A new play area and public space, Pounds’s Park, has opened on the site of the former fire station between Rockingham Street and Carver Street. Named after the city’s first chief fire officer, Superintendent John Charles Pound, the park includes two pyramid towers, slides, a climbing boulder and other play equipment. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
The annual Sheffield Ceramic Festival returned to the city at the weekend with more than 50 ceramic artists, potters and sculptors exhibiting their work at Kelham Island Museum. The festival is into its eighth year and most of the profits are set to be donated to charities including De Paul, an organisation which works with homeless young people. The two day festival attracted hundreds of people from across the city. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Teachers in England are set to go on strike again later this month and in early May after the UK’s largest education union voted overwhelmingly to reject a new pay offer from the government. The National Education Union (NEU) has rejected the latest offer and described it as an “insult” to teachers. The offer, which the government has descrbed as “fair and reasonable”, consisted of a one-off payment of £1,000, a 4.3% pay rise and an increase in starting salaries to £30,000. A ballot of NEU members resulted in 98% in favour of turning the deal down. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Simon Murch, joint secretary of the Sheffield branch of the NEU.
A Burngreave-based charity from Sheffield is among seven youth centres in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire that are set to share more than £15m in government grants to renovate and build youth facilities. Endeavour, a woodland activity club based in Burngreave, has been granted £1.2m to refurbished its building and to develop new projects. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Edward Thatcher, chief executive of Endeavour.
A long-awaited Islamic centre and mosque in Burngreave has formally opened its doors to the public, having been under construction for over a decade. The Sheffield Grand Mosque, on Grimesthorpe Rd, is set to be a landmark of Islamic architecture and design. It boasts four halls that cater for community activities, Islamic study, sports such as gymnastics, football and karate training, as well as prayer halls for both men and women. Sheffield live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to volunteers and worshippers at the mosque.
Sheffield’s director of public health, Greg Fell, has told Sheffield Live! dirty air is contributing to hundreds of deaths and an increase in cancer and asthma patients in the city. Fell said the introduction of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Sheffield is mainly to address these health related issues. Dozens of people joined a protest rally at the weekend calling on the local authority to stop charging vehicles that do not meet the legal standard. CAZ came into force in February, meaning drivers of the most polluting vehicles such as taxis, vans and lorries will have to pay a charge to drive into the city centre and the inner ring road. Taxis will pay £10 while buses and HGVs will pay £50 per day. Baillor Jalloh reports.
Members of Extinction Rebellion and Palestine Action held a demonstration outside Barclays Bank on Pinstone Street to protest against what they describe as climate crimes and injustices of greedy businesses. The two groups accuse the banking giant of investing heavily in fossil fuel and providing investment and loans to arms companies selling weapons and military technology to Israel that are used against unarmed Palestinians. Sheffield Live! Baillor Jalloh spoke to Steph Howlett and Randeep Samra.
Sheffield architect and sculptor George King spoke to Sheffield Live following the unveiling of the Covid-19 memorial sculpture in Sheffield city centre. The artist said he hoped that people would be proud of the final piece, which had been “Made in Sheffield for the people of Sheffield”. Baillor Jalloh reports.
A permanent Covid memorial has been unveiled to remember those who lost their lives to the virus and to those who worked hard to keep people in Sheffield safe. The stainless steel sculpture representing a willow tree was chosen out of 14 entries after Sheffield City Council asked for submissions. The memorial has been installed in Balm Green Gardens, near Barker’s Pool. Baillor Jalloh spoke to Paul Taylor, Sheffield Council’s Covid memorial project lead, and Sheffield Lord Mayor Sioned-Mair Richards.
Business owners on Ecclesall Road are asking for assurances after being informed that proposals to introduce red routes in the area have been scrapped. There were fears Sheffield Council was seeking to introduce camera-controlled red line zones along the bus lanes on Ecclesall and Abbeydale Roads, which would prohibit parking, deliveries or restrict waiting between certain hours. Traders in the area had concerns the proposals could affect footfall to their businesses. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!