Local News
Issue 1055
Call 0114 283 1100
4th April 2019
www.looklocal.org.uk
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FROM DEATH’S DOOR TO INDIA FOR FORMER PUB LANDLORD A FORMER pub landlord who survived a murder attempt six years ago has turned his life around and is to travel to India in the capacity of a motivational speaker. Roger Cheetham was returning home after walking his dog on June 9 2013 when he saw three masked men, armed with weapons, waiting for him. They beat him severely and Roger has no doubt that they were out to kill him, although he still doesn’t know who they were or what their motive was. “You drive yourself mad thinking about it,” Roger told Look Local. “I was in hospital a long time and I thought about it a lot. I was the landlord of the Bassett pub in Fox Hill at the time, I’d worked a shift that day but it had passed without incident.
“It wasn’t a robbery as they didn’t take my money or phone - they didn’t ask for anything. You have to just draw a line under it eventually.” Roger, who was 43 at the time, sustained fractures to his legs, ankles, hands and face resulting in months in hospital and lifelong injuries. But now, aged 49, Roger is using the experience to be a positive influence to others through motivational speaking. “I’ve turned adversity into opportunity,” Roger says. “Initially, I found that sharing my story with medical staff had a cathartic effect. I soon realised that it’s not about me, but helping others.
ger, positive and improved version of yourself.” It’s a message that Roger has spoken of in schools and business networks. But this month he flies out to New Delhi, India, for his first international appearance at the Women’s Economic Forum. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Forum and, coincidentally, the 25th anniversary of Roger’s marriage to wife, Claire. Roger is relishing the opportunity of speaking abroad. “There’s going to be up to 2,000 people in the audience – mainly females – and I hope that my talk will help them find their resilience and use it to empower themselves. I can’t wait.”
“I want to tell people my message of resilience – no matter how dark things get, not only can you get through it, you can emerge from it as a stron-
PUPILS WIN AWARD AND DONATE TO CHARITY
A GROUP of children from Windmill Hill Primary School have taken part in the St Luke’s BizKids’ fundraising competition. They have won the Enterprise Award for the best presentation and for achieving all of the BizKids’ objectives, such as financial literacy, communication and perseverance. Thirteen schools across Sheffield took part and only one school could win this award. Year Two teacher Hannah Crossland told Look Local:
“As a school, we are incredibly proud of the children and their fundraising efforts, particularly this year as they have doubled their fundraising total and raised £913 for St Luke’s Hospice.” A representative of St Luke’s visited the school on Wednesday March 20 to present the children with a trophy for their achievement. Yorkshire Bank in Chapeltown matched the pupils’ fundraising which brought the final total to £1,826.60.
The BizKids’ judges said: “We were amazed at all of the creative products and fundraising ideas Windmill Hill had. “They showed great initiative and we were impressed at how well everyone worked together as a team.” Some of the fundraising activities included a bun sale, Christmas crafts, superhero dress up day and penalty shootout. These ran between October and March.
HIGH PRAISE FOR LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL THE Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, and Minister of State for School Standards, Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, have congratulated Oughtibridge Primary School for their high standards – putting them in the top 3% of the country’s schools in terms of progress between Key Stage One and Key Stage Two. In a letter to the school’s head, Jim Dugmore, they wrote: “We would like to congratulate you, your staff and your pupils on the very high level of progress that pupils in your school demonstrated in the reading, writing and mathematics Key Stage Two assessments last year. “Your school’s results, as published on December 13, show progress scores of 4.1, 3.1 and 4.4 in English reading, writing and mathematics respectively. This means that in terms of the progress your pupils make between Key Stage One and the end of Key Stage Two, your school is amongst the top 3% of schools in England.
“We want to equip every child with the fluency in reading, writing and mathematics necessary to prepare them for a successful secondary education and beyond, and your school has provided this. “Thank you for producing such high standards through your hard work and professionalism, and congratulations again to you and your staff for all you have achieved.” Dave Cates, the Chair of Governers for the school, commented in a letter to parents: “It’s always a privilege to be a governor at Oughtibridge Primary School but from time to time something happens to remind me just how fortunate we are to be part of such a fantastic school that gives so much to our community. “This is a significant achievement and on behalf of the Governors, I want to thank Mr Dugmore and the whole staff for their continued hard work and investment in our children’s education.”
