Category: Leicester

The county council said money from the authority and Section 106 developer contributions would be used to fund the school in Garendon Park, which it added would be the first of two primary schools in the 3,200-home housing development.It said Broadnook Primary School would be built using Section 106 developer contributions from Davidsons and Cora Homes to serve the housing development, which is currently being built.Councillor Charles Pugsley, cabinet member for children and families, said: “Our school organisation team worked brilliantly to ensure that we have the right number of school places on both developments to help our growing county.”It’s great that we’ve reached the stage now where we’re inviting academy trusts to express their interest in running these future schools, and I’m confident that we’ll see lots of interest and a competitive process, so children get the best possible education.”The council added it would invite academies to apply to run the proposed SEND school in Husbands Bosworth.It said it was carrying out engagement with residents with a view to submitting a planning application to Harborough District Council.

A man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a student near a university campus in Leicester. Harper Dennis, 18, appeared at Leicester Crown Court charged with killing De Montfort University (DMU) student Khaleed Oladipo on 3 February.Oladipo died in hospital after being found in Oxford Street having suffered stab wounds.On Monday, Dennis, of Bath Lane in Leicester, pleaded not guilty to murder, possession of an offensive weapon and failing to comply with a Section 49 notice – specifically failing to disclose his code for his phone.

Last year, the council appealed to businesses and residents for ideas about how to make more money from the venue and received nearly 900 responses.A report to be discussed by councillors on Wednesday sets out some of the suggestions.They included using the building for murder mystery nights, as well as using the grounds for outdoor cinema showings, music festivals and comedy events.The council was urged to consider using the hall to run “Victorian balls”, based on television shows such as Downton Abbey and Bridgerton, and historical events themed around Beaumanor’s part in code-breaking operations during World War Two.It was also proposed that the hall could offer overnight accommodation for wedding guests.Alternatively, there were suggestions the property should be given to the National Trust or English Heritage to run, or sold to a hotel operator.

The total size of the site is 8.75 hectares adjoining the eastern edge of the small village – the equivalent of more than 12 full-size football pitches.Plans say the area comprises one narrow farm field to the north and a much larger field to the south.In objection to the plans, Narborough Parish Council said there was a “lack of local facilities” and the distance to access facilities in Narborough was “not, as suggested, an easy walk and will generate more short car trips”.The parish council set out six further areas of concern, including fears of an increase in traffic which, it said, should be assessed with the cumulative impacts of other proposed and approved developments, “given that Leicestershire County Council have already acknowledged that congestion at the level crossing will in the next few years become critical and tail back on to the B4114 at peak times”.

An investigation is underway following the discovery of a woman’s body.Emergency services were called to Congleton on Friday morning, June 5, after a woman’s body was found at an address on Elmwood Drive.Cheshire Police remain in attendance as of 4pm and say that the death is currently being treated as ‘unexplained’.A spokesperson for the force said: “At 9.41am on June 5 police attended an address on Elmwood Drive in Congleton and discovered the body of a woman.”Enquiries are in their early stages, and the death is currently being treated as unexplained.”An investigation is underway to establish the circumstances.”

Saturday 6 June is expected to be unsettled, with rain likely early on and further showers possible through much of the day.Temperatures will reach around 17°C, but it will feel cooler in the wind, with gusts strengthening during the morning and evening.Early morningThe day will start cloudy and wet, with temperatures around 12°C from 5am to 7am, rising to 13°C by 8am. The chance of rain is greater than 95% from 5am to 7am, easing slightly to 90% by 8am.Winds will come from the south-east to south-south-east at around 10 to 13 mph, with gusts increasing from about 23 mph to 29 mph. UV levels will remain low at 1.- Advertisement -MiddayLate morning and lunchtime will stay unsettled, although the chance of rain should ease compared with the start of the day. Temperatures will rise from 13°C at 9am to 14°C at 10am, 15°C at 11am and 16°C by midday.The chance of rain falls from 70% at 9am to around 50% from 10am to midday. Winds will be from the south-south-east at around 14 to 15 mph, with gusts close to 30 mph. UV levels will rise from 2 at 9am to 3 at 10am, 4 at 11am and 6 by midday.AfternoonThe afternoon is expected to remain cloudy and showery, with temperatures reaching around 17°C from 1pm to 4pm. The chance of rain increases again, from around 60% at 1pm to 70% at 2pm and 80% by 3pm and 4pm.Winds will turn from south-south-easterly to southerly at around 11 to 14 mph, with gusts between 23 and 29 mph. UV levels will ease from 4 early in the afternoon to 3 by mid-afternoon.EveningThe evening will remain unsettled at first, with showers likely before conditions gradually improve later. Temperatures will stay around 17°C at 5pm and 6pm, then fall to 16°C by 7pm and 8pm, 15°C at 9pm and 10pm, and 14°C by 11pm.The chance of rain is around 70% at 5pm, 60% at 6pm, 50% at 7pm, 30% at 8pm, and 20% by 9pm, before falling to 10% later. Winds will turn from south-south-west to south-west, west-south-west and westerly, at around 10 to 15 mph, with gusts reaching up to 32 mph. UV levels will be low in the evening, falling from 2 at 5pm to 1.

