A MEETING will be held to discuss the future of Heanor Memorial Hospital after asbestos was discovered in parts of the building.

The hospital has been closed to patients since last year after the potentially deadly material was discovered in a boiler room during a routine inspection by staff in September.

It means clinics and services have been moved temporarily to Ilkeston Community Hospital.

Since then, bosses at the NHS Southern Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group said they have been trying to find the "best way forward" for the hospital.

At a meeting earlier this year, options discussed for its future included replacing it with a new £1.6 million building or refurbishing the current 89-year-old premises at a cost of £850,000.

Members of the public are invited to hear the latest on progress at the site at a meeting at St Lawrence's Church, in Church Street, Heanor, on Thursday, May 29, from 7pm until 8.30pm.

Andy Layzell, chief officer for the clinical commissioning group, said: "Patients and the public can continue to be assured that we remain committed to enhancing and developing health services in Heanor – and four pledges I outlined in January's meeting still stand true.

"Finding asbestos at the hospital, combined with the age of the building, means health services cannot be provided in the hospital building as it stands and we know from speaking with local groups and individuals that people now understand that to be the case.

"We look forward to welcoming everyone to the meeting, where we will provide an update on everything we have been doing since our last meeting in January."

Mr Layzell said that since January's meeting, blood testing and services had returned to Heanor and the group was also looking to bring outpatient clinics back to town.

He said: "I would like to stress that no decisions have been made at this stage."

A CHARITY football match in support of BBC Radio Derby presenter Colin Bloomfield, who is battling cancer, will be held tomorrow.

The game has been organised by Chaddesden resident Chris Webster.

The match will kick-off at 2.30pm at Borrowash Victoria AFC, in Borrowash Road, Spondon.

It will feature a Help for Heroes team and a side from Rolls-Royce, where Chris works as a machinist.

Face painting, a bouncy castle, psychic readings and stalls. Entry is free but donations will be welcome.

Proceeds will go towards Melanoma UK, as well as the Derbyshire Children's Hospital – where Chris' baby daughter received care after falling ill.

@jaq1979_jacqui Thankyou. Found out about brain mets on Fri and dad died on Tues. What a week! Still positive. Let's beat this together :-)

— Colin Bloomfield (@ColinBloomfield) May 16, 2014

Holly Booker, retail manager at RSPB Carsington Waters, talks about the wonders of wildflower meadows.

WONDERFUL wildflowers – healing in more ways that one!

How long is it since you visited a proper wildflower meadow, one that is alive with glorious colours and buzzing and fluttering with bees, butterflies and birds?

Meadows like these have become an increasingly rare sight – Britain has lost 95% over the last 50 years – but luckily we do still have some fantastic ones in and around Derbyshire.

The thing you notice first about a wildflower meadow is the plants.

In a long-established meadow, there can be over 30 different types of plant in one square metre.

The plants that grow in meadows support a wide variety of insect life which, in turn, supports the great numbers of birds that migrate to our country each year, as well as our resident ones.

Mice and voles scurry around in the thick vegetation, and you can sometimes hear them squeaking to each other as you walk along.

Kestrels and owls hunt for mice and voles, and foxes and buzzards are on the lookout for larger prey, such as rabbits, so these creatures all depend on the meadows for their survival.

The web of life is so interconnected and different creatures depend on one another for survival.

In days gone by, we humans, too, would have gone to the meadows to gather plants for their useful medicinal and practical benefits.

Wildflowers and herbs were gathered from the meadows and used in all sorts of potions, tinctures and compresses to relieve everything from stomach ache to consumption and toothache to liver complaints!

Did you know that the latex contained in dandelion sap can be used to treat warts, verrucas and freckles, and bluebell sap was once used to bind pages into books?

Water avens root can be made into a drink that tastes like chocolate and tormentil was once used to cure internal and external ailments, from the plague and cholera to infections of the skin.

There is another benefit to your health that comes from wildflower meadows and it is not anything to do with drying, boiling or extracting juice out of the plants.

It is simply to walk through them and enjoy them.

Visit Severn Trent's Carsington Water, near Ashbourne (01629 840696), Rose End Meadows, near Cromford, or Priestcliffe Lees, Miller's Dale (both Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, 01773 881188).

Or visit the RSPB shop at Carsington Water and purchase some wildflower seeds from our gardening range, then plant them in your garden and watch it come to life.

Tips on wildlife gardening can be found at www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/lawns/advanced. aspx.

AN EVENT celebrating Spondon is back, bigger and better than before, with thousands of people expected to attend.

