New SEND hubs to offer more inclusive support in Lincolnshire schools

April Lara
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New SEND hubs to offer more inclusive support in Lincolnshire schools

A major investment in inclusive education is underway across Lincolnshire, with £7 million earmarked to create 13 new hubs designed to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Five local authority-maintained primary schools will introduce dedicated SEND hubs, joining six primary academies and two secondary academies already approved by the Department for Education.

These hubs will offer smaller class sizes and dedicated support led by specially trained staff, aiming to provide pupils with the tailored help they need while remaining in mainstream schools. In total, the initiative will create 210 additional places for children with SEND, helping address a growing demand for inclusive, community-based learning.

Construction and setup for the new facilities are scheduled to begin in autumn 2025, with all hubs expected to be fully operational by autumn 2026.

The chosen schools include a mix of Church of England, Methodist, and community schools, reflecting a broad effort to improve access to high-quality education regardless of school type or location.

This move is part of a wider shift in education policy that sees inclusive support not as a specialist add-on but as a core offering within everyday school environments.

  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/highwaystarz

French flea market comes to Grantham

Tess Egginton
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0
French flea market comes to Grantham
A French-style flea market will take place in Grantham on Saturday 19th July, for the first time in ‘beaucoup’ years. The market, Brocante in French, will feature stalls selling the nation’s wares as well as artisan creations, including artwork, ceramics and jewellery. There will be a café stand selling French cuisine and coffee and French music and entertainment in the Market Place.
The regular Saturday Market starts at 8am with the French aspect in full flow from 10am. The Brocante is the latest confirmed event to take place in Grantham Market Place following its revamp, which brought a reimagining of the type of events that could take place there. Cllr Paul Stokes, South Kesteven District Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: “Visit our Brocante and experience something of French culture in the heart of Grantham. “Hosting attractions like this helps the local economy and supports our ambition for the district, driving growth and making South Kesteven a better place in which to live as well as attracting visitors. “This market and its associated events will add colour and entertainment – and also makes life entertaining for all the nationalities who call South Kesteven their home.”
  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Delphotostock

Wrawby Play Park sees £55,000 revamp

Tess Egginton
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Wrawby Play Park sees £55,000 revamp
North Lincolnshire Council is supporting the transformation of Wrawby Play Park, reshaping the village’s recreational landscape. The project costing £54,955 looks to inject new energy into the play area, offering local families a fun, safe environment. Cllr Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “This is exactly the kind of investment that helps strengthen our communities, whilst supporting our young people in rural areas to have the best possible play equipment. “We are proud to back projects like this and invest in play activities. “The planned investment represents more than upgraded play equipment, it’s about building a stronger Wrawby, where families can connect and children and young people can thrive.” Driving the initiative is Wrawby Parish Council. North Lincolnshire Council has awarded £21,730 to Wrawby Parish Council through the Community Grants Programme, which supports projects across sport, arts, and heritage that enable communities to flourish.
  Image credit: North Lincolnshire Council

Free family entertainment comes to Scunthorpe with Summer in the Square

Tess Egginton
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0
Free family entertainment comes to Scunthorpe with Summer in the Square
Six weeks of free, family entertainment is coming to Scunthorpe town centre as Summer in the Square brings dinosaurs, live music, sports, magic shows, circus skills, creative workshops and more. The events will take place in Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gardens, with additional activities at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre and Scunthorpe Central Library. Running throughout the school holidays, the programme is packed with themed days designed to entertain all ages:
  • Saturday 19 July: Discover Pirates – Set sail for a water-filled day of pirate fun, with stilt walkers, mermaids, bubbles, and hands-on crafts for all ages.
  • Tuesday 22 July: Discover Outdoors – Make dens, spark fires, and dive into interactive nature-themed fun.
  • Friday 25 July: Dino Discover Day – Come face to face with dinosaurs, meet a walking raptor, dig for fossils, make slime, and snap a photo with a dinosaur egg.
  • Wednesday 30 July: Discover Sports – Get active with street games, karate, comedy sports theatre, slacklining, street sport art, bubbleologist, interactive sports activities, and AI football fun with roaming card and sticker swaps.
  • Friday 8 August: Discover Music – Feel the rhythm with mariachi melodies, Rio carnival performance, and Coritani drummers bringing sounds from across the world to the square.
  • Saturday 9 August: Play – Our Environment – Enjoy crafts, sensory play, circus workshops and outdoor games for curious minds and messy hands.
  • Wednesday 13 August: Discover Play – A lively day of magic shows, circus skills, mini fighting robots, a giant dazzle playbox, den making, hands-on science, bubbles, face painting, crafts, and a wild family game show full of laughs and surprises.
  • Friday 15 August: Discover Block Day – Build, explore and create with LEGO, Minecraft, 3D printing, parkour, and hands-on science experiments.
  • Wednesday 20 August: Teen Takeover – An action-packed day designed by and for young people, featuring BMX shows, a roller rink, parkour, crafts, beatboxing, DJ workshops, Comic-Con fun, an escape room, a sweetie ice sculpture and more.
  • Friday 22 August to Saturday 30 August: Luxmuralis Science – Experience stunning light projections exploring molecules, cells, and DNA in a breath-taking show inside the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre.
  • Wednesday 27 August: Discover Creativity – Let your imagination run wild with giant drawing, science fun, street theatre, a doodle wall, family games and imaginative play.
All events run from 11am to 4pm and are completely free. Cllr Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We’re proud to bring Summer in the Square to Scunthorpe. These free events offer something for everyone and create a great atmosphere in the heart of our town. It’s a brilliant way for families to make the most of the school holidays while also bringing more footfall into the town to benefit local businesses.”
  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/kegfire

