Hereford Voice

In our series, we continue to focus on the very important work and training that Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service crews undergo on a regular basis. Last night firefighters from Leintwardine Fire Station were making the most of the nights getting lighter and last night's drill saw them creating a water relay system on the village green. "Pumping from open water to a dam and then from a dam to the main pump. A great drill to practice and utilise our learned skills and techniques" Thank you to the crews and to all our emergency services for the vital work and support they provide to the community. 📸 HWFRS

Earlier today our Friends of Castle Green announced that they have applied for planning permission to regenerate the historic Pavilion building. Whilst respecting its Georgian heritage, the plans submitted aim to create a modern, accessible space and iconic visitor attraction in the heart of Hereford. The revitalised building will provide cafe facilities and flexible community meeting space, as well as the opportunity to celebrate local arts and heritage and a revived home for the Hereford Youth Canoe Club (HYCC). The once forgotten Pavilion will become a new and much needed thriving and sustainable community hub, a defining visitor attraction in the city and a source of pride for residents. The project has been made possible thanks to a successful £22.4million funding bid for the City of Hereford via the Stronger Towns Fund. The Pavilion project is one of fourteen projects elected for funding and FoCG has submitted a planning application for a £1.56 million regeneration of this historic building on the banks of the River Wye. Our Hereford LIVE first HD camera is kindly hosted by our lovely friends at The Pavilion, Castle Green on this very building overlooking the river Wye and Victoria Bridge. LIVE CAMERA FEED 👉 https://bit.ly/VickyBridge Hopefully this will be approved without a hitch becuase we can't wait for this much needed update and modernisation of this fabulous historic building on the lovely Castle Green in Hereford

Significant investment will support continued improvements to Herefordshire Children’s Services Herefordshire Council Cabinet approved £11.49m funding at a meeting held on Thursday 31 March 2022, to support the ongoing improvements in Herefordshire Children’s Social Care Services. The funding will help to ensure the council’s Children’s Services are adequately resourced and can provide a more secure and resilient service to Herefordshire children and their families in the future. Corporate Director for Children and Young People, Darryl Freeman, said: “The £11.49m investment provides us with security to support our significant and lasting improvements to Herefordshire Children’s Services. “It means we will be able to offer our valued Social Workers a realistic workload, experienced managerial support and professional ways of working. It will help us to continue to build Herefordshire Children’s Social Care Services into a desirable place to come and work with a good work/life balance in a beautiful, family-friendly environment. “Previous funding has already led to increased stability of our workforce, reduced caseloads for some staff, increased levels of personal and case supervisions, and increased frequency of visits to children and young people and their families. This additional funding will allow us to make many more changes, more quickly to improve our social work practice to support the children and families in the county that are most in need.”

A Viking drama that unravelled a few years ago, has led the battle for cultural recovery in #Herefordshire as the county commits itself to improving its libraries and museums. The campaign to return the Herefordshire Hoard, an Anglo Saxon and Viking age treasure, buried around c.878 and discovered in Eye, near #Leominster, by detectorists in 2015, was launched with a Viking Fun Day at the Rowing Club on 10 April. The story of the hoard is an intriguing detective story which will be featured in Hereford’s refurbished Museum when the treasure finally returns to the county. By that time it is hoped that the current Museum and library will be a ‘world-class’ museum, sitting alongside jewels like Hereford Cathedral, the Mappa Mundi and the Chained Library. Gemma Davies, Coalition councillor has been championed the creation of the new Museum, and moving the Library to Maylord Orchard where it will sit alongside a Learning Resource Centre creating a community hub in the heart of Hereford. Speaking after the success of the Viking Fun Day, Gemma said: ‘It was absolutely packed when I got there ! Full of young people excited about history. I loved it and this is exactly what we will be able to do all the time in the new museum. We want to use our past to help enthuse a love of learning in our future.’ Leominster’s incoming mayor, Trish Marsh, said bold moves to save libraries and museums have saved Herefordshire’s culture. ‘‘When the Coalition was voted in during May 2019 elections the museum was about to be totally written out of the budget and the libraries were also on a steep downward trajectory. Now the position is entirely different and the redevelopment of the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery to create a new high quality visitor attraction has been approved – and funding is being found to develop our ideas into reality. This will only be good news for our heritage and cultural recovery and economy as we build on the incredible strengths and resources in the county.’ ‘We know that once the hoard is back, we will be able to feature some of its glory here in Leominster, not far from where it was buried all those years ago. It’s terribly exciting at a time when there seems to be so much bad news around.’ Gemma Davies said: ‘Herefordshire’s Delivery Plan for 2022-23 has committed itself to investment and improvement of libraries and museums as part of the county’s economic, cultural, environmental and family recovery plans.’ Davies said: ‘The Delivery Plan is ambitious, but we are realistic about the scale of the challenge - the loss of government funding, rising costs and changing demands means facing tough choices about where to focus resources. Our day to day services are crucial for residents to get on with their everyday lives, for businesses to thrive, and provide support to people at different stages of their lives. This delivery plan focuses on commitments beyond those day to day services to show how the council will continue improving life in life in Herefordshire.

