The Rotherham Round Up ….

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10th September 2021Welcome to the Rotherham Round-up, your regular email update with news, video and events from Rotherham Council.If you would like to comment on any articles included in this bulletin, or suggest what you’d like to see in future issues, please drop us a line at corporate.comms@rotherham.gov.uk And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in and YouTube for more regular updates. See the links at the bottom of this email.Click the image to view a selection on the best photographs from Rotherham Show 2021Rotherham Show comes back with a bang!The return of the Rotherham Show on 3rd to 5th September was a fantastic success.Widely regarded as one the biggest and best annual cultural events in South Yorkshire, the Rotherham Show was sorely missed in 2020 due to the pandemic, but it was back with a bang this year. With a wide range of Covid-safety measures in place, it gave confidence to people to come out in their thousands and did nothing to dampen the sheer joy of people at getting back together as a community. The measures included an extra day – Friday 3rd September – for people wanting to attend at a quieter time and the extension of the show footprint to include Clifton Park Museum and Rotherham Civic Theatre – celebrating it’s long-awaited re-opening after lockdown and a £350,000 makeover. Click on the image above to a see a selection of photographs from Rotherham Show 2021, for a flavour of a fabulous weekend.Hospital needs our support as Covid cases increaseWith the number of Covid patients in Rotherham hospital rising above 70, the hospital’s Interim Chief Executive is asking for the support and patience of local people.In an open letter to local residents, Dr Richard Jenkins said: “Health services are currently very busy which means waiting times may be longer and appointments may need rearranging at short notice. We understand this can be frustrating, but please bear with us.”In Rotherham, we currently have more than 70 patients in the hospital who have tested positive for Covid-19 and the local infection rate is higher than many areas.”Please help us by continuing to be cautious and reduce the risk of you, your family, friends and colleagues getting Covid-19. If you haven’t had your Covid-19 vaccination, please do make arrangements as this can reduce the risk of you becoming seriously ill and needing to be admitted to hospital.”Dr Jenkins appealed to people to only use health services if they really need to so that they can focus on those who need our help the most and encouraged people with more minor or common illness to seek help from other health services, such as pharmacies.Click the image to visit the Forge Island website to find out more about the ambitious regeneration plans69-bed hotel to be part of flagship Forge Island projectBudget hotel chain Travelodge joins Arc Cinema as anchor tenant Travelodge is to build a 69-bed hotel at Forge Island, one of Rotherham’s flagship town centre regeneration projects.The major hotel chain has exchanged a long-term deal with the UK’s leading town and city-centre regenerator, Muse Developments and Rotherham Council, to become the latest anchor occupier at Forge Island.It is the latest major coup for the scheme and reinforces the confidence major brands have in the ambitious project and the Council’s wider town centre redevelopment in Rotherham.It follows the news earlier in the year that boutique cinema operator, The Arc, had agreed to open its seventh site there. Plans being brought forward by Muse and the Council also include a number of food and drink outlets and a car park.The development will be set within a stunning public square, complete with a new pedestrian bridge connecting the scheme to the wider town centre, to create a real sense of place and deliver direct benefits to the Rotherham community.VIDEO: Find out more about Forge Island and its significant part in the wider regeneration of Rotherham Town CentreMore information about the town centre masterplan, including Forge Island and many other schemes is available from Rotherham Town Centre website.Are you taking advantage of childcare support?Parents are being encouraged to help give their child the best start in life by taking advantage of a wealth of available childcare places across the borough.The call comes after two nurseries were saved from closure recently with support from Rotherham Council.Nurseries at The Hall in North Anston and a day nursery in Treeton are both now in new hands after the former owners got into difficulties as a result of the pandemic.Despite lockdown, childcare providers have remained open throughout to provide safe, essential care. But with reduced numbers, it has put increased pressure on the sectorThe Council introduced measures to provide support but, with lockdown easing, many parents still aren’t taking advantage of the hundreds of places available.Read the full story here.Rotherham Families Information Service is your one-stop-shop for childcare information in Rotherham – from finding the right place and the help available with costs, to special educational needs. Find out more on the website or by calling 0800 0730230 / 01709 822429.Click the image to see a small selection of the hundreds of Summer holiday activity daysWhat did you do with your Summer holidays?Thousands of children from across the borough were kept active, healthy and happy during the school summer holiday thanks to a wide range of activities organised by Rotherham Council.The Healthy Holidays programme was run in association with the Department for Education and 23 local holiday activity providers and local schools.More than 1,200 places were provided every day of the holidays for children to enjoy a huge range of activities and a healthy meal.The Healthy Holidays programme has run alongside Rotherham Council’s continued support for children entitled to free school meals through the summer holidays.Inspired by Marcus Rashford’s campaign to end food poverty, almost £1m worth of vouchers were provided to ensure the 10,000 local children eligible for free school meals in term time did not go hungry in the holidays.VIDEO: View a selection of short video clips and photographs from a few of the activities enjoyed by Rotherham children this summer. Thank you to everyone who attended and all the schools, organisations, workers and volunteers who made the scheme possible.Can you give young people a Voice?Voice – the magazine for the young people of Rotherham, produced by the young people of Rotherham – is looking for volunteers to help on the next issue.If you’re aged 11-18 (or up to 25 with special educational needs) and want to see your work in print, this could be for you.Voice is looking for budding young journalists, writers, photographers, artists, graphic and page designers and distributors to work on the second issue.You can see an online version of issue one here.If you’re interested, email us now:voice.youth.mag@gmail.com  or    matt.ellis@rotherham.gov.uk or                cfoster@rotherhamunited.netOur Rotherham, our borough: have your sayThere’s only a short time left to have your say on what you think Rotherham Council’s priorities should be for the next few years.The Council is preparing a new Council Plan which will guide our priorities for the coming years to 2024. As part of this, we’re inviting people across the borough (including you!) to tell us what they think are the biggest questions facing our communities. The pandemic has created new challenges for people and new issues have developed while others may have altered over the last 16 months.  The consultation period closes on Sunday 19 September. More information can be found online at www.rotherham.gov.uk/our-rotherhamYour opinion mattersDid you know the Council is regularly asking local residents and businesses for their views on a huge variety of topics?From taxi licensing to cycling strategies and our annual budget to local plans, we would really like to hear your views on what’s happening locally, what you support, what you’re against – and why. Public opinion matters.All our live consultations are available to view on our website, which is regularly updated.