February 2022 - Your Local Ratby, Kirby Muxloe & Leicester Forest East

YOUR LOCAL 6,800 COPIES DELIVERED EVERY MONTH - RATBY, KIRBY MUXLOE & LFE - FEBRUARY 2022

Memorial Gates Receives A Funding Boost From War Memorial Trust Grants Scheme

Parkinson’s Group In 2022

Kirby Muxloe Senior Citizens Donates Money To Charities Volunteers Required At Allexton & New Parks Football Club

16 Year Old Ex-Student Will Alves LCFC Debut In The FA Cup!

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Articles

EX-STUDENTS OPEN A NEW ESTATE AGENTS BASED IN GROBY! #ANDERSONBRIGGS Ex-students Conor Anderson and Jed Briggs have some exciting news, as they are proud to announce the opening of their brand new modern, local Estate Agent, based in the heart of Groby!

yourlocal@openboxpromotions.co.uk 0800 6446 150

Conor and Jed said; “We are fully operational now, so please do not hesitate to contact us.

We will be providing free property valuations, in-house mortgage advice and conveyancing services. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on our office, new listings and some cracking competitions coming up soon. We can’t wait to help as many of you as possible achieve that dream home move, please feel free to reach out to us for any friendly, honest advice required.

Thank you and Happy New Year!”

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ANDERSONBRIGGS office can be found on Ratby Road in Groby, for anyone who knows the village well they are situated just next door to Pricegate, opening their office doors to you in early February.

POLICE ‘HATE CRIME POSTER COMPETITION’ BGLC WINNERS!

www.andersonbriggs.co.uk T: 0116 436 2672 E: hello@andersonbriggs.co.uk

Well done to Brookvale Groby Learning Campus 3 winners in a Leicestershire Police Hate crime competition. There were 5 overall winners across all the schools in Leicestershire and we were lucky to have 3 out of 5 winners from our school. The Police came into school to present the winners with their vouchers and certificates.

Congratulations to our 3 Year 7 WINNERS:

The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the original advertisers & contributors and do not necessarily represent OpenBox Promotions Ltd. OpenBox Promotions Ltd reserves the right to amend or refuse to publish articles or adverts submitted for publication. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine, but no liability can be accepted for loss or inconvenience caused as a result of error or omission. To see full terms & conditions visit www.openboxpromotions.co.uk/terms Magazine printed by Norwood Press, Moore Road, South Leicester Industrial Estate, Ellistown, Leicestershire, LE67 1EU

· Emily Beardsmore · Daisy Steiner · Anaise Tatham Walsh The posters will then be produced professionally and launched across Leicestershire. All the entrants received a certificate from the police for taking part.

WELL DONE - FANTASTIC WORK!

‘VIXENS’, GROBY JUNIORS U13 GIRLS FOOTBALL TEAM WON THE LEAGUE! On Sunday 23rd January the ‘Vixens’, Girls U13 Groby Juniors Football Team, WON their league!

The team consist of 8 girls from Brookvale Groby Learning Campus. WELL DONE to the whole team! #BGLC_PE

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16 Year Old ExStudent WILL ALVES - LCFC Debut In The FA Cup! BGLC ex-student Will Alves made his Leicester City debut in the FA Cup on Saturday 8th January!

Leicestershirelive Education Awards 2021 Congratulations to BGLC 4 FINALISTS in the 2021 LeicestershireLive Education Awards! All of our 4 nominees were amazing finalists and the incredible Zoe Nakas WON the Science and Maths award!!!!

16 Year Old Ex-Student MIKAYLA WILDGOOSE - Birmingham City Women FC

Will came off the substitute bench late in the second half making him the 8th youngest player to ever play for Leicester City at the age of 16. This is a tremendous achievement and is hopefully the start of a bright footballing career. Radio Leicester got in touch with us and asked us to contribute to their Football Focus programme between 6pm and 7pm on Monday 10th January. Mr Brownett was on the air waves around 6:20pm discussing Will's time with us at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus.

WELL DONE Will! #BGLC_PE

SAMUEL JACQUES - Leicester Tigers Squad Well done to BGLC ex-student Samuel Jacques for making the Leicester Tigers Academy matchday squad on Saturday 8.1.22!

In other exciting news, 16 year old Brookvale Groby Learning Campus ex-student Mikayla Wildgoose was an unused substitute for Birmingham City Women in their match against Arsenal Women this weekend. It's great to see her involved in the 1st team squad. Another footballer with a promising future.

WELL DONE Mikayla! #BGLC_PE

We Would Like To Introduce You To Jeni...

At Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Mrs Stewarts Year 8 tutor group have started 2022 on a high. As part of their LORIC work they have been learning about the Borneo Orangutan Sanctuary.

They have worked hard to raise the money to enable them to adopt their own baby orangutan.

They would like to introduce you to Jeni…

Like most orangutans in their care, two-year-old Jeni lost her mum. A rescue team brought her to the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre on 24 August 2020.

Upon her arrival at the centre, tiny Jeni weighed only five kilograms.

She had wounds on the back of one of her legs and was in shock. It was evident that Jeni had experienced a traumatising time in captivity after being separated from her mother.

The team and surrogate orangutan mothers were determined to ensure that Jeni would feel comfortable and safe in her new

environment. Their hard work paid off: Jeni is now fully recovered, has started to develop natural behaviour and has a healthy appetite.

She has now joined the Forest School Nursery Group and is showing the caregivers how smart and brave she is.

They can’t wait to one day release Jeni back into the Bornean rainforest one day, where she belongs.

Students will continue to receive regular updates about her progress, over the coming months, and have already started creating a tutor group scrapbook all about her life in Borneo.

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Year 9 Student, LEXIE EDWARDS, U16 County Badminton Championships CONGRATULATIONS to BGLC Year 9 student, LEXIE EDWARDS, who played in the mixed doubles U16 County Badminton Championships the weekend before Christmas and won with her partner Mitchell!

