Derby-based Sinfonia Viva – the East Midlands’ professional orchestra – has announced that Nottingham’s award-winning and hugely talented musical family, the Kanneh-Masons, have become the first patrons of the orchestra.

The exciting announcement of their patronage for the Grammy-nominated Orchestra was officially made by Sinfonia Viva Principal Conductor Frank Zielhorst during an orchestral performance at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall on November 1.

Family-owned Wathall’s funeral directors with branches in Ashbourne, Derby, Alvaston, Borrowash and Burton, have sponsored Ashbourne RFU’s under-12s team for the coming season.

Since sporting the new kit provided by the company under the sponsorship deal – the squad of 22 young players have been undefeated in their Sunday morning friendly fixtures against other youth teams in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Bec Wathall, sixth generation of her family to work in the business and PA to managing director Helen Wathall, visited the team to present them with their new kit.

A Derby charity fundraiser is preparing for his ultimate challenge to raise money for local charity Safe and Sound’s Butterfly Appeal.

Simon Barcz (39) from Oakwood has already raised more than £10,000 for Derby-based Safe and Sound which specialises in grassroots work across the county to transform the lives of children and young people who are victims of or at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Nearly 700 people attended a jobs fair at Ilkeston Community College organised by Derby College Group (DCG) and Job Centre Plus on Tuesday (October 29).

The event was officially opened by the Deputy Mayor of Erewash Cllr Donna Briggs (pictured, left, with DCG Chief Executive Mandie Stravino).

Employers in attendance with information about jobs opportunities including East Midlands Airport, Derbyshire Police, Trentbarton and Nottingham Community Housing Association.

On 5th October, four hiking enthusiasts from The Derby Conference Centre - Rebecca Prime, Jessica Wood, Eleanor Sainsbury and Richard Hindley - took to the Dales of Yorkshire to raise money for me&dee. Through all the blood, sweat and tears they managed to raise a whopping £1,800.

me&dee is a charity that supports families through difficult times and circumstances. They organise special memory holidays for people whose time is precious - it really is a great cause to fundraise for.

The Derbyshire Record Office is thrilled to have just launched on Google Arts and Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/derbyshire-record-office. 

There are three online exhibitions and 175 images online so far and online visitors are encouraged to go and take a look at the collections there. Google Arts and Culture has amazing works of art from major art galleries and museums across the world – plus other cultural organisations like ballet companies and theatre groups.  

Wednesday, 30 October 2019 from 15:00-17:00
Venue: 8 Albert Street , Osnabruck Square, Derby DE1 2DS

Join us for this free networking and artists’ talk event, and meet Delpha Hudson and Natasha Joseph, our current artists in residence, who will be sharing the progress of their ‘Home’ residency so far and discussing participation in artistic practice with guest speaker Steve Pool. This is a great opportunity to talk about art, and to meet and socialise with other artists.

SUE WILKINS, a Derbyshire author of four delightfully illustrated children’s story books, and total sales of 12,500 books, has just released her fifth title.  “Owl to the Rescue” will be available soon at various outlets, including several National Trust properties across the east Midlands region.

Fourteen businesses and organisations joined an event organised by Derby College Group to reiterate to students the importance of English and maths in the workplace.

Employers from a range of industry sectors including IT, Construction, Rail, Retail and Health and Social Care organised practical activities to highlight how staff use English and maths in their jobs.

Derby College Group IT student Karan Pabla (20) will soon have his name immortalised in print by a top author after taking part in a national challenge designed to encourage young people to enjoy reading.

Karan, who studies at the Joseph Wright post-16 Academic and Arts college, was amongst thousands of young people and adults across the UK who joined the Reading Ahead challenge to read, rate and review a book of their choice.