A farm near Grantham is offering hands-on Lambing Experience Days this Spring in a bid to better educate visitors about where their food comes from.

Mill Farm in Barkston is a working farm with accommodation and owner Steve Elnor is keen to provide some exciting and educational experiences for guests who are staying in one of his Running Water Deluxe WigwamⓇ Cabins. He is running lambing experience days from 9am – 1pm on March 21, 22, 26, 28 and 29 and April 2, 4, 5, 9 and 11.

Steve said: “I thought it might interest people who are staying on the farm to see what happens during lambing season. There has been a lot of negative press around British farming so far this year, so what better way to dispel the lies than to show people how real farms work and offer a hands-on experience?

“They’ll spend a few hours in the morning in the lambing sheds with me where I’ll talk them through how we feed, lamb and raise the sheep and they’ll hopefully, but we can’t promise it, see some lambs being born, then they’ll head back to the cabins for a well-earned hot lunch provided by The Stag pub in the village.”

Steve will give visitors the opportunity to feed the sheep, assist with moving them and even have a go at bottle-feeding the lambs.

It is the first time he has invited members of the public into his lambing sheds and he is hoping it will be an experience they remember for a long time to come.

He added: “British farmers want nothing more than to show people just how well they care for their animals, what goes into raising them for food and why it is so important to buy British and support local. Here in Lincolnshire we are at the heart of rural food production.

“I hope that visitors will go away having had a once in a lifetime experience witnessing lambs being born but also with a changed attitude towards British farming.”

The cost of the lambing experience is £35 per adult, £20 for under 16s (or £13.50 per head for younger children if sharing a meal between two). Due to the hands-on nature of the experience and risk of infection, it is not open to women who are, or might be, pregnant.

Each Running Water Deluxe Wigwam® Cabin sleeps up to four people and are priced from £65 per night. Children under 16 stay free. To book visit www.wigwamholidays.com/millside

Nottinghamshire Police has arrested three people in connection with catalytic converter thefts in the county after executing warrants in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

The recent enforcement activity and arrests follow reports of seven catalytic converter thefts from city car parks on 25 November 2019.

Four were from the Toton Lane park and ride site, two from the Phoenix Park park and ride and one at The Forest Park and Ride.

Two men, aged 29 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of theft after officers carried out a warrant in Bagworth, Leicestershire, on 16 January 2020.

A 21-year-old man was also arrested in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 14 January 2020 on suspicion of theft.

The three men have been subsequently released under investigation.

Detective Inspector Steve Wragg, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “These two days of enforcement action and resulting arrests shows the positive action we are taking as a force to tackle this crime type, to identify individuals suspected to be involved in offences and to bring them to justice.

“While we have seen a rise in catalytic converter thefts as a force, this is very much a national and regional issue, rather than being just a Nottinghamshire issue.

“We have made arrests and carried out search warrants in relation to catalytic converter thefts and we are using a range of tactics to tackle this issue.

“Catalytic converters, which convert vehicle exhaust emissions into less toxic gasses, are targeted because they contain high value metals.

“Catalytic converter theft can have a big impact on victims as repairs can be costly and time spent without a vehicle can make it difficult for victims to get to work, drop their children off at school and generally go about their daily business.

“As previous incidents have shown, it can take offenders only a matter of seconds to remove a catalytic converter which is why we’re urging members of the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to us.

“As well as enforcement we are also working closely with partners, including car park operators, to look at crime prevention measures and signage to warn and educate drivers of the rise in catalytic converter thefts, as well as offering advice to motorists on steps they can take to protect their vehicles from opportunistic thieves.

“If you see anyone jacking a car up in a public car park or on a public road or if you see anything that doesn’t sit right or anyone acting strangely please call us on 101. If a crime is currently taking place, call 999.

“People should also consider protective marking, and check with their vehicle’s manufacturer to see if there are any protective guards they can purchase.”

In order to minimise the chance of becoming a victim of catalytic converter theft we offer the following advice:

* If you can, park your vehicle in a locked garage when it is unattended.

* If it’s not possible to garage your vehicle, park it in a busy, well-lit area as close to your property as possible.

* Consider installing a Thatcham approved alarm to your vehicle. Ones that activate if your vehicle is lifted or tilted are particularly effective.

* Use a catalytic converter protection device or marking system.

Catalytic converters control and convert exhaust emissions from your vehicle into less toxic substances. If yours is stolen, you will know because your vehicle’s engine will sound different.

If you suspect your catalytic converter has been stolen, report it to police immediately by calling 101.

St Barnabas Hospice Tree-cycle service has collected over 1,600 Christmas trees to help fund end-of-life care.

Lincoln, 27^th January 2019 – Now in its fifth year, the St Barnabas Hospice Tree-cycle has been a huge success. Over 1,600 trees were collected, raising £27,000 for the Hospice. This is a whopping 36.5 times the amount that their first ever Tree-cycle raised five years ago, making it their most successful Tree-cycle to date.