West Mercia Police carried out vehicle checks site on the A49 at Moreton on Lugg in Herefordshire. Several defects identified including two overweight vehicles, one motorist with no insurance and two motorists with no licences. Two people arrested, one for drug drive and one for drink drive who blew 98! West Mercia Police (OPU Herefordshire)

The council’s achievements from the past year and upcoming priority areas of work are outlined in a new Delivery Plan 2022/23 Two years ago, the council set out its vision for Herefordshire in the County Plan 2020-24. How the council is progressing towards meeting these ambitions and its priorities for the coming year are outlined in a new Delivery Plan 2022/23, which has been agreed by Cabinet. The County Plan 2020-24 describes how the council will work to ensure a thriving county by building on the strengths of its people and places, particularly focused on the key areas of environment, community and economy. Key achievements over the past year have included: Boosting the support available to residents within their own communities through the opening of 46 talk community hubs and a talk community kitchen providing healthy meals; Supporting local businesses to grow and thrive with investment in new buildings such as the Shell Store business incubation centre, and helping hundreds of businesses access £46m of grant funding towards equipment, new premises and faster broadband. More than 1,000 independent retailers across the county benefitted from custom through the Shop Local prepaid card scheme funded through covid recovery monies Encouraging people to get more active in how they live, with free swimming lessons for around 10,000 children and adults; and how they travel, with dozens of new e-bikes for hire in the City and over 60,000 free bus journeys at weekends – all helping to improve overall health and wellbeing. Priorities for the coming year outlined in the Delivery Plan focus on: Environment - reducing the amount of household waste generated in the county; investment in Hereford to improve public spaces and travel in the City, reducing the carbon footprint of the council and the county Community – investing in services to improve the health and wellbeing of children, development of affordable housing and council-owned care facilities, supporting the opening of further talk community hubs Economy – supporting business opportunity and growth, implementing developments plans for the towns and City including the redevelopment of Hereford library and museum, helping to secure better accessibility to broadband throughout the county Full details can be found in the Delivery Plan 2022/23 Cllr Liz Harvey, Cabinet member finance, corporate services and planning, said: “We are now half way through our delivery of the ambitions we outlined in our County Plan, and despite the past two years being the most challenging any of us have ever experienced so much has been achieved. “We set out clearly how we aimed to protect and enhance our environment, strengthen communities and support our economy. Over the past two years we have supported some of our most vulnerable residents and helped create more resilient communities, invested in business and growth, and offered opportunities for people of all ages to get more active – to name only a few of the ways our activities have benefitted everyone in our county. And all at a time when we were also responding to a pandemic. “We have taken great strides but there is still more to do. We are realistic about the scale of the challenge - rising costs and changing demands means facing tough choices about where to focus resources. This delivery plans sets out how over the coming year council services will enable residents to get on with their lives day-to-day and provide them with support when they need it, invest in services for children, encourage and assist business to thrive, and how we will work to protect and enhance the beautiful county we live in.”

