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Plans to revamp Chesterfield Market move forward

Chesterfield Borough Council’s plans to revamp the town’s historic market have taken a further step forward, with expected works to be completed in around a year’s time.

Last December, the council asked residents, market traders and local businesses to share their views and help shape the future of Chesterfield Market.

The aim of the surveys was to understand what people enjoy about Chesterfield Market, what might encourage them to visit more often, and understand how they think it can be improved.

This was the first step in the £3.25m Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project which includes plans to revamp the town’s historic outdoor Market Place, as well as improve the public space around Elder Way.

Councillor Kate Sarvent, cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “Chesterfield Market is the heart and soul of the town. It’s crucial that we work together with residents, market traders and local businesses to make sure improvements meet their needs. It was fantastic to receive hundreds of responses to our surveys, which shows the market means so much to everyone in Chesterfield.”

The surveys showed support for changing the layout of the market. 72% of the public, 89% of local businesses and 46% of market traders, supported changing the layout of the market

There was strong support for events, particularly specialist and event markets. These could include food festivals, farmers markets or vintage markets.

The public survey results show strong support for market traders and a desire to support local businesses.

Councillor Sarvent added: “Work is now underway to develop options for the market design and these will be available for comment as part of a consultation with the public, market traders and local businesses this summer. It is especially encouraging to see the public support for traders and local businesses as we move towards re-opening the town centre from lockdown next month.”

Details of how to take part in the next stage of the market consultation will be available from the council’s website this summer. Following this, it is expected works will be complete in Spring 2022.

As well as looking at the future of the market, the Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project will also include improvements to the public space between the town centre and the Northern Gateway site.

The Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project has benefitted from £650,000 of funding through the D2N2 Local Growth Fund.

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Chesterfield businesses offered free membership of crime-fighting partnership run by East Midlands Chamber

Up to 2,000 businesses in Chesterfield can sign up for free to an East Midlands Chamber-run scheme that helps to reduce town centre crime and anti-social behaviour. The Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) has secured funding from Chesterfield Borough Council to offer access to Disc, an online crime information-sharing system that connects businesses with local police forces.

There will be no cost for the first 12 months, with subsequent years costing up to £100 – and potentially lower if enough businesses take up the programme permanently.

Jackie Roberts, BCRP manager at the Chamber, said: “Businesses in town and city centres are struggling at the moment and crime will only make this worse.

“The Disc portal is an integral part of crime reduction strategies as it makes it so much easier for businesses to share intelligence about incidents and offender images between members, police, community safety officers and other partners such as the BCRP team.

“We’ve had a lot of reports during lockdown because police resources have been really stretched due to sickness, so the BCRP fills the gap where police can’t deal with petty crime.

“By working with local authorities such as Chesterfield Borough Council, we’re delighted to offer this scheme for free to businesses in order to make them more resilient – a key theme during the post-Covid economic recovery.”

What is the Business Crime Reduction Partnership?

The BCRP, one of 200 such programmes in the UK, is funded by both the Chamber and the Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Hardyal Dhindsa.

Its remit to reduce crime in participating towns, cities and retail parks fits into an overall objective to make them a safer place to work, visit, socialise and shop.

Members pay a fee and benefits include a GDPR-compliant data-sharing system that facilitates direct reporting to the police without the need to use the time-consuming 101 system.

Intelligence and crime reports can be submitted electronically to the police and other BCRP members, who also have access to app and web-based image galleries of people who have been arrested or are known offenders.

How BCRP membership will help Chesterfield town centre

There are currently about 80 businesses in Chesterfield signed up to an advanced version of the BCRP scheme that also includes radio connections.

The council’s funding will give about 2,000 businesses in sectors such as retail, hospitality and tourism the opportunity to sign up for the basic package, which uses the online Disc system.

It will be launched at the beginning of May ahead of the reopening of hospitality in the Government’s roadmap to ending lockdown.

Councillor Jill Mannion-Brunt, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “It is fantastic news that this funding has been made available for our local businesses.

“This project will help strengthen the link between retailers and the police which should help limit crime and anti-social behaviour in our town.

“I want to encourage every local business to sign up to this programme because I believe it will be a positive step for our town.”

Hardyal Dhindsa, Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire, added: “Tackling retail crime is a priority for me and I am pleased that my funding of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership with the Chamber is enabling partners like Chesterfield Borough Council to join us in tackling criminality. This is an excellent way of supporting businesses to reduce the crime and antisocial behaviour that they have said concerns them.

