Doncaster Echo - December/January 2025

Celebrating everything good in doncaster and surrounding areas

INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to your December/January edition of Doncaster Echo.

Well, 2024 may be coming to an end but over at Doncaster Echo we are still working hard to bring you the best local offers and feel-good stories for our community.

In this month’s edition, we tell our readers about Shimla restaurant, a winner in the Best Restaurant Category at this year’s Curry Life Awards.

We also speak to Rebecca Wheeler, an inspirational Doncaster woman who completed the Tough Mudder challenge after her cancer diagnoses.

And, we showcase Dia-Buddie, a support group for under-18s and their families who have been diagnosed with diabetes.

As always, our friendly team is just an email or phone call away to help you with all your advertisement needs.

We will see you in 2025 but for now enjoy your latest edition of Doncaster Echo!

meet the staff

LISA WARRENER EDITOR

RACHAEL LIDDLE DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

lisa caley sales executive

Daniella dennis sales Manager

Distribution Assistants: Jamie Walton, Justin Newton, Mitchell Brewins, Craig Shaw and Ben Hammill

ONLINE COURSES ADULT EDUCATION

Our Learn from Home courses are for anyone aged 19 or over and are completed fully online. We have free courses available in the following sectors, and you can start them anytime!

Scan the QR code to ﬁnd out more

• Business and Management

• Children and Young People

• Core Skills

• Customer Service

• Digital • Mental Health • Nutrition • Social Care

These days most homeowners suffer from a lack of storage space. So many precious items that need to be kept – but where to store it all? That’s where Yorkshire Loft Ladders come in.

The company, based locally, offers homeowners the opportunity to maximise their storage space with a loft ladder, 50 sq ft of boarding and a light all fully fitted in less than a day from just £277 + VAT. But it’s not just the affordability of the package the company offers that makes Yorkshire Loft Ladders stand out as manager Warren Ingleson explains:

‘Our watchwords are Quality,

Integrity and Value. Quality in the materials that we use for all our installations and the fact that all our loft packages are fitted by time served tradesmen so our customers are assured of the best job. Integrity in that we will turn up at the time we say and make sure the house is spotless when we leave, and Value in that we offer our services at a price people can afford. Our business relies on referrals and we got a huge amount of our calls from people who have been referred to us by our existing customers - that simply wouldn’t happen if we didn’t adhere to our overriding principles.

lead to more happy customers is true and we work hard to make that happen for every installation we carry out!’

So, if you want to make use of your loft space, however big or

lead to more happy customers is true and we work hard to make that happen for every installation we carry out!’ So, if you want to make use of your loft space, however big or

small, call Warren on 0800 612 8359 and he’ll be happy to pop round and give you a no obligation quote so you too can make use of your loft!

At the end of the day the old adage that happy customers

Curry house is hottest restaurant in Doncaster

The city’s Shimla restaurant is celebrating after being named best restaurant at a prestigious national awards ceremony

Shimla restaurant was a winner in the Best Restaurant Category at this year’s Curry Life Awards - staged by Britain’s renowned curry magazine, Curry Life.

Shimla owner Sheb Miah told Doncaster Echo:

“Winning a Curry Life Award is not just for the restaurant, it’s for all the people in Doncaster. They appreciate it as much as we do.

“Even after 20 years in the business, we love greeting loyal customers and meeting new ones.”

The awards event is an annual celebration of

British curry houses, which have an annual turnover of over £4billion.”

Other guests at the awards ceremony included GB News presenter Camilla Tominey who hosted the event, as well as Parliamentary UnderSecretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Rushanara Ali MP, Charlotte Nichols MP and Jade Botterill MP.

The Curry Life Awards are sponsored by Cobra Beer, WorkPermitCloud, Unisoft and Hillside Travels.

£97,000 40% share*

£4,850 5% deposit

£392.33 Rent and Service Charge

FROM A POLICE

Police supports council as it launches ‘Safer Doncaster’ initiative

Doncaster Police launched new measures to help make the city centre safer, including extra funding and resources under a new city-wide safety initiative

“People need to feel safe when they visit Doncaster city centre and these new measures will help to support that.”

POLICE PERSPECTIVE:

The council is working with South Yorkshire Police and other partners on a range of initiatives across the city so that Doncaster is a safer place for everyone to enjoy.

The Mayor of Doncaster has pledged to spend £1m on new safety measures including state-of-the-art CCTV and increased patrols in the city centre.

As part of this, city centre CCTV has been expanded further into areas not previously covered by cameras and a new mobile vehicle will complement this, equipped with CCTV, a mobile defibrillator and first aid kit. A number of tannoys, which will provide CCTV operators with the ability to communicate with anyone engaged in perceived anti-social behaviour, are also being added in key areas around the city centre.

The council and the police will continue to work together in the city centre, with targeted patrols for increased visibility along with other collaborative efforts.

Council staff will continue to join forces with police and use their powers under the existing Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and to offer help and support to those who need it.

Doncaster District Commander Chief Superintendent Pete Thorp said: “We remain committed to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in Doncaster city centre so that people feel safe in the area.

“Officers from our Doncaster Central Neighbourhood Policing Team carry out regular patrols of the city centre and over the past 12 months, we have increased the number of officers working in our city centre team to

combat the issues that are most important to the people of Doncaster.

“Using your information and intelligence, we have dedicated patrol plans through which our officers conduct high visibility patrols of the city centre in order to keep you safe.

