Fourteen year old Isabelle Pollard from Wales High School and 17 year old Oenone Wirth from Silverdale High School are among 15 winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. The prestigious international poetry competition judged over 13,500 poems submitted by over 6,000 young poets aged 11 to 17. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Isabelle Pollard.
Construction works have begun on Rotherham’s flagship leisure destination and regeneration project at Forge Island. The waterside scheme is planned to include a boutique cinema, hotel and restaurants alongside an attractive public square and a new pedestrian bridge connecting the development to the wider town centre. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Rotherham Council leader Chris Read and site manager Nigel Perkin.
Poet and performance artist Danae Wellington has spoken of her delight at being crowned Sheffield’s new poet laureate. Tchiyiwe Chihana reports for Sheffield Live!
Two full coaches of Sheffield anti-austerity campaigners joined the national demonstration in London on Saturday calling for a general election. The “Drive out the Tories” protest was organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, a grass root organisation campaigning against cuts and hardship. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor spoke to campaigners Carrie Hedderwick, Ebru Garbutt and Rachel Bradley.
Sheffield Theatres, which manages the Crucible, the Playhouse and the Lyceum, is set to receive £3.9m in funding from Arts Council England for the three years from April 2023. The news comes as the Arts Council increases its commitment to funding arts organisation in the North of England. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Robert Hastie, artistic director for Sheffield Theatres.
Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust have called for the deliberate burning of moorland vegetation to be banned following a spate of fires in the last few weeks. Upland peat bog, which covers much of the High Peak moorland, is an important carbon sink, countering climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere. Globally, peat habitats store 30 per cent of all soil carbon. Deliberate burning of peatland vegetation is carried out on some grouse estates to encourage the fresh shoots on which grouse feed but it can also cause the peat to dry out, resulting in oxidation and loss of stored carbon to the atmosphere. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Ian Cracknell, advocacy officer for Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust.
After four years of campaigning, the Owlthorpe Fields Action Group has been told that long-standing plans to build housing on the wildlife haven are set to be shelved. Owlthorpe Fields was allocated for housing in the Sheffield Local Plan of the 1990s. The first two housing sites were developed in 1999, leaving three remaining sites which have undergone a natural rewilding. Plans to retake the housing project led to local residents protesting and the formation of the Action Group to campaign for the fields to be retained as a local wildlife site. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Claire Baker, chair of Owlthorpe Fields Action Group.
A demonstration to save the Rose Garden Cafe took place outside the Town Hall ahead of a Sheffield Council cabinet meeting. Over eleven thousand have signed a residents’ petition calling on the council to repair the much-loved cafe in Graves Park rather than have it demolished. The cafe was closed in July, without notice, after a council report found the roof was unstable and a risk to visitors. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to campaigner Liz Hnat and councillor Ian Auckland.
Local politicians and union representatives claim Doncaster-Sheffield airport owners Peel Group have rejected credible offers from investors while owners Peel Group say it is not commercially viable. The last outbound flight from Doncaster-Sheffield airport took off on Saturday night as campaigners worked round the clock to prevent its closure. Peel have said the airport would be wound down following cessation of flights. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke Sarah Barnes from the GMB union.
A city centre art installation has been brought together by PhD researcher Max Munday and community members to mark the Jewish festival of Sukkot. A temporary structure has been built in the Winter Gardens inspired by the shelters created by ancient Jews to provide protection in the desert after fleeing slavery in Egypt. Members of the public are invited to participate in reflecting on their past, their memories and their hopes. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Max Munday.