People can share their concerns about policing in Bourne and the Deepings at two community meetings over the coming week.

Firstly, people from villages such as Lound, Manthorpe and Thurlby can go to Stamford Rural Neighbourhood Panel’s meeting at The Toft Country House Hotel, Toft, near Bourne, tomorrow at 6.30pm.

The meeting starts with an open forum for the members of the public until 7pm when a closed meeting for the panel takes place.

meanwhile, Market Deeping Neighbourhood Policing Panel is meeting at The Open Door Church, Spalding Road, Deeping St James, on Monday, January 25, at 7pm.

The meeting will start with a public open forum when, for 30 minutes until 7.30pm, members of the public can share their thoughts and concerns about policing matters with panel members who will then meet in a closed session.

A county councillor will be the official UKIP candidate in the battle to become Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner.

Sources have confirmed that Victoria Ayling will represent the party in elections for the £85,000-a-year post in May.

Coun Ayling is well known in county political circles and has stood for the Great Grimsby seat in two General Elections, including 2015.

Her deputy will be Jonathan Ferrari, a Horncastle town councillor and business owner.

The Conservatives have already announced their candidate, County Councillor Marc Jones.

The current commissioner is Alan Hardwick who visited Horncastle this morning (Tuesday).

Mr Hardwick has still to decide whether he will seek re-election but is in the process of drawing up long-term plans for the force and continuing financial cutbacks.

Boosted by a special visit from Olympian Crista Cullen, Long Sutton ladies first team moved up the league table with a 3-1 win over Pelicans.

The King’s Lynn side had won a hard-fought game earlier in the season by the odd goal in five.

But they were forced to defend right from the start of Saturday’s match.

Long Sutton’s possession paid off after 18 minutes when Jeorgia Carr put them ahead.

Chances were missed by skipper Leanne Woodhead and strike partner Lyn Tancred but the lead was doubled as Tancred set up Woodhead to crisply fire home.

Pelicans halved the deficit but Tancred hit a short corner for Woodhead to re-establish a two-goal advantage.

The men’s first team drew 1-1 away to second-placed Norwich City.

Ben Shore made it 1-0 but Sutton settled for a point following a late equaliser.

The second team beat St Ives 2nd 6-1 thanks to Gary Hales (2), Nick Ellis (2), Jack Smith and Will White.

Spalding ladies second team lost 2-0 away to second-placed Bourne Deeping.

RESULTS

SATURDAY

Men’s Premier B: Letchworth 5 Cambridge Uni 2nd 3, CoP 2nd 2 I-ES 3, Norwich City 1 Long Sutton 1.

Men’s Division One: West Herts 2nd 3 Bourne Deeping 0, Ford 2 East London 3, Old Southendian 8 Chelmsford 2nd 1, Pelicans 1 CoP 6.

Men’s Division Three North West: Cambridge City Vets 5 Horncastle 2, Bourne Deeping 2nd 2 St Neots 3, Wisbech Town 2nd 1 Cambridge South 2, Long Sutton 2nd 6 St Ives 2nd 1.

Men’s Division Four North West: Cambridge South 2nd 5 Wisbech Town 3rd 0, Leadenham 3 Bourne Deeping 3rd 0, Cambridge Nomads 2nd 2 Cambridge City 5th 0, Ely City 2nd 3 St Ives 3rd 2.

Men’s Division Five North West: Bourne Deeping 4th 3 Cambridge City 6th 1, Wisbech Town 4th 2 Cambridge South 3rd 4, Alford & District 8 St Ives 4th 0.

Men’s Division Six North West (N): Bourne Deeping 6th 0 Leadenham 2nd 2, Grantham 1 Alford & District 2nd 0.

Women’s Division One North: Wisbech Town 2 CoP 1, Norwich Dragons 2nd 0 Norwich City 1.

Women’s Division Two North West: Cambridge Uni 2nd 8 Lindum 2nd 0, Newmarket 1 Cambridge Nomads 4, CoP 2nd 0 Wisbech Town 2nd 0, Long Sutton 3 Pelicans 1.

Women’s Division Three North West: Bourne Deeping 2 Spalding 2nd 0, Cambridge South 9 March Town 1.

Women’s Division Four North West (North): Spilsby 5 Alford & District 2nd 2, Wisbech Town 3rd 2 Bourne Deeping 2nd 0, Woodhall Spa 2 CoP 4th 1, Skegness 4 Louth 2nd 0.

