Cotswold News Page 2

Sudeley Castle & Gardens has announced that due to popular demand, its outdoor trail The Elephant Family has been extended for a further week.
The Elephant Family at Sudeley boasts over 30 life-sized elephant sculptures, which form a unique trail weaving through the castle’s award-winning gardens and due to overwhelming demand, it has been extended until Sunday, June 6.

Intrepid dinosaur hunters and budding palaeontologists are invited to enjoy a weekend of prehistoric fun and adventure at Birdland over the May Bank Holiday (May 1st – 3rd).
Travel back 65 million years to when dinosaurs roamed the Cotswolds and discover the Jurassic Journey at Birdland Park & Gardens, in Bourton-on-the-Water.

North Cotswolds-based Longborough Festival Opera will stage three of its productions in a circus Big Top this summer, launching on June 1.
The Big Top is a creative solution to the pandemic, offering exciting theatrical possibilities for the creative teams, as well as excellent seating flexibility allowing for a larger socially distanced audience. The space can also be turned into an outdoor venue as required, with the possibility of performing with the sides removed.

Last year, thousands of visitors prepared to flock to one of the most popular rural events in the Cotswolds, before its regrettable cancellation due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This year that is not the case!
Plans are well under way for the return of the Cotswolds’ favourite family show. Taking place on 3rd & 4th July, The Cotswold Show and Food Festival 2021 is focused on providing a tremendous day out for all to enjoy.

Cornbury Music Festival – which was due to have taken place on the weekend of July 9 to 11 – has been cancelled for the second year running due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A statement from festival organiser Hugh Phillimore to festival supporters said: “It really pains me to have to tell you I’ve finally decided to postpone Cornbury again – to July 8th, 9th & 10th 2022.

Cotswold District Council has recently commissioned expert advisors to provide business support and advice for each of the ten main towns and villages within the district as part of current measures to support the reopening of each centre.
Heartflood has been appointed by the council as independent experts in town and city centres and will be providing advice, information and signposting to a range of Cotswold businesses.

Forest Live, the outdoor summer concert series presented by Forestry England, where acts perform in spectacular woodland locations around the country, including Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, has been postponed to 2022.

Cotswold residents will soon benefit from new and improved health and leisure services in the Cotswolds following a district-wide review into leisure provision.
At a meeting on Monday 1 March, the Council’s Cabinet unanimously supported the adoption of the Cotswold Leisure Strategy – an all-new vision for leisure that will provide sustainable physical activity and sport opportunities for residents and local communities in the Cotswolds.

A Cotswold resident has been presented with a Community Connectors Award by digital network provider Openreach in recognition for their support for parents and teachers during lockdown.
Melissa Ormiston, who is part of the not-for-profit organization Rock the Cotswolds, campaigned to support those struggling with remote learning. She worked with local parents to identify their issues and concerns so that they could be fed back to local schools and the Local Education Authority.

Members of Cheltenham Lacrosse Club are putting on their running shoes to raise funds for Cheltenham-based National Star.
Earlier in the season, lacrosse club members voted for a local charity to support this year and chose National Star.

Cotswold District Council is launching its new online crowdfunding platform next week to give residents the chance to seek financial support for their ideas to improve local places.
The new platform ‘Crowdfund Cotswold’ launches on 22 February. In partnership with the UK’s leading civic crowdfunding platform Spacehive, the Council is holding a virtual launch event for anyone with ideas about how to improve their communities.

This summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo, which was due to take place at RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire on July 16-18, has been cancelled by organisers, the RAF Charitable Trust
Enterprises (RAFCTE).
RAFCTE directors concluded that the ongoing uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 meant there were too many risks associated with pressing ahead with the airshow. It is the second year running the event has been unable to take place.

There’s an old-fashioned adage for most situations – and one which could be used in connection with coronavirus is that clouds sometimes do have silver linings. In this case it’s been the resurgence of home-cooking and baking which has been inspired by the lockdowns.

As Valentine’s Day comes around, it’s natural to feel a little lovestruck – and this Cupid figurine certainly caught the eye of archaeologists working for Highways England.
The almost 2,000-year-old figurine depicting Cupid, the Roman God of love was discovered in Gloucestershire along with a bow-shaped brooch, and a Roman or early Saxon skeleton.

Cotswolds-based bakery and tearooms, Huffkins, has launched a new initiative to help keep children entertained at home during lockdown. #HuffkinsAtHome offers a range of free printable activity sheets aimed at children aged 3-11 years.
For younger children, including those of pre-school age, a range of colouring-in and spot the difference sheets are available. Each colouring-in sheet also includes additional activities of varying difficulty and effort, such as spelling, writing and maths tasks, suitable for primary school aged children.

Cotswold District Council is launching an exciting new online crowdfunding platform that enables residents to raise money to improve their neighbourhoods.
Working in partnership with the UK’s leading civic crowdfunding platform Spacehive, ‘Crowdfund Cotswold’ aims to give residents with ideas to enhance local places the opportunity to seek financial support.

Residents in Siddington are being warned to prepare for flooding as the River Churn has risen following heavy rainfall overnight.
Those in Cirencester, South Cerney and Cerney Wick also continue to be on high alert with flood warnings issued.

Join The Door’s 3 directors at 8pm on Tuesday 22nd December for the Stroud-based charity’s final virtual quiz night of 2020 – full of the festive themed questions we all love (or love to hate!)

For the seventh year running a Cotswold family is making their home shine bright this Christmas with a beautiful light display dedicated to a much-loved wife, mother and grandmother, Sandra Wearing.
The dazzling display in South Cerney, near Cirencester, is put together by Kelvin Wearing, with the help of his family, to raise funds for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice who cared for Sandra.

Swell C of E Primary School gained headlines across the UK, India, France, Brazil and Portugal after launching its Swell Christmas Raffle in November, but is now appealing to the local community to buy tickets before the draw on 16th December.
The raffle, which offers a signed Fender guitar from Coldplay as its coveted prize, has sold 6,000 tickets to date, but the school is hoping to sell all 20,000 tickets on offer to really kick start its fundraising campaign to raise money to build an extension and replacement toilet block, originally added to the small village school in the 1960s.