Lexie has been injured since September, this being her first competition back after months of physio, and playing two age groups above, she has done amazing to come back stronger!

Lexie is a Leicestershire Performance Centre Gold Programme Athlete, and is training hard for the next competitive season.

WELL DONE Lexie! #BGLC_PE

ALISON PATERSON - Women’s Home Nations Championship, 1998 Stamp!

BGLC ex-student Alison Paterson played women’s rugby for Scotland between 1992 and 2001, with 30 international caps to her name!

‘Collect GB Stamps’ have a set of 8 Rugby Union collectors stamps celebrating the 150th anniversaries of the formation of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the first international match between England and Scotland in 1871.

Alison is pictured centre with the ball, on the Women’s Home Nations Championship, 1998 stamp! www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/ explore/issues/?issue=23064 Known as ‘POGO Paterson’ also came third in the Triathlon sprint world champs in Auckland 2012 and 3rd in the world Xterra triathlon championships in Australia 2016!

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Ozzy O’shea County Councillor

T: 0116 2394336 M: 07808585825 E: ozzyoshea@hotmail.com Leicestershire Invited To Negotiate Pioneering Devolution Deal Leicestershire has taken the next step towards securing a groundbreaking, multi-million-pound deal to bring devolved powers to the county.

The Government confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that Leicestershire County Council will be one of the first nine areas it will invite to agree a new ‘county deal’.

The announcement is part of the Levelling Up White Paper published yesterday and follows a bid submitted by the council in the autumn.

Nick Rushton, county council leader, said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to invite Leicestershire to be in the vanguard of county deals and look forward to working with Government to get the very best deal for Leicestershire’s businesses and residents. The opportunity to have a greater say over local services and their funding, matters which affect everyone in Leicestershire, is particularly welcome. I am grateful to the County’s MPs, and to Neil O'Brien in particular, for their help and support. I'm also grateful to the District Council Leaders for their support of our case and all our partners, including the local NHS. The wellbeing of children and young people has been an important part of our bid, which I believe has made it particularly attractive to Government.

Leicestershire has lost out for far too long – so we’re fully committed to levelling up. I look forward to working with Michael Gove and his ministerial team to get the best possible deal for Leicestershire’s residents.”

The council will now wait to hear from the Government about next steps. This is great news for the residents of Leicestershire.

Adult learning courses 20% discount now extended to end of February Leicestershire residents looking to learn new skills or take up a new hobby can save 20% on fees for hundreds of part-time day, evening and weekend courses, as the discount deadline has been extended to February 28.

The courses are open for enrolment from GoLearn, Leicestershire County Council’s

Adult Learning Service and include a wide range of digital skills classes as well as Italian, Spanish, British Sign Language and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). There are also courses on online safety, first aid, pottery, Indian cookery, astronomy, yoga, drawing & painting, stained glass, textiles and much more.

GoLearn also offers some free courses including help with CV writing, interview skills and online job application support. Other free courses include some aimed at supporting and maintaining good mental health, and courses supported by Leicestershire County Council’s Love Food, Hate Waste team including Healthy Cooking – Zero Waste and Healthy Vegan Cookery.

For people who are looking to gain essential qualifications in English and maths, GoLearn offers free GCSE and Functional Skills qualifications to anyone who has never previously achieved a grade 4 or above (grade C in the old system). GCSE courses begin in September and Functional Skills courses can be joined throughout the year. Fast-track courses are available for people looking to achieve their qualifications quickly, with Pre-GCSE and Skills Builder courses available for anyone wanting to boost their confidence with English and maths ahead of joining an accredited course GoLearn is also offering an Essential Digital Skills Qualification – a free course aimed at complete IT beginners and which offers a route to more advanced IT courses and qualifications.

The discount is applied to all feepaying courses for anyone who enrols by 28 February, on top of the 70% reduced fee, which is available to learners on certain benefits (e.g. Universal Credit, JSA, etc.) and for those on a low household income.

The courses are being run in venues across the county, both online and in the classroom to allow learners to fit study around life and work. All learners will receive expert help and support, with tutors on hand to provide help and guidance.

All courses can be searched online at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/

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golearn. Learners can also call GoLearn on freephone 0800 988 0308 (lines open Monday – Friday 8.30am-7pm) and speak to a member of the team to find out more about the courses, fees or paying by instalments Zebra Crossing Main Street Ratby.

I have been in discussions with highways for just under a year regarding improvements outside of the school. Officers have undertaken extensive investigations into reviewing existing speeds, undertaking crossing assessments, measuring highway widths to review suitability for physical measures, investigating enhanced signing aspects, whilst arranging for the crossing and other lining to be completely refreshed to enhance the look of the crossing over the summer break.

I have been advised that speeds show a consistent compliance, with the majority of drivers travelling at 25mph throughout the day, the crossing has been assessed by highways officers in which it did reveal high usage during school hours, but less than an average of 8 users per hour outside of that, meaning a zebra is the most appropriate option to have for a crossing facility. In terms of road markings, a keep clear exists on Burroughs Road, but was not placed outside of the entrance of Main Street as the zebra crossing zig zags exists outside of that entrance, and keep clears are only permitted by Department for Transport (DfT) guidance, to be placed outside of a school gate However, it has been observed that when travelling into Ratby via Sacheverell Way, it is not immediately obvious a school exists including a crossing, due to the change in road geometry.

Therefore I have arranged for the council to install an electron sign which will illuminate during school drop-off and collection hours, advising of a crossing and school children being present.

This is in the form of the standard warning triangle, but will include four amber lights around the sign to ensure prominence and alert drivers to the upcoming. This should at least help with ensuring vehicles adapt speeds prior to reaching the crossing.

