”

Celebrate Chesterfield, which was held in association with the University of Derby and sponsored by Bridge Help, Central Technology and Markham Vale, is now in its tenth year, and is one of the biggest and most hotly anticipated business events in the area. This year the free breakfast event attracted nearly 300 delegates.

To find out more about investment opportunities in Chesterfield, click here.

The free business event attracted nearly 300 delegates

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Made in Chesterfield

Chatsworth’s Arcadia takes Natural Course for a monumental sculptural centrepiece

Artist Laura Ellen Bacon is to create a new installation in the gardens of Chatsworth House.

Laura has been chosen to design and build a new, monumental sculptural installation as the centrepiece of the Arcadia area in Chatsworth’s world-famous 105-acre garden as it undergoes its biggest transformation for 200 years.

Designed to appear as if seeping from the ground, Natural Course will flow down a woodland slope in the previously undeveloped, 15-acre area called Arcadia, which is being created by celebrated garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith. Assembled by coordination of hand and eye to give the great mass of stone a sense of slow, gradual movement over the land, Natural Course aims to suggest an innate life force to the hard and seemingly motionless stone.

Natural Course will push the boundaries of dry stone walling technique. Very different from a typical boundary wall, the technical challenge comes from both the sheer volume of material used and particularly its 40 metres of contours and curves. At more than 10m in length and 2m in height with a base width varying from 50cm to 3m, visitors will be able to enter up to 5m into the sculpture, giving a feeling of being swallowed by stone.

Built from more than 100 tonnes of local stone taken from the Bretton Moor Quarry near Foolow, less than five miles away, Natural Course will be made from tens of thousands of individual, hand placed pieces using a traditional dry-stone walling method. Work is underway with a small team of local dry stone wallers and Laura Ellen Bacon aims to complete the build by April 2020.

Usually working in wood, often willow, Laura Ellen Bacon is known for creating large-scale organic forms but this is her first major commission in stone. Natural Course will join more than 20 sculptural works at Chatsworth by post war masters including Antony Gormley, Angela Conner, Elisabeth Frink, Allen Jones, Michael Craig-Martin and Barry Flanagan.

Laura Ellen Bacon: “This sculpture is a development of my study of form and particularly site-specific works. Inspirations for the work have come from the vast network of dry stone walls across Derbyshire as well as the volume and handling of the immense stones in the Rockery at Chatsworth itself, which is one of the earliest and largest rock gardens in the world.”

“The form, with a quiet nod to a consumption wall in its method, appears to slowly flow over the land and confront the visitor with its sense of mass and quiet movement – referencing the absorbing process of working with one’s hands and the epic work involved in creating the dry stone walls found across Derbyshire.”

The Peak District home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Chatsworth has begun work on the biggest transformation of its garden since Joseph Paxton’s work finished more than 200 years ago. Having completed the £32m Masterplan project to conserve the house a few years ago, the Duke and Duchess have since been planning to have a similar revitalising effect on the garden.

The Duke of Devonshire: “Laura created a temporary sculptural installation in the garden called Woven Space about seven years ago. Sculpture has always been integral to the garden so, as we were developing early plans for the garden’s transformation at that time, we began talking about ideas for something more permanent. We were keen on something that strongly referenced both Chatsworth itself and the Derbyshire landscape from which it was born.”

“We gave Laura freedom to explore the garden and develop her vision for the location, the materials used, and the sculptural form. I’ve visited her studio in Cromford on various occasions in the past and have been very excited to see how her plans and models have evolved into what will become Natural Course. Its use of local stone and the dry stone walling method will root it in its environment and surroundings but at the same time the ‘hand and eye’ construction and shape make it surprising and thought-provoking in keeping with Chatsworth’s best traditions.”

The Arcadia area is part of a huge garden transformation project that also includes a remodelled Rockery, the Maze borders, the Ravine, and Dan Pearson’s redevelopment of the Trout Stream and the Jack Pond. It includes the clearance of previously inaccessible areas, large-scale structure installations, new sculpture commissions, the movement and addition of hundreds of tonnes of rock, hundreds of thousands of new plants and hundreds of new trees, as well as new pathways taking visitors into underexplored areas of the garden.