SUNDAY

Men’s Premier B: Waltham Forest 1 I-ES 3, Cambridge Uni 2nd 5 CoP 2nd 4.

Women’s Division Two North West: Wisbech Town 2nd 0 Alford & District 2.


FIXTURES

SATURDAY

Men’s Premier B: Long Sutton v I-ES, Norwich City v Saffron Walden, Wisbech Town v Spalding, Harleston Magpies 2nd v Waltham Forest, Felixstowe v Letchworth.

Men’s Division One: CoP 3rd v Chelmsford 2nd, East London v Old Southendian, Pelicans v Bishop’s Stortford, March Town v West Herts 2nd, Bourne Deeping v Wapping 2nd, Cambridge City 3rd v Ford.

Men’s Division Three North West: CoP 5th v St Ives 2nd, Cambridge South v Long Sutton 2nd, Louth v Cambridge Uni 3rd, Ely City v Cambridge City Vets, Horncastle v Bourne Deeping 2nd, St Neots v Wisbech Town 2nd.

Men’s Division Four North West: CoP 7th v Spalding 3rd, St Ives 3rd v CoP 6th, Spalding 2nd v Cambridge South 2nd, Wisbech Town 3rd v Leadenham, Bourne Deeping 3rd v Cambridge Nomads 2nd, Cambridge City 5th v Ely City 2nd.

Men’s Division Five North West: Long Sutton 3rd v St Ives 4th, Cambridge South 3rd v Alford & District, Spalding 4th v Cambridge South 4th, March Town 2nd v St Neots 2nd, Bourne Deeping 5th v Bourne Deeping 4th, Cambridge City 6th v Wisbech Town 4th.

Men’s Division Six North West (N): Alford & District 2nd v Leadenham 2nd, Bourne Deeping 6th v Long Sutton 4th, Grantham v Louth 2nd, Horncastle 2nd v Spalding 5th.

Women’s Division One North: Norwich City v Blueharts, Saffron Walden v Letchworth, Norwich Dragons 2nd v Cambridge City 2nd, Bedford 2nd v Wisbech Town, CoP v Royston, Spalding v Lindum.

Women’s Division Two North West: Alford & District v Pelicans, Cambridge City 3rd v Long Sutton, St Ives v Cambridge Uni 2nd, Lindum 2nd v Newmarket, Cambridge Nomads v CoP 2nd, Wisbech Town 2nd v St Neots.

Women’s Division Three North West: Huntingdon v Bourne Deeping, Ely City v Cambridge South, Spalding 2nd v St Ives 2nd, March Town v Newmarket 2nd, Cambridge Uni 3rd v CoP 3rd, Haverhill v Spalding 3rd.

Women’s Division Four North West (North): Louth 2nd v Horncastle, CoP 4th v Long Sutton 2nd, Skegness v Spilsby, Alford & District 2nd v Wisbech Town 3rd, Bourne Deeping 2nd v Woodhall Spa.

Bakker Spalding has announced the launch of the first hosta to ever flower yellow, the ‘Miracle Lemony’.

Adrian Nind, managing director, expects the new hosta to be very popular: “This gorgeous variety is the very first to flower yellow – such an exciting development in what is an extremely popular plant.

“Originating in the Orient and brought to Europe in the 1700s, there are over 2,500 cultivars of hosta with a huge variety in leaf shape, size, colour and texture – but this is the first time anyone has been able to offer a variety with yellow flowers.”

As well as flowering in the summer with yellow blooms, the perennial also has decorative leaves with attractive, wavy edges.

Best planted in a spot with light to medium shade, hostas are a great plant for filling in borders or for using as a stand-alone specimen. The plants will fully mature in four to eight years and in spite of their almost tropical look, hostas are robust plants. Once established, they tolerate almost any soil and will grow for years.

For best results with the exclusive yellow-flowering hosta, follow these tips:

• Be sure to plant yellow hostas in an area which receives at least two hours of sun a day to keep them from darkening or losing their colour;

• Yellow hostas draw attention because of their brightness and unique colour, so place them where you want to draw focus;

• Place yellow hostas in front of dark green or blue plants to add more depth to a garden.

They are priced at £9.99 each and can be purchased from: www.spaldingbulb.co.uk/product/hosta-miracle-lemony-

The head of policing in South Holland has warned drone enthusiasts about the dangers of flying them irresponsibly.