Created by Stroud and Notes
Music and Lyrics: Kyla Stroud, Natalie Stroud and Olivia Zachariah
Writers: Hannah Sands, Kyla Stroud, Natalie Stroud and Olivia Zachariah
Director: Hannah Sands
Six years in the making, Public – The Musical arrives at Curve carrying considerable festival pedigree. Born from songs written during lockdown in 2020, developed through a first run at VAULT Festival in 2022 – where it won the Origins Award – and honed further at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, where it took Playbill’s Pick of the Fringe Award, this is a production that has earned its place at a full-scale venue. The Curve run marks its most substantial staging yet, with an expanded script and a 90-minute running time that dispels any concern about whether the material can sustain the stretch. It can, and with room to spare.
The premise is simple: four strangers, trapped overnight in a public toilet. It’s the classic device – incompatible people forced into proximity, obliged to confront one another and, eventually, themselves – but the setting gives it a fresh and often very funny dimension. We meet each of them before they enter, glimpsing the small indignities that send them through the door: a café that won’t let you use the facilities without buying something, a shoe requiring urgent attention after an encounter with a dog. Amy Jane Cook’s set is spot on – entirely recognisable, the hand dryer and all, and a surprisingly versatile space for the action that unfolds within it.
The expanded version wisely abandons real-time constraints, playing the piece across the course of a night. It’s a good decision, as the relationships and revelations here – and there are several, carefully timed – could not realistically have developed in an hour. The extended form allows scenes between smaller configurations of characters, some of them asleep, creating space for the more intimate, reflective exchanges that add extra emotional strength.
The four characters are clearly drawn and played with real skill. Matt Corner is Andrew, a macho investment banker whose world has contracted to his expensive bike and his own blinkered certainties – misogynistic, contemptuous of anyone who doesn’t fit his worldview, and entirely unaware of it. It’s a difficult type to play without tipping into caricature, and Corner keeps him just credible enough to make his eventual shifts land. Grace Towning is Zo, an activist en route to a protest, and it’s a tribute to the writing and to Towning’s performance that Zo is genuinely, recognisably irritating – well-meaning to her core, but incapable of meeting people where they are. You understand her completely and find yourself exasperated in equal measure. Ivano Turco brings a quiet, fragile quality to Finlay, a fast-food worker holding himself together with some effort, and sometimes failing; his is the most inward of the four performances, and the most affecting. Cole Dennis rounds out the quartet as Laura, non-binary, good-natured, instinctively diplomatic – the person trying to keep the peace while missing a flight to a wedding. The four work well together, and the ensemble vocal work throughout is exceptional with tight harmonies that never come at the expense of clarity.
The pop-rock score is one of the production’s real strengths. There are numbers that catch the ear immediately, upbeat and propulsive, and others that pull back into something gentler and more reflective as the night wears on and the characters begin to lower their defences. Crucially, every lyric is audible – no small thing in a musical where the songs are doing genuine narrative work, as here they are.
Hannah Sands’ direction keeps the 90 minutes moving without sacrificing the quieter moments that give the piece its depth. What they have all built together – five years from bedroom to Curve – is funny, warm, and genuinely moving. The laughs are plentiful, but what stays with you is something rather more than that.
Public – The Musical is well worth catching before it leaves Leicester on 13 June though surely it will have a life beyond that.
Runs until 13 June 2026

The Reviews Hub Star Rating

100%

Flush with heart and humour

“We’ve got a rise in demand for special needs places that’s national and that’s also reflected locally,” Browne said. “It’s very clear the Harborough district has a real shortfall so it’s important we start looking at increasing capacity in that particular area.” He said the school “would absolutely pay for itself very quickly” despite the £30m price tag for taxpayers.This is because independent specialist placements for SEND children cost Leicestershire County Council nearly £70,000 a year, whereas specialist schools maintained and run by the county council cost between £23,000 and £30,000, he said. The school would include dining halls, music studios, drama spaces, and “ample” playing fields, including multi-use games areas and parking, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Browne said the council hopes to open the school by September 2028, which he admits is an “ambitious target”.