The 105-acre garden is the product of nearly 500 years of careful cultivation. Although some points of interest have been replaced to make way for new fashions, the garden retains many early features, including the Canal Pond, Cascade and Duke’s Greenhouse. The famous waterworks include the 300-year-old Cascade, the Willow Tree Fountain and the impressive, gravity-fed Emperor Fountain, which reaches heights up to 90m.

Click here to find out more about Chatsworth

Images credit: Chatsworth House Trust

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Winners announced of Enterprising Women Awards announced

Neeyantee Karia, co-founder of nationally renowned, Leicester-based food producers Jake & Nayns’, has been named Enterprising Women Business Woman of the Year for 2020 at a glittering awards ceremony at Double Tree by Hilton, Sheffield Park.

She was one of eight winners on the night as a record number of guests gathered to acknowledge and celebrate the very best female business talent across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

Food Attraction Ltd manufactures food for many high street restaurant chains as well as the Jake and Nayns’ brand of handheld street food for the retail market.

Neeyantee has now collected six major awards in the past 12 months, two of them national awards.

She oversees finance, production and the manufacturing site as well as HR and H&S and has been instrumental in the success of the company, which has grown from a start-up to an international business, with further growth predicted.

Neeyantee is mother to two daughters and looks out for the 100 staff in the business. Her attitude to work and passion for supporting those around her is infectious and she is influential in nurturing employees to bring out the best in them.

She said: “I am both shocked and delighted to win this award. I want to thank my amazing team for this win as well as the Enterprising Women Awards sponsors and everyone at the Chamber – this is such a huge honour.”

Other winners on the night included Mital Thanki, Spark Academy (Female Entrepreneur of the Year), Easy Internet Services (Social Commitment Award), Blueprint Interiors (Small Business of the Year Award), Emma Anderson, Freeths LLP (Female Employee of the Year), TTK Confectionary (Team of the Year), Learn by Design (Outstanding Contribution to Working in STEM) and Sophie Neil, Turner & Townsend (Apprentice of the Year).

The sponsors for the Enterprising Women Awards were Futures Housing Group (headline sponsor); Pick Everard, Leicester Racecourse, Leicester Tigers, Hastings Direct, Smallman & Son, The Belmont Hotel, Derby College Group (category sponsors); Purpose Media (media sponsor), Mercia Image Print (print sponsor), Cross Productions (design sponsor) and The Conference Works (AV sponsor). The host for the evening was TV personality Emma Jesson.

Co-Chair of Enterprising Women, Eileen Richards, founder of ER Recruitment, and Vice-President at the Chamber, said: “The standard of entries was, again, very high this year and we had a record number of submissions, which is testament to the real hunger among women in the business community to be recognised for their achievements.

“These awards go from strength to strength every year and are one of the best ways to achieve that recognition. In the past we have had some very worthy winners and I’m delighted that Neeyantee is now among them; every single finalist and winner deserves to be celebrated and should be immensely proud of their efforts.”

Co-Chair Jean Mountain, a Past President at the Chamber, said: “These annual awards never fail to inspire me, and it is an honour to be able to showcase the fantastic female talent we have in this great region of ours. My congratulations go to all the winners and finalists and a big thank you goes out to all our valued sponsors which do such a wonderful job in supporting these prestigious awards.”

Lindsey Williams, Group Chief Executive of headline sponsor Futures Housing Group, added: “Futures Housing is proud to be sponsoring this event. We are currently tackling a long-standing issue – to get more women on company boards – so it is so important to get the messages of encouragement out to women in business.

“Neeyantee’s passion and drive for both her business and her team really shone through and she has won a category in which the standard was exceptionally high.”

For more information on Enterprising Women, visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk/connecting-you/enterprising-women.

Click here to find out ore about East Midlands Chamber

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Featured, Home, Made in Chesterfield

East Midlands Chamber comments on Budget

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire), has commented on on Rishi Sunak’s Budget.

