Sheffield Festival of the Outdoors returns for 2022
In March, Sheffield will celebrate the Festival of the Outdoors throughout the city.
Events include the International Climbing Festival, the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival and the Howard Street Duel, a mountain bike race in the city centre.
There are events for everyone, from beginners to experienced adventurers, and those who don't fancy getting active, such as art exhibitions and craft events.
Mark Mobbs, marketing director for Sheffield Council's Outdoor City campaign, said: "This is a really great showcase of what Sheffield's all about.
"We’re the spiritual home of climbing, we’ve got some of the best mountain biking and then there’s incredible access to walking and running. It’s amazing but all of it’s intertwined with the culture of a big city and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the festival."
Festival goers can go straight from kayaking in the River Don to Pollen Flower Market, or from night orienteering in Kelham Island to enjoying True North's Peaky Climbers, a beer brewed specially for the festival.
Not only this, but the diverse range of events encourage everyone to get involved, Mr Mobbs said: "‘It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your background is, there’s something for you to get involved in."
The festival's events are accessible to all, with groups like Cycling 4 All taking part. The organisation is providing a chance for people with disabilities to try adapted trikes at the festival. Tom Collister, the organisation's co-ordinator, said: "We want everyone to experience the feeling of the wind in their hair."
Although the Festival of the Outdoors benefits locals, it has placed Sheffield on the map as a world renowned outdoor city. The city will host international events like the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival and the International Climbing Festival.
Co-organiser of ShAFF, Anna Paxton said: "It’s a way of connecting adventurers around the world and in Sheffield itself."
Ms Paxton hopes we can regain the momentum and enthusiasm for the outdoor city lost due to the pandemic. She said: "I hope we can get that energy and excitement back."
To see the full programme of events, visit the Sheffield Festival of the Outdoors website here: https://www.theoutdoorcity.co.uk/festival-of-the-outdoors
Doncaster Knights secure crucial away victory over Ealing Trailfinders
Doncaster Knights retained their position at the top of the RFU Championship table with an impressive 25-17 win away from home against Ealing Trailfinders. Fly-half Billy McBryde scored a decisive try for the Knights in the 75th minute to deny hosts Ealing a losing bonus point. It was a hard-fought victory for the Donny men, with third-placed Ealing providing a stern test for the league leaders. The Knights opened the scoring with a try from Maliq Holden in the 13th minute, collecting well from a clever chip-kick from Sam Olver. After Ealing had hit back through a try from David Johnston on 25 minutes, the visitors ensured they went in at the half-time break ahead as winger Maliq Holden finished his second try of the day. With each side reduced to 14 men as Raymond Sid and Kyle Evans were sent to the sin bin for Ealing and Doncaster respectively, the home side were able to score the first points of the second period as Luke Daniels touched down for a try. Raymond Sid again reduced the Knights’ lead with a try, the visitors had their work cut out to deny Ealing a losing bonus point. Their pursuit of this goal ultimately proved successful, however, as Billy McBryde ran almost the length of the field to score the match’s pivotal try after intercepting an Ealing pass in his own half with just five minutes of action remaining. Doncaster Knights will resume their RFU Championship campaign at home to Cornish Pirates on Saturday 12th March at Castle Park.
“It’s exactly what we need and what we are fighting for” – Barnsley 3 – 2 Middlesbrough
Barnsley continued their impressive recent form after holding on to a 3-2 home win over play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough. The Tykes made it three wins from four to put themselves within sight of safety, six points behind fellow strugglers Reading with a game in hand over the Berkshire side. The home side raced into a three-goal lead just after half-time thanks to Mads Juel Andersen and a brace from Metz loanee Amine Bassi. Middlesbrough replied through Andraž Šporar and a late own goal deep into stoppage time from Liam Kitching, but fall to eighth, two points behind Luton in sixth. Barnsley raced into an early lead after Andersen thumped home a header from a teasing Bassi cross. Provider soon turned goalscorer ten minutes later, as Carlton Morris laid the ball to Bassi just inside the box and he slotted in with a cool left-footed finish. Boro attempted to hit back quickly but Isaiah Jones volleyed over before second-half substitute Folarin Balogun struck the bar as Chris Wilder's side turned up the pressure. However it was Bassi, dubbed the 'Moroccan Messi' by the Oakwell faithful, who lived up to his moniker to add a third, holding off an attempt from Anfernee Dijksteel to wrestle him to the ground and squirm a finish under the despairing Joe Lumley. The away side reduced the deficit to two on the hour mark after Jones teased a foul from Rema Vita inside the box, resulting in a penalty which the Slovenian Šporar easily dispatched. Wilder's men began to dominate, with Balogun hitting the woodwork again with a curling left foot effort, before the pressure finally told and Liam Kitching was forced to divert a dangerous low ball from Dijksteel into his own net. It proved to be too little too late for the visitors, as Oakwell erupted into celebration of a huge win. Tykes boss Poya Asbaghi was delighted with his team's performance and character against a high-flying opponent. "We'd talked about going out aggressive and really trying to take control of the game and I think we accomplished that," Asbaghi said.