“We have been working hard, with local partners, to successfully address other problems in Chesterfield Town Centre through the Chesterfield Town Summit, and this is another tool in the box.

“I welcome the fact that Chesterfield Borough Council has recognised the important of supporting local business and I hope that in time we will be able to roll this programme out across Derbyshire with other local authorities.”

Further plans for BCRP roll-out in Derbyshire

Discussions are ongoing on how to roll out the offer to Staveley, while there are plans to roll out the Disc scheme in Matlock and Bakewell, in which a combined 40 businesses are signed up to the radio system.

Jackie added: “The hope is that by signing up businesses for the first year, they will be able to see the benefits of continuing with the scheme thereafter.

“The more businesses that are involved in the BCRP scheme and sharing information, the stronger it will be – and the better the area will be as a result.

“Councils and regeneration teams are placing crime reduction high on the agenda in order to bring back footfall into their towns.

“It also removes barriers to reporting crime as the Disc system automatically notifies the police when an incident is logged, while police are able to input feedback so businesses can follow what happens to offenders.”

The British Retail Consortium’s 2020 retail crime survey, published in March just before lockdown, found there were 424 violent or abusive incidents towards staff per day nationally, while businesses lost £770m due to theft and £2.2bn resulting from overall crime.

Anyone interested in discussing how to get involved with the Derbyshire Business Crime Reduction Partnership can email jackie.roberts@emc-dnl.co.uk.

 

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New local radio station set for launch in North Derbyshire

A new local radio station serving Chesterfield and North Derbyshire is launching later this month, providing people across the area with local news and information along with a variety of music.

The team at the newly-created North Derbyshire Radio says it aims to ‘fill the void’ left by recent broadcasting changes by providing local news, sport and entertainment, as well as supporting local charities and businesses across North Derbyshire.

The service will be launched on on Monday 22nd March and has been created by Former Peak FM presenter and programmer Naz Premji, now a regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC TV’s Final Score’s football coverage.

“I spent many great years at Peak107/Peak FM after the people really welcomed me with open arms when I arrived in 2001,” says Premji.

“I’ve always had an affinity with the area and the people of North Derbyshire. With the help of some familiar faces and voices and some new ones too, I’m hoping we can bring truly local radio back to this very distinctive part of the country.”

The line-up includes several local presenters who are familiar voices to listeners in the area, including Mark Chadwick, Claire Salanyk, Naz Premji and the return of the legendary Richard Spinks who will be back with his famous Late Night Love Songs show.

North Derbyshire Radio will also feature another former Peak FM favourite, Jason Hardy, as well as John Isherwood, Richard Shaw Wright and Michael Weadock.

The station will play a variety of music and provide local news and information throughout the day.

North Derbyshire Radio will be available online at www.northderbyshireradio.com and on the North Derbyshire Radio Android and Apple smartphone app and on smart speakers.

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Chatsworth supplies hundreds of ready meals to the vaccination frontline

Chefs at the Chatsworth Estate have begun creating ready meals for distribution to Covid vaccination centres across Derbyshire, with hundreds of meals being delivered to frontline workers every week.

Hot food for hard working volunteers and staff includes Chatsworth favourites such as lasagne, macaroni cheese, cottage pie made with local beef, and mushroom and leek risotto among others.

Instead of preparing meals for visitors to Chatsworth, for the past few weeks chefs in the Carriage House Café kitchen have been cooking ready meals to provide vaccination staff working long hours with fuel for the fight against Covid. Chatsworth’s delivery drivers have been dropping off meals at destinations including Chesterfield Royal, St. Oswald’s in Ashbourne, Royal Derby and others among the county’s 24 vaccination centres.

Derbyshire has shown that it is leading the nation’s vaccination roll-out – in one week recently, the country vaccinated the second highest proportion of eligible residents in the whole of England.

Chris Baily Jones, Head of Catering at Chatsworth: “The vaccination drive in Derbyshire and elsewhere is absolutely vital in making us all safe for a way out of lockdown. We’re determined to do our bit to support Derbyshire NHS and all the people working such long hours to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Ready meals for Derbyshire vaccination centres has been made possible with funding from Chatsworth Estate alongside personal contributions from a number of individuals at Chatsworth. The Devonshire Group community forum, which includes Chatsworth, is chaired by Lord Burlington, son of the Duke of Devonshire, and was set up at the start of the Covid pandemic to reach out and support local communities.