He said: “Given the current challenges being faced, the Chancellor did a good job of reassuring businesses and communities of Government’s intention to offer meaningful and robust support during this period of uncertainty.

“Specifically, support in the form of additional business rates relief for the leisure, hospitality and retail sectors – and SMEs in general – will be welcomed, given the current and anticipated impact of coronavirus.

“Employers are already working closely with employees on coronavirus concerns, however the additional support around statutory sick pay for SMEs with fewer than 250 employees will be welcomed.

“Away from immediate challenges, Government’s commitment to “unleash the power of business” will be well received; although, as ever, the devil will be in the detail.

“More funding for start-up loans, backing for businesses looking to export, as well as continued support from Growth Hubs are all important part of developing the business support landscape following our exit from the European Union and, in the fullness of time, details will be required as to how such elements will be funded.

As a region blessed with innovative and forward-thinking businesses, the extra support announced in relation to R&D investment is encouraging, although more businesses need to be supported to access this.

“If the East Midlands is to truly level up, infrastructure investment is paramount and to that end, a recommitment to major infrastructure in the region – including the pre-announced Transforming Cities Fund for Derby and Nottingham – is a positive, as is the commitment to improving the strategically important A46, often referred to as the Trans-Midlands Trade Corridor.

“Further funding for the Midlands Rail Hub, which unlocks regional rail routes across the East Midlands, and £27bn funding for the country’s strategic roads network, will also be crucial to our region’s long-term prosperity.

“Equally, the focus on investing in high-skill, high-wage, low carbon jobs presents a real opportunity for the East Midlands, while additional funding for flood damage repair will be important for the parts of our region affected.

“Finally, while some measures announced in Mr Sunak’s speech centred on Education, the Budget statement was relatively light on how we ensure businesses access the right people in the long term – away from immediate pressures, this is one of the biggest priorities we face as a country and a perennial issue facing members we speak with.

“On the whole, though, businesses across the East Midlands will be encouraged by the measures outlined in the Budget and the impact such measures will have in the short-term and moving forward.”

Champion of the Week

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Casa Hotels are the highest rated Four Star hotels in Derbyshire

Casa Hotels are delighted to announce that both Casa Hotel and their sister hotel, Peak Edge Hotel, have once again achieved the coveted silver star status from the AA.

Both the hotels visited by a member of the AA inspector team recently who stayed overnight at each hotel. They were subsequently marked on the various standards that make up the renowned AA star rating, including accommodation, dinner and facilities in general.

The six critical areas that the hotels are marked on are: cleanliness, hospitality, service, bedrooms, bathrooms and food and both hotels with both hotels receiving excellent merit scores. It means that Casa and Peak Edge Hotels are now the highest rated four-star hotels in Derbyshire. The inspector commented on the high standards of the hotel teams and the cleanliness of the hotels. Both the Red Lion Pub and Restaurant and Cocina restaurant have also maintained their Two AA Rosette Awards.

Casa Hotels Managing Director, Stuart Downham said: “We are once again absolutely delighted – to be awarded silver star status is fantastic but to maintain it proves that we do indeed offer consistently high standards at both of our hotels. We all work tirelessly to ensure that our guests have the best possible experience when they stay at Casa or Peak Edge and being awarded the Silver Star award cements all of our hard work”.

Casa Hotel was also a finalist at the Marketing Peak District Tourism Awards on Thursday 5th March. They were delighted to be awarded the silver award in the Hotel of the Year Category. This was the first year of the awards, held at the Buxton Dome in Derbyshire.

Click here to find out more about Casa Hotel

Click here to find out more about Peak Edge Hotel

Spice Girls Tribute Peak Edge Hotel

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Featured, Home, Leisure, Made in Chesterfield, Visiting

Chamber outlines asks ahead of Wednesday’s Budget

Ahead of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s first Budget on Wednesday 11 March Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said:

“Now is the time for Government to replace sound-bites with concrete actions and commit to creating an environment in which our businesses and communities can thrive.”