In addition, the council will be putting in double yellow lines at my request. Officers have noted

the way general parking exists near the bus stop outside of school hours, this creates a give and take situation with traffic, in which vehicles traveling downhill need to wait for an opportunity to pass parked vehicles. It has further been noted as vehicles create a small queuing stack, the moment an opportunity presents itself, the queuing vehicles immediately race to the gap, and as the driver focuses on the gap, they don’t pay attention to the crossing aspect.

For this reason, the council will be extending double yellow lines from the zebra crossing point down to Burroughs Road on one side, and to the print shop on the opposite. This will at least remove the give and take behavioural aspect and ensure a steady flow.

I will do everything in my power to make that crossing safe for our children and parents.

Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Events in Leicester and Leicestershire Planning a event or street party?

Register your event To close a street or road to traffic, you must complete sections 3 and 4 of the event registration form.

All fees associated with the legal application have been waived for Queen’s Jubilee events and the application time reduced to 6 weeks.

We won’t be asking for the usual required documentation for a road closure such as an in-depth risk assessment, however consideration still needs to be given to ensure the safety of all attendees and an enjoyable event.

Your event information will be shared with the emergency services so they can put their own plans and resources in place. You should register your event as soon as you can. Submitting draft plans is better than doing nothing at all.

Signs and cones You can make an application to borrow signs and cones by completing the request form.

You must collect and return the signs and cones to the Mountsorrel Highways Depot, or you can request a quote for delivery.

The deadline to submit your signs and cones application is Friday 15 April 2022.

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Fees for the loan of signs will be waived for all Platinum Jubilee events but equipment must be returned, or you’ll be invoiced for it.

The May Bank Holiday Weekend will be moved to Thursday 2 June and an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June will see a four-day weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - the first time any British monarch has reached this historic milestone.

For more information go to the Leicestershire County Councils website or type the below into your space bar. www.gov.uk/government/news/ extra-bank-holiday-to-mark-thequeens-platinum-jubilee-in-2022 Hinckley and Bosworth Local Plan.

The County Council have raised serious concerns with planning officers at Hinckley and Bosworth regarding their new local plan. The concerns feature around the need for infrastructure such as School and Roads these are important to communities when taking on more significant developments.

Something that was not taken into consideration when the administration passed 267 houses on Markfield Road in Ratby over the past 18 months. The majority of the children will now have to go to Martinshaw Primary school in Groby. We are all well aware that parents tend to drive their children to school, this will add to more congestion around the narrow approach to the school.

Unfortunately the Administration at Hinckley and Bosworth passed

their local plan moving it from regulation 18 to 19 and this will now go out to consultation. The County Council are most certainly likely to object to the local plan as it shows a lack of infrastructure.

I am pleased officers at Hinckley did partly listen to County Council officers, who raised concerns and took 5 sites out the plan before going out to consultation, which included removing the Burroughs fields Ratby’s Jewel in the crown.

Temporary Traffic Regulation Order Markfield Road/ Bradgate Hill/ Wallace Drive/ Lena Drive, Groby County Council Highways has agreed to a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order at the above location. Temporary speed restrictions and road closures are required on Markfield Road / Bradgate Hill (A50) between A50 Roundabout at the Junction of Bradgate Hill and Leicester Road to Landfill Reclamation Site and the A50 / A46 roundabout.

The order will start on the 14th February 2022for up to 3weeks.

Lane closures will be required between the hours of 9am and 3pm to undertake traffic signal works and to maintain access to Wallace Drive and Lena Drive.

During the scheme the temporary implementation of no right turn will also be required on Lena Drive and Markfield Road whilst equipment is installed in the central reservation. The duration of these restrictions will be kept to a minimum and the diversion signposted. Overnight road closures will be required for 4 nights starting on 21stFebruary 2022.21stand 22ndFebruary 2022-overnight between 9pm and 6am–Full Southbound road

Kirby Muxloe Senior Citizens Article by Jan Lane

On behalf of myself Jan Lane and Gerry Hurst I would like to put you in the picture regarding the tote outings we did for the Senior Citizens of Kirby Muxloe up to the closing due to Covid.

Over the last 18 months Gerry and myself have been thinking what is the best thing we can do with the money in the bank that we had over. So after a lot of talking and various ideas we came up with the best way was to divide between charities.

We spent 3/4 Wednesday mornings going to charity shops in Blaby, Oadby, and various other places round and about.

Charities as below: Scope, Age UK, Air ambulance, Oxfam, Loros, Animal rescue, Rainbows, Mind These 8 charities all received cheques for £250.00 Each.

Salvation Army, British red cross These 2 charities each received cheques for £25.00 Each.

RNLI Received a cheque for £30.00.

Leicester Hospitals received a cheque for £250.00 To go towards new chemo chairs.

Many thanks for all your support over the years.

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closure. 23rd and 24th February 2022-overnight between 9pm and 6am –Full Northbound road closure. The Temporary Traffic Regulation Order will be implemented for public safety for Leicestershire County Council to facilitate traffic signal apparatus installation and any other associated work to the highway.

During the closures the proposed alternative diversion route will be via: A50, M1 J22 to J21, M1 J 21 to J21a, A46, and A50 and vice versa The proposed diversion for non-motorway traffic will be via: Launde Road, Ratby Lane, Markfield; Markfield Road, Groby Road, Sacheverell Way Ratby; Sacheverell Way, Leicester Road, Markfield Road, Bradgate Hill, Groby and vice versa Temporary Traffic Regulation Order Footpath R50, Ratby Leicestershire County Council Highways has agreed to a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order at the above location. A public right of way closure is required on Footpath R50, Ratby on two sections of the footpath between Markfield Road and Stamford Street, Ratby on the 14thFebruary 2022for 6 months.

The Temporary Traffic Regulation Order will be implemented for public safety for Cawrey Limited, their appointed contractors and any required utility provider to undertake development works, utility connections and any required infrastructure improvement works. The proposed alternative diversion route will be signed on site. During the closures, alternative routes available can be viewed at https://

one.network/?tm=GB127011449 Scam Santander Text Messages.