A large number of charitable organisations are supported by the Devonshire Group through donations of money, items and complimentary tickets, and by offering savings on commercial rates. In 2019, charitable giving across the Devonshire Group amounted to £334,452.

For more information on Chatsworth and the community, visit https://www.chatsworth.org/about-chatsworth/our-shared-future/

Chatsworth supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Images supplied by the Chatsworth House Trust

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£46 million investment in Derbyshire’s roads and pavements agreed

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet has agreed work totalling over £46 million to be carried out on the county’s roads and pavements over the next year.

A huge investment in the county’s roads and pavements has been agreed at a meeting of the authority’s cabinet on Thursday, 11th March.

The council also announced a further £40 million for each of the following two years.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “The money we will invest over the next 3 years will see a step change in how we tackle improvements on our highways network.

“Next year alone we will surface dress 260 roads and resurface 78 roads and 65 pavements. 84 miles of roads will be surface dressed, and 11.5 miles will be resurfaced.

“We’re also going to make improvements to drains and spend money on other measures to prevent flooding.

“To tackle accidents on the roads we’ve 46 safety schemes which aim to reduce the numbers of people killed or seriously injured in accidents. Improvements will also be made to the cycle network.

“Then for the following two years we will spend around £40m each year in our bid to keep Derbyshire moving.

”The work will be carried out by our own team, and by specialist contractors which we will bring in to help us meet this ambitious programme.”

The work will be carried out by the council’s own employees, and a range of specialist contractors. To help manage the extensive scheme of work a small team of employees will be recruited shortly.

The table below shows how the funding is set to be distributed over the next year:

Roads £16.154 million
Pavements £3.152 million
Drainage and flood management £6.634 million
Bridges, structures, retaining walls and highway boundary structures £3.81 million
Signs, lines and signals £3.218 million
Street lighting £2.401 million
Rights of way £1.698 million
Cycle routes £0.677 million
Greenways £0.185 million
Traffic management £0.48 million
Key Cycle Network investment £0.57 million
Local cycling and walking investment £0.299 million
Public transport £1.6 million
Road safety £1.992 million
Preparation and implementation of major highway projects £0.25 million
Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund and Active Travel Fund £3.684 million
Total 2021 to 2022 programme £46.803 million

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Tourism businesses in Derbyshire urged to apply for ‘safe travels’ stamp

The area’s official tourist board is encouraging businesses across the Peak District & Derbyshire to capitalise on the opportunity to apply for an international ‘Safe Travels’ stamp from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

National tourist body VisitBritain recently announced that tourism businesses in the UK registered to the ‘We’re Good To Go’ industry standard scheme can now be automatically issued with the international ‘Safe Travels’ stamp from the WTTC.

The ‘We’re Good To Go’ scheme, launched last year by VisitEngland in partnership with Tourism Northern Ireland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales, is a free UK-wide industry standard and consumer mark to reassure customers that businesses are adhering to Government and public health guidance.

There are currently over 750 businesses in the Peak District & Derbyshire with ‘We’re Good To Go’ accreditation.

The scheme has been recognised by WTTC as meeting international global standardised health and hygiene protocols and for its role in supporting the recovery of the UK tourism sector.

The WTTC stamp enables travellers to identify destinations around the world which have adopted global standardised protocols, so they can experience ‘Safe Travels.’

Jo Dilley, Managing Director of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, says: “We’re delighted that businesses in the Peak District & Derbyshire certified to ‘We’re Good To Go’ can now automatically register for the WTTC’s global Safe Travels stamp, recognising the high standard of protocols we have in place.

“This international stamp sitting alongside our UK standard mark will help to provide further reassurance for visitors, staff and local residents alike that our businesses are putting all the right measures in place to ensure they are Covid-safe.

“As the tourism industry works towards reopening, it is also a timely boost for businesses as well as for future international visitors, reassuring them that they can plan future trips to the Peak District & Derbyshire with confidence.”

Businesses already registered to the ‘We’re Good To Go’ scheme can log into their online account to download the WTTC Safe Travels stamp. Any business not already part of the scheme can apply through the usual process and indicate within that application their wish to use the additional global WTTC stamp.

For more information visit: https://goodtogo.visitbritain.com

Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Mam Tor, Visit Peak District

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Chesterfield welcomes new pop-up events company

A new luxury pop-up events company has arrived in Chesterfield, providing people with the opportunity to hire exclusive garden igloos for use in their private spaces.