“If Government is serious about ‘levelling up’, nowhere more needed than the East Midlands, it must take on board the real-world issues and concerns that, along with sustained uncertainty, have meant many of our businesses have been operating with the handbrake on in recent times.”

“This Budget must be one of aspiration. This includes committing to infrastructure investment, breaking down barriers that inhibit growth – such as the broken Business Rates system – and supporting businesses in their key priorities, like attracting the right people and enhancing climate and sustainability credentials.”

“This budget is an opportunity to put business, the creators of wealth and prosperity, front-and-centre in the UK’s drive for future prosperity and it is vital this opportunity is seized.”

The Chamber will be part of a live roundtable summit, hosted by strategic partner RSM, on Budget Day, with reaction both during and following Mr Sunak’s announcement.

For reaction on the day, follow @EMC_Newsroom on Twitter and visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Featured, Home

Pitchford reaches first World Tour singles final and doubles final

Liam Pitchford hailed a “massive step” in his career as he reached his first singles final on the ITTF World Tour at the Qatar Open – a day after reaching his first doubles final.

And although both ended in defeat to opponents from the all-powerful Chinese camp, Pitchford can take huge confidence from a string of eye-catching performances, including beating the world No 1 in the semi-finals.

Seeded 15th for one of the strongest events on the calendar, world No 22 Pitchford started in the last 32 with a 4-2 win over Alvaro Robles of Spain and then overcame world No 27 Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus by the same margin.

His quarter-final against Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei showed Pitchford at his best as he dismissed the world No 37 – a former long-standing top-10 player – 4-0.

That set up a semi-final against Xu Xin, against whom Pitchford had never won a set. All that changed in spectacular fashion as the Chesterfield athlete won 4-2 with a performance of focus and intelligence as Xu struggled to find attacking openings against Pitchford’s precise short game.

The final was a high-quality affair against a player who was recently world No 1 and who had to pull out his top form to see off Pitchford 4-2).

Pitchford said: “It’s a bit mixed emotions. It’s always disappointing to lose a final, but overall it’s been a massively positive tournament. It’s a massive step and the next step is to win one.”

“I had my chances in the final and maybe on another day it could have gone my way, but I made him play his best and pushed him to the limit.”

“Especially against the Chinese, you’ve got to mix up the play and I think I did that really well.”

“The fifth set was one of the best sets I’ve played and it was probably the same for him. That’s what you’ve got to do against these players and that’s the level I want to be at all the time.”

A day earlier, Pitchford & Paul Drinkhall became the first English pair to reach an ITTF World Tour doubles final, which they did as an unseeded pair.

Having come back from 2-0 down to defeat Serbia’s Marko Jevtovic & Zsolt Peto 3-2 in the preliminary round, they saw off Mohammed Abdulwahhab & Ahmad Khalil Al-Mohannadi of the host nation 3-0 in the last 16, following up with a 3-1 defeat of Lam Siu Hang & Ng Pak Nam of Hong Kong in the quarter-finals.

It was another pair from Hong Kong in the semis, second seeds Ho Kwan Kit & Wong Chun Ting, and the English pair withstood a comeback to seal a 3-2 victory which made them the first English pair to reach a doubles final since the World Tour began in 1996.

Standing in their way were Xu Xin & Ma Long of China, the No 1 pair in the world and No 1 and No 3 respectively in the singles rankings.

Drinkhall & Pitchford lost the first 11-8 but hit back by the same margin, but the Chinese pair stepped on the gas to win the next 11-1, and they completed a 3-1 victory by winning five points in a row from 6-6 in the next set.

Pitchford said: “We hadn’t played together for a while but I think we proved we’re the best pair together and now we’ll play a few more tournaments together and hopefully kick on.”

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Chesterfield’s Seb Perez moves to European GT4

Chesterfield’s 20-year-old race ace, Seb Perez, is to be the new R-Motorsport Junior Driver in the highly competitive GT4 European Series, alongside team mate George Gamble.

Perez makes his move up to the GT4 European Series, after successfully racing Porsches in the last two seasons. Back in 2018, Perez won the Pro-Am title in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. Last year the driver from Chesterfield claimed two victories in the Pro class of the one-make series.