Fake texts claiming to be from Santander are circulating, suggesting that suspicious ‘new payees’ have been set up on your account. Here’s what they look like.

More fake text messages are trying to trick people into following potentially malicious links. This time they’re targeting Santander customers with ‘new payee’ notifications in different ways.

The first message tells the recipient that a ‘new direct debit’ has been established to a ‘Ruby Davies’ based in Glasgow. This name has presumably been made up entirely – the recipient had never heard of them, and the link is nothing to do with Santander.

The text appears convincing, but it’s attempting to panic you into following its own URL. If you receive a message like this and aren’t sure if it’s real, make contact with your bank via its genuine channels instead.

Finally I would like to thank you all for your continued support and remind you that should you need my help or advice, I always pride myself on making myself available to residents. Remember I am only a phone call or email away.

Ozzy O’shea.

Always Working for you.

Kirby Muxloe WI Will Be Holding Their Spring Fair Saturday 7th May 2022 10 – 12pm

St Bartholomew's Church Hall- Main Street Kirby Muxloe A variety of stalls including Crafted Items, Plants, Cakes,Preserves, Tombola Hand made Cards, Wood Turned Items Books, Ian the “Cheese Man” £1 Entrance Refreshments will be available

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Article by Liz Collinson Only a few weeks to go now before the end of winter and the arrival of spring.

Lifts the spirits somewhat, does it not? This last month has been noticeable for a marked increase in the number of visitors to the Library and most welcome they are! It seems almost like the good old pre-Covid days – wonderful. Having said that, we guess we should also say the we are still encouraging our visitors to wear face masks for the safety and confidence of us all.

CHINESE NEW YEAR On Saturday 20th January, we celebrated the Chinese new Year – the year of the Tiger, both in the Library itself and over the internet via Zoom.

Here you can see a group of people in the Library, helped

by Winnie and Yan practicing writing Chinese characters and doing some paper cutting to make baby tigers – some more successfully than others! We also had Chinese New Year songs via Zoom, led by Winnie – some more tunefully than others! Many thanks to Winnie and Yan for an enjoyable morning. All being well, we shall return to this in 2023 – the year of the rabbit – and we shall hope that we can then do the whole thing in person and include a Chinese lunch.

OTHER FESTIVALS In the interests of community cohesion and harmony, we would like to mount celebrations of other major festivals, and to mark significant events.

For example, we would like to celebrate Eid and Diwali and the Holocaust Remembrance Day. Just as we have had immense support from Yan and Winnie for the Chinese New Year celebrations, we would like to ask if there is anyone out there who could help us with sources, resources, ideas, advice, and actual help on the day. If you are interested, please contact secretary@ kirbymuxloelibrary.org We would love to hear from you.

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SENSORY GARDEN PROJECT You may be interested to know that our plans to develop the Library garden are proceeding apace. Our Garden Working Party has come up with some wonderful ideas, which we will shortly submit to professional designers to get costings. We will then start the process of completing the work and, most importantly, raising money, both from grants and, we hope, from Kirby Muxloe residents, who will be the ones to benefit from having a lovely peaceful garden for rest, reflection and company. So watch this space. Once the design is complete, we will be inviting you to view and contribute.

GCSE AND A LEVEL STUDENTS A reminder that we are acutely conscious of how our young people have suffered with their learning over the last couple of years. We would like to help by running a series of revision seminars for A Level and GCSE students coming up to their exams in the summer of 2022. These will be essentially student-centred, dealing with the subject matter that students themselves raise - definitely not a series of lectures. We are asking if there are any retired teachers out there who would be willing to take these classes, in both sciences and humanities. Unpaid, we fear, but something we should be doing. We have had some response, but not enough as yet, so if anyone is interested, contact secretary@kirbymuxloelibrary.org AND FINALLY…………….

COFFEE, CAKE AND CHILDREN’S CRAFT MORNING OUR NEXT COFFEE, CAKES AND CHILDREN’S CRAFT MORNING IS ON SATURDAY 26TH FEBRUARY 2022, FROM 10.00 – 1.00 AT THE LIBRARY IN ADDITION TO YOUR USUAL FAVOURITES, WE WILL BE HAVING A GO AT MAKING THE QUEEN’S FAVOURITE CAKE – A CHOCOLATE AND BISCUIT CAKE. COME AND TRY IT OUT!

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Ratby Community Library And Crow Pie Cafe Article by Joan Burton February in the library means lots to do!

It's year of the tiger and guess who came to tea with our Wriggly Readers?

Our session on 3rd February was visited by two handsome tigers who brought their little humans with them, twins Zelda and Skye.

One extremely large chap even lay down and had a jolly nice cup of tea with the children. We counted as many as fifteen adults and eighteen children recently so our Thursday sessions are clearly popular, possibly because we also try to offer a social time in the cafe for when the singing, clapping, hopping, story telling and roly poly playtime is over? World Book Day on 3rd March should be another great event, from 10.30 – 12.30, free to attend and open only to the wrigglers and their adults!

Crafty Corner knit and stitch group meeting 11th January.

Jane Hewison, textile artist invited any knitters, stitchers or other craft workers to meet with her on the first Tuesday of every month in the library. Not a huge turnout but we know it takes time for word to get out. The library is open to other users at the same time so do drop in and have a look at what's going on. Next date is Tuesday, 1st March at 10 – 12.

Special Quiz Night in aid of MacMillan Nurses.

Sunday 27th February from 6.30 – 9.30pm. This is a very special charity event and all are very welcome to come along and support this great organization whilst having a go at some tricky brain teasers. But that's not all...

Quiz Night with Steve Roche as question master every month.

Steve has all his dates arranged for 2022, but his next two challenges are February 18th and March 18th. All start at 7.30. There's no need to book places, just turn up and enjoy pitting your wits against all comers. The cafe is open and quizzers are welcome to bring their own bottle of refreshment if they wish!