Diamond Domes and Dining is aiming to help people celebrate occasions safely, while remaining within their own household group or support bubble.

The company, founded by Chesterfield resident Chloe Britland has already achieved a number of successes since its launch, and is now looking forward to taking bookings for multiple households and groups getting ready for their long-awaited catch-up from March 29th.

Chloe explained how she hopes the new venture will help local people re-connect in a safe way when restrictions are eased: “Throughout the lockdowns, there have been so many people that have missed out on special events, dates which should have been memorable occasions and I felt that something was needed to fill the gap. I saw the garden igloos a while back, they’re manufactured overseas and I knew I could dress them up and make them look fantastic!”

The company’s signature ‘Diamond Dining’ package includes a fully-decorated igloo in the customer’s garden with mood lighting, luxury tableware and options to add flowers, balloon designs and cakes. There is flexibility for the customers to make the event completely bespoke around their needs.

Diamond Domes and Dining has also been launched with the ethos of promoting and celebrating as many small local businesses as possible at a time of need. As part of this, the company is running a Mother’s Day giveaway competition on its social media pages in collaboration with other businesses in the area.

Other local companies included in the giveaway include:

  • Talking Balloons
  • Totally Cheesecakes
  • Sam’s Flower Boutique
  • The Tupton Tap
  • Farview Farm Creations
  • Massage by Bec Needham
  • Small Town Girl Bakery

Chloe added: “I feel that the area is really growing with new businesses and is proving an exciting time for entrepreneurs and business owners. The lockdown has placed a huge emphasis on supporting your local small businesses and I believe this should be celebrated and businesses should work together to support one another.

“I have had a crazy response since launching in February and I am so excited for the future.”

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Chesterfield residents can have their say on major new cycling and walking route

Derbyshire County Council has published ambitious plans for an east-west walking and cycling route for Chesterfield and local people are being asked for their views.The government has awarded the authority  just over £1.6 million to create a new route for cyclists and those on foot.

The route will go from the A619 junction with Holymoor Road, along Chatsworth Road and the existing Hipper Valley Trail, through Queen’s Park, and to the hospital by using Crow Lane and Wetlands Lane.

The plans for the route include improving existing sections by widening and resurfacing, to provide enough space for all users and allow for better social distancing.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “This new route will help many people to walk or cycle into the town centre, to the railway station and the hospital.

“We’ve already seen a huge increase in the number of cyclists in the town centre and this route will help to take more traffic off the roads, which can only be a good thing for everyone.

“We can’t use this money for anything else, nor can we use it anywhere else in the county, so I’d urge everyone who lives locally to have a look at the plans and let us have their views.”

The consultation closes on 25 March 2021 and you can take part here.

Chesterfield and North Derbyshire already has a number of cycling routes, catered towards all ages and abilities. We’ve put together a list of 10 great routes in our area for you to take on…  Find out more and get on your bike today!

And for those who are new to cycling or unsure on how to get started, we’ve put together a guide to show you how easy and convenient cycling in Chesterfield and North Derbyshire can be. It’s a great way to improve your own health and the health of our local environment!

Cycling in Queens Park - Get on your bike in Chesterfield

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Students wow the Gateway at PEAK development team with architectural designs

Students at the University of Derby have impressed the team at Milligan, who are developing the Gateway at PEAK, after unveiling their architectural visions for the UK’s first fully-serviced national park gateway based in Chesterfield.

The Gateway at PEAK will be part of the 300-acre PEAK Resort, consented on the eastern boundary of the Peak District. As part of developer Milligan and landowner Birchall Properties’ partnership with the University of Derby, undergraduate and Masters level students responded to a live brief and were challenged to assume the role of architect on the project.

The students were asked to consider local communities, wildlife preservation, sustainable design with a Net Zero Carbon objective, and respectfully incorporate the Peak District’s natural beauty into their designs.

The students worked in teams to envision scheme designs and complementary uses such as F&B, retail and exhibits, delivering unique concepts that offered a broad spectrum of options for the developers to consider.

After all the proposals were submitted, the Milligan development shortlisted four finalists who were awarded a share of £1,000.

The Gateway at Peak architectural designs – University of Derby

Dr Boris Ceranic, Course Director for Masters Programmes and Centre of Excellence Leader at the University of Derby, said: “I was impressed by the quality of the work and particularly pleased by the way undergraduate and Masters students have worked together as a team to deliver such complex and demanding design charrette briefs.