Temporary Chief Inspector Deborah Clark of the South Holland and Boston Local Policing Team urged people given drones as birthday or Christmas presents to fly them legally so as not to “endanger people or property”.

Just last month, a man was cautioned in relation to a drone flight over Lincoln and close to two RAF stations.

Chief Insp Clark said: “Drones are cheap and easy to get in the air so, no doubt, many will have been given as presents over Christmas.

“The ownership and use of drones is not in itself unlawful but in certain circumstances their use may contravene air safety legislation and they can also be used to commit offences such as assaults, damage, harassment or voyeurism.

“We are raising awareness today of the general rules to follow but ultimately, anyone operating a drone should use common sense and take responsibility for it.”

A recent Freedom of Information request showed that between May 1 and October 31 last year, Lincolnshire Police had received 11 reports of drone use in the county.

Among the complaints were ones from Holbeach, Morton and Witham-on-the-Hill, near Bourne.

Chief Insp Clark said: “The responsibility for the drone is with the operator and failure to comply with the genral rules on flying them could lead to prosecution.

“Please do not fly your drone in any way that could endanger people or property.”

The general points to remember on flying drones are:

- You are responsible for each flight;

- Before each flight, check the drone for damage;

- Keep your drone in sight at all times;

- You are responsible for avoiding collisions;

- Keep away from congested areas;

- Do not fly within 50 metres of a person, vehicle, building or structure;

- Consider rights of privacy in terms of any images you obtain;

- Permission must be granted to use a drone for any commercial activity.

For further information, please visit www.caa.co.uk/uas

A man has been taken to hospital after the vehicle he was driving overturned in Kirton on Monday night.

Emergency services were called to Boston Road after reports of a vehicle crash just before 9pm.

Firefighters from Donington cleared the scene while paramedics treated a man before he was taken to Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital.

Meanwhile, two people were treated at Pilgrim Hospital after separate crashes in Bicker and Swineshead respectively.

A man was hurt after the vehicle he was in crashed in Church St, Bicker, just before 7.50pm on Saturday.

The man was helped from the vehicle by firefighters before he was taken to hospital.

Finally, a three-vehicle accident in Abbey Road, Swineshead just before 9.45am on Friday left one person needing hospital treatement for neck and back pain.

Firefighters had to use specialist cutting equipment to free one person from one of the vehicles involved in the crash.

South Holland headteachers are backing a national heart charity’s call for a ban on TV ads promoting junk food before 9pm.

The move from The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is prompted by news that 32 per cent of children in the East Midlands leave primary school obese or overweight.

Foods high in fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar are already banned during children’s TV programming. But Ofcom figures show youngsters’ peak viewing is between 7pm-8pm when as many as 1.8million children watch TV.

The charity says during one X Factor show last year – watched by up to 1.2 million four to 15-year-olds – there were 13 ads promoting junk food like crisps, chocolate and pizza.

BHF director of policy Mike Hobday said: “It’s worrying that so many children in the East Midlands are obese or overweight. Carrying excess weight into adulthood increases the risk of heart disease in later life.”

Excess weight also increases the risk of stroke.

Among schools backing the charity’s stand are St Norbert’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Spalding and Weston Hills Primary, although both already place a huge emphasis on healthy eating and active lifestyles.

Weston Hills headteacher Jane Fitzgerald said her school would “definitely” support the BHF call to ban junk food ads from being shown on TV before 9pm although her school has “no particular issues” with overweight pupils.

She said: “They (the advertisers) are obviously very clever. They know what they are doing and the market they are aiming for.”

Mrs Fitzgerald says her school sometimes works with families if children come into reception with “perhaps not the ideal eating habits” and there is a strong focus on health throughout the school.

She says: “We encourage lots of fitness, healthy diet approaches and also healthy school meals.”

Headteacher Louise Yarnell told us: “Yes St Norbert’s would support the ban as proposed by the national charity to ban fatty/sugary foods being advertised on TV before children go to bed.

“We believe the health, safety and welfare of all who learn at our school are of fundamental importance. We encourage pupils to appreciate the importance of a healthy and fit body, and begin to understand those factors that affect health and fitness. This will equip children with the skills, knowledge and understanding to enable them to live positive, successful and healthy lives.”

St Norbert’s pupils learn about healthy eating, hygiene and how to move, play and exercise safely in PE. The school uses some sports premium funding from the DfE for after school clubs with activities like games, dance, gymnastics, and athletics – and there’s been a big leap from 22 per cent to 76 per cent of pupils taking part.

