News from Derbyshire County Council – 29 August 2025

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Derbyshire Now, Derbyshire County Council

Talk trees at Chatsworth

If you’re at Chatsworth Country Fair this weekend we’d love to chat to you about all things trees and particularly our Heartwood Community Forest.

Chatsworth in Spring

We’re looking for more landowners to get involved in the project so why not pop by our stand to talk to us about the support we can offer to establish trees, hedgerows and woodland. There are generous government grants for 100% of the costs of planting, maintenance and more.

Heartwood is a new community forest being created along the eastern fringe of Derbyshire and throughout southern Derbyshire. It will bring nature closer to people, make communities, farms and businesses more attractive and increase nature and biodiversity.

We’d also love to talk to visitors about our Million Trees campaign which aims to plant more than a million trees across Derbyshire by 2030. See you there?

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Supporting young people

Young people with a learning disability and autism are being helped to gain greater independence thanks to a new residential service we’ve developed in partnership with Godfrey Care.

waverley

Waverley House offers bespoke accommodation for 18 to 25-year-olds who have high care and support needs, providing specialist care while enabling them to be part of their local community.

A former county council care home has been transformed into six self-contained living spaces to provide a safe, supportive environment where the young people can develop life skills necessary to thrive.

It also provides more local, high-quality living arrangements in Derbyshire that promote inclusion, independence and choice, reducing the need for young people to be placed outside the county.

And the young people and their families have been at the heart of the process, being actively involved in the design of the accommodation to meet their individual needs.

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Derbyshire prepared

If you were caught up in an emergency, would you be prepared?

national resilience emergency Derbyshire prepared

We’re joining forces with partners across Derbyshire to help you to think about steps you can take to be prepared in an emergency.

Part of Derbyshire Resilience Partnership – made up of emergency services, councils, health, utilities and the voluntary sector – we’re supporting the #30Days30WaysUK campaign.

It aims to highlight the ways that people can help themselves to deal with crisis situations, such as flooding, a fire or power cuts and includes simple steps to prepare such as:

  • knowing the risks and signing up to alerts for flooding or extreme weather
  • writing an emergency plan so all members of the family know how to stay safe
  • putting essentials in a bag in case you need to leave your home quickly
  • checking in on vulnerable or elderly neighbours
  • volunteering to support your community as a Derbyshire Emergency Volunteer.
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Join your local carer support group

carer support

Calling all carers – did you know that there are monthly support groups held across the county in person and online? 

The groups are a great opportunity for you to meet other carers and get support and advice.

They’re hosted by Derbyshire Carers Association which delivers a wide range of support services on our behalf, including online gardening, meditation and exercise classes, drop-ins and welfare and benefits advice.

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Know your numbers

Do you know your blood pressure numbers? One in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure.

know your numbers blood pressure

It’s Know your Numbers week from 8-14 September and our Live Life Better team will be out and about across the county offering free blood pressure checks in a town or village near you.

High blood pressure doesn’t have any obvious symptoms but is a major cause of heart attack and stroke, and can also lead to a number of serious long-term health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and kidney disease.

If you're over 40 you can get your blood pressure checked for free with an NHS Health Check at your GP, at most pharmacies and in some workplaces too. Or pop in to one of our Live Life Better blood pressure check sessions during Know your Numbers week. 

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