Bedford Winter Wonderland tickets are on sale despite a decision as to whether the event can go ahead being delayed until the end of October. Cllr Zara Layne told last night’s Full Council...

Bedford Winter Wonderland tickets are on sale – but planning permission hasn’t been granted, a borough councillor said.

Bedford Borough Council has been asked to prove that Queens Park gets its fair share of funding, with the area being described as a "bomb zone". During last night’s Full Council...

Bedford Borough Council has been asked to prove that Queens Park gets its fair share of funding by fed up residents.

The existing Jenkins Pavilion at Sunderland Road Recreation Ground has undergone a £5 million transformation with a two-storey extension and internal refurbishment, funded by us, to replace the gym and studio space at Sandy Secondary School.

The new Sandy Leisure and Sports Centre provides:

• a large purpose-built group exercise studio
• a large group cycle studio with 30 bikes
• a large flexible studio space
• reception, office, accessible toilets and a lift
• a large car park with electric vehicle charging points
• flexible changing facilities for indoor and outdoor activities

The new centre has indoor sports facilities which complement the existing athletics track, full-size floodlit artificial turf pitch and outdoor sports pitches close by, to create a sporting hub for residents to enjoy. Our leisure operator, Everyone Active, will manage the new centre along with our 5 other leisure centres and two theatres.

Councillor Steve Watkins, our Executive Member for Assets, Business and Housing, said:

Investing in high quality sports facilities such as the new leisure and sports centre in Sandy brings a wealth of benefits to the local community, and makes it more attractive and easier to be fit and healthy.

That’s why, along with other investment we’re making in leisure across Central Bedfordshire, we’ve spent almost £5 million on this much needed upgrade for the area. We really hope residents take full advantage of and enjoy this brilliant new facility.

Gary Foley, Everyone Active’s contract manager, said:

We are delighted to open the new Sandy Leisure and Sports Centre, which will provide state-of-the-art facilities for the local community.

The centre will give local people the chance to improve their physical and mental health for many years to come. We would urge people of all ages and abilities to come down and see the fantastic facility on their doorstep.

Pop sensation Grennan’s appearance drew plenty of excitement from students who, since the start of term, have been settling into this innovative facility which is part of our transformation project at the school and caters for students from year 7 upwards.

There are 28 classrooms in the newly expanded facilities, including five IT suites, two specialist food technology rooms, and a new sixth-form centre. There is also a new Aspirational Provision, which is a three-classroom SEND block that will provide vital support to students with special educational needs, giving them a more inclusive and tailored environment for learning.

It resonated with Grennan who has revealed that he was recently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), aged 29. And after seeing the Aspirational Provision at Sandy Secondary, he said:

School was definitely a good time for me. I was lucky, I had good friends, and I had also had good teachers who believed in me.

But I feel like if I'd have been told I had ADHD in school, maybe I wouldn't have been classed as the class clown. I’d have had more of an understanding. For me, having that diagnosis gives me a bit of clarity to what my brain does and the person I am.

I feel like being a kid and understanding who you are at an early age will definitely give kids (in Sandy) more confidence and understand why they might be a little bit different in school, whether it's in behaviour or whether it's in social surroundings.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a special plaque was unveiled in the singer’s honour before a tour of the state-of-the art facilities, which included a visit to Sandy Secondary School’s brand-new 3G sports pitch.

Before taking up music, the singer, who has recently released his new single ‘Higher’, was on the books as a youth at Luton Town Football Club, Northampton Town and Aston Villa. And after witnessing some football training, Grennan said:

I’ve been hearing that's par for their curriculum, for kids who may not be good in maths and science and not understanding all that. It’s amazing that they've got that. I wish I had that at school.

The singer, who shot to fame with hits like ‘Little Bit of Love’ and ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’, has a special connection to Sandy Secondary School, as his mother, Clare Grennan, worked there and his grandmother was a governor in the 1980s.

For the class of 2024 and beyond, Karen Hayward, Executive Principal at Sandy Secondary School, shared her excitement about the new developments, saying:

We often talk to our students about dreams, and this was one of mine – to enhance the facilities and provide bespoke learning packages that align with our students’ interests.

The Aspirational Provision allows us to create a fully inclusive school. After five years of hard work, it’s incredibly rewarding to see this dream come to life. I want to extend my thanks to our staff, students, parents, carers, and Governors for their unwavering support. These new facilities will make a real difference and have a lasting impact on the lives of our young people.

This expansion will help Sandy Secondary School accommodate up to 1,440 students and our Executive Member for Families and Children, Councillor Steve Owen, said:

The transformation at Sandy Secondary School is a remarkable achievement, which represents our commitment to increasing specialist learning spaces and giving children and young people the best possible opportunities to grow, learn, and succeed in their educational journey and beyond. They’ll certainly never forget the day that Tom Grennan came to their school to help celebrate this fantastic moment.

Bedford’s iconic bandstand is set to be refurbished in the spring.

The BBC has apologised for a glitch with its weather app - which predicated "hurricane force winds" for Bedford today (October 10).

Anyone eligible can book their vaccination at a pharmacy via the NHS website, by downloading the NHS App, or by calling 119 for free if they can’t get online. Getting vaccinated against both viruses are two of the most important things you can do to protect your own wellbeing and those around you.

Catching both viruses over the winter increases the risk of serious illness. The vaccinations, which are now available, provide vital protection to keep people from developing serious illnesses and ending up in hospital during busy winter months.

For the first time, the NHS is also offering vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common cause of coughs and colds that can be dangerous to older people and young children. The jab, introduced earlier this month, is available to those aged 75 to 79 and is being offered to pregnant women from 28 weeks to protect their child.

Parents and carers of 2 and 3 years are also urged to book their children in for a flu vaccine offered by a nasal spray without needing an injection. Parents concerned about the pork content in the nasal spray can choose the flu injection as an alternative. Find out more on the NHS website.

For those adults eligible for both flu and COVID-19 vaccines, the NHS will make them available at the same time, giving the option to get protection from both viruses in one visit. However, it is more effective for people to have the RSV vaccination on a different day from any flu or COVID-19 vaccinations.

The NHS is offering free flu and COVID-19 vaccines to the following eligible people

Those eligible for a flu jab are:

• all adults aged 65 years and over
• those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
• residents and staff in care homes for older adults
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline health and care workers in a social care setting without an employer-led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants

Those eligible for an autumn COVID-19 booster are:

• adults aged 65 years and over
• residents in a care home for older adults
• individuals aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group (as defined in tables 3 or 4 in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book)
• frontline NHS health and social care workers and those working in care homes for older people
• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024
• primary school aged children (from Reception to Year 6)
• secondary school aged children (from Year 7 to Year 11)
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years

Councillor Mark Smith, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health said:

The flu and COVID-19 vaccines can be life-saving and are the best defences against these viruses – and it takes just a few minutes to book online or via the NHS App or 119, so I would urge everyone eligible to do so, to protect themselves and people around them. We know that these vaccinations help more people keep well and stay out of hospital during the winter months when the NHS is under a lot of pressure. So, I would really urge everyone eligible to get vaccinated as soon as they are invited and help us create a safer and healthier community.

For more information on winter health and vaccinations please visit the NHS website section for winter vaccinations and winter health.

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