Taking place on Saturday 13th (to coincide with Ride and Stride - the annual cycle rally), Sunday 14th (our Harvest Festival) and Monday 15th September in St Peter's Church and Church Hall. The theme of the Flower Festival will be "Hymns". The Church will be open from 10.30 am until 6.00 pm each day (from 11.30 on Sunday.) There will also be an Art and Handicraft exhibition, Attic Sale, tombola and refreshments. Do come to look at all the beautiful flower arrangements and displays. Looking forward to seeing you!

The Church Wardens and their team would like to thank everyone for so generously supporting their new initiative of regular monthly coffee mornings. Visitors enjoy this opportunity to meet, chatter and enjoy home baked goodies with their morning coffee. This arrangement contributes a helpful sum to the income of St Peter's Parish Church. The next coffee morning will be held on Wednesday 17 September 2008, at 10.30 am in St Peter's Church Hall, Swepstone. As usual, admission will be £1.00 for coffee and cakes. There will also be the usual Bring and Buy table with home made preserves, cakes and allotment produce. We look forward to welcoming you and your friends to this event.

Don't forget the Newton Burgoland and Swepstone Vegetable Society Annual Show on Sunday 7th September 2008 at Newton Burgoland School and Wraggs Yard. Stage your exhibits (residents only) from 9.30 am until 12.00 noon. There will be a hog roast and licensed bar from 1.00 pm. The Fancy Dress will begin at 2.00 pm. Doors open at 2.15 pm. There will be tea, cakes, games, raffle etc. Vegetable Society Chairman Sean Baker 273 647. Fun for all the family - don't miss this community occasion.

This will take place at St Peter's Church, Swepstone, at 10.30 am on Sunday 14th September. It is a time to thank God for our food and for the farmers who produce it. It is also a celebration of the glories of the natural world and the environment. The church building will be decorated with artistic style and skill, adding to the pleasure of this joyful service. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to this delightful occasion.

Many favourite hymns will be depicted at the Flower Festival at St Peter's Church, Swepstone on Saturday, Sunday and Monday 13th-15th September.
The Church will be open between 10.30am and 6pm each day (11.30am on the Sunday) to view the beautiful arrangements and displays (the Harvest Festival Service is at 10.30am on the Sunday).
Home made refreshments will be served at the Church Hall on all three days. On the Saturday there will also be an Attic Sale, Tombola, Handicraft and Artwork Sale.

Leicestershire Constabulary joins forces with multi-agency colleagues to distribute the ‘Keep Safe' card designed specifically for use by people with learning disabilities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The fold out ‘Keep Safe' card can be kept in a wallet or purse and helps in difficult situations with easy to understand words and pictures i.e. if the card holder uses sign language or can lip read; what medication they take and who to contact in an emergency.

Not in My Neighbourhood Week provides an excellent opportunity for Neighbourhood Watch Schemes to take advantage of the week-long national focus placed on profiling those who work hard on a daily basis to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and make our communities safer. Weeks of action such as this also help to increase public confidence in local agencies.

We do hope that as many Neighbourhood Watch Schemes as possible are able to take part in the week which runs from 13th-17th October .

Glenfield volunteers
An award winning team of volunteers from Glenfield are urging others to give up their time to support their local police.

As police volunteers they work unpaid in a diverse range of roles alongside police officers and staff and are asked to give between two and four hours of their time per week.

The team of 11 volunteers were recently given the police Apex Award for their outstanding contribution to the community. The group are also unique as they are the only team of police volunteers dedicated to working on a particular beat.

Winners of the Leicestershire & Rutland Best Village Competition were announced at a ceremony held at County Hall Glenfield on September 2nd. Awards were made by Jennifer, Lady Gretton Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. Chairs of Leicestershire and Rutland County Councils and chairs and Mayors of District Councils were present to see representatives from villages across the two counties receive their prizes.

Winners of each population size were as follows. Under 500 Wanlip. 501 - 1000 Billesdon. 1001 - 2000 Wymeswold. 2001 - 5000 Ratby. 5,000 - 10,000 Barrow upon Soar. Nominated to the Calor Village of the Year for Rutland - Cottesmore and Leicestershire - Billesdon. For details of category winners and more information click on the link above.
The competition is sponsored by Calor and supported by Leicestershire County Council.

