Specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound has been appointed to deliver a special programme that aims to strengthen family relationships and reduce the number of young people going into local authority care in Derby City.

The charity has worked closely with Derby City Council to deliver a pilot Family Group Conference programme in the city which is the first in the Midlands and was part of a competitive tendering process to determine its future delivery.

Artists across Derbyshire and surrounding areas are invited to apply to join the Bonsall Arts Trail which will take place on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June 2024.

Hundreds of visitors are expected to attend the weekend-long trail which will be housed in large marquees and in the homes of Bonsall residents.

The event will build on the success of the 2022 trail which showcased the work of around 90 artists including painters, sculptors, printmakers and many other creative works.

Pye Hill & District Male Voice Choir

FREE Concert at the Dale Club, Jacksdale

Saturday 9 September 2023, 7:30 p.m.

The Pye Hill & District Male Voice Choir is celebrating its 120^th Anniversary this year, having been formed way back in 1903, which is a remarkable achievement.

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.

Tourism businesses in the Peak District and Derbyshire can benefit from a new series of free webinars aimed at boosting the local cycling economy.

Supported by Visit Peak District & Derbyshire and Derbyshire County Council, visitor economy businesses can learn about the benefits of being a cycle-friendly business on a series of webinars taking place in September and October.

Julie’s Bicycle, Attitude is Everything and A Greener Future have launched a new research programme that examines how access to music and live events for disabled people can become environmentally sustainable.  Disabled artists, audiences, volunteers and professionals are encouraged to participate in the survey. The research will be used to create a toolkit for the music and live events sectors, containing practical solutions and case studies.  Please share this further amongst your relevant networks and contacts.

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.

Community Choir High Peak Singers have recorded a choral version of Don't Dim Your Light, and hope to raise over £250 for local charity Crossroads. The song was written by their conductor Hannah Brine, and it’s about finding strength through difficult times.

One of the choir members told Hannah the song's message resonated with them, as they have accessed the services of Crossroads, so the charity is the perfect choice for the choir’s fundraising efforts. 

The Music for All's current funding round features awards for community-based groups and individuals with a deadline of 27th October 2023.

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.  

Dara - Tree of Life ended on Saturday and I have to share that it was a such a beauty of a show - full of diversity, shared experiences and colour! With so many visitors to the gallery and plenty of red dots too! A true delight to exhibit work by so many artists.

Not one but two former students on the same Derby College Group music course have secured places to study music at LIPA, the world renowned Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, this September .

Owen Doherty and Declan Dean have been good friends throughout their time at school and college – and both achieved distinctions in their Music Performance  Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma at the Joseph Wright Centre.

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.

Do you enjoy singing? Do you want to immerse yourself in wonderful surroundings? Do you want to make music with a friendly and welcoming group of singers from all backgrounds? Then we would love for you to come along to Hannah Brine’s 11th Singing Retreat.

Employees at a Derbyshire science company are getting out of the lab and office to get their hands dirty after starting up an on-site gardening club to boost wellbeing.

Hundreds of employees at Lubrizol’s UK technical centre in Hazelwood near Belper already enjoy coming to work in a beautiful former stately home set in acres of lush Derbyshire countryside.

But now they have the opportunity to get even closer to nature after starting up a gardening club so they can take a break from work to get in amongst the radishes and lavender plants.

THE GREAT NORTHERN CONTEMPORARY CRAFT FAIR 19-22 OCTOBER 2023

Victoria Baths, Hathersage Road, Manchester

Celebrating craft in all its contemporary guises

This Autumn sees the return of one of the UK’s biggest and most prestigious craft shows, The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.

Owners of an award-winning Derbyshire business making outdoor furniture from recycled plastic have gone global in their quest to help the environment by planting a baby coral reef in the Indian Ocean.

Rob and Anne Barlow, owners of TDP Ltd in Wirksworth – which has recently received the Royal seal of approval by being crowned with a Kings Award for Enterprise for Sustainability – travelled out to the UNESCO Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve to help plant the baby reef.

Are you interested in getting involved in rural touring and if so please read on!

A CITY restaurant which has been serving food from around the world to Derby diners for a decade celebrated its 10^th anniversary by raising money for two good causes.

COSMO restaurant, based on London Road, held a birthday party for local dignitaries after reaching the landmark anniversary last month.

The profits of a charity raffle held on the night have been shared between Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, which has been the restaurant’s nominated charity for several years, and the good causes supported by new Mayor of Derby, Councillor Alan Graves.