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 4 June 2026

A consultancy which has been designing and delivering leadership and coaching programmes for more than two decades has joined Space Park Leicester.

Jones Consulting – and its team coaching arm True Team – worked with the University of Leicester and its £100m space research and innovation hub, Space Park Leicester, to pilot the Women Leading in Space & STEM development programme.

It has also delivered coaching and skills workshops for Space Park Leicester and, over the next six years it will provide professional development workshops to prepare nine doctoral students at Space Park Leicester for leadership and a career in the space sector, as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Focal Award in Humanity and Space.  

Jones Consulting Managing Director Deborah Jones, who is an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach, said:

“I’ve attended Space Park Leicester networking meetings for years and following the establishment of the University of Leicester’s Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space at Space Park Leicester, and my collaboration supporting future AHRC doctoral students, I see an exciting opportunity to add value to the Space Park Leicester community.   

“Having a base at Space Park Leicester will allow us to attend community and networking events, work alongside space companies, keep up to speed with the latest thinking and developments in the sector and tailor our training and coaching offer so that it supports innovation.

“Being here, alongside Leverhulme fellows, doctoral students, and the companies on site, means our coaching and training will stay genuinely relevant to the challenges people are actually facing in the space sector.”

Space Park Leicester Head of Commercial and Innovation, Vinay Patel, said:

“We’re delighted to welcome Jones Consulting and True Team to Space Park Leicester.

“Prior to working with us, Deborah had worked with the University of Leicester to design and deliver the highly successful Women Leading with Purpose programme which helped more than 100 academic and professional women to develop in their careers. Deborah is also part of the University of Leicester’s coaching pool, coaching senior executives in a variety of roles across the University.

“Jones Consulting has extensive experience of delivering systemic team coaching, leadership development experiences, and one-to-one executive coaching to diverse, cross-disciplinary communities, which makes it a natural fit for Space Park Leicester.”

For further information about Jones Consulting visit https://www.jonesconsulting.org.uk or to learn more about True Team go to https://trueteam.co.uk 

To explore Space Park Leicester partnerships, missions, residents, facilities, training programmes and innovation products, visit https://www.space-park.co.uk or to learn more about the University of Leicester, visit https://le.ac.uk/.

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Drama and Theatre Arts students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) will test their skills when they perform in a professional co-production with the city’s Curve Theatre.
This year’s DMU x Curve collaboration sees students working alongside professional theatre-makers to stage Jemma Kennedy’s Second Person Narrative – a funny, relatable and moving portrait of a life unfolding through the choices we make and the stories we tell ourselves.

The annual Curve and DMU co-production programme has been providing DMU students with professional performance opportunities since 2012, giving them the chance to rehearse and perform in a professional theatre environment while gaining valuable insight into the collaborative nature of the theatre industry.
Running at Curve’s RR2 Theatre from 4th to 6th June, Second Person Narrative follows a character known simply as “You” through 30 episodes across an entire lifetime, exploring how choices, relationships and chance encounters shape who we become.
Directed by Kitty Benford, whose previous credits include Fantastic Foxes at Curve and Acceptable Rebellion for the National Theatre’s Speak Up programme, the production is performed by a student ensemble from DMU.
Sorcha Drinkwater is a third year on DMU’s Drama and Theatre Arts BA (hons) course. Althought naturally inclined towards writing a dissertation for her final year project, Sorcha decided to challenge herself by opting to perform at the Curve instead and is now playing several parts as a member of the ensemble cast. She said: “It’s been brilliant working with the Curve – challenging at times for me, but I’ve learned so much about the industry doing this production.”
Sorcha, who plans to pursue a career teaching drama rather than performing, added: “I must admit I was a bit nervous, but I thought I’ll never get another chance to perform with my friends from the course, and it’s been really good – really fun actually much more than I expected. I would say that if you think this is something that you don’t necessarily want to do, that’s probably exactly the reason why you should – it’s good to do something that scares you sometimes.”
Second Person Narrative runs at Curve from 4th to 6th June. Tickets are available from Curve’s Box Office and at www.curveonline.co.uk.
Posted on Wednesday 3 June 2026