The designs were inspiring, with highly sustainable and distinctive visions of unique visitor experiences, resolved through proposals that blurred the boundaries between the open and enclosed, solid and transparent, static and fluid, natural and built environment.”

Lecturer, Graham Markwell comments, “This live project has allowed us to work with industry partners to deliver a high-quality experiential learning initiative. The students have produced innovative solutions to the brief provided and have greatly benefitted from interacting with professional clients and real-world projects.”

The Gateway at Peak architectural designs – University of Derby

Gary Dawson, second year student on the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Venue Design talks about the project and the valuable experience it provided; “We really enjoyed working on the project, being able to apply our creative skills to a public space of the future was fantastic and gave a real sense of how we will apply the skills we are learning in future careers. Having the opportunity to push ourselves and see what we can accomplish, in the limited time we had, helped us all begin to realise what we are capable of achieving and what our futures might be like.”

For Milligan the project was a great way of not only accessing some fresh thinking for the development but also a way of inspiring the next generation of creative talent within the industry.

Paul Hanegraaf, Creative Director at Milligan notes “I was blown away by the quality and thought put into each submission – especially as the students had little under a week to prepare.

We have been developing the plans for the Gateway at PEAK for some time and will soon be announcing the architect we have appointed before revealing their plans later in the year.

It’s wonderful to have input and inspiration from the next generation of designers, planners and architects, after all, it is that generation we’re building this inspiring place for.”

The Gateway at Peak architectural designs – University of Derby

Rupert Carr, Director of Birchall Properties adds “I was delighted with the quality and the quantity of the work produced by the students in such a short period of time. It was nothing less than remarkable and I was genuinely uplifted by the thinking and consideration behind the concepts the students shared.

“Of particular note for me was the way all teams expressed real enthusiasm for and belief in the potential for a better built environment, one with an underlying philosophy to deliver social and environmental benefits as well as great commercial opportunities”.

The Gateway at PEAK is part of PEAK Resort, where works for the all-weather, all-year, all-ages Summit at PEAK, are already underway. PEAK Resort also has planning permission for up to 2,000 hotel rooms and 250 lodges as well as a whole range of leisure, education and entertainment facilities, attracting investment and creating employment opportunities.

The Gateway at Peak architectural designs – University of Derby

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£25.2m investment for Staveley announced

Town leaders have welcomed a multi-million pound funding boost which will pave the way for significant regeneration in a former mining community in North Derbyshire.

Staveley is set to benefit from £25.2m worth of funding following the Government’s Town Deal programme announcement today – presenting a ‘golden opportunity’ to transform the area for future generations.

It follows a successful bid for funding by the Staveley Town Deal Board, which submitted a Town Investment Plan to unlock the funding package for a range of projects that will drive long term economic growth, offer quality skills and employment opportunities and improve the green spaces and canal network around Staveley.

And it is a further boost for the borough’s wider growth agenda – adding to the significant and sustained investments that are already being made across the area to ensure Chesterfield’s communities are in the strongest possible position to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ivan Fomin, Chair of the Staveley Town Deal Board, said: “We are delighted at the news from Government today that Staveley stands to be awarded £25.2m as part of the Towns Fund.

“Our plans are rooted in the needs and aspirations of Staveley’s communities, and have been driven by the Board’s collective ambitions to attract the investment that this area deserves.

“Bringing funding on this scale to Staveley will transform the area and realise huge benefits to local people, both in terms of how they lead their everyday lives and take advantage of future opportunities. As a local businessman and Chair of the Town Deal Board, I am thrilled that Government has recognised the potential of our place and sees the value in backing our Town Investment Plan.”

The funding will be spent over a five-year period, steered by the Staveley Town Deal Board, and with the overall programme managed by Chesterfield Borough Council.

It follows an earlier successful bid by the Board under the Government’s Accelerator Fund – securing £500,000 worth of funding for grassroots projects. They include a new state-of-the-art all-weather sports pitch at Springwell Community College, new play equipment for King George V Playing Field and new CCTV equipment for Staveley town centre.

Welcoming the news, Cllr Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council and Vice Chair of the Staveley Town Deal Board, added: “Today’s announcement is tremendous news for our borough, and for the communities of Staveley who are set to benefit from this sizeable investment in a range of exciting projects and programmes.