South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group say it is important everyone understands the dangers and health complications of obesity, and advice is available from GPs and The National Obesity Forum.

• The BHF also wants regulated targets set for industry to reduce sugar, saturated fat and salt in our foods and a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks.

Teens in town ‘more likely to eat sweets and chips’

Fat chance of child obesity here

New kitchen at Spalding’s St John the Baptist Primary School will help farm to fork drive

The lack of homes in the countryside is “extremely worrying” for rural communities in the eastern region and new Government policies could exacerbate the housing crisis, CLA East has said.

According to a new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), there is a 76 percent shortfall in rural affordable housing with the average cost of a house in some countryside communities 11 times greater than average annual wages.

The Institute’s Rural Policy Paper called on rural estate owners to work with Local Authorities to create more affordable new homes, but the Country Land & Business Association (CLA) said landowners, who were already bring forward land forward at considerable undervalue, are likely to be disincentivised by the new Housing and Planning Bill.

CLA East Regional Director Ben Underwood said: “The lack of homes in the countryside is extremely worrying for rural communities and the rural economy. The situation in some areas is already critical.

“Many rural landowners have made a considerable investment in their community by offering land to housing associations at below market values for the development of affordable properties for local people in housing need, but policies proposed in the new Housing and Planning Bill could see this supply dry up.

“Extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants in rural areas will reduce the already small number of affordable properties that are already available. There is no doubt that this will also result in landowners being very reluctant to continue making this offer, if those homes are then going to be sold off on the open market and no longer available for rent.

“Similarly, the inclusion of starter homes on Rural Exception Sites will act as a significant disincentive for landowners.

“Although starter homes are classed by the Government as ‘affordable housing’ they can be sold after five years at full market rate so it is questionable why a landowner would donate land or release it at a lower price.”

The Saffron Housing Trust, which has 5500 homes across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire, is among five housing associations in England set to participate in pilots for the Government’s voluntary Right to Buy scheme, which extends the Right to Buy to tenants of housing associations. Tenants of the Trust’s 4000 homes in South Norfolk have already been invited to express their interest in participating. Interested parties are set to be contacted by the Trust at the end of January.

Mr Underwood said that in order for the scheme to not hit housing provision in the countryside, there should be an exemption for rural communities.

“Settlements of 10,000 or less should have the opportunity to be exempt from Right to Buy, while those with a population of less than 3,000 should have an automatic exemption,” he said.

UKIP has confirmed their candidate for this year’s Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections is a well known county councillor, Victoria Ayling.

Councillor Ayling, a trained barrister, has worked for a blue chip company and family businesses.

She has three boys, all educated in Lincolnshire; one in the military, one at university and the youngest at school in Horncastle.

Victoria was an East Lindsey District Councillor and is currently a Lincolnshire County Councillor. She also stood for Great Grimsby in 2010 and 2015 general elections.

She said: “My legal and business background will make me ideal for the job to ensure best policing for Lincolnshire residents and best value for money.”

“Currently I believe Lincolnshire residents deserve better from their police. I am not blaming the officers but the systems they have to work within. For example, an obsession with targets means red tape is preventing bobbies being on the beat.”

“Meanwhile many residents feel it is becoming pointless calling the police if they are a victim of some crime, other than to get a crime number for insurance purposes.

“Residents not only need to be safe but need to feel safe, therefore, visible policing is essential. The most reassuring sight for many people is a police car or a bobby on the beat which in turn, is the best deterrent for many wrongdoers. CCTV helps but nothing beats a police presence - this is something I would want to see increased in Lincolnshire.

“One way is to use PCSOs more. Giving them more powers and additional training to assist with evidence gathering at a burglary would be one such example. This ensures that members of the public would actually get a response to such a crime and potential evidence is not lost. Their presence reassures the public and they can assess the situation regarding further input by police officers.

“I am also concerned about the Government direct entry scheme. This allows for some graduates to enter the police service at superintendent level after approximately 18 months of training. The most effective police officers are clearly those that have risen through the ranks with beat level experience. Furthermore, this is extremely insulting to lower ranks with more policing experience, thereby reducing their opportunity for promotion and will most likely act negatively upon the morale of the service”.

“I am concerned that only lip service is being paid to residents’ concerns. A recent survey only had yes or no for answers and nothing for residents to provide other views. I really think it is important to listen and ensure that any surveys exist to improve the quality of the police service to the community as a whole.”