From Saturday 11^th January, St Barnabas staff joined forces with some wonderful volunteers from local businesses and the community to collect the trees and recycle them for wood chippings.

Particular thanks go to Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Lincolnshire Coop, Gelder Group, OSB Events, Wallbreaker, Delta-Simons, Hurst Arb, Continental Landscapes, Simpson Arboriculture, Manor Farm Tree Services, KWP Plant Hire, Bytham Trees, Sam Trimmer Tree Services, Arborez, Downtown Garden Centre, Stamford 2^nd Scouts, Inspire+, Anwick Garden Centre, Nunton Christmas Trees, Fillingham Christmas Trees and Doddington Hall.

Recycled trees are turned into wood chippings that can be used in multiple ways. Wood chippings can be used for biomass boilers, which heat many Lincolnshire homes. They can also provide shelter and layering for farmyard animals and in some cases can be turned into BBQ charcoal which is then sold from local farms.

Melissa Gaffney, Event Fundraiser at St Barnabas Hospice, said: “Thanks to support from the local community, the 2020 Tree-cycle has been the most successful to date, beating last year’s total by over £13,000 We couldn’t have achieved this level of success without the wonderful local businesses who have donated their time, equipment and expertise to the campaign.

“I’d also like to thank members of the public who came forward to volunteer their time and help us collect Christmas trees. Their support has been hugely valuable and has meant that we could extend our collection locations further across Lincolnshire.”

The money raised from this year’s Tree-cycle will have a huge impact on the care St Barnabas delivers to people across Lincolnshire living with a life-limiting or terminal illness and their families and carers.

Just as an example, £27,000 could fund 2,150 three-course meals and warm blankets for patients, 1,055 mouth care kits to relieve discomfort, or 526 bereavement support sessions. St Barnabas has lots of exciting new ways to fundraise planned for 2020 – the next being Gin and Jammies. Gin and Jammies means supporters can drink gin with their friends, in the comfort of their own home, in their ‘jammies’, all whilst fundraising

Huge hoard of class A drugs found in Lincolnshire man’s home

Councillors to call for Grantham A&E to be reopened 24/7

Grantham students completed their course this week and have confirmed university offers, while others are waiting for further interviews

Congratulations to our Access to Higher Education (Healthcare) mid-year cohort for successfully completing their course yesterday! 

They now plan to progress either into employment or to degrees in adult nursing, mental health nursing, midwifery, psychology and counselling, sports coaching, paramedic science and so many others. 

Well done and good luck with your futures!

Students said:

“An excellent preparation for university.”

“Very supportive – all the students are working towards the same goal.”

“Having been out of education for ten years, the course was a great way to get stuck back in, in an environment that is patient, understanding and flexible.”

“It’s the second chance that everyone deserves.”

“A fantastic course with experienced teachers … it’s given me loads of confidence to continue my education to university.”

For more information on the many Access to Higher Education courses the college offers, please visit: http://www.grantham.ac.uk/courses/access-to-higher-education/

Or contact them on 01476 400200 / email enquiry@grantham.ac.uk

Grantham Town’s match against Matlock Town, schedule for tomorrow (Tuesday) has been postponed, due to a murder investigation.

It follows the death of Matlock midfielder Jordan Sinnott who died after being assaulted on a night out in Retford.

Jordan, 25, was discovered by police with a suspected fractured skull after the incident in Market Place, Retford, which took place just after 2am on Saturday, January 25.

He was taken to Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital with life-threatening head injuries and placed on life support. Police said he died in hospital just before 6pm on Saturday, surrounded by his family.

Three men have since been arrested soon after the incident and detectives launched a murder investigation following Jordan’s death.

Jordan was on loan at Matlock Town from Alfreton Town and both sides postponed their games on Saturday as a mark of respect.

Today we are launching our violent crime reduction initiative which aims to reduce the numbers of violent offences in the county.

Violent crime in Lincolnshire accounts for 36% of all recorded crime. The latest crime statistics released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have shown a 12% national rise in offences of this type.

In Lincolnshire our numbers of recorded violent crime have increased by 74% (from 12,325 to 21,447), the new ONS figures have revealed. Violent crime includes offences that have resulted in injury to the person but also those that have not caused injury, as well as offences such as stalking and harassment, and numbers of killed or seriously injured on the roads.

We know that some of the rise in numbers can be explained by changes in our recording practices. For example, we may have previously attended an incident where one victim had been affected and we recorded one crime. But during the course of enquiries that individual may have revealed other offences such as non-recent crimes which we may not have recorded. We are now making sure those offences are also captured and collated, meaning our numbers have spiked.

But some of the figures are due to genuine rises in offences.