Crow Pie Cafe open every session for delicious coffee and teas, cakes and savoury snacks at very fair prices!

The cafe is the main source of income for the library. Put bluntly, buy a bake, save a book! All our volunteers can barista up a lovely latte, cut a delicious lemon drizzle slice or make up some sweet treats for the children.

By visiting our cafe you can prolong the life of this 'really great community hub' as a parent recently called us, so do come along and share the space!

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A bee friendly space in our library grounds? The bid is in.

This is a project we are aiming to get up and running in 2022. We are bidding for funds and we hope to hear by March if our initial request has been successful. I have already bought my bee-friendly seeds, the propagators have been cleaned and hopefully, soon the cosmos, hollyhocks, dianthus and antirrhinums will be popping their heads up. If villagers want to share established plants and shrubs with us, please don't hold back; we can always do it ourselves rather than wait until spring has sprung!

Welcome to our Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers.

We are now part of a rolling program of youth volunteers who are giving their time, every Saturday, to community work in the library. Thank you boys, you're doing a great job!

Have you two hours a week to spare?

We'd like to thank all our volunteers who help create such a good atmosphere in Ratby Library but are in real need of new volunteers. Recently ill-health meant that for the first time in many months, we had to close for the afternoon because we simply didn't have the staff to cover the session. It felt awful!

Please, if you would like to get involved with the local community but don't have much more than two hours a week to spare, why not come and join our community of library volunteers? We're a friendly lot and we enjoy working in all of the areas of the library. Full training is offered so do call in and talk to us about joining our team; you really won't regret it.

Opening Hours: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

10am – 12.30 & 2pm – 4.30pm 2pm – 4.30pm 2pm – 4.30pm 2pm – 4.30pm 2pm – 4.30pm 10am – 12.30

Community and business use. We have free time available in the library on several mornings a week. We offer a comfortable space to meet, discuss, work, with wi-fi connection and printer/photo-copying. Why not call in and we can discuss your needs? Hire of the library for business use is only £10 per hour. (Evenings by arrangement)

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The Glenfield Ladies Co-operative Choir are now well and truly back. They held their first concert since the Covid outbreak on 4th December in St Andrews Church on Glenfield Road East. Despite the horrible weather the choir performed to an appreciative audience who joined in with some Christmas Carols.

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In the interval everyone was treated to tea and cakes. If they had not eaten enough cake in the interval there were cakes, Christmas stockings and candle arrangements on sale in the foyer. The charity, Linking Lives benefitted from the ticket sales, with the choir and St Andrews adding some money to their funds as well. A worthwhile night for everyone despite the weather.

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The choir’s next event is an Open Evening on Monday 7th March at 7:15 pm in the Glenfield Methodist Church on Station Road, Glenfield, opposite the Nags Head. Any Ladies who just enjoy singing are welcome to come along and sing with us.

We welcome all ladies whatever their ability as long as they enjoy singing. No auditions!

Just turn up or if you want to know more: Phone 07970 075039 or 07813 449873 Email: carpick@hotmail.co.uk

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day, again to meet friends or just see a friendly face. You will have a warm welcome.

Leicester Forest East Community Library

Article by Georgina Robson

By the time you read this, we will have had our Spring Festival celebration to mark Chinese New Year at the library and the Wellbeing team visiting us from Leicestershire County Council.

Both of these events took place at our monthly Coffee morning on Saturday 5th February and will hopefully have been a success and well supported.

What’s been going on Our next big event will be our Spring Fair, to be held on Saturday 9th April from 11.00 – 2.00pm which will have stalls outside on the car park in addition to inside stalls. Please come and support us at this event as we hope to raise much needed funds for the library, especially as we are now selffunded. Contact 07905019957 to book a stall.

Future plans In addition, we are hoping to host a ticketed local author visit accompanied by a Cheese and Wine evening in March. Tickets will be available in the library for this at £6.50 each, to include the refreshments. Details of which will be posted in the library and via our social media platforms.

Look out for World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. Children can collect a sticker and book related activity on the day from the library and a reward upon completion.

You’re sure to get a warm welcome.

Do you enjoy a good chat and catch up with friends? Then the library is the place for you. We have many opportunities during the week where you can come and relax in a warm welcoming environment. Our café is open during normal opening hours, where you can enjoy hot or cold drinks and light refreshments.

Are you a Crafter? We have two groups, one on a Monday evening from 7.00 – 9.00 pm and another on Wednesday evening from 6.00 – 8.00pm. You are most welcome to join us for either of these groups. A small charge applies. Help and support is given if required.

Our Wednesday Coffee morning has depleted in number for various reasons and could do with a boost! We are a friendly bunch so come and join us! We would love to hear from you so why not pop in and give it a go. Saves sitting at home and being lonely or isolated with no one to talk to. You won’t have that problem here, everyone loves a chat. Tea, coffee and biscuits available, even crumpets and toast if you want it. £2.50 donation for the club.

Our Opening hours: Monday - 2pm - 5pm Wednesday - 8.45am - 12.00pm, 2pm - 4.30pm, 6pm - 8pm Thursday - 10.00am - 12.00pm, 2pm - 4pm Friday 2.00pm - 5.00pm Saturday 10.00am - 1.00pm

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Morning – 10am to 1pm Including Construction Club for kids

Saturdays club may be the placeissue PRESS RELEASE breakfast for February please 1st Saturday of the Month Coffee for you, offering toast, crumpets or

Film Evenings Parish Hall, Leicester Forest East When: The first Thursday of every month Where: The Parish Hall, Kings Drive, LFE, LE3 3JE.  

On arrival hot drinks and biscuits are available.

As we have no licence, please feel free to bring your own drinks.