“The Tories are just concentrating on balancing the books, which is all well and good but it is their colleagues in Government who have set the budget for Lincolnshire and are still insisting on targets which eat up money better spent on front line policing.”

Lincolnshire UKIP MEP Margot Parker said: “Policing is a top issue in the county and Victoria will do a fantastic job if elected of making sure common-sense prevails in the running of our police service.”

Running as her deputy will be Horncastle Town Councillor Jonathan Ferrari, who was also a former police officer from both the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police. Jonathan was selected nationally as the UK police contingent commander for the first ever British peace mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997. He is currently a local businessman and has lived in Lincolnshire since 2002.

A penalty shoot-out took Deeping Rangers into the Hinchingbrooke Cup quarter-finals.

Last season’s runners-up will meet Huntingdon Town with the prospect of another home tie in the semi-final against Stotfold, Eynesbury Rovers or Peterborough Northern Star.

It was a long Tuesday night at Hillgrounds to settle the tie which was subject to a 20-minute delay to kick-off.

Scott Mooney put Deeping ahead three minutes before the hour mark.

Shane Bush levelled with 13 minutes remaining to take the tie to a shoot-out.

Mooney also converted a spot-kick along with Scott Coupland, Dan Flack, David Burton-Jones, Luke Avis and Spencer Tinkler.

Jezz Goldson-Williams completes a three-match ban on Saturday as Deeping face boss Michael Goode’s former club Northern Star at the 
Haydon Whitham Stadium.

Meanwhile, Bourne Town meet Lutterworth Athletic at Abbey Lawn in Division One.

The Portass House Blues is performing at The Red Lion Hotel, Spalding on Sunday (around 3pm).

The band is made up of Nigel Portass (keyboards), Myke Clifford (saxophone and vocalist), John Willmott (saxophone), Dale Smith (guitar), Sean Portass (drums) and Niles Alexander (bass). Entry is free.

Bookmark in Spalding recommends After You Die by Eva Dolan as its book of the week.

Dawn Prentice was already known to the Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit. The previous summer she had logged a number of calls detailing the harassment she and her severely disabled teenage daughter were undergoing. Now she is dead – stabbed to death while Holly Prentice has been left to starve upstairs.

DS Ferreira, only recently back serving on the force after being severely injured in the line of duty, had met with Dawn that summer. Was she negligent in not taking Dawn’s accusations more seriously? Did the murderer even know that Holly was helpless upstairs while her mother bled to death?

While Ferreira battles her demons, determined to prove she’s up to the frontline, DI Zigic is draw into conflict with an official seemingly resolved to hide the truth about one of his main suspects. Can either officer unpick the truth about mother and daughter, and bring their killer to justice?

Eva Dolan is the sort of writer that draws you in at the prologue and does not let you go until the final full stop in the book. After You Die is an excellent thriller that really gets under your skin and you are begging the police to find the killer, especially as there is the death of a child and her mother. After You Die, is part of the Zigic/Ferreira series, but I have read this as a standalone thriller and was enthralled.

The book retails for £12.99 but there is a 20 per cent discount voucher in the Spalding Guardian of January 21.

Michael Proctor, who grew up on a farm in this district, is to give the next lecture on behalf of Spalding Gentlemen’s Society on Friday (8pm).

Michael, who is Professor of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamic and the Provost of King’s College Cambridge, is to give a lecture entitled The Active Sun.

He describes the sun as “the seat of many fascinating magnetic phenomena on a wide range of scales”, the most prominent of which are sunspots, associated with solar flares and magnetic storms on earth.

He says: “Not only is their structure not yet fully understood, but they appear and disappear in a relatively ordered way, with their numbers and place of appearance obeying a fairly regular 22-year cyclic pattern.

“I shall talk about this cyclical behaviour, give some idea of how it may arise (the questions is still controversial) and also talk about past and future periods when there was a ‘grand minimum’ with sunspots not appearing for many decades as at the end of the 17th century.”

The professor’s research is principally concerned with the generation of magnetic fields on the sun, and their interaction with solar convection.

The talk is part of Spalding Gentlemen’s Society lecture season and is held at Spalding Grammar School. Entry is £2.

Well-known skiffle group Jet is appearing at Moulton Chapel Methodist Church on Friday (7.30pm).

Entry costs £5 and includes refreshments. There is a raffle with good prizes.

