Category: Bedford

Connect with nature, learn new skills and celebrate our environment at a series of amazing free events as part of Big Green Week at The Higgins Bedford. 
Great Big Green Week is the UK’s biggest celebration of action on climate change and nature, bringing together communities across the country to take part in practical, positive action. 
And on Saturday 13 June at The Higgins Bedford, visitors can enjoy learning new skills like whittling or wood carving, relax and unwind during Liz Burfield’s forest bathing and mindful doodling session, or explore nature on the smartphone discovery walk.
There will be fun for younger audiences too. Nature’s Playground will be running snail-themed crafts, dressing-up, stories and sensory play for children aged three to eight. And there will be information stands from community groups Country Days, seed planting with Zesti Foundation and more. 
Bedfordshire Natural History Society (BNHS) will be there with a nature table and volunteers that can help visitors find out more about the huge variety of wildlife to be found across the county and how we can all work to support nature conservation locally. 
Volunteers from The Higgins will be running a plant stall with a beautiful array of indoor and outdoor plants for sale. All proceeds from the plant stall help support and develop the gardens around The Higgins Bedford. 
All events are funded through ACE (Arts Council England) as part of The Higgins Bedford’s project. 
There are many more Green Week events happening around the Borough, including events at John Bunyan Museum, Bedfordshire Libraries and Panacea Museum. Explore the full listings of events at www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk or www.greatbiggreenweek.com 
 
Event Listing
The Higgins Bedford – Saturday 13 June 11am-4pm
Whittling Taster Session – 11am-12.30, 1-2.30pm and 3-4pm
Booking Essential Suitable for adults and supervised children aged 10-plus.
Higgins Plant Stall 11am-4pm
Suitable for all.
Country Days Nature Table 11am-4pm
Suitable for all.
Zesti Foundation Seed Planting 11am-4pm
Suitable for all.
BNHS (Bedford Natural History Society) Nature Table 11am-4pm
Suitable for all.
Nature’s Playground 2-4pm
Drop-in. Suitable for children aged three to eight.
Smartphone Discovery Walk 2-3.30pm
Booking Essential. Suitable for adults and supervised children aged 10-plus.
Canopy & Craft Taster Session 3- 4.30pm
Booking Essential. Suitable for adults. 
 
www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk for more information
 
Events at John Bunyan Museum
Saturday 13 June 10am-2pm
Seed Swap
Book Swap
Children’s Craft Activities
www.bunyanmeeting.co.uk for more information
 
Events at Panacea Museum
Saturday 6 June 
Charity Plant Stall 11am-4.30pm
Sustainability Information Table 11am -4.30pm
 
Saturday 13 June
Craft Stash Swap 11.30am- 3.30pm 
Charity Plant Stall 11am- 4.30pm
 
Events at Bedfordshire Libraries
From 6-14 June take part in nature-themed treasure hunts at all libraries. 
Enjoy nature themed Rhymetime sessions throughout the week.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women return to T20 action tomorrow as they face Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire Women at Desborough Town CC.

In the previous round, the Steelbacks cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Herefordshire Women at the cinch County Ground as Amelia Kemp struck an unbeaten half century.

Tier 3 Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire will go into the game as underdogs but the competition has already shown that any result is possible. They beat Lincolnshire Women by four runs in a thriller at Dunstable Town CC.

Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire posted 130/7 from their 20 overs and they held their nerve in the field to secure their spot in the next round.

For the Steelbacks Gemma Marriott is back on captain duties, while Emma Gibbs will take the gloves from Chloe Hill. Seamer Liz Russell returns to the fold after missing the Steelbacks One Day Cup defeat to Sussex last week.

Play starts at 2pm at Desborough Town CC on Sunday and entry is free to all spectators. A limited livestream will also be available on the Steelbacks TV YouTube channel.

Steelbacks squad to face Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire:

Gemma Marriott (c), Beth Ascott, Ava Clive, May Drinkell, Emma Gibbs (wk), Chloe Hill, Amelia Kemp, Anisha Patel, Elina Patel, Ella Philips, Liz Russell, Lenny Sims

Olly Murs has completed the penultimate day of his “brutal” endurance challenge to raise money for charity.The singer-songwriter and TV personality is running, cycling and rowing 249 miles (400km) between Manchester and London to raise money for children’s charity Unicef.On Thursday, which was Murs’ 42nd birthday, he travelled from Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, to St Albans, Hertfordshire.The presenter, from Witham in Essex, said: “It’s been brutal today. My quad is so sore… I can’t believe this is how I’m celebrating my 42nd birthday – something I’ll never forget!”

