Category: Community

I recently found a vintage photograph of the Old Rectory in Mill Lane, Smeeton Westerby, together with an obituary issued by ‘The Times’ newspaper in London dated Thursday 16 March 1911. Which relates to a member of the Sale family who occupied the property for 25 years. 

It is a sad statistic that one in five children cannot read well by the age of 11. The Summer Reading Challenge, with the support of public libraries, is on a mission to change this. The Challenge will launch on Saturday 1 July and will run until Saturday 2 September.

Odonata are the ‘tooth-jawed’ insects, a group which includes Damselflies and Dragonflies. Late May to early October are the best months to look for these insects which are often stunningly beautiful when seen close-up but ferocious, as the name ‘dragonfly’ suggests, if you are a smaller insect. 

Kibworth Grammar School Hall Trustees held their monthly meeting on 17 May with our main focus on fund raising ideas to meet the ever increasing costs of running the hall. Although the hall has regular bookings and plenty of children’s parties, we are approaching the summer holidays and the annual slowdown of usage. Our brainstorm included a musical Film Night with attendees theme-dressed or maybe an afternoon Tea Dance with delicious homemade cakes.

We are a local company based at Kibworth Business Park and are able to offer each member of our team the opportunity for a paid Corporate Social Responsibility Day each year.

The boating season is well under way now. Numbers are still down on past years, when 40 through the locks on a high-season day was not unusual. New boats are still flooding into the system, many of them wide-beam (over 7ft). Although spacious for living on, they can cause problems on our rapidly narrowing canal, vegetation is encroaching on all sides. Meeting one with passenger boat Vagabond (10ft 6”) can be quite interesting.

Since the Care Quality Commission Inspection (CQC) April 2022, SLMG has made many improvements to ensure that it delivers high quality services to people. The practice recognised that some patients felt their experiences were falling short of the services they deserve. Feedback has been listened to and has helped to drive forward many improvements. It is important to note that the Integrated Care Board are supporting and monitoring a (QIP) for SLMG which was developed using the findings of the inspection. The QIP is reviewed and updated regularly using a risk assessment tool to assess priority actions needed.  The CQC will arrange a visit to SLMG in the future to carry out a targeted inspection of the areas raised.

When it comes to bunting you cannot beat Mowsley! Villagers made yet more bunting which decorated most of the Village, especially the centre and the village hall. This was where the celebrations of a barbeque and band on the Saturday evening and a street lunch, Coronation Cake competition and Maypole dancing on the Sunday took place. There was a monster raffle as well with the proceeds donated to charity.

The Coronation Weekend was a great time for getting together with friends and neighbours as is illustrated by the people of Burton Overy performing a regal wave above.

Friday, 5th May was not only the start of the celebrations for the King's Coronation but also the return of the Welcome Kitchen.