To tackle the numbers of violence crimes in Lincolnshire we are launching a new force-wide initiative aimed at reducing and preventing further offences of this type, focussing on victims, and engaging with partners to reduce harm in our communities.

Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson explained: “Lincolnshire is still a safe place in which to live and work. The ONS stats released today show that we’re ranked 19th safest in the country.

“Saying that, I know that the numbers and some of the recent incidents in the county may be of concern to our communities. I want to explain what we’re doing in response to violent crime with our forcewide initiative.

“We have a number of tools available to us to police violent crime, which range from enforcement to measures such as the Stalking Protection Orders which came into being earlier this week, to partnership approaches with other agencies that will enable us to treat the causes of violent crime rather than the symptoms.

 “Our focus on offences of this type is aimed at preventing further victims, safeguarding those who have been victims, and bringing offenders to justice. Our victim-centred approach means that we will be putting a spotlight on the journey of a victim and trying our hardest to ensure that those individuals are not subject to any additional trauma. This is from first contact, through to the follow-up work that we do with Victim Lincs and support people are given through the Criminal Justice process, through to our complete engagement with victims.

“We have always policed violent crime but what we are doing now simply consolidates that approach and makes sure our officers and staff have a focus on driving down those numbers, which can only mean driving down the numbers of victims.

 “We will regularly be communicating the work of our teams in our communities and force-wide and will be engaging with the public along the way. A large part of policing relies on information from the public and I’m committed to ensuring that we keep talking to our communities. The more you keep talking to us and telling us about any issues or concerns you may have, the more intelligence we will be able to gather, and the more action we may be able to take.

“We’ll never say we’ve done enough, we will always review what we do and how we do it to find ways to improve the service we provide to the people of Lincolnshire.”

Andy Clark says…

I want  to raise awareness some scam builders operating in the area that have stolen 98k from me!

I would like to make sure everyone in Grantham and surround areas knows what they are capable of to stop anyone else getting scammed by them!!

They seem to change company name frequently yet is always the same operators involved clearly as they are doing this regularly and winning old names to avoid bad reviews.

The highlights (or lowlights in reality) of my/the problem are:

• I have paid £98k to a builder who has completed approx £20k worth of work
• The builder has now completely vanished, since September, and is not returning to complete the job
• It is my belief that they deliberately made it looked like they were working for me to make our contracted payments, once they had the majority without the last completion payment they vanished.
• It is my belief this was a deliberate scam from the outset to extract money from me and no intention of ever completing this work
• I am constantly told this is a civil matter as they started work. My dispute is starting the work is in fact part of their scam to facilitate the contracted staged payments and is clearly all part of the same fraud. 
• They have never paid Scaffolders, Site Toilets or Building Suppliers for anything ordered
• The cost to finish the work is roughly £80-100k which evidently I do not have as they have it so my house is ruined, I cannot fix it and I cannot get my money back
• They have caused serious damage to my house making it fully unsecured to the elements
• My house insurance refuses to cover the legal costs despite me paying for legal cover – as such I cannot afford to pursue my funds to be returned through courts, as such they will have just stolen £98k without recourse
• Neither my bank nor the recipient banks will reverse the transactions – despite it being my belief these transactions were not paid to EP Contracts as I thought they were, as such were fraudulent
• Action Fraud/Police/Trading Standards seem completely disinterested in the case as such no criminal prosecution will be brought.
• I have a reporter from the Express/Sunday Express who will write an expose on the matter, but that is unlikely to provide any result but at this point is the only shining light in an awful situation
• I am now going to be paying the £98k for the next 25 years with nothing to show for it
• So at this moment in time every mechanism a consumer has to be protected from situations like this have failed and simply help the fraudster commit the crime without punishment and enjoy my money whilst I pay it off.
• A change in the law is needed to protect people, this happens far to regularly and is not fair. We work hard for our money and I am not sure how this is fair to hard working members of the public to be wilfully robbed like this in broad daylight. 
• This man is now free to continue to do this to others at will and go unpunished! I will not be the only victim of this man to date or in the future, not to mention thousands others like him doing the same
• I have nowhere else to turn now so hoped you could help in some way!
• This isn’t a small amount of money, £98k is a life changing sum to create a dream home and now I somehow have to find a further £90k approx to complete the job, which frankly I do not have so we have no idea what to do if we cannot recover the funds which looks impossible at this stage.

Ours may be a lost cause and we will probably take years to recover from it and get the house to where it needs to be.

But something has to change to protect people and their money from idiots like this. It is becoming all too common and every mechanism that is supposed to protect you currently doesn’t!    I mean who when they have lost 98k and has a ruined house can afford a 30k legal bill only at the end of it to probably not get money back anyway!

Yet someone who stole the money walks free to just do it over and over again with no way to stop him!

Mr Jarvis has been found safe and well. Thank you for your support with this appeal.