“We continue to work in conjunction with the council, other key partners and our communities to regularly review these plans, and we are always looking at how we can further increase our visibility in the city centre.

“We are working closely with businesses and retailers to tackle shoplifting, with our dedicated retail crime team, who investigate shoplifters across Doncaster city centre and the surrounding area, securing 225 convictions over a nine-month period since the start of 2024.”

City of Doncaster Mayor, Ros Jones, said: “People need to feel safe when they visit Doncaster city centre and these new measures will help to support that. We have listened to the public in our recent city centre consultation where they told us that they don’t feel safe when visiting the city centre, or do not visit because they don’t feel safe there. This needs to change if we are to have a vibrant centre at the heart of our city.

“Working closely with our partners in the police and other key organisations, our aim is to tackle issues in the city centre head on - and to do this I have pledged £1m investment into extra resources to help make Doncaster a safer place. To further support this we have launched a new Safer City initiative which brings together information and advice for people on staying safe and we are working with local communities and businesses to support them.”

An inspirational Doncaster woman completes Tough Mudder challenge after cancer diagnosis

Rebecca completed an incredible physical challenge less than a year after receiving a devastating cancer diagnosis

Rebecca Wheeler (38), a cleaning supervisor at Lakeside Village Shopping Outlet with contractor Aston Services Group, has completed the 5km Tough Mudder at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire.

In October 2023, she was diagnosed with a rare cancer that started in her appendix.

After the shock of receiving this news and nearly seven months of numerous operations and then recovery, Rebecca decided she felt ready to do something she enjoyed once again. So, she set her sights on the Tough Mudder challenge - a fast-paced 5km run with 13 obstacles to navigate that test participants’ physical and mental limits.

She proudly completed the course in 2 hours 13 min.

Rebecca, who is from Edlington, told Doncaster Echo: “I’ve had a really difficult past year with my health after discovering a lump in the right side of my abdomen in October 2023.

“An ultrasound showed a 14cm tumour so I was taken down for emergency surgery where they removed a 19.5cm tumour and my right ovary. The tumour was then sent off for biopsy and the results showed it to be a stage 1A Mucinous Cyst Adenocarcinoma.

“This meant I needed a total hysterectomy and an appendectomy to prevent it coming back as it was a rare tumour that came from my appendix. I was told

I was very lucky the tumour didn’t start to break away and attach to my other organs and luckily no chemotherapy was needed.

“I had the hysterectomy and appendectomy in January 2024 but three days after I could barely move with the pain and a CT scan showed a 6cm haematoma which was caused by having two surgeries so close together. So it’s been a tough time for me but slowly but surely I have improved - I now have a cancer care review every three months.

“After going back to work seven months since my initial diagnosis I realised I wanted another challenge. I have always wanted to take part in a Tough Mudder but kept putting it off and after going through everything I have this last year it opened my eyes and made me realise I need to start enjoying myself and living my life.

“I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone as it’s a brilliant experience and everyone works together as a team and helps each other. I was delighted with my time. I’m looking forward to doing another one now!”

Lyndsey Parry, centre manager at Lakeside Village said: “The whole team at Lakeside Village is absolutely in awe of Becky. For her to push herself and complete this challenge is a real credit to her, and we are so pleased she did it! Well done from everyone at Lakeside Village, we are so proud of all her inspiring efforts!”

Peer support group for children under 18 with type 1 diabetes and their families

Doncater Dia-Buddies is a social peer support group for children in Doncaster living with type 1 Diabetes.

This group is for children to come together and make new friends who are going through the same diagnosis.

Many people often misunderstand diabetes. While type 2 diabetes can be managed and sometimes even reversed with diet and lifestyle changes, type 1 diabetes is different. In type 1, the pancreas just stops working altogether.

Hannah Dutton, founder of Doncaster Dia-Buddies, told Doncaster Echo: “Back in March, my daughter, Teagan, who was eight at the time, nearly lost her life due to a severe episode of diabetic ketoacidosis. This is what led to her diagnosis of type 1. Teagan became unwell a few weeks before her diagnosis with what we now recognise as symptoms of type 1 diabetes:

• Weight loss

• Increased thirst

• Increased urine output, especially at night

• Fatigue/tiredness

“But these also mirror that of an ongoing viral infection. It wasn’t until she became incredibley breathless and unable to stand that she ended up in hospital, then straight into resus for 16 gruelling hours of not knowing what was going to

happen and if she was actually going to survive. On 9th March 2024, we were told Teagan had type 1 diabetes.

“The day that all parents with a type 1 child will never forget. Life will never be the same. Having to inject your own child up to 15 times a day just to keep them alive feels like hell.

“There is no cure and no one can tell us why this happened to our girl and now we have to rely on insulin multiple times a day to keep her alive.”

Dia-Buddies was founded so that children know they aren’t on their own. Parents can only support them and reassure them so much but it’s the children that are the ones living with it. Parents also need to know there are others experiencing the same and this is where Dia-Buddies come in.

Doncaster Dia-Buddies, 4-6pm Arcade Warehouse, Doncaster.

The point of Doncaster Dia-Buddies is to offer a relaxed social environment to the children living with this lifelong diagnosis. It is hoped that they will build lifelong friendships and support networks with each other and their families knowing they can relate to each other’s experiences.

For for information on Dia-Buddies please email: doncaster.diabuddies@outlook.com