"It was well deserved going into half-time with that lead and we wanted to go out in the second half and try to chase the third goal, which we did.
“Overall, during 90 minutes, it’s a really good performance – first half is brilliant, and it’s an impressive performance from the lads to earn us three points.”
Mads Andersen echoed the sentiments of his manager, with the Dane citing the win as a huge confidence boost before the remaining games.
“I am very happy,” asserted Andersen. “It’s exactly what we need and what we are fighting for, so I’m confident in the next games coming up. “It will give us big confidence, especially in scoring goals, which is important to win football games. I’m a little unhappy with conceding two goals, but we’ll take the win.” Barnsley travel to Derby on Saturday, in a season defining game, while Boro welcome Tottenham on Tuesday in the FA Cup 5th round.
Doncaster sex offender avoids prison sentence
A Doncaster man escaped a jail term at Sheffield Crown Court today after admitting to sending explicit messages to online profiles of girls he believed to be 12 and 13-years-old. In April 2020, Cael Jones, 28, of Hall Gate, Doncaster, was caught by undercover police using fake profiles on Kik - an online messaging service - to catch sex offenders. After receiving a message from one of the accounts telling him she was a 12-year-old girl, Jones sent an explicit photograph and then explicit messages to the account, which included graphic sexual details. Another account used by police posing as a 13-year-old girl received further explicit messages from Jones. In June 2020, police officers exercised a search warrant and arrested Jones, who gave them a full account of his actions. Jones pleaded guilty on two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and one count of attempting to engage a female child in sexual activity excluding penetration at Doncaster Magistrates' Court before today's sentencing. Representing himself in Sheffield Crown Court, Jones said: "I was not aware of what I was doing and I know what I did was wrong." He also denied getting any sexual gratification from the messages. His Honour Judge Slater told Jones he would avoid a prison sentence due to his remorse and the fact he was "ready, willing, and able" to work with probation officers. Instead, the Judge handed down a community order of three years, including a rehabilitation programme for up to 65 days. Jones was also banned from ever working with children, and his computers will be regulated for the next five years. Judge Slater told Jones if he breached the conditions of the order, he would be called back to Crown Court and face jail.
“People are worried their children will get hurt” – campaign to clean up Mount Pleasant Park from drug users
Drug needles have been found in Mount Pleasant Park, sparking concerns for children’s safety and prompting a Labour council candidate to launch a petition. Nighat Basharat started her petition to the council after local residents got in touch with her to voice their frustrations about persistent fly-tipping and drug use at the park on Abbeydale Road. She said: “It’s the fear. Residents told me when they go out and see groups of youngsters standing on the corner near the bushes they just walk away. The only reason they could have been there was for using drugs. “They told me people don’t feel comfortable using the park anymore because they feel intimidated and are worried that their children will get hurt." Used drug needles and paraphernalia have been found on pathways in the wooded areas of the park, some with blood on them. Local resident Shaheryar Chishty said: “It discourages people from bringing their families here, they don’t feel safe or comfortable.” “It’s not right that we can’t take our kids to play here without the fear that if we take our eyes off them for a second they could get hurt by these things.”
Used Needles found at the park
Mount Pleasant Park
“Hearts are breaking”: Sheffield Council stand with twinned Ukrainian city Donetsk
Three Sheffield councillors have praised the "friendship" between Sheffield and Donetsk in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Coun Terry Fox, Coun Shaffaq Mohammed and Coun Douglas Johnson released their statement on the 25 February, and said their "hearts are breaking" for people in the country. They criticised Russian leader Vladimir Putin's decision to attack Ukraine. Shaffaq Mohammed, councillor for Ecclesall and leader of the Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said: “There is a historic link that goes back many years. Our city councillors have been there. It’s basically a friendship. We exchange visits and we exchange cultures.”
Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed
Sheffield Park, Donetsk
Councillor Douglas Johnson
New Barnsley budget means tax increase for all
The 2022-2023 budget for Barnsley Council was approved last week, resulting in a 3.5% council tax increase. The main increase in spending is for adult social care, which is responsible for 2% of the tax rise. The remaining 1.5% is for core services, such as road maintenance and bin collections. The rise will mean residents of a property in Band H will be paying over £700 more than they would have in 2018. Councillor Steve Houghton, Leader of Barnsley Council, said: “I hope people will understand the challenges that we face as a council, but by making significant investment in services and in local communities then we can see that people are getting real value for money”. The net budget for day-to-day running of Barnsley is £211mil. And there is a further capital revenue budget of £56.2mil for investments. A major part of the budget is the immediate £10mil being invested in principal towns and village centres surrounding Barnsley, as part of the £30mil kickstart scheme. This means these areas will hopefully see the same improvements that have been seen in the town centre, according to Counc Houghton. Although an extra £2mil has been set aside for highway repairs, there has been a public response claiming this may not be enough.
Despite the backlash Counc Houghton said: “This year's budget is an investment budget. We’ve kept away from losing large numbers of jobs and having to cut services, hopefully those days are behind us. “Now we’re into making Barnsley better, and even better than it’s been in previous years.” You can see the full budget report here.Checked the budget. They are spending £5m on council properties and £2m on a “Youth Zone” (whatever that is). So don’t hold your breath for the highways money to be spent!
— Richard Armitage (@rjarmitage) February 24, 2022
Popular Sheffield piercing parlour set to donate entire day of profits to help fund three-year-old’s lifesaving cancer treatment
A popular Sheffield piercing parlour will be holding a fundraising day this weekend to help 3-year-old Jude Mellon-Jameson start potentially lifesaving cancer treatment in America.
The Owl and The Pussycat will be offering piercings on a walk-in basis from 10am to 7pm on Saturday the 5th of March, with 100% of profits from piercing sales set to be donated.
The studio's aim is to hygienically and safely pierce as many people as possible and a raffle and competition will also be taking place on the day.
Customers will be able to get any kind of piercing with the exception of oral and complex piercings that may take extra time to do.
Studio owner Lisa Lazenby, 37, said: "I'm a mum and as a mother you see your children and put yourself in that situation and just the thought of him not getting the chance to get treatment because they don’t have the funding, it devastated me. I cried for 2 days straight and I was saying to everyone I could, please donate, please do something."
As a business owner, she continued: "We just really wanted to help. I'm in a position where I have a business that can make a little bit of money for them and if everyone does their bit, they’re gonna hit that target, which would be amazing."
The news of the fundraising day comes just after Jude's family launched their new fundraising campaign with the charity Solving Kids Cancer.
The new campaign will allow them to claim gift aid where applicable and provide them with extra support from other parents whose children have fought Neuroblastoma.
So far, the family have raised £43,627 and aim to get to £350,000 to get Jude the treatment he needs.
Jude's mum, Lucy Mellon-Jameson said of the piercing fundraising day: "For someone to donate all of the money for a whole day of work, it just feels amazing. I was really overwhelmed to be honest and with each step that I've seen more things added to it with the raffle and the competition, it just feels even more special."
"Thank you just isn't enough, we could say it a thousand times and it just would not be enough and we are just so touched by it because Jude is our son, and for this to be done for just one individual child, and for people to get on board with that I just find it really special."
"And just how much people are willing to do- people are out there doing sponsored runs and and businesses are coming to us with the ideas we would just never think of but its there area of expertise. With The Owl and The Pussycat I just would never have thought of that, it has really touched us."
Having been a customer in the past, Miss Mellon-Jameson added: "I remember going in November 2019 when they had their apprentice Bryony learning to do piercings. I went and had my ear pierced and I've constantly followed them on social media. What's made it even more overwhelming is it's not as if I've given thousands of pounds to this business, it's just the kindness of them wanting to help us."
Apprentice Bryony (Left) Studio Owner Lisa (Right)
Northern Farmer Prize went to a local dairy in Sheffield
The 2022 Northern Farmers Award winners are Ed Andrew and family members of the Our Cow Molly brand, who supply the cafes in the University of Sheffield with milk to make coffee, and have set up its milk processing plant which is opening to tourists.
Sponsored by Mole Country Stores, the Northern Farmer Awards, supported by industry experts, the event provides local farmers, suppliers, breeders and all those involved in the industry with recognition for the work they do throughout the year.
Our Cow Molly has been working for many years to protect the environment, produce high-quality dairy products, welcome visitors and support local industry.
Our Cow Molly produces and supplies milk, cream and other dairy products of the day to several cafes and restaurants in Sheffield, as well as a COOP supermarket.
Mr Andrew has used reusable glass bottles to provide residents with daily fresh milk for ten years, which is better for the environment after 13 cycles.