Skills fair helps young people discover future career paths in Grimsby

April Lara
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Skills fair helps young people discover future career paths in Grimsby

Grimsby’s annual Skills Fair attracted nearly 2,000 students from North East Lincolnshire, marking the event’s 11th year. Held at Grimsby Auditorium, the fair connects local students with education, training, and career opportunities. Organised by North East Lincolnshire Council, Franklin College, Grimsby Institute, and Wilkin Chapman LLP, the fair brought together over 60 exhibitors, including universities, local employers, and national organisations like the NHS and the British Army.

A key highlight of this year’s fair was the STEM Village, sponsored by Phillips 66. It provided students with hands-on activities, virtual reality experiences, and live demonstrations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, showcasing the growing demand for skilled workers in the Humber region. Industry forecasts predict the Humber will require over 12,000 new workers in energy and construction, and 10,000 in offshore energy by 2030.

Construction management company GMI participated in the event, emphasising how local development projects are creating career opportunities for young people. The fair also demonstrated the vital role that collaboration between local authorities and businesses plays in creating pathways for the next generation.

For ongoing support, young people aged 16 to 18 can contact the Young People’s Support Service (YPSS) throughout the year.

  Image credit: North East Lincolnshire Council

Sleaford selected for ecoPlant

Tess Egginton
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Sleaford selected for ecoPlant

Clean Planet Energy, a UK-based clean-tech firm, has chosen Sleaford Moor Enterprise Park for its second ecoPlant facility in the UK.

The new plant is part of Clean Planet’s plan to tackle the plastic waste crisis, with an estimated £35 million investment in its construction.

This ecoPlant will process up to 25,000 tonnes of traditionally non-recyclable plastic waste annually, such as fast food containers, shopping bags, and plastic films. The facility will convert this waste into Purified Pyrolysis Oil, an alternative to the fossil oils used in petrochemical industries. The plant is expected to create 50-70 permanent jobs and an additional 100 jobs during construction.

The site was chosen for its access to industrial infrastructure and the council’s commitment to sustainability. The development aligns with North Kesteven District’s goals of promoting green industries and local economic growth. The facility is located on a plot in the second phase of Sleaford Moor Enterprise Park, which already includes energy-efficient units featuring solar panels and EV charging points.

If Lincolnshire County Council approves the planning application, construction is expected to begin soon, with operations anticipated to start after the two-year build. Clean Planet Energy is focused on removing over one million tonnes of non-recyclable plastic annually, addressing a global issue where the vast majority of plastic waste ends up in landfills, incinerators, or oceans.

 

Pictured from left: North Kesteven District Council leader councillor Richard Wright and Clean Planet Energy director of expansion and development Tom Field. Image credit: Clean Planet Energy