Impressive plans for Spondon Day are now in place and locals are gearing up for the event on June 28.

It is being organised by the Spondon village rejuvenation team and the traders' association and will be partly funded by those groups.

Some of the main attractions include a Spondon's Got Talent competition and a real ale beer festival.

One of the organisers, Mark Davis, chairman of Spondon Traders' Association, cannot wait for the day.

He said: "Last year was a great event but we are even more excited for this year.

"One of the main aims is to show off the village to the hundreds of people who will be coming.

"With the Spondon's Got Talent competition we want to welcome as many local entertainers as possible to come along and have some fun.

"A lot of the funding will come from the organisers but we will also be holding a collection on the day.

"The generosity of Spondon people is fantastic and the money collected will go back into future events."

Andrew Ferling, owner of Spondon Post Office, is organising the talent show. The 48-year-old said: "We are appealing for as many people with different talents to come forward.

"The council has agreed to close Sitwell Street for us so we can put the stage up.

"We want to be bigger and bolder this year. There will be music throughout the day to keep the atmosphere going."

The three categories for the talent competition are for under-11s, under-16s, and an open category.

Spondon businesses including Bluebells Dairy and Spondon Cheesery will be showcasing their food at the festival.

Mr Davis said: "The whole point is to demonstrate how good a village we are and what we have to offer for people across the county."

Peter Sheffield, managing director at Spondon Cheesery, said: "It will be great to go to customers direct and give them a sample of our products.

"We always like to mix with our customers and meet them at these sort of events."

Spondon Community Association is offering a free pitch in the village hall for local clubs, societies and voluntary organisations to publicise what they do.

Children's face-painting is also being organised, along with a special currency on the day called the Spondon Buck, which gives people a 10% discount when they shop in some places on the day.

POLICE have been helping people to spruce up their shed security following a rise in the number of break-ins in Alvaston.

Officers headed out on the streets to hand out crime prevention kits to residents.

The security drive was jointly organised by Derby City Council's neighbourhood officer, Anjela Mapp, and saw the group visit more than 100 homes in Alvaston Street. Shed alarms, SmartWater kits and leaflets with crime prevention advice were handed out during the visits.

Sergeant Simon Hawley, who leads the policing team, said: "People living in the area had told us they were concerned about a recent rise in shed burglaries and we wanted to head out and speak to them about security.

"There are many simple steps people can take to protect their property and there are also items we can give to help them do that.

"We're also increasing patrols and want to hear from anyone who spots suspicious activity or wants to report a crime."

Call 101 if you have any information for the police.

With the World Cup in Brazil less then a month away, children are desperately trying to get their hands on trading cards and stickers. We speak to football fanatics and retailers in Derby about the trend.

FOOTY-mad brothers Clayton and Jacob Broughton are hooked on World Cup fever – and stickers.

The youngsters are among thousands of children and even adults who are busy collecting and swapping famous footballers in the hope of completing their 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup Panini sticker album.

So far, Clayton and Jacob, who play for Derwent Football Club, in Chaddesden, have collected hundreds of football stickers between them to gear up for the big competition, which begins on June 12.

And they have spent hours carefully fixing them into their albums.

After seeing the book on offer at her local supermarket, mum Jodie bought her two sons an album each.

Now, they cannot stop asking for more stickers in the hope of getting all 639 needed to complete their collection.

Jodie, 27, of Chaddesden, said: "Every time I go to the shop, the boys say 'can we have more stickers?'

"They really enjoy it. They talk to all of their friends about it, it gives them something to play with and chat about.

"They play football for Derwent FC and they are big Derby County fans – their whole lives revolve around football."

Clayton, nine, said: "My brother, Jacob, got three shiny stickers in one pack! We like looking at the stickers together and putting them in our books.

"The sticker I really want to get is Neymar Junior, who plays for Brazil, because he is one of my favourite players."

His brother Jacob, six, added: "The best part is sticking them in the book and then seeing which ones you still need."

Mum Justine Cooper, 38, of Chaddesden, has also been caught up in the latest craze.

Her son, Jay, nine, is also a big fan of the stickers and he said: "All my friends collect them, so that's why I do it.

"I really want to get Joe Hart. We like swapping them in the playground."

And for youngster Traidon Anthony, nine, he only has 89 stickers left to collect.

He added: "I really want to get the England flag because I want them to win the World Cup.

"I've got all of the stickers for Argentina, Chile and Germany."