Milk in glass bottles
Vending machine in the farm
Disadvantaged Sheffield children hit hardest by new student loan rules
New government rules for student loans have been labelled as an “attack on students from low socio-economic backgrounds” and with disabilities. The plans say that people who don't have English and Maths GCSEs at grade 4, or two A-levels at grade E, won’t be able to take out a student loan. According to the Department for Education, there will be a consultation on these proposals that came in response to the Augar Review of over-18s education. However, there are concerns about how this will affect people from working class backgrounds and those with disabilities and learning disorders trying to go to university. In Sheffield, 60% of students achieved a grade 4 or above, according to the latest data. This means just under half of the children in the city wouldn’t have qualified for a student loan in 2019 if these rules had been in place. It is also much less likely for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to pass their English and Maths GCSE’s, as their parents cannot pay for extra tutoring.
Alexandra Lacey is a psychology student and qualified therapist
“This is an absolute attack on students from low socio-economic backgrounds because it’s not stopping people from going to university full stop. It's stopping the access to student loans. If your family can afford to send you to university, pay for your accommodation, pay for your tuition, then this isn't going to change anything for you.
“This just stops children who are maybe like me, who are dyslexic, maybe on the autistic spectrum, who may have dyscalculia and may struggle in math. It's going to completely affect working class families who can't provide the difference in the cost. They rely on student loans to make university as it should be - accessible.”
He described it as a “war on the arts” for students who want to study music or art and don't necessarily need a math or English GCSE.
However, he did say his university is quite diverse. But he thinks this is because it's a Northern university.
“I think it's just trying to price people out of university.”
Soon after these plans came out, the government also announced potentially reducing the minimum wage bracket for repaying student loans from £27,000 to £25,000, with the repayment period being increased from 30 years to 40 years.
This means some students will still be repaying their loans when they're starting to think about retiring, bringing more criticism on the government for being biased against low-income families.
Memorial appeal launched for “last of a great line” of Sheffield ‘Little Mesters’
An appeal for a permanent memorial to Sheffield's "most famous blade maker" was launched last night at a memorial service in Sheffield Cathedral. Stan Shaw, 94, died in February last year after an eight decade career as a master cutler, making world-class knives for royalty, celebrities and even presidents.
Stan Shaw, last of Sheffield's Little Mesters
Preliminary design of the plaque to Stan Shaw
Mr Shaw's family, Georgia Lees (far left), Jane Lees (3rd from the right)
Mr Shaw was awarded a BEM in 1983
In 2016, Mr Shaw was also awarded the British Empire Medal, but despite his fame, his family and friends describe him as a "down to earth", "humble", "family man".
His daughter, Janes Lees, said: "He was so humble and devoted to making his knives. It was his passion and he was one of a kind and I don't think he'll ever be replaced."
If you would like to find out more about life as a Little Mester, take a look at this video of Mr Shaw explaining his craft.
To support the appeal please visit the Just Giving page here.
Sheffield Wednesday fans divided over ‘harsh’ list of offences which will see fans banned for antisocial behaviour
A new joint initiative from the EFL and Sheffield Wednesday setting out punishable behaviour to supporters at Hillsborough, and away from home, has drawn a mixed reaction among supporters. Following a worrying report from the UK Football Policing Unit, the Owls have called out a ‘minority’ of fans that are bringing the club’s name ‘into disrepute’. The League One side issued a statement on Friday evening, ahead of the home clash against Charlton Athletic, including a written warning of offences and subsequent potential bans for each.
Offences and possible bans - swfc.co.uk
While the statement has incurred sneering from fans of many clubs, there are those within Sheffield Wednesday who welcome some of the measures as necessary.
Peter Løhmann, Sheffield Wednesday fan and co-host of the ‘Owls About Stat’ fan podcast, supports the proposals introduced as a whole and hopes it is the first step in banning those who are openly homophobic and racist at games.
"My interest is in the red box, that’s the key one for me," he told Sheffield Wire.
"It’s no secret that I majorly disagree with the decision the club and Darren Moore took as manager to not take the knee this season.
"When the other team takes the knee, there are significant booing sounds, from hundreds, even thousands doing it.
"Almost every other club in the division has continued to do so, and this decision has emboldened the racists and fans who shouldn’t be a part of our community."
Mr Løhmann says that he no longer feels safe bringing his 9-year-old to away matches, in fear of violence or discriminatory behaviour.
"I’ve seen hundreds of people say they’ve stopped going to away games because they don’t feel safe anymore," he continued.
"I don’t think it stops the idiots being idiots, but it stops the idiots being idiots inside Hillsborough if we want to."
Sheffield Wednesday concluded the statement, stating: "The Owls are proud to report sell-out followings at almost every stadium we visit, alas the behaviour of a minority could lead to reduced allocations for the majority.
Without fans, football is nothing. But fans who bring Sheffield Wednesday and our good name into disrepute are simply not welcome at Hillsborough or beyond."
The Owls continued their recent on-field success on Saturday, comfortably defeating Charlton 2-0 to climb into the play-off places.