Collaborative Connections Across Rotherham’s Historic Sites

Rotherham Museums, Arts and Heritage has secured funding from Historic England to empower communities to reconnect with three of our five heritage sites including Keppel’s Column in Thorpe Hesley, Catcliffe Cone in Catcliffe and Waterloo Kiln in Swinton. The programme runs until December 2020 marking the first time in recent years that these heritage sites have collectively had investment towards bringing them back into regular community use.

Through the project we will bring together communities, artists, and heritage experts to co-produce three exciting and innovative programmes of engagement. The programme will increase awareness, accessibility, and appreciation of these three unique heritage sites. It will also enable us to create new stories of our shared heritage, ensuring that our historic sites belong to all sections of the community.

As well as reconnecting communities with their heritage, the funding will also enable us to explore new sustainable management models for these sites, from Friends Groups to Heritage Wardens, ensuring that local residents play a key role in the future development, management and care of these historic pillars of community life.

If you would like to be involved in the project, please contact Christine Evans at Rotherham Museums, Arts and Heritage by emailing Christine.Evans@Rotherham.gov.uk. You can also find out more by following Clifton Park and Museum on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Libraries 'Order and Collect' service

A new ‘Order and Collect’ service is now available at Brinsworth library.

If you are interested in a particular author or book you can look at the online Library Catalogue to see if the book or books are on the shelf in the library, and then fill out the online form to make a request to order them for collection from that site.

Library staff will then agree a date and time for you to come to the library to pick up the books. This will help manage queues safely and efficiently and in line with social distancing.

Order and collect from Brinsworth Library here

The Order and Collect service is also available at Aston, Dinnington, Greasbrough, Maltby, Riverside House, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Thorpe Hesley, Wath and Wickersley Libraries.

There are also lots of fun activities for all the family on Rotherham Libraries Facebook page. And if you are not a library member it is easy to sign up online. 

Is your garden blooming lovely?

The Rotherham Council annual garden competition rewards Rotherham residents who make a real difference in their neighbourhoods by taking pride in their gardens.

The competition has previously only been open to council tenants but this year we are welcoming entries from both council and non-council tenants meaning any Rotherham resident can apply.

This year, we have the usual favourites as well as new categories which you can enter. Each of the adult categories will have two winners, one council and one non-council tenant each winning a £100 garden centre voucher, with two runners-up in each category who will each receive a £50 garden centre voucher.

The Children’s Container Garden category is open to all children in the borough and will have just one first place prize (£100 garden centre voucher) and one runner-up prize (£50 garden centre voucher).

To enter the competition simply upload three photos of your garden (one must feature the gardener), along with a few (up to 100) words about what your garden means to you to.

Enter the garden competition here. The closing date for entries is Monday 31 August, and winners will be announced in September. 

Do you know what Nitrous Oxide is?

Please familiarise yourself with these canisters in case you find them in your child’s possession.

You may have seen these canisters littering the streets or green spaces. They contain a gas called Nitrous Oxide, commonly used, and easily purchased on- line for the catering industry as pressurised whipped cream chargers.

Nitrous Oxide gas is also used by highly trained medical staff as a sedative and anaesthetic.  It is a colourless gas that when inhaled can make people feel euphoric and relaxed. It is now being used as a drug, usually inhaled through a balloon, and commonly know as ‘laughing gas’

Due to the relatively low cost it is financially accessible to young adults and youths under 18 years of age and is becoming a popular drug with risks attached.

There are many side effects ranging from severe headaches, dizziness, acting carelessly, intense paranoia, becoming unconscious and suffocation resulting in death.

There are further details on nitrous oxide here, or you can visit Talk to Frank, a drug information and support website which can give you further information and support if you are worried about a family member

#MYTOWN consultation

The government is investing up to £25 million in 101 places across the country, one of which could be Rotherham, and we want local people to decide how the money could be spent. 

You can submit your ideas for how to improve skills and transport, create new jobs and regenerate your local community.

Take part in the #MYTOWN consultation