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OPEN AGAIN

Mondays Knit and Natter every Monday – 7pm to 9pm Tuesdays Tuesday Teapot Club – 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month – 2pm to 4pm Women’s Well Being Sessions, Taichi & Qigong – 7pm to 8pm – Wednesday Tea and Toast – 8.45am to 10am Coffee & Chat – 10am to Noon Craft Group – 6pm to 8pm Thursday Baby & Toddler Group – 10am to Noon LE3 Ladies Group - 7.30pm to 10pm - Every 3rd Thursday of the month Monthly Meditation Sessions 6pm to 7pm - 1st Thursday of the month starting 3rd February Friday Story & Rhyme - 2.30pm to 3pm Visit our website for further information www.lfelibrary.org or call 0116 233 6273

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Kirby Muxloe Free Church

Article by Tash Kinsey Hello Reader, Have you driven or walked past Kirby Muxloe Free Church and wondered what goes on here?

We are a vibrant and welcoming church serving our village with pride! We are now fully reopen, running two Sunday services.

The morning service begins at 10.30am and our evening service begins at 6pm. Our services are generally about an hour long and suitable for young and old alike.

Communion is usually on the first Sunday of the month for our morning services and on the third Sunday of the month for the evening service. During our morning services, our young people have the opportunity to attend ‘Vision’ which is our Sunday school. During this our young people will take part in arts and craft whilst learning about the word of God. We are keen to welcome anybody from our local community to our warm and welcoming church.

then why not come along to our ‘Tea and Tots’ drop in?! This runs during term time every Monday from 8.30am. Tiny ones are welcome too!

Are you a walker but have no-one to go with or just love walking?

The first Monday of each month our ‘Walking in Good Company’ group meet. The group have been on many expeditions over the years and have visited some lovely places in Leicestershire.

Are you a knitter, a beginner, or would like to learn to knit and would like some company? Every Tuesday at 10am-12pm, we host a ‘Knit and Knatter’ group, all welcome and there’s tea and biscuits too!

Then after an hour’s social time from 3.00 –4.00 there is an hour of singing with the informal ‘A-Choir’s Taste’ from 4.00 until 5.00. You don’t have to attend both groups of course but many are finding that they enjoy both.

Leicestershire dance artists Helen Stirland and Philly Rule provide dance sessions for people with Parkinson’s at Elmesthorpe Village Hall on Fridays from 1.00 until 3.00. No experience is needed and the sessions can be seated or standing. There is no pressure to get anything ‘right’, the key word is enjoyment. It’s not like ‘Strictly’!

TO ENQUIRE, PLEASE CONTACT OUR RECEPTION ON:

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The Free Church is on Main Street, Kirby Muxloe, all would be welcome at any of the events or services mentioned above, we hope to see you soon.

Parkinson’s Group In 2022

Meeting together is so important to share information and experiences, but increasingly there is an awareness that all forms of exercise are useful in delaying the onset of Parkinson’s. Exercise actually includes singing and dancing and both of these feature strongly in the Hinckley Group programme each week.

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If you like Bowls or Board games, then come along to the church on a Friday at 2pm where we host our Bowls and Board games club.

For more information, please visit our website: kirbyfree.org.uk

Once a month [on the second Sunday afternoon at 2.30] those suffering from Parkinson’s and their families or carers meet together at the Mary Forryan Centre, on Leicester Road in Hinckley LE10 1LW. This is essentially a social gathering, often with a speaker for information or entertainment and is a chance for people with this disease to get together to discuss problems, ways of easing difficulties, to plan group visits out or just chat!

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Fancy a brew and a chat, every Thursday we host a ‘Coffee Drop in’ at 10.15am-11.30am, for just 60p you can have unlimited tea and coffee! This is open to all.

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The photograph shows a section of the choir group performing at the Parkinson’s Christmas Social event in December.

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Steve Goodger In addition, don’t forget that every Tuesday there is a weekly exercise class, a monthly afternoon tea at Dobbies at Stapleton, and Nordic walking on Burbage Common. You will be most welcome to attend any or all of these. For details contact the Hinckley & District Parkinson’s Group. Give Janet Kavanagh a ring on 07932615233.

So don’t let Parkinson’s dictate how you live your life, come along and join the Hinckley Group and see the benefits for yourself.

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Ozzy O’shea Borough Councillor

T: 0116 2394336 M: 07808585825 E: ozzyoshea@hotmail.com Local Development Plan.

On the 25th of January, Full Council met and on the agenda was the Local Development Plan ( LDF ) that although delayed for a year by the current Lib Dem Administration seeks to identify land for 9.5k houses between now and 2039.

We both had several meetings on social media with a Planning Policy Officer and the Executive Member for Planning to explain why Ratby was not suitable for further development given that the village had taken 267 dwellings in the last year alone, all off Markfield Rd. After due diligence and extremely hard work by both of us and further work by Ozzy as your County Councillor , Highways and Education at Leicestershire County Council both instructed HBBC that further development in our village would not be sustainable. This comes on the back of a plan by HBBC to allocate 210 more homes up the Burroughs which was put forward

by Cawrey Homes before they sold to Logan Homes.

We are both very pleased to announce that Ratby has been taken out of the Local Plan which means zero allocation.

Whilst we are both extremely happy about this decision which was ratified at Full Council, we cannot stop any further planning applications coming forward but it does mean that it gives us extra weight to push for a refusal based on development in open countryside bearing in mind there is no allocation or need for further development in Ratby.

Having said that, we both felt that we could not support this plan for the whole of the Borough as it has no details for requirement for infrastructure such as Medical Facilities, School Places, Shops, Entertainment, etc.

The following is a press statement sent out by our group regarding the LDF.

Lib Dem Planning Chaos There is no doubting that Hinckley and Bosworth desperately needs an up-to-date local development plan.

Unfortunately, the ‘abbreviated draft local development plan’ put to the Full Council meeting of the Borough Council on January 25th falls far short of the mark.

