Derby City Council has revealed that the cost of processing and disposing of contamination (incorrect or dirty items) in recycling bins is currently costing £450,000 a year. Some of the most common problem items are bagged waste, used nappies, food waste, electricals, hard plastic, and plastic bags and films.

Things like food waste and leftover takeaways are particularly problematic as they spread in the collection vehicles, contaminating large amounts of otherwise clean and dry recycling.

Chief Executive of Healthwatch England Louise Ansari, paid a visit to the Hope for Belper Food and Community Hub recently to speak with local people and discuss the growing concerns surrounding the impact of the rising cost of living on their health. The visit highlighted the urgent need to address these issues to prevent further health inequalities in health outcomes.

Members of the public and company employees are having a wellbeing boost with new eco benches and picnic tables made by a pioneering Derbyshire furniture company.

Darley Dale Town Council and Garnalex aluminium company of Heage are two of the latest organisations to invest in public and employee wellbeing by buying outdoor seating from TDP Ltd – a King’s Award winning business making furniture from recycled plastic.

GREAT NEWS—We are going forward with the Bonsall Art Trail following on from the success of the 2022 trail. The trail was very successful, and we had tremendous feedback from artists, hosts and our many visitors. Following a reconvening of our committee and team, a decision was made to continue with the Bonsall Art Trail biannually, the next trail being over the weekend of 29th & 30th June 2024.  We hope you will come on the journey with us again.

The arts trail will be held in Bonsall over the weekend of 29 and 30 June 2024. Artists are invited to apply for space to exhibit and sell their artwork from 1 September. Closing date for applications is 31 January 2024.

For more information artists can visit www.bonsallartstrail.org.

New students planning to join Derby College Group (DCG) in September will be able to enrol online from Thursday August 24 this year – GCSE results day.

All applicants who have started their enrolment via the online application system will be processed remotely based on the actual exam results they have entered via the link on the InTouch portal. 

Derby College Group’s (DCG) Community College in Ilkeston is holding a special open day in August as part of the town’s week-long Community Theatre and Festival.

The College in Pimlico will be open to the public on August 16, between 10am and 3.30pm with a wide range of family-friendly activities.

There’s been plenty of excitement in Markeaton Park Craft Village, Derby, as our Outdoor Theatre and Cinema season returned this summer, generating an abundance of excitement and applause. This year there was a double bill of Shakespeare from Oddsocks Theatre and Derby Shakespeare Company. While Pop-up Theatre brought an interactive children’s performance, enjoyed by families who engaged while in the park. The season concluded with blockbusting films Bridesmaids and Top Gun: Maverick, with over 600 people attending and enjoying the outdoor film with picnics and friends.  

Sue Allanson have been working in Derbyshire as a sculptor for the last 30 years. She didn’t think I had the talent to be  an artist. It was only when she was in my 40’s that she found she had the desire to carve in stone. That was one of the motivators behind asking Derbyshire Eco Centre to let her carve under their eaves in order to carve a larger than life sculpture. Being resident in  an adult Education centre, rather than tucked away in her garden,  has meant that she has been able to have a lot of contact with the students attending their courses.

Museum’s ethos of co-production and collaboration found to have made significant impacts on city and community

Derby Museums today publishes the findings of a Social Return On Investment (SROI) report investigating the social impacts of the Museum of Making as a major capital project.