16 December 2022

A boxing academy which gives focus to challenging young people is fighting on thanks to a helping hand from West Northamptonshire Council.

The Weedon Boxing Academy based in the village’s historic Royal Ordnance Depot has a 20-year-long track record of providing young men and women a safe place to train and learn the discipline around boxing.

At the height of the Covid lock-down they received a £1,000 grant from Covid Recovery Grant which paid for much needed equipment.

Parent Damien said his son Freddie has ADHD and was finding it tough at school. Damien said: “He had quite low self-esteem. He's always been quite small for his age, but we brought him here and he really hit it off.

"He started coming three, four times a week, it’s been two years this month and he's a different child.

"School described him as more of a leader now, whereas before, he’d sort of take a step back from things."

Cllr David Smith explained why he chose to support the Academy: "The club has gone through a bit of a challenging time, like many sports clubs and other voluntary organisations with COVID when they were closed for so long and we've been able to bring forward a grant to provide some much-needed equipment into a really well-used and fantastic community facility."

Cllr Smith also paid tribute to Aaron Hill, head coach and Academy founder. He said: “The work that Aaron's doing here is just fantastic.

"He's here four days a week and often then it's weekends away for boxing tournaments.

"So, what a fantastic role model that we've got in Aaron. And in fact, he was a nominee for the West Northamptonshire's International Men's Day ‘Role Model of the Year’, which he was a finalist in only last month."

Cllr Smith added: “This is a rural facility that serves a wide area, it gives some challenging young people a safe place to stay healthy and learn to be disciplined.

"It really is a mine of potential which digs down deep to find the very best of the people who come here."

Aaron said: “Most kids nowadays, they've all got challenging backgrounds and I think they've all got a harder task than what we had when we were younger.

"And the public's too quick to put a label on them nowadays. So, what I hope is to provide is a safe space, somewhere they can come when it gets dark at night and know that they're in a safe space to get fitter, healthier and with a bit of luck, learn some boxing."

Weedon Boxing Academy takes places in Unit 7, Royal Ordnance Depot, Weedon, NN7 4Ps every weekday evening (except Thursday) from 6:45pm till 8:30pm. All walks of life are welcome from 10 years and above and in 2023 they will start a Parent-Toddler session for parents to train with their toddlers from 5-10 years.

Each WNC ward member was allocated £2,500 of a £232,500 Councillor Covid Support Fund. Any voluntary or community group that believes they are working on a project which benefits their community’s recovery from Covid and would like to see if a grant would be available to them, should contact their local WNC Ward Member.

When an appropriate funding round opens, community and voluntary groups in West Northants can apply for a Community Funding Grant. To find out more visit the WNC Community Grants page.

Watch a video of these interviews along with some of the young boxers sparring during a training night on the Council's Youtube channel.

16 December 2022

West Northamptonshire Council has welcomed the Government’s announcement of additional funding to continue support for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

This week the Government announced it was increasing ‘thank you’ payments to £500 per month for those hosting Ukrainians beyond 12 months and has committed to fund this until the second anniversary of their arrival.

It has also earmarked £150m in the next financial year to help tackle homelessness and is providing £500m for purchase of housing stock to accommodate Ukrainian and Afghan nationals fleeing conflict.

As a consequence, the amount provided to the council for support services is being reduced from £10,500 to £5,900 per person entering the UK from the start of 2023.

“We really welcome this development, it will doubtless help us to continue supporting our visitors from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

"Many families in West Northamptonshire have opened their homes and their hearts to people fleeing terrifying developments in their own countries, and we just can’t thank them enough.

"The Government’s pledge to increase the ‘thank you’ payments from £350 to £500 per month certainly goes some way toward helping keep the good work going.

"It is also great to see that the Government has recognised the need to help fund temporary measures to prevent homelessness, and to address the long-term needs through the purchase of much needed housing."

Cllr David Smith, WNC's Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services.

The council will be working with partners at a local and regional level to ensure the additional resources are used in the most effective way to support those now living here under the Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement schemes.

Many of those from Afghanistan continue to be housed in temporary accommodation, while Homes for Ukraine placed many new arrivals with host families.

Further hosts for Ukrainian families are always welcome and anyone with space in their home or additional empty property can express an interest on our website.

16 December 2022

The clamp down on fly-tippers in Northampton continues after four more are ordered by Magistrates to pay for dumping their waste on the street.

On Thursday 30 June 2022, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Neighbourhood Wardens discovered a large amount of waste piled around the street bin at the corner for Bailiff Street and Lorne Road (bottom right) which was found to belong to 20-year-old Heber Luwawu of Bailiff Street.