Pinchbeck Photographic Group presents The Beautiful Light, a talk by Jane Goodall, on Friday (7.30pm).

It’s at Pinchbeck East Primary School and is open to all. Entry is £3.50 for non-members.

The North Midlands Cross Country League reached its conclusion on Saturday with three Nene Valley Harriers runners featuring among the prize winners.

Megan Ellison, Nicky Morgan and James McCrae all led their age groups before the fixture at Nottingham and the talented trio made no mistakes on the challenging Wollaton Park course.

Ellison has been going from strength to strength over recent months and her second-place finish saw her take top spot in the girls’ under-17 standings.

The Stamford-based youngster gained one race win and two second-place finishes in the four-race series.

Morgan took the ladies’ veteran honours, winning her race comfortably.

She finished the league season unbeaten, having been first veteran home in all four races.

Former Bourne Grammar School student McCrae won the men’s under-20 title in what turned out to be a golden weekend for the Thurlby youngster.

He travelled to Birmingham on Sunday, winning the Midlands Indoors under-21 800m title.

Nene Valley Harriers were challenging for medals in most of the age groups before this race.

However, an unfortunate clash of fixtures which saw the Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire Schools Cross Country Championship taking place on the same day, as well as both the Northern and Southern Indoor Track and Field Championships, left the club somewhat depleted in the junior categories.

This gave the seniors a chance to take centre stage, which they did in style.

Cat Foley-Wray led the ladies home over the 6k course, finishing third with a typically gutsy run.

Grace Mullins wasn’t far behind in sixth position with Morgan the 16th runner home in a race which included senior and veteran athletes.

Abi Schofield (22nd) and Chloe Pavey (35th) were also well placed.

The senior and under-20s men’s race saw Lloyd Kempson finishing 11th in his final race for Nene Valley before moving to Australia.

The popular 21-year-old covered the 10k course in a time of 36.52.

He has already secured himself a new club and coach in Sydney.

McCrae was just one place behind Kempson while Jake Richardson ran well for 19th position.

James McDonald (62nd) and John Nash (104th) also enjoyed good runs while Paul Parkin, Alex Wray and Simon Turnock completed the team.

Hugo Brill and Lottie Hemmings were the best placed Nene Valley boy and girl in the mixed under-11s event, while Ethan Ellison and Harry Burchnell secured top-20 finishes in the boys’ under-15 age group.

One of the day’s highlights was Amber Park’s fourth-placed finish for the under-15 girls.

The senior men and women both completed the series as runners-up to Notts AC.

Despite fielding weakened teams at Nottingham, the Harriers finished the season third in the mixed under-11 and girls’ under-13 age groups in a very pleasing campaign for coach Russ Prosser’s squad.

Nene Valley Harriers showed strength in depth at cross country championships plus two indoor events for a very successful weekend.

At the same time as the cross country athletes were competing in the Schools County Championships at Ely and Burghley Park, plus the North Midlands League at Nottingham, a number of athletes also attended the North of England Indoor Championships at Sheffield and the South of England Indoor Championships at Lee Valley.

Hannah Molyneaux added another gold medal to her collection.

Competing in Sheffield on Sunday, she threw a massive 14.38m to win the under-17 shot putt with a championship best performance, club record and personal best.

Molyneaux will be eligible to join the senior team in the Southern League in the summer.

Becki Hall also won a bronze medal in the senior ladies’ shot on Saturday.

Her putt of 12.32m, despite a sore Achilles tendon, was a good performance and only slightly shorter than the 12.66m she threw at Loughborough last weekend.

Nene Valley’s other gold medallist also broke her own personal best and the club record.

Kirton’s Lily Hughes continues to get quicker with a 7.75s win in the under-20 ladies’ 60m.

She won her heat (third fastest overall) and semi-final with times of 7.87s and 7.79 before running marginally quicker in the final.

Although she started slowly, Hughes took the lead within 30m and never looked back.

To complete the collection of medals for the club on Saturday, Rosie Fresen took the silver medal in the under-17 pole vault.

Only starting her third year of vaulting, she started the competition slowly having to adjust her run-up slightly as she failed the first couple of heights on her first attempts.

Fresen soon settled down and when she cleared the 3.10m mark by a large margin she really looked as if she was going to progress to new heights.

Again she cleared the 3.15m bar comfortably, equalling her own personal best and setting a new club indoor record.