FIFA World Cup stickers and Match Attax trading cards are the current trend in the world of toys – and it's evident children cannot get enough of them.

World Cup sticker collections, produced by Panini, have been going since 1970.

And with the 2014 World Cup set to be one of the biggest and most celebrated tournaments ever, the business is gearing up for one of the most successful football campaigns.

Jessica Tadmor, head of marketing at Panini, said: "There is a huge element of nostalgia supporting sticker and trading card collecting.

"Dad and lad collecting hype is definitely building and social media is rife with excitement about the collection.

"The sticker album also serves as a guide to the tournament, gets fans in the mood for the World Cup and has an educational value for children.

"Many footballers see it as an honour to be included in the Panini sticker album and football commentators have been known to commentate using their completed Panini sticker album as a guide."

Also flocking off the shelves in Derby are Match Attax trading cards, produced by Topps.

Every card features player star ratings and a range of statistics so that collectors can rank them according to power, skill, passing, shooting, speed and tackling, as well as attack and defence.

Match Attax collections include star player, stat-boosted Man of the Match cards and 100-club cards.

Fans can also collect team manager cards as well as referee cards.

Rod Pearson, marketing director at Topps Europe Ltd, said: "Trading cards such as Match Attax are popular, chiefly because they are part of everyone's childhood.

"Topps has been publishing collectible cards and stickers since the 1950s, so it's more than possible that three generations have all enjoyed collecting and finding those elusive missing cards and stickers.

"People also collect Match Attax trading cards and football stickers because of the satisfaction of finding their favourite card, or the one last sticker they need to finish their favourite team.

"Despite the digital era we live in today, kids still love something tangible that they can take into school to show off to their friends."

He said there were "always stand-out players who are more popular than others".

"Wayne Rooney has been a firm favourite with Match Attax collectors for the last few seasons but this season will see Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Sergio Aguero up there among the favourites," he added. "A lot of people think the more popular stickers are rarer and harder to find but each sticker is printed to the same equal number.

"What will happen is that more popular players in a local area won't be swapped, so there will be a shortage of that player in that area."

And such is the latest football craze, retailers in Derby are finding stickers and trading cards flying off the shelves.

A pack of FIFA World Cup stickers cost 50p and the special album costs £2.99.

Packets of 10 Match Attax cards are available for £1 each.

For super fans, collector tins – containing 50 cards including a limited edition card – are available for £5.99.

Graham Hancock, from Toy Planet at Intu Derby shopping centre, said: "Match Attax cards have the playability of Top Trumps and are great to collect.

"They can be played with and traded – they have dual purposes.

"When I was a kid I remember being determined to fill my football sticker album.

"The typical age range that buy the cards and stickers in store are seven-to-12-year-old boys but adults are buying them too, probably for the nostalgia of them.

"The nice thing about the cards is that very little has changed over the years. They are traditional and that is what people love about them."

Vikki Congiu, assistant manager at The Entertainer toy store in Intu Derby, said they were holding World Cup sticker swaps from May 24.

She added: "Sales are doing very well at the moment and we are expecting this to increase as it gets closer to the World Cup.

"Everybody gets behind England, whether they are football fans are not.

"The further they get in the competition, the better our sales will do."

THE Sunday Times Rich List today reveals that Derbyshire's wealthiest individual remains the Duke of Devonshire, with a fortune of £800 million.

The county's most successful business brains may well have amassed fortunes of several hundred million pounds but old money still holds sway.

The Duke's Chatsworth estate employs hundreds of people and attracts thousands of tourists from around the world.

Software entrepreneur Mel Morris is the latest local to join the upper echelons of the annual list, published this weekend.

Other Derbyshire-based businessmen mentioned among the top 20 wealthiest individuals in the East Midlands include John Kirkland, chairman of Heage-based construction firm Bowmer and Kirkland, and John Bloor, of Swadlincote-based Bloor Homes.

Mr Bloor, who also owns Triumph Motorcycles, is cited as the person who has made the biggest gains in the region during the past year.

The housebuilder has seen his wealth rise 43% from £525m to £750m.

Bloor Holdings, the parent company behind Bloor Homes and also the Triumph motorcycle business, rescued in 1984 after it had gone into receivership, is worth £725m.

In the last financial year, the Sunday Times reports that it made a profit of £35.5m.

The Sunday Times Rich List is described as the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland.

It has been published today as part of The Sunday Times Magazine.

Profiling the 1,000 richest individuals and families in the UK and the wealthiest 250 in Ireland, the list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.

