Nineteen-year-old Kai Newby’s career in Engineering looks bright as he continues to impress employer DLS Plastics.

Having originally joined DLS Plastics on a very temporary basis for his work experience placement back in December 2017, Kai then came back to the company as a Tool Making Apprentice seven months later and is now in the second year of his apprenticeship. What was originally thought to be an insight into the industry as a weeks’ worth of engineering work experience turned into a career path as he impressed his colleagues with his skills and knowledge.

Over one year on from the start of his relationship with DLS Plastics, Kai is continuing to impress having taken on extra training as a first aider within the company and is due to take on fire marshal training later this year. Alongside this impressive initiative, Kai also took the lead in designing and crafting a trophy to be presented to school children alongside the company’s Managing Director George Brewis. Assistant Operations Manager at DLS Plastics, Dean Lawson comments: “he presented his own design to school children when he is not long out of education himself; he’s fast-becoming a valuable addition to our team.

“Kai has settled in really well and is learning new skills virtually on a daily basis,” Dean continued.

InvestSK approached the company for a trophy as part of the Bridge’s project which recently took place in September. Following this, Kai designed a trophy imitating the Leonardo Da-Vinci bridge which he then presented to pupils at Stamford Endowed Schools.

Kai comments on his progress within the industry: “As part of the apprenticeship scheme I have secured employment and I am learning a valuable trade. It has been a great opportunity for me to get involved with various projects including the Bridge Festival and presenting the winning Trophy to Stamford Endowed Schools.”

DLS Plastics has great links with the college and is also a part of Engineered in Grantham; a forum for local Engineering companies to come together and raise the profile of Engineering within the local community.

More adopters are needed in Lincolnshire to care for children aged 3 years and above, brothers and sisters who need to be kept together and children with additional needs and disabilities.

Councillor Mrs Patricia Bradwell, Executive Councillor for Children’s Services, said: “Unfortunately, there is currently a shortage of adoptive parents coming forward for these children, and they often end up waiting the longest to find a home where they can feel safe and thrive.

“I would urge anyone who has even the slightest interest in adopting and who wants to find out more to come along to one of our evening information events. The evenings will include talks from approved adopters about their experiences of adopting, as well as information about the process to become an adopter, and what support is available from Lincolnshire Adoption Service.

This National Adoption Week, 14 – 20 October, Lincolnshire Adoption Service is hosting two information evenings and will highlight the need for more adopters locally.

The evenings are being held 7pm – 9pm on Tuesday 15 October at Branston Hall Hotel in Lincoln, and on Thursday 17 October at Greetham Valley Hotel in Rutland. To book your place visit www.adoptioneastmidlands.org.uk/events , or call 01522 554114 for more information.

Anne Johnson, Adoption Team Manager, added: “There are still many great experiences you can have with these children so if you have  considered adopting book into your local  event to find out more. You can’t get better feedback than from those who are actually providing loving homes to children who really need it.”

Broken down train causing Lincolnshire disruption

Barrowby Scout Group are holding a Coffee and Cake event at the Scout Hut this Saturday 12 October 2019 starting at 11 am finishing at 3 pm.

It is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support

All are welcome.

Talash Hotels Group has put its hotel portfolio up for sale, bringing nine hotels to market, including one near Grantham.

The group, owned by brothers and business partners Sanjay and Ravi Kathuria, has appointed JLL to sell its nine regional hotels with a guide price of offers in excess of £29.5m.

The portfolio comprises a total of 661 bedrooms and all hotels will be offered free from management.

The hotels are primarily located in the Midlands and North West of England and include the Group’s flagship hotel, Stoke Rochford Hall near Grantham.

The former stately home was built by the Turnor family and has also been a teacher training college. It has 97 bedrooms.

Ravi Kathuria was speaking at yesterday’s Annual Hotel Conference in Manchester.

The brothers acquired their first hotel in 2007 and are now looking to focus on other business ventures following the sale.

Ravi Kathuria, CEO, Talash Hotels, comments: “The Talash Hotel Portfolio is a business that has been built up by myself and my brother Sanjay over the last 12 years and it has truly been a privilege to own such great hotels which have created an incredible journey.

“We have decided to continue to pursue our other business interests. Our hotels give an incoming buyer a value-add opportunity and are ready to be taken to the next platform to realise their full potential.”

Gavin Wright, director, JLL Hotels & Hospitality, said: “We are delighted to present to the market Talash Group’s portfolio of hotels. All nine properties provide an incoming purchaser a variety of asset management and significant value-add opportunities.

“With a value of circa £45,000 per bedroom for the portfolio we anticipate high levels of interest from a range of domestic and overseas investors.”

Lincolnshire’s Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership took home a clutch of prizes at this year’s ACoRP industry awards.

T he Grantham to Skegness Community Rail Partnership was set up in July 2005 and after a local newspaper competition to give the line a name, The Poacherline was chosen and officially launched, this reflects characteristics of the line in Lincolnshire.

Given the natural flows along it made sense to extend the Partnership to Nottingham. Nottinghamshire County Council was invited to join the partnership and became full members in 2007.

The awards recognise the unsung heroes of the community rail world for their hard work and dedication.