“This is a golden opportunity which paves the way for this former mining community – which has often been overlooked by previous national funding programmes – to realise its full potential both now and in the future.

“I would like to thank all of the partners who have worked on the Town Deal over the last year. Staveley is a very special place with a rich history and wonderful assets. Through this funding, we will look to harness the town’s great potential through re-vitalising the high street, delivering new investment and much-needed jobs, supporting local people to reach their full potential and exciting the interest of new visitors to the place.”

Following the announcement of the funding offer, partners in Staveley will be working with Government to agree the terms for the next stage of the Town Deal programme and to determine how each project will be funded.

This will allow the promoters of each project to develop their full business cases, which will be needed before the funding can be released. The Staveley Town Deal Board will be supporting each project through that process so that delivery on the ground can start as soon as practicable.

Elsewhere in North Derbyshire, £24.1 million has been awarded to kickstart a number of regeneration projects in Clay Cross.

North East Derbyshire District Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor Carolyn Renwick said: “What an incredible and proud moment this is for Clay Cross and North East Derbyshire. To be awarded the full sum we asked for – over £24 million pounds will mean Clay Cross will be an exciting hub of redevelopment, opportunity and prosperity for years to come.”

You’ll be able to find out more about all of the projects included as part of the Staveley Town Deal and other regeneration sites across the area at the virtual Celebrate Chesterfield event, taking place on Wednesday, 31st March. To register your place at the virtual event, go to: https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/celebrate/

Find out more about all the regeneration projects taking place across Staveley here: https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/developments/staveley/

 

Works road and canal basin

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Ashgate Hospicecare launch ‘Step into Spring’ initiative to raise vital funds

Ashgate Hospicecare is calling on people across North Derbyshire to set themselves a lockdown challenge by signing up for its newest fundraise-at-home event.

Supporters are being invited to take part in Step into Spring where they’ll go head-to-head virtually to complete as many steps as possible throughout March.

Whether it’s setting a target of 10,000 daily steps or accumulating 50km across the month, taking part in the fundraising challenge will help fund Ashgate Hospicecare’s vital care for patients and their families living with a life-limiting illness.

Participants can run, walk or even skip towards their target distance whilst going up against friends, family and colleagues in the online league table.

Among those signed up for the event already is Kate Redhead, who has set herself a target of running 7.5km everyday in memory of her mother-in-law Lynda Redhead, who was cared for by the hospice.

Kate, aged 32, from Chesterfield, wants to give back to Ashgate after the “wonderful comfort and care” Lynda received – particularly as the charity has lost vital funds since the pandemic outbreak.

She said: “I can’t wait to take part in Step into Spring next month! I think it’s a fun way to keep active during the lockdown whilst helping raise money to help fund Ashgate’s care.

“The challenge gives you control over how many steps you would like to do – I have set myself quite a high target but I’m hoping this will encourage my friends and family to sponsor me.

“I often have low self-esteem so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can achieve when I set my mind to something.

“Ashgate Hospicecare cared for my mother-in-law before I’d met my husband, so we never got to meet but knowing how much the loss of Lynda affected him has motivated me to support the hospice.

“I now care very deeply about the hospice because of the comfort, care and compassion they brought to my family during some very dark times.”

Everyone who registers for Step into Spring, which is £7 for over 13s and £5 for under 13s, will receive a special edition medal and a running vest.

Participants can choose to use mobile phone app Strava to track their activity, but it’s entirely up to them

With its shops temporarily closed and larger fundraising events cancelled or scaled back, the event is a great and active way to support the hospice at an important time.

Carl Jones, Fundraising Manager at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “Everyone at Ashgate Hospicecare is delighted to be launching our new virtual Step into Spring event and registration is now open.

“We know how difficult the lockdown has been for so many people so wanted to organise an event that will give our supporters a spring in their step throughout March.

“It’s a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family whilst keeping active during the lockdown, plus you’ll be helping us raise vital funds so we can continue caring for terminally ill people and their loved ones.

“And don’t worry, there’s no pressure on how many steps you need to do, it’s up to you to set your own targets – whether you run 230km like Kate or walk 2,000 steps on your lunch break, your efforts will mean so much to us and the families we support.”

All activities must be done in accordance with the latest COVID-19 government guidance.

To find out more about the Step into Spring fundraising challenge and how you can take part go to www.ashgatehospicecare.org.uk/events

Ashgate Hospicecare supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

 

 

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