Marion Lewis’s dedication to the Neighbourhood Watch organisation was fuelled by the horror of her father-in-law’s murder by burglars in Portsmouth in 1999.

She was nominated for a provincial police award which recognises people who have acted with outstanding bravery or devotion to civic duty in support of the police. Mrs Lewis is the Chair of the new national Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network for England and Wales, chair of the organisation’s East Midlands region NHW , secretary of the Leicestershire & Rutland County NHW branch and vice-chair of the Harborough branch.

A woman from North West Leicestershire has been presented with an award in recognition of the 22 years of voluntary work she has dedicated to local policing and the community.

48 year old Pauline Pettitt, from Heather, was presented with a Force APEX Award by the Chief Constable, Matt Baggott today (August 29th 2008).

We have just held the draw for the competition to win tickets to watch Leicestershire County Cricket and Michael and Charlie are the winners this month!! Congratulations to them both.

Many thanks to Matthew Kempson from the Leicestershire Rural Partnership for making the draw and special thanks to Leicestershire County Cricket Club for providing the tickets.

Thanks as well to everyone who entered the competition. Hopefully we'll have another one soon so keep your eyes peeled!

The Bosworth Community Forum are hosting a free event aimed at raising awareness about Affordable Rural Housing.

The event will be held on the 18th September 2008 at the Royal Arms Restaurant and Hotel, Sutton Cheney, nr. Market Bosworth, CV13 0AG.

Topics to be considered at the event will include delivery processes, the identification of need, and lettings policies. There will also be a screening of The Commission for Rural Communities’ short film – Rural Housing – A place in the countryside? More »

To be in with a chance to WIN FREE County Cricket tickets at Grace Road please register to a village and click on the above link. All you need to do is reply "I want FREE tickets to see Leicestershire" and it's that simple. You will then be automatically put through to our draw.

The date ending for this competition is Sunday August the 31st.

ANOTHER CHANCE TO CLAIM

People aged over 60 are again urged to call the freephone number to find out if they could get a reduction in their council tax.

Earlier this year more than 100 people who called saw their council tax reduced.

Some people still do not know they may qualify for a reduction in their council tax bills. Anyone aged 60 or over who lives in the County of Leicestershire can call.

When calling, please have your council tax bill, income and savings details available. If you have more than £16,000 in savings you will not qualify unless you get guaranteed pension credit. More »

Officers in the city are warning people to be on their guard after a number of cash point distraction thefts.

Suspects are targeting lone people at cash machines in Melton Road, Belgrave Road, Fosse Park and the city centre. The suspects watch the victims put in their PIN numbers into the machine. Once they have obtained the PIN number they distract the victim and take their card out of the machine. They then leave the victim thinking the machine has swallowed their card.

Sgt Wayne Nimblette from Keyham Lane local policing unit said: "Members of the public are being urged to be vigilant while using cash machines.

September is Older Person's Month with a wide range of events taking place throughout Leicestershire and Rutland. For more information, contact Liz McGregor on 0116 2334243 or liz@ccp.org.uk, or look on the website for electronic programme www.ccp.org.uk (via Health & Social Care / Older People

If you want to be included on a panel of people who will be asked for their views on a range of issues concerning Older People, please contact Liz McGregor, Engagement Officer (Older People) CVS Community Partnership on 0116 2334243 or liz@ccp.org.uk, then further information will be given to you. You choose when to respond, and you won't have to leave home!!

A paper setting out the context for the policy review of the Government’s strategy for Neighbourhood Watch is being carried out by the Home Office.

There are four questions which they would like local associations to comment on, use this link for further details.

Come to join us in Swepstone Church Hall between 10.30 am and 12.00 noon on Wednesday 20th August 2008. We are having a coffee morning to raise funds for St Peter's Church. Admission £1.00 to include coffee and biscuits. There will be a Bring and Buy table. This is your chance to relax, meet friends or neighbours and swap summer holiday stories. We look forward to welcoming you.