Grantham architectural gem opens to public

Tess Egginton
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0
Grantham architectural gem opens to public
A hidden architectural gem in Grantham town centre is open to visitors for the first time in its centuries-long history.
People can tour Grade I listed Grantham House on Castlegate and its five-acre gardens for free. It is hoped the National Trust property will become a hub for the community and a major tourism draw, attracting some of the 400,000 annual visitors to its nearby Belton House. The trust was supported by South Kesteven District Council in securing a grant of £105,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). This, together with the same level of investment from the trust, paid for essential works to restore and update the townhouse making it a place people could visit. South Kesteven District Council’s cabinet member for corporate governance and licensing, cllr Philip Knowles, said: “Plenty of people in Grantham will have known of its existence but have never been able to see it – an equal number will have never known it existed because it was a private residence. “We worked very hard in partnership with the National Trust on the options for Grantham House so everyone could experience this former hidden gem and were delighted to be able to support them through the grant application process.” The National Trust’s Dr Henry Cutten, local partnerships co-ordinator at Grantham House, said: “We’ve welcomed so many people to explore the hidden beauty of Grantham House already and it’s been wonderful hearing local people’s amazement at this urban oasis on their doorstep. “Offering free entry to everyone was so important to us as part of the National Trust’s new strategy to open up access to heritage and nature, and we’re extremely grateful to SKDC for their assistance in facilitating the UKSPF grant which has helped us to offer this. “We look forward to more and more local people discovering the peaceful green space which Grantham House has to offer.” Grantham House, which was a private tenanted home until recently, has a café and a second-hand bookshop. It boasts walled gardens, a riverside meadow, short woodland walk, and expansive lawns complete with games such as croquet and giant chess. There are also rooms for hire. It will be operated in partnership with neighbouring St Wulfram’s Church, and they will run joint activities including Yoga and fundraise together. Grantham House is open from 10am to 5pm every day until October when hours will reduce to Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, until March. Free entry extends to everyone so there is no need to be a National Trust member to visit.  
Image shows Grantham House. Credit: South Kesteven District Council

Red Arrows fly high in hospital charity fundraiser

Tess Egginton
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Red Arrows fly high in hospital charity fundraiser
The children’s wards at Lincoln County Hospital are set to receive a fundraising boost after Red Arrows personnel completed a gruelling 8,000-mile challenge. As members of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team carried out their pre-season training in Croatia and Greece earlier this year, pilots, engineers and support staff also took up the challenge to collectively run, swim, walk, row and cycle the equivalent return distance from their base at RAF Waddington to the overseas locations. At the end of the month-long deployment the team had successfully completed the distance and raised £460 for the Rainforest and Safari children’s wards at Lincoln County Hospital. Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity Manager, Ben Petts, was delighted to receive the donation. He said: “The Red Arrows have generously supported us for several years and this latest donation brings the total amount raised to over £3,500. We can use these funds to purchase extra pieces of equipment for the children’s ward which will improve the lives of our young patients, their families and the staff who care for them.” Chief Technician, Ben Pearson, one of the Red Arrows senior mechanical engineers and an organiser of the charity challenge, said: “The team’s had a long association with the two wards, and since 2022, members of the ground crew have visited the hospital at Christmas to meet young patients, their families and staff. “The whole team is very focussed on maintaining fitness levels and using the pre-season training period to prepare in all aspects for the busy summer of displays and events. This initiative combined that opportunity, while in Croatia and Greece, to help raise money for an important good cause located close to our home base in Lincolnshire.” Staff from the children’s wards recently visited RAF Waddington, where the Red Arrows have been based since late 2022, to meet some of the team’s engineers who completed the challenge. After watching a display by the aerobatic team, Play Leader Karen O’Connor expressed her thanks to the crew: “We are so grateful to the support from the Red Arrows team and the time they give to visit the ward and bring a little Christmas cheer to the children and families over the festive season.”

Spot butterflies and support nature this July

April Lara
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0
Spot butterflies and support nature this July

People across the UK are being invited to take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, running from 18 July to 10 August. In Cleethorpes, new Coastal Ranger Josh Forrester will lead two free events to help locals identify and count butterflies along the coast.

The first event will be on 18 July at Humberston Fitties Sea Defence from 10am to 12pm, meeting at Anthony’s Bank car park. The second will be on 21 July at Cleethorpes Country Park, also from 10am to 12pm.

The Big Butterfly Count encourages people to spend 15 minutes counting butterflies in sunny weather. This citizen science initiative tracks butterfly numbers as an indicator of environmental health, with significant declines seen since the 1970s.

Participants can join the organised events or simply count butterflies in gardens, parks, fields, and woodlands. Those counting from a fixed spot should record the highest number of each species seen at one time, while walkers should tally each butterfly spotted during their 15-minute count.

Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Maridav

Grants available for businesses to boost essential skills in Lincolnshire

April Lara
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0
Grants available for businesses to boost essential skills in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire County Council has launched the Skills Champion programme, offering £1,000 grants to local businesses and community groups focused on improving literacy, numeracy, and digital skills. The initiative is designed to encourage the delivery of accessible and innovative learning programmes that address these key areas of development.

Organisations successful in their application will receive financial support to help implement projects that promote practical skills. These efforts could include activities that integrate learning into everyday tasks, such as cooking or gardening, making education more relatable and engaging.

The programme will also provide networking opportunities through regular ‘LinknLearn’ sessions, where participants can exchange ideas, resources, and strategies to enhance their initiatives. With the backing of the county’s Adult Learning Team, the grants aim to empower local organisations to make a significant impact in their communities.

Applications for the grants are open until August 2025, with applicants able to apply for support across any combination of the three focus areas: literacy, numeracy, or digital skills.

  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Jacob Lund
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