The Planning department at the Council has been hampered by a range of issues, including the failure to maintain a five year housing land supply, failure to hit housing delivery targets, an unprecedented number of planning appeals and most recently the vast majority of its experienced planning officers leaving the authority within a few weeks of each other.

The Council is facing a looming deadline to adopt a new Local Development Plan and the Conservative Group on the Council would wholeheartedly welcome a sound, robust plan to take the Council to 2039.

We are dismayed that the proposal bulldozed through by the Liberal Democrat administration at Full Council on the 25th is incomplete, full of inaccuracies and contradictions, whilst also facing two potentially insurmountable hurdles.

Firstly Leicestershire County Council has been expressing concerns that, despite having invested a great deal of work into assisting the Borough Council, the plan does not adequately identify the additional infrastructure needs resulting from the proposed development in the plan or how that infrastructure will be funded – that is the new roads, new schools, new doctors and everything else that a community depends on.

Secondly the plan does not make any allowance for the possibility of having to accommodate housing overspill from Leicester

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ChrisBorough Boothby Councillor T: 0116 2912796 M: 07306 390543 E: chris.boothby@hotmail.com

City, which has declared that it has insufficient sites to meet its housing requirements.

Charnwood Borough Council, Harborough District Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Melton Borough Council,

All neighbouring Districts MUST take this into account when preparing their Development Plans.

North West Leicestershire District Council and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.

Councillor Joe Orson, leader of

These omissions are likely to result in Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council, both statutory consultees, objecting to the plan when it goes before the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of state for approval later this year or early in 2023.

Our Communities are already under threat from uncontrolled development due to the lack of an up-to-date plan, the Conservative Group cannot support a rushed imperfect plan doomed to failure, and we urge the Council to complete the necessary discussions and work required with all statutory consultees to deliver a draft Local Development Plan that is FIT FOR PURPOSE! People are encouraged to give their views on what happens to waste and recycling in the county.

Residents urged to have their say on waste and recycling in Leicestershire Leicestershire Waste Partnership is asking residents to help shape its blueprint for future services, known as the Leicestershire Resources and Waste Strategy 2022-2050.

A range of pledges, such as delivering reuse services and encouraging residents to prevent unnecessary waste, are set out in the strategy as is, subject to Government policy and funding, implementing household food waste collections.

Melton Borough Council and spokesperson for Leicestershire Waste Partnership, said: “By sharing your views on this strategy, you will help Leicestershire use its resources more efficiently and become a net zero carbon county by 2050. This is an important consultation which asks residents, businesses and communities to share their views on how we can deliver future waste services, and create a cleaner, greener Leicestershire.”

Leicestershire County Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda, said: “There is an urgent need for us to work towards a circular economy, where we reduce the impacts of climate change and take steps to live more sustainably. Over 40 per cent of all household waste in Leicestershire is currently recycled. These figures include reuse, recycling and composting for both kerbside collections and waste deposited at our recycling and household waste sites.”

The consultation is open until 25th April and can be found at: www.leicestershire.gov.uk/haveyour-say/current-engagement/ leicestershires-resources-andwaste-strategy-2022-2050 For copies in other formats, please email lesswaste@leics.gov.uk Once again, we take this opportunity to thank all of you for

The consultation also seeks views on the future frequency of household waste collections.

your support and remember we are only a phone call away.

Regards

The partnership is made up of Leicestershire County Council, Blaby District Council,

Chris & Ozzy.

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RATBY PRIMARY SCHOOL Supertato To The Rescue!

The Foundation Stage children came in to a disaster this week! Our guinea pigs’ vegetables had been stolen from the fridge and were trapped all around the classrooms – Who could have done this?

Kirby Muxloe Memorial Gates Receives A Funding Boost From War Memorial Trust Grants Scheme Article by Jane Evans

We read the story Supertato and realised that we must have some Evil Peas lurking in our rooms. We have made Wanted posters so that everyone at school will recognise them and will help us to catch them. Over the next few weeks we will help Supertato to rescue more vegetables and we will make traps to catch the peas so that no more vegetables get hurt. We will write news reports to keep everyone informed of what the Evil Peas are up to, and we will make our own Supertatoes to help in the fight!

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Our lunchtime supervisors organised a carnival lunchtime in October to raise funds to purchase play equipment for break time activities. As a result of their efforts and generous contributions from our parents and carers, our pupils have been enjoying football, crafts and dance activities and have been having lots of fun as you can see in the photos below!

March Events Members Will Meet At Rolls-Royce Leisure Article by Graham Burton

Moor Lane Derby on the 8th of March from 12:30 to 2:00pm. The 16th of March members will go on a trip to see Concorde. The coach will leave Rolls-Royce Leisure at 8;30am.

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Kirby Muxloe Memorial Gates will benefit from a grant in 2021-22 of £3,280 from War Memorials Trust Scheme supported by voluntary donations.

Kirby Muxloe War Memorial includes a memorial set in the surrounding gardens and the distinctive double columns and gates. It was dedicated in 1923 to those of the village who gave their lives in the First World War and has since been updated to include those who died in the Second World War, the Korean War and Iraq. Sadly, the stonework has deteriorated over the years and now requires skilled attention.

The War Memorial is a valued and distinctive feature in the village and any work must maintain its dignity and quality.

The Parish Council, as Trustee of the Recreation Ground Charity (521441), first set out to establish that it was responsible for maintaining the Memorial. It is now clear that maintenance of the War Memorial is the responsibility of the Parish Council, as Trustee of the Recreation Ground Charity (521441), with expenditure being incurred by the Parish Council, due to lack of Recreation Ground Charity funds. With that established, the War Memorial was surveyed for the extent of work required.

Examined up close, there is significant work to be done. The edges of the top cornice of the left-hand column of the War Memorial have corroded, as shown in the picture. The front of the columns are discoloured and need cleaning. Much of the black filling of the inscribed names and lettering on the columns has been removed over time. Pointing between the stone blocks has deteriorated. The black paint on the gates is generally intact but needs attention soon. Adjoining

bushes need to be sensitively cut back.