Unfortunately she was unable to progress further as tiredness and nerves returned, which may have resulted from the lack of vaulting possible in recent weeks due to the weather.

James McCrae competed in the Midlands Counties Indoor Championships also run in Sheffield.

He took the gold medal in the under-20 men’s 800m in a time of 1.58.79 with a last-gasp dip on the line, taking the medal by just two one-
hundredths of a second.

Jasmine Allen produced a remarkable performance in her first competition as an under-17 athlete.

She had to go through the pool system to qualify for the final and did so by jumping a personal best indoors of 4.91m twice in the three attempts.

Allen went a step further in the final, having qualified in 12th place.

She jumped a new indoor best of 4.99 three times in the six attempts and also recorded 4.69 twice.

Allen had not been aware that she had qualified for the long jump final when she competed in her 60m heat and ran a personal best of 8.37, finishing the race and going straight across from the line to compete in the long jump final.

She had also been aware that she had managed to qualify for the 60m semi-final where she showed good strength of character to finish in 8.43s for 16th overall.

Sean Garmory arrived at the event with his Newcastle University team-mates having missed most of the Christmas holidays with a hamstring injury in his last session before the break.

Although not running as smoothly as normal, he smashed his indoor personal best for 400m – recording a heat time of 53.28 just marginally off his outdoor best.

Beth Denial was also out producing a personal indoor best over the 60m hurdles, recording a time of 10.24 in her under-20 ladies’ heat.

Shortly afterwards she also competed in the long jump with 4.95m giving her fifth place.

In the Southern event at Lee Valley, Georgie Ivens continued her comeback from a serious injury and finished fourth in the senior ladies’ 400m with a time of 57.2s.

The final had been just 40 minutes after her heat and she missed out on bronze by three or four strides.

Callum Crosby competed in his first under-20 men’s 60m and his time of 7.42s was a personal best.

Also competing in the under-20 ladies’ 200m was Tash Segal, who recorded an indoors personal best of 26.03 to finish fourth.

Spalding gymnasts enjoyed their share of success again when the County Level Six Championship was held at the academy.

It was a delight to see so many up and coming gymnasts from all over the county competing at such a high standard and working really hard to achieve the pass mark for the next level.

Spalding’s Amelia Ellis won silver in her 11+ years age group.

In the 10 years age group Olivia Fokt took the bronze with Ceri Thomas fourth and Niamh Rushton fifth.

Lucy Rudd finished fifth in the eight years age group.

In the individual medals Thandine Snell won the silver on vault and Georgina Harrison got bronze.

Katie Simpson won the silver on bars.

Of the 16 girls taking part 13 had a score of over 40.50 which allows them to move up to the next level. This is a fantastic achievement by them all and a credit to the coaches who have taught them.

The academy will be running a half-term camp.

Recreational sessions are on Tuesday, February 16, and Thursday, February 18 (9am-noon) and Wednesday, February 17 (1-4pm).

Advanced sessions are on February 16-19 (1-4pm). Each session costs £5.

Booking is advisable on 01775 713599 or info@spaldinggymnasticsacademy.co.uk

Spalding and Boston employees of Coveris helped raise £22,000 for the children’s cancer charity, CLIC Sargent, in memory of colleague Steve Callaway, who died in November 2013.

Steve, who had cancer himself, adopted the charity after one of his son’s friends passed away from the illness.


Most of the cash came from a cycle ride with employees pedalling along the east and west coasts, meeting up in Boston.

Coveris was formed when five firms merged, including the Spalding and Boston branches of Paragon Labels.

Steve had worked in both towns.

In 2014, Coveris employees raised £27,000 in Steve’s memory for CLIC Sargent.

Our picture shows (back) president Mark Lapping, CLIC Sargent’s Andrew Fuller, HR director John Pallas; (front) Blaine Cooper-Jones, Emma Dacosta, Lisa Epton and Kaye Callaway. SG180116-101TW

Spalding High School’s under-14 basketball team attended the county finals for both boys and girls.

Three girls teams from across Lincolnshire went to the event after winning their area leagues.

First, the girls played St George’s Academy, Sleaford, and won 6-4 in a very closely-contested match.

The second match was against Priory Ruskin Academy, Grantham, and the Spalding team played some exceptional basketball by winning 16-2.

It fell to match officials to nominate the ‘most valuable player of the competition’ with the accolade going to the High School’s Emmie Gittins.

The team will now go on to represent Lincolnshire in the regional basketball finals in February.