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Students from Japan had a taste of Derbyshire life, school lessons and culture during a recent twinning visit to the county.
 The 28 youngsters, one from each of Toyota City’s secondary schools, are 14 to 15 years old and their visit was the latest in the cultural exchanges between Derbyshire and Toyota City as part of their twinning agreement which started back in 1998 and which we lead.
This is an annual exchange but the first time in over a decade that the visitors have stayed with local families for the week. The host families were in Belper and Wirksworth. The students attended Belper School and Anthony Gell School and had trips to Derbyshire landmarks.
Twenty thousand trees have been planted thanks to people who live in Derbyshire. Can you help reach our target to support the planting of a million trees across the county by 2030?
We’re getting closer and the totaliser has just ticked over to 558,496. While many of these have been planted by large organisations, we have you – Derbyshire residents – to thank for more than 20,000 of them.
And as we enter the main tree planting season it’s a great time to get out there, plant a tree or two and do your bit for nature. Maybe get the kids or grandkids involved? Then add your trees to the online map where you can also give the reason for planting your tree – perhaps to mark special times like the arrival of a new family member, moving to a new home or in memory of a loved one.
If you’ve planted a tree anywhere in Derbyshire since June 2021 it can be counted towards the million trees target.
We’re also looking for landowners to plant trees on the eastern fringe of Derbyshire and in South Derbyshire. They can get financial support from Government for tree planting as part of Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest Trees planted within the community forest area can be counted towards the Million Trees target.
Local businesses and organisations can also get involved with the Million Trees campaign by sponsoring or contributing trees, planting on their property, staff volunteering and events.
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We're continuing to invest in improving services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
We’ve just started operating a new digital case management system to improve efficiency with children’s education, health and care plan (EHCP) assessments.
The system will also improve our communication with families, schools, health and other agencies involved in plan assessments.
The technology is part of a £1 million investment we’ve recently made in our SEND service, including a complete service redesign, new team set-up, additional staff and specialist training.
We've also invested £11 million to create 500 additional special needs school places across the county as part of our ongoing five-year plan. And we've remodelled other services within our schools and learning service to develop the inclusive capacity of mainstream schools.
Would you like to get involved in a day looking at ways of creating a more sustainable future for your town?
If so, this groundbreaking event may be right up your street. The "Town Anywhere" day of creativity helps explore how you’d like your town to look and feel in 2040.
And one is being hosted by Transition New Mills at New Mills Town Hall on Saturday 23 November.
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It's quite a coup for our county to get one as they are ‘hot off the press’, with only four having been held previously in Bristol, Hull (pictured right), London and Strasbourg.
Open to all Derbyshire residents and those from further afield, it’s free and looking to attract local people but also interested people, decision makers and environmental shakers from far and wide. While New Mills will be the focal town for the day, there will be ideas and inspiration to take away and take countywide.
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Work being carried out across Derbyshire to help people quit smoking and to reduce the harms it causes is the focus of this year’s annual report from our Director of Public Health.
If you own or run a business, you'll know how important it is to have a healthy workforce. And that includes mental as well as physical health.
But did you know that mental ill-health is a leading cause of sickness absence in the UK? Mental ill-health accounts for 12.7% of all sickness absence days each year.
Mental health in the workplace was the focus of this year’s World Mental Health Day (10 Oct) and to support it we’re highlighting the help we can give to workplaces.
We offer free mental health awareness training to increase the skills and confidence of Derbyshire organisations including staff and volunteers.
If you know a Derbyshire workplace that would like free health and wellbeing support, then the Healthy Workplaces Derbyshire team can help. They can arrange to carry out free health checks for workplaces, including blood pressure checks as well as taking measurements of cholesterol and glucose levels.
Find specific information around mental health in the workplace.
Find help and support on emotional and mental health.
Call Derbyshire Mental Health Support line telephone 0800 028 0077. It's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Have you taken part in our consultation on the future direction of the county council yet?
There's still lots of time for you to give your views on our new Council Plan before the consultation closes on Sunday 3 November.
The new Council Plan for 2025-29 is in draft form and our six-week consultation will give you, other Derbyshire residents, partners, employees and stakeholders the chance to give your views and help to shape the plan before it's finalised early next year.
Please take the time to read the draft plan supporting document and share your feedback.
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