Three quotations have been obtained from specialist companies for the required works, which will cost around £9,000.

The Parish Council has pursued a grant towards this work and a substantial amount has been obtained.

The stonework will be cleaned, repointed and where required, replaced. The inscribed names and lettering on the columns will be infilled with a black material, as originally. The gates will be repainted black and the memorial inscription above will be painted with a copper resin, which closely resembles gilding, but will last much longer and can be done on site.

When the work is complete, we envisage a service of rededication. There is one resident in the village, whose father took part in the original dedication of the War Memorial in memory of his father, who died in the First World War. We hope that they will take part in that re-dedication.

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The Kirby Muxloe Local History Group Article by Judith Upton

The Kirby Muxloe Local History Group generally meets 6 times a year, and membership is open to all.

Details of the dates of meetings, together with the topics that will be covered, are shown on the notice board in Kirby Muxloe Library and on our website, which is www.kirbymuxloelocalhistorygroup.org Covid precautions will apply. For further details, please see our website.

Our new “Memories” meetings unfortunately remain suspended, pending our assessment of the effectiveness of our new anti-virus procedures.

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday 15th March at 7:30. A speaker from Swannington Heritage Trust will talk about “Leicestershire Industrialists and their Non-Industrial Legacy. Covid precautions will still apply, masks are mandatory unless exempt.

The Wilshere family of Kirby Muxloe.

On January 1st, 1893, the Wilshere family moved from Sileby to Kirby Muxloe, travelling through a fierce snowstorm in order to reach their new home. They had only lived in Sileby for around 10 years, having previously inhabited a house on St James’ Road Leicester. Herbert William Wilshere was a stockbroker by trade and perhaps the easy connection to Leicester via the fairly new railway network in our village was very appealing. The Wilshere’s purchased the Georgian house, named at the time “Kirby Fields”.

As the area itself was becoming to be known as Kirby Fields, they decided to rename the house “The Old House”. It was the oldest house in the area. We are told by a late member of the family that everyone spoke of the house in revered words, it was “heaven on earth” to them. Mrs Maud Wilshere was known to employ many of the women and girls in the village; she was very hospitable and it is said that the house had a very happy atmosphere and seemed to have some sort of spell.

The Wilshere family comprised Herbert and Maud and their six children.

They were Marjory, Gladys, Owen, Roger, Olive and Ernest Edward, always known as “Teddy”. Gladys passed away at the age of 12, following a bout of rheumatic fever. We have been told that she was taken for a final trip round the drive in the family brougham, just before she died. “Teddy” was so desperate to go to fight for his country that he tried many times to enlist whilst still underage. Eventually, he became a Lance Corporal in the London Regiment. Sadly, he was taken prisoner in France during WWI and died from malnutrition. He was only 19 at the time of his death and is buried in Tincourt British Cemetery in Peronne, France. Marjory and Olive lived out their lives in Kirby Muxloe, never marrying but taking a great interest in the village and the surrounding area. They eventually built a house on the unadopted part of Gullet Lane and named it “Guillet Close”, which is thought to be the name of the original field. In later years the house would be renamed as “Woodlands”. At the time, there were only three houses on the lane until reaching the Homestead, right at the top near to the Farm.

The road was full of potholes. Marjory was well known in the village as a Sunday School teacher. Olive trained as a nurse at Kettering Hospital. She was trained before State Registration came into place and upon completion nurses were given a special badge. When Olive died the family decided to return the badge to Kettering Hospital. The badge and Olive’s story were then published in the Kettering Hospital magazine. Both Marjory and Olive were involved in the Boy Scouts but were never actual Scout mistresses.

In November 1940, when the village was bombed, it has been said that on realising that a bomb had fallen very near to the house, Olive put a saucepan on her head for protection and marched down into the village to give whatever help or assistance that was needed.

In 1911, Owen and his brother Teddy formed the first Scout Troup in the village, aptly named the “15th Leicester (Kirby Muxloe) Scouts”. During WWI, Owen was commissioned into the 12th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment and was later attached to the West Indies Regiment and the Italian Expeditionary Force. H. Owen Wilshere became a senior partner of Wilshire Baldwin and Co., stockbrokers. He was a life long member of the Free Church and served as Treasurer from 1932 to 1955. After WWII, Owen was very involved in work for the War Graves Commission and also assisted with the negotiations with the Ministry of Works, regarding rebuilding damaged and demolished property in the village. One of his offspring remembered that at the time he used to arrive home from work, ate a quick meal and then was straight out again to attend meetings in the village. In 1950, he was awarded the M.B.E. for his work as Secretary of the Local Savings Committee.

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The Wilshere Family outside the Old House on Kirby Fields.

In 1925, Owen married Margaret (Margo) Elsie Hughes, the daughter of A. Bradley Hughes and his wife, who lived at “Highfield”, Kirby Fields. At this time, several of the children whose parents resided in Kirby Fields married each other. After a long honeymoon on the continent arranged by Thomas Cook, Owen and Margo (Margaret) set up house at “Greenways”, Gullet Lane. The house was designed by Ralph Beddingfield and set in around one acre of land. By 1931, Herbert Wilshere had died, followed in 1933 by his wife Maud. The Old House was then sold to the Green family. As the late Jonathan Wilshere stated in one of his articles - “The Wilshere’s sold to Leslie Lovell Green in 1935 and the extraordinary occurrence of a staunch nonconformist family buying from and selling to a Catholic family was created”.

Owen and Margo lived out the rest of their lives at Greenways and produced several children: Herbert David (known as David), Elsie Rosamond (known as Rom to her relatives) and Jonathan Edward Owen. David became a dentist, Rosamond a physiotherapist and Jonathan a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Insurers. He, of course, was also a well-known local historian and owner of Chamberlain’s music shop on London Road.

Next time the story continues

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