ORGANISERS said this year's Derby Arts Festival was a huge success down to the "overwhelming talent" of participants.

But now, they are calling for more schools in the city to get involved.

Speech and Drama section secretary Sue Salaun said: "It has been a great success but we would love to see more local schools enter.

"The pupils get so much out of it and it is a fantastic experience.

"Pupils are very involved in other events, such as sporting activities, so why not speech and drama as well?"

The 106th Derby Arts Festival finished on Saturday.

Classes in a variety of sections – including vocal, instrumental, speech and drama, ballet and stage dancing – took place at venues across the city, including the Guildhall Theatre and Derby Cathedral. More than 1,200 entries were received for the festival, despite previous concerns over a lack of applications.

Sue added: "The talent was overwhelming. We were very impressed with the entries, especially considering how young some of the performers are.

"Everyone who took part can be justly proud of their performances and one of the adjudicators, Cally Foster, was positive and encouraging and gave excellent advice to help the performers improve further.

"Participating in the festival is a very worthwhile educational experience.

"Being able to speak to an audience with clarity and loudly, being able to interpret a character for an audience and entertain, to read with expression, and to be able to communicate effectively are skills for life and are well worth learning.

"It's also a very enjoyable experience to perform at the Guildhall in front of an appreciative audience and it was a great pleasure for the audience to watch.

"We're now looking forward to the 2015 festival – the 107th!"

Honorary secretary Barbara Doar said dates had been confirmed for next year's event and said she was "confident" entries would come in.

She said: "We get blips every so often.

"People left entering very late this year and hopefully people will enter earlier next time.

"This year's event went extremely well.

"We have had some superb performances, especially the senior piano recital classes.

"We had teenagers and youngsters who were competing among adults."

A lunchtime concert featuring performances from all the festival finalists will be held on June 27 at Derby Cathedral, from 1.10pm to 1.50pm.

The 2015 Derby Arts Festival is scheduled from April 17 to May 9.

SEVENTY walks form part of a "discovery" festival that is being hosted by Derwent Valley Mills.

The walks at the World Heritage Site started yesterday and will run until May 26.

They range from 200 yards around Belper Market Place to a 12-mile trek along the Ecclesbourne Way.

Most of the guided walks cost £3.

The proceeds will go towards the World Heritage Site – and its partner trusts and charities – to help fund future projects and festivals.

County councillor Ellie Wilcox said: "There will be walks to suit everyone and we hope as many people as possible will come along."

Tickets are available on the day or you can book to guarantee your place by calling 01629 536831 or e-mailing gwen.wilson@derbyshire. gov.uk.

A SPACIOUS building which will help teach youngsters at an African school will be called the Derby High Hall.

Students and staff at Derby High School raised more than £25,000 to help pay for the hall at the Woodard Langalanga Senior School in Kenya.

It is being built by the Kariandusi Trust, which was founded by Colonel Harry Vialou Clark, a retired Army officer, and his wife Alison.

Colonel Vialou Clark has e-mailed Derby High School with a progress update on the building work which he described as a "dream come true".

He said: "There remains just one major building to construct, which will be called the Derby High Hall.

"The name is to commemorate the extraordinary generosity of parents, children and supporters of Derby High School who have raised the major share for this central, biggest, essential and most imposing building in the whole school.

"The Derby High Hall is about 60% complete. By mid-September, the roof should be on and work inside will then start.

"It will then be ready for use as a dining hall, a chapel, theatre and assembly hall.

"It will also be used for table tennis competitions and for badminton.

"Derby High School's girls stitched a most impressive wall hanging which has been framed and will hang in the hall when the builders move out. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved in helping to make our dream come true."

Colonel Vialou Clark said that there were 360 pupils currently attending the school and he expected it to be full with 480 pupils by February.

Students and staff at Derby High, in Hillsway, Littleover, held dozens of fund-raising events to raise the cash.

These included primary school teacher Jane Swainston agreeing to be "gunge-d" after raising more than £500 by completing a series of madcap challenges, while pupils from the primary department collected more than £600 by taking part in a sponsored curiosity challenge.

Another fund-raiser involved each senior school student being asked to see if they could use their talents and entrepreneurial spirit to "grow" £2 into a larger sum of money.

An Arabian-themed night raised more money and artistic students put their talents to good use by selling their artwork, raising £543 for the appeal.

Head teacher Denise Gould said: "We are delighted that construction of the hall is well under way and we look forward to seeing the finished building which we hope will make a real difference to the children."