Cranfield said it had briefed the University and Colleges Union (UCU) on the merger.A spokesperson for UCU said: “Staff and students from both institutions will rightly be concerned about future provision, and the universities now need to provide guarantees that no jobs or courses will be cut.”The BBC also spoke to Frances Miles, regional organiser with union UNISON, shortly after the merger was announced.She said staff were “worried” about what it would mean for them.”Generally, there are risks in any merger that staffing will be cut to save money, and we need reassurance that this isn’t a smokescreen for more cuts and that the jobs are secure,” she added.However, Holford said that staff and unions did not need to be alarmed.”We don’t anticipate job losses – the merger is not predicated on job losses, so people should feel secure in that,” she said.Holford pointed out that the university had previously made a series of staffing cuts.She added: “Cranfield has already been through an exercise where we focused on our core strengths. We cut some courses, and we did have to have some job losses along with that.”We’re hoping to recruit more people, and actually, the five-year plan is for growth in the number of people, not for shrinkage.”

The move follows the merger of the universities of Kent and Greenwich in 2025.As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield will benefit from the interdisciplinary breadth and scale of King’s. King’s, in turn, will be strengthened by Cranfield’s world-renowned expertise in technology, engineering and management, alongside its deep and long-standing partnerships with industry and government. Prof Dame Karen Holford, chief executive and vice-chancellor at Cranfield University, said the merger would “create a global university” delivering excellence with “purpose, drive and scale”.She added that they would continue their mission to tackle real-world issues with “Cranfield University’s outstanding applied research… and long-standing industry links to King’s”.Lord Patrick Vallance, science minister, said the merger “creates an extraordinarily powerful university”.”It holds huge potential for the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor” and gives “King’s a place at the heart of one of our most important regions for science and technology”, he said.

A man has told councillors to a spend a day in a wheelchair so they can understand what it is like for his disabled mother to navigate potholes.Frazer Merritt, 44, said he was left “shocked” when he returned to Cambridge after five years to reportedly see the same potholes that were present before he had left.His 82-year-old mother, Chris Merritt, meanwhile, added that the state of the roads and pavements made it difficult for her to get around and her complaints go unanswered.Cambridgeshire County Council said that safe travel was a “key priority” and it was spending more than £78m on “delivering highways maintenance”.

Another neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, was woken up at 05:30 by the sound of a fire engine.Throughout the morning, she said, the police presence had grown and she had been told to stay inside.”This person was shouting out the window, and it turns out, allegedly, he was going to blow something up with gas or whatever,” she said.”Eventually they went to the house. They had them big metal heavy things and stormed the door and next thing you hear they’re in the house and… shot, shot, shot.”She said she had been left “very upset” by the death of her neighbour, who she said had “mental health issues”. “It was just tragic. It’s just terrible to see,” she said.The man’s identity has not yet been formally confirmed.

A man has been shot dead by armed police after “barricading himself” inside a house on a leafy British street.The man in his 40s barricaded himself in the property whilst making threats with a weapon during an 11-hour stand-off with the police. Officers were called to Aylesbury Road in Bedford shortly after 10.40pm on Monday following reports of vehicles being damaged in the area.When police arrived, they found the man had locked himself inside a nearby property and was making threats.Specialist firearms officers, negotiators and other emergency services were all drafted in as the stand-off stretched through the night and into the following morning, The Sun reports. Bedfordshire Police said sustained attempts were made over a number of hours to engage with the man and bring the incident to a safe resolution, but the situation could not be resolved peacefully.Shortly after 9.30am today, the man presented a weapon and armed officers opened fire.Officers and medical professionals immediately provided advanced first aid at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead shortly before 10.30am.Aylesbury Road in Bedford where the fatal stand-off took place | GOOGLE STREET VIEWHis next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.As well as Bedfordshire Police, crews from East of England Ambulance Service attended, including two critical care teams from Magpas Air Ambulance, alongside Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.Nearby homes were evacuated during the incident, although residents have since been allowed to return and police confirmed there is no wider risk to the public.A neighbour of the man who died, Mark Swales, said his friend had been struggling with the loss of his father and ongoing disputes over parking in the street, according to the BBC. One person took to social media to say they have ‘not seen this many police in one place in Bedford’ | GETTYMr Swales said he called 101 before the incident to alert police that his neighbour needed help.He also said during the standoff he heard the man shout that he had turned the gas on and was threatening to blow the house up before police disconnected the supply.Shocked locals took to social media to describe the scenes unfolding on what is normally a quiet residential street.One resident commented on a local community Facebook post: “A number of shots were fired during the actual capture and shouts for ambulance were almost immediate. “Whatever the official line will be it was a terrible event and probably a very sad one too.”Another wrote: “I could not believe what I was seeing outside my front door at 7.20am.”In line with standard procedure following a police shooting, Bedfordshire Police made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which has since launched an investigation into the circumstances of the death.A cordon remains in place at the scene while inquiries continue.

Congratulations to Kristie Robinson, Play Specialist on Riverbank Ward, who has received a ROSE Award!
“I met Kristie for the first time in Critical Care, where she attended to support a husband who had two young children, whose wife was dying. Kristie was kind, supportive and extremely sensitive to the needs of the family, and instantly developed a great rapport with them in such a difficult situation. She went above and beyond for the family, and the following day supported the Dad in letting the children know their Mum was dying. I have no doubt that the opportunity for them to create memory boxes, write letters to their Mum and share any worries will have a positive impact on their bereavement. Kristie is a shining example of a committed, dedicated and compassionate Play Specialist.”