The team pairing of Perez and Gamble as team mates is not new. The previous years have seen them in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and before that in Ginetta’s.

Perez commented: “I’m really looking forward to the 2020 season with R Motorsport and a new challenge with driving a GT4 Aston Martin Vantage with this vastly experienced team. The team adds European GT 4 this season to its range of different championships and their vast knowledge will help and George Gamble and I look forward to working with them.”

The Swiss motorsport outfit of R-Motorsport will make its GT4 European Series debut this season after confirming the expansion of its GT racing programme with the announcement of the first two drivers for the 2020 season. The spotlight will be on both Perez and Gamble bringing their talents and experience to the team.

Both drivers will race in one of R-Motorsport’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4s, taking their first steps in international GT racing. It is more closely based on a standard production car than the GT3 version and is regarded as its ‘little brother’.

Florian Kamelger, Team Principal, explained: “We are very pleased to be able to extend R-Motorsport’s range of activities this season. We see this involvement in GT4 as the logical extension of our previous GT sporting activities”.

“So, as part of our programme of development for juniors, we are now giving these two GT4 drivers a chance to perform well and show that they are ready to move up into the higher categories, such as GT3, for example.”

“With George Gamble and Seb Perez, we have signed two promising young talents, who are very keen to show just what they are capable of in GT4.”

First race of the season takes place in the UK at Silverstone in May and includes prestigious circuits including Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring. The GT4 European championship features high level competition with team and drivers from around the world and promises top class racing and in previous years entries of up to 40 cars have been seen.

The Silverstone circuit will host the opening round of the 2020 GT4 European Series on May 8-10.

Editorial by Paul Horton

Image by R Motorsport  – Image Caption-  Perez and Gambles Supercar – The R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4

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North East Derbyshire District Council named as finalists in UK Housing awards for work on homelessness

North East Derbyshire District Council have been announced as finalists at the UK Housing Awards for their work in preventing residents becoming homeless through collaborative working with other authorities.

They have been nominated as finalists in the Homelessness Partnership of the Year category. Dash Services and authorities across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire set up Call B4 You Serve, an initiative which is aimed at providing landlords with free advice and support for dealing with tenants in difficulties.

The awards holders recognised the contribution and success of the Call B4 You Serve Project, which has helped people stay in their homes in difficult circumstances and has prevented homelessness across the two counties in the private rented sector.

Councillor Alan Powell, portfolio holder for Communications and Housing said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the Authority. Being recognised nationally and being finalists for the work we have done on homelessness just goes to show the efforts we are making to help people in desperate need.

“The advice and support landlords have received from the Call B4 You Serve project has been pivotal in helping people stay in their homes. We are passionate about helping both the tenant and landlord, and this project has provided the perfect platform the remediate between the two.

“This award is well deserved and shows that collaborative working with other authorities has far reaching benefits for our residents, a huge well done to all involved.”

The winners of the event will be announced on 7 May 2020 at an event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Pictured left to right: Mark Skelton (Dash Services Call B4 You Serve) / Lee Pepper (NEDDC Housing Options Manager) / Linda Cobb (Dash Services Call B4 You Serve) / Helen Scott (Dash Services Call B4 You Serve) / Sally Agyeman Dash Services Call B4 You Serve)

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development, Home

Chesterfield FC Community Trust secures National League Trust grant

Chesterfield FC Community Trust has secured funding from the National League Trust to support delivery of sports clubs in the community.

The project is aimed at engaging parts of the community that don’t always have the capacity to access sporting opportunities.

Keith Jackson, The Trust’s head of sport and activities, said: “It’s fantastic news that we have again secured funding from the National League.”

“This will enable us to increase our offer for those in deprived areas, those with disabilities and other hard to reach groups.”

“We owe a huge thanks to the National League Trust for supporting our project again.”

The recent Chesterfield FC match against Ebbsfleet United last weekend marked the Time to Change fixture for Chesterfield FC Community Trust. Time to Change is a nationwide campaign to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people who experience mental health problems.

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