This year, the Poacher Line saw success in the following categories:

• Most Enhanced Station Buildings and Surroundings (winner) – For Bottesford Friendly Garden
• Photo and Video Competition (2^nd place) – For a video produced by students from St George’s Academy on the development of ‘The Wall’ in Skegness, which was turned into a piece of urban art.
• Small Project Award (3^rd place) – For working with the Rotary Club of Skegness to teach rail safety to primary schools, who then created artwork for the station. The project also saw the installation of a defibrillator at the station
• Outstanding Volunteer Contribution (3^rd place) – For Radcliffe on Trent adopter Phil Thomas.
• It’s Your Station – For the efforts of station adopters at Radcliffe (gold standard), Ancaster (silver standard) and Heckington (silver standard).

Kaye Robinson, Community Rail Partnership Officer, said “It’s great that so many of our projects have been recognised at this year’s awards.

“We’ve worked with some wonderful organisations, who have helped make a real difference to the Poacher Line, and their success deserves to be celebrated.

“Well done to all involved!”

For more on the Poacher Line, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/poacherline .

People across Lincolnshire can access free courses designed to encourage mental health self-care and awareness through the NHS led Lincolnshire Recovery College.

This year’s World Mental Health Day is Thursday 10 October, the theme is suicide prevention, and Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) is promoting self-care as a part of their prevention work. This time of year is also the start of a new academic year, and the Lincolnshire Recovery College has launched their new prospectus for the autumn term.

The Recovery College helps people better self-manage their mental health challenges by using an educational based approach. It enables people to recognise and develop their personal resourcefulness in order to become experts in their self-care, make informed choices and do the things they want to in life.

The College, managed by LPFT, was set up in 2014 and runs courses across the county. Lincolnshire’s Recovery College is one of the few recovery colleges in the UK developing strong partnerships with further education colleges such as Boston, Grantham, Stamford and Lincoln College.

Courses include (but are not limited to):

·       Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP)

·       Dreaming of a better sleep

·       Making myself heard

·       Stressed out?

·       Understanding psychosis

·       Feeling the fear (anxiety)

·       Bouncing back – mental health resilience

It is easy to sign up for a Recovery College course by going to www.lpft.nhs.uk/recovery-college and completing an online application form.

Service Development Lead, Kathryn Hopkins explained that it’s not just people with a mental health diagnosis who can benefit from the courses.

“Our ethos is hope, control and opportunity. Our courses are designed to promote understanding and help to improve people’s wellbeing; supporting people to live well in their communities. The Recovery College is open to anyone over the age of 16; if you live with mental ill health, know someone who does or just want to find out more about mental health, then we can help. We have a great range of courses from how to manage stress better, to understanding mental health resilience.” she explained.

“Hosting the courses in an academic setting rather than in an NHS building helps reduce the stigma of mental health problems, and allows people to attend as a student to focus on their personal recovery.”

“We encourage people to learn more about how they can look after their own mental wellbeing and inspire students to live a fulfilled life regardless of any ongoing symptoms they may experience.”

“You can simply apply online or give us a call, and you could join us on a course the same day.”

A former student of the College said: “I now feel more able to talk openly, free from judgement.”

To find out more information, or to enquire about the Recovery College, please contact recoverycollege@lpft.nhs.uk or go to www.lpft.nhs.uk/recovery-college.

David Holland funeral directors are currently arranging with Chris at Roll & Scroll to place the final memorial bench on St. Peters Hill.

The bench is a unique design and is going to be dedicated to the emergency services (those who have served and continue to serve).

The event is taking place at 10.30am on Wednesday 23^rd October.

The public is invited to attend

We have just received confirmation from central Government that we will receive funding for 50 extra police officers in Lincolnshire as part of the national uplift.

Early in his tenure Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he was allocating funding that would be dedicated to getting an extra 20,000 police officers onto the streets of England and Wales. Since that announcement Chief Officers and PCC Marc Jones have been working hard and discussing the policing position in Lincolnshire direct and in person with various MPs to ensure they understand the challenges around policing in this county.

Temporary Chief Constable Jason Harwin said: “We now know that there are 6,000 police officers being dedicated to local policing and we will be allocated 50 of those.

“The news is good. We will have an extra 50 police officers here in Lincolnshire by the end of March 2021 and that is an improvement on where we thought we would be. Our financial challenges and the deficit we face means that we had to plan for reduction in numbers through people leaving and retiring, and by controlling recruitment, to make sure our budget was balanced. We now know that picture isn’t quite so bleak thanks to the government funding for extra police officers.

“Any extra officers on the streets of Lincolnshire will further improve policing in this county and the extra 50 are welcome. We are the lowest funded police force in England and Wales yet we continue to police Lincolnshire to an excellent standard and deliver the best possible service to residents of this county, but it puts every member of our workforce under substantial pressure.

“We have various initiatives in force aimed to try and ‘treat’ the symptoms of that pressure, such as our Wellbeing programme, but what will really help people is that some of that pressure is removed in the first place. Extra people will help.

“However, we still face financial challenges and while the uplift for Lincolnshire is welcome we know that it will not solve the deficit we face in coming years. In financial terms, this means a gap of £6.7m next year. We will continue to fight for fair funding in Lincolnshire and we will continue to make efforts to understand, change and evolve so we make sure our resources are put in the places where most needed to best protect and serve the people of Lincolnshire.”