December 2017
Charity shop and café set to re-open A CHARITY shop and café on the Bellamy Road Estate in Mansfield is due to reopen this month. The Life Centre on Egmanton Road has been taken on by the Life Church, which will use the base for community events. As well as the café and shop, the centre will comprise a sorting area for donations for the shop and a base for outreach events, such as a youth drop-in for teenagers, a welcome hour for the elderly and free community events. The centre, which closed in August, has been repainted, given a new look inside and will be run by a new management team and volunteers. It will be open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 9am to 2pm. The centre is appealing for donations of quality goods and monetary donations would also be welcomed. They would be used towards projects such as a possible money advice centre and a foodbank. The church meets in South Mansfield Community Centre, on Bellamy Road. As part of the Ground Level Network of churches, its Sunday morning services from 10.30am are modern, child-friendly and informal. There are also activities throughout the week. l A CHRISTMAS celebration is on 17th December. See page 17 for details.
Small Steps needs help
MANY families can struggle with anxiety, loneliness, social isolation and frustration when their child has autism or ADHD. Family Action’s Small Steps Service needs volunteer befrienders in the Mansfield area who can offer support and understanding to families whose children have been diagnosed. There will be a free information event for people to find out more on 13th December, from 10am-4pm, at West Nottinghamshire College, Derby Road, Mansfield. For more information, contact Katy Robinson, Small Steps project coordinator, email katy.robinson@ nottshc.nhs.uk or call 01623 672152.
This is all our own work
Late night shopping at Four Seasons Free parking & free gift wrapping find out more on page 17.
20% off at Mangrove YOUNGSTERS at Berry Hill Primary School have seen their own work on display at an art exhibition that is travelling around the country.
The Mansfield school’s pupils saw their pieces — houses sewn from squares of material — in the town’s library as the Access Art Village: Stunning Stiches exhibition launched. It will run until 21st December. The pupils’ visit to the library was part of a day of art, which included workshops and a look around the library. Children sewed their houses from squares of material donated by Inspire. The artwork was sent to be part of the exhibition, which includes work from all over the world as well as other craft groups in Nottinghamshire. The exhibition, which will go to Romford, London, in the new year, has also been at Fairfield Mill, Yorkshire. Access Art organised and promoted the original idea
for the exhibition. Inspire, as well as coordinating the art day, also ran an art workshop for the children, linked to the Big Draw 2017. Maria McIntyre, Year 5 teacher, said: “Working with Inspire has been brilliant. As well as bringing the project to our attention, they have given us an opportunity to be part of an art exhibition and to work with professional artists. We could not be more thrilled.” Head Susan Brown said: “Inspire have provided us with a great opportunity for our children to develop their art skills in a variety of mediums. “We are promoting the exhibition in school in the hope all of our families will go and see it while it is in Mansfield. “It is a privilege to be part of a country-wide travelling exhibition like this.”
To find out how to get 20% off at the Mangrove Indian Bistro & Grill, check out our Food & Drink feature on page 7
20% off at Santini Turn to page 7 to find your 20% off Sunday lunch voucher at Santini’s in Ravenshead.
High flyer
MOUNTAIN biker Owen Rick has had a terrific first year racing downhill. The student at Mansfield’s Samworth Church Academy won his first race at the Stile Cop Racers Guild Winter Series in Cannock Chase, winning the rippers category followed by two second-place finishes. Owen gained entry into the Peaty’s Steel City downhill race at Grenoside, Sheffield, and won the rippers category by 4.662 seconds. He then went on to lift the Stile Cop Racers Guild Summer Series with five wins from five races. His record from nine races is seven wins and two second places. In 2018, Owen will move up to the juvenile category (13 to 14-year-olds), which means he can compete in national as well as regional events. l SAMWORTH’S world champion, see page 30.