On Tuesday 12 July WNC Wardens found bags of rubbish on Hampton Street which 20-year-old Charlotte Smith had put out two days before the refuse collection for that area (top right).

On Tuesday 26 July 2022 Wardens found rubbish bags dumped on Naseby Street two days before collection which belonged to 37-year-old Michelle Harris (top middle)

They were all given the option of paying a £150 fixed penalty fine (FPN) to resolve the matter which they ignored.

All three failed to appeared at Wellingborough Magistrates on Tuesday 6 December when summonsed and in their absence, each was fined £300, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

In a fourth case, on 15 August wardens found rubbish bags dumped on Naseby Street three days before collection.

31-year-old Daniela Muresan of Naseby Street challenged a £150 FPN but appeared in court on 6 December and pleaded guilty to putting her waste out on Naseby Street four days before the refuse collection for that area. She was fined £200 and ordered to pay £100 costs (left).

Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for regulatory services, community safety and engagement, said: “People placing bags out early can be a terrible nuisance especially if they are ripped open by animals “

“And I’m very glad to see we’ve caught someone dumping waste around the street litter bin like they believe it will be magically gobbled up somehow. I’m fed up with seeing it, and it is hugely disrespectful of neighbours who have to look at it and the workers who have to clean it up.”

This month WNC launched its Fly-tipping Charter setting out how the council will work to tackle environmental crime.

It outlines the Council’s commitment to working with local communities to reduce fly-tipping, backed by a robust enforcement policy to discourage and prosecute offenders.

The Charter includes a detailed plan of action including targeted patrols, the use of CCTV, and working with residents, businesses, and town and parish councils to avoid fly-tipping and gather intelligence to prosecute.

It also sets out how the Council will communicate with businesses, landlords and householders to ensure they are clear on their responsibilities towards managing their waste responsibly.

The new Fly-Tipping Charter complements the existing Litter Charter, which was launched last summer to ensure the Council takes a coordinated approach to tackling litter across West Northants.

16 December 2022

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is urging residents to use the network of warm spaces available if they need to during this extremely cold winter period.

The rising cost-of-living is resulting in unprecedented pressures on people in financial hardship, and this winter, despite the support given by the government, many people will struggle to be able to afford to heat their home. There is concern that combined with the threat of loneliness, the physical and mental health of residents may suffer.

WNC has worked with partners to establish a network of over 70 Warm Spaces this winter. Warm Spaces are places where people can gather for free in a warm, safe, welcoming place to come together to stay cosy, and perhaps enjoy a hot meal or a cup of tea and a biscuit.

The centres are open to everyone and include libraries, community centres, community hubs and other places offering a warm welcome and free to use for anyone struggling to heat their home. Some venues will also offer hot drinks, activities, and other services such as free Wi-Fi.

The Council has created a map of venues across the Daventry, Northampton, South Northamptonshire areas as well as a number of others further afield in the county that are providing free warm spaces that you can go to during the colder months.

This, plus the list of warm spaces, is available on the WNC website along with information on specific days and times the centres are open.

"We know that the colder weather can have a serious impact on residents’ health and can also be a lonely time for many people.

"These warm spaces are heated, safe and a friendly place where you can comfortably spend time reading, studying or chatting with others and we urge people to come along and make use of them.

"Whoever you are and whatever your circumstances, we can promise you a warm space and a warm welcome."

Cllr Jonathan Nunn, Leader of WNC.

Information on financial support and services for those feeling low or struggling with their mental health are also available for residents on the Cost of Living Resource Hub.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service have held a five day emergency exercise designed to test their response to a major incident.

Exercise Puddle Duck brought together a wide variety of agencies to take part in the five-day simulation based on the scenario of widespread flooding at Billing Aquadrome.

Forty-five staff from Northamptonshire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service, the Local Resilience Forum and Emergency Planning, the Environment Agency, Northamptonshire Search and Rescue and the Rapid Relief Team took part in the exercise that was designed to improve the preparedness of the Fire Service and enhance the way that agencies work together.

The exercise, which took place in real time and came as a surprise to the participants, mimicked the flooding that took place at Billing Aquadrome in December 2020 when a major incident was declared. The exercise was planned to test the plans that have been revised to enhance response capability across the county as a result.

Station Commander for the Joint Operations Team, Nick Gayton (pictured above), said: “We have run no-notice exercises before but usually only for a period of hours. It has been massively important because it has stress tested both the operational response and also lots of other departments across the service, including our Prevention and Protection teams.

“Flooding is a known risk in the county so as a Service, we have responses to deal with that and so do our partners. Exercises like this help us to develop our multi-agency approach.

“I would like to thank all of the people who took part in the exercise and reassure the public that we work tirelessly to ensure our response is the best it can be.”