Lidl are to hold a Public Meeting at Three Counties Hotel on Wednesday 11th May 12:00noon - 19:00 Further to our previous breaking news article here https://hfd.news/bgq regarding the Lidl supermarket planning application to demolish the Three Counties Hotel and change it into a supermarket and immediate backlash this has caused this meeting was inevitable. Lidl have also confirmed that they plan to have a dedicated website and we will advise once this becomes live. It is important that anyone with objections to this planning application, send in their individual letters (can be done on the Herefordshire Council planning portal) outlining their concerns and objections based on planning law ie, traffic, local disturbance, noise levels etc. You can also sign our Petition https://chng.it/bWYtFHb78S #HerefordVoice | #HerefordNews | #Hereford

Following on from our breaking news article a few weeks ago the application is finally on the council portal HERE

Leominster SNT along with colleagues from response/ dog unit conducted a successfully drug warrant today in Leominster town resulting in three arrests. This is now subject to a police investigation.

Herefordshire Council are launching an incentive scheme to encourage parents/guardians to ditch single-use nappies in favour of reusable varieties. The scheme launches today (4 April 2022). Changing to reusable nappies will not only help the environment, it will also help parents/guardians save up to £1,000 per child. This figure could be even more impressive if reusable nappies are handed down to siblings or sold on to other users. In short, making the switch to reusables is one of the easiest ways a family with young children can reduce their waste while saving themselves a considerable sum of money. According to WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) a child typically uses between 4,000 and 6,000 disposable nappies by the time they reach 2.5 years of age. That equates to a ton of waste going to landfill or incineration. That waste could be avoided if reusable nappies were used instead of disposables. Making the switch will create savings the council can use to help fund the scheme. Herefordshire Council are offering a limited number of £200 vouchers to parents/guardians to use at selected suppliers to purchase nappies, liners and nappy buckets. Its webpage provides links to the organisations at which the vouchers can be used. They sell reusable nappies and related products in a range of sizes, styles, colours and materials to suit your babies’ needs. All Herefordshire parents/guardians with a child aged 18 months or younger living with them are eligible for the voucher scheme. Applicants need their baby’s birth certificate or MAT B1 certificate when they apply. The scheme aligns with the council’s ambition for the county to ‘protect and enhance our environment and keep Herefordshire a great place to live’. To do that it has promised to ‘minimise waste and increase reuse, repair and recycling’. Councillor Gemma Davies, cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets, says: “It’s often said that simple ideas are among the best ones and this scheme is an excellent example of that. It’s a really great way for parents/guardians to save money in the long run as well as give our planet a breather by generating less waste. Herefordshire Council is committed to reducing waste in the county and, according to the NCT (National Childbirth Trust), ‘each year, parents/guardians throw away around three billion disposable nappies to landfill’. Herefordshire parents/guardians can play their part in reducing these astronomical waste figures. In doing so, they’ll be investing in a better environment for their own children and grandchildren.” Reusables have come a long way in recent years and now come in a wide variety of different designs, colours and fabrics to suit all needs. They are free of the chemicals found in some disposable types and soft natural fabrics are thought to be kinder to babies’ skin.

Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Paul Stevens, and Cllr Kath Hey visited the Three Elms Ukraine Donation Centre on 30th March, meeting Olga Tverdokhlib, who is coordinating much of the aid and volunteer effort in Hereford to support Ukrainian refugees. Olga Tverdokhlib, Hereford Mayor Cllr Paul Stevens and Cllr Kath Hey Herefordshire has shown a tremendous amount of support for Ukraine’s people following the Russian attacks. Olga has spearheaded this monumental effort, raising money and receiving donations, as well as seeing to the delivery of these supplies, setting up a Facebook page, and promoting the cause. It’s inspiring to see such dedicated determination in the face of such devastating events. Many tonnes of support aid recently left by the lorry load to Ukraine, and a video can be viewed on the ‘Hereford Help for Ukraine’ Facebook page. The Centre still urgently needs donations, including baby food, medication, sleeping bags, baby nappies, and long life foods. Visit their Facebook pagefor a full list of wanted items – These can be dropped off at Unit 37, 3Elms Trading Estate, Hereford. HR4 9PU, Monday to Friday between 9am and 7pm and Saturday to Sunday between 9am and 5pm. The Tourist Information Centre in Hereford Town Hall is also selling small items in support of Ukraine, provided by the Centre. These include ribbons, headbands, knitted hearts and more. Sales go directly to Ukrainian support. You can also donate here if you wish to support Ukrainian refugees: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hereford-citycouncil

Today marks 40 years since the start of the Falklands War. Spare a thought today for the brave 255 British service personnel that never came home and for those that still suffer. Let us always remember the heroic sacrifices made by our military heroes. #LestWeForget

The Midlands Air Ambulance arrived at the scene in Whitecross just after 09:00 and joined other emergency responders and ambulance crews. A spokesperson from the West Midlands Ambulance Service told Hereford Voice; 'West Midlands Ambulance Service were called to reports of a medical emergency on Marlowe Drive at 09:06 and sent two ambulances, a paramedic officer and the Midlands Air Ambulance from our Strensham base to the scene" "Upon arrival we discovered one male patient who was in a critical condition and already receiving medical attention from bystanders. Ambulance staff administered advanced life support but sadly, despite everyone’s best efforts, it became apparent nothing could be done to save the man and he was confirmed dead at the scene"

😂 We Gotcha !! 🤣 Sshh 🤫 Don't tell anyone, we need to see how many fall for this one!

New parking charges will come into force from tomorrow (Friday 1st April 2022) at the Old Market Shopping Centre in Hereford. We have created a table below showing the existing charges on the left and the new charges on the right. There are 606 parking spaces with 26 disabled and 18 parents and child spaces (height restriction of 2.25 metres for the car park).

WOW! Our latest LIVE HD Camera today reached 50,000 unique visitors and this camera only went live last month!! How is that for promoting Hereford!! The view overlooking the Old Bridge looking beautiful this morning. LIVE view captured at 07:50 today Check out the Panoramic views of The Old Bridge and River Wye in Hereford with our 24/7 LIVE Stream, hosted by our good friends at The Left Bank Village LIVE FEED https://hfd.news/i50 Hereford Voice are members of the Skyline network of high definition panoramic webcams scattered around the world with the sole goal of promoting tourism, art and culture! Web | www.herefordlive.uk Host | https://theleftbankvillage.co.uk Follow us to keep up to date with all the latest news and events in Herefordshire #HerefordVoice | #HerefordNews | #HerefordLIVE

Herefordshire Council’s museum service has launched a campaign to raise the funds necessary to ‘bring the hoard home to Herefordshire’. The Herefordshire Hoard is a very significant treasure that experts believe may have been buried by the Viking Great Army over 1100 years ago. Discovered in a field near Leominster, it includes three items of gold jewellery, a silver ingot and 29 silver coins, including a number of rare ‘two emperor’ coins. Organisers are applying to heritage and art funders, corporate bodies and other interested parties to help raise funding towards the £776,250 purchase price of the hoard. The aim is to raise most of the necessary funding through those professional bodies. If successful, the hoard could be given a permanent new home in the redeveloped, council-run Hereford Museum and Art Gallery*. More details on the hoard can be found at herefordshirehoard.org.uk. Hoard set to attract more visitors to Herefordshire The hoard has a truly significant heritage and cultural value and acquiring it would enhance the county’s heritage status and the museum’s collections, which are held in trust for the people of Herefordshire. As well as being of interest to the county’s residents, the hoard is expected to attract significant numbers of visitors from across Britain and beyond. This will help stimulate the visitor economy and benefit local businesses. This has been the experience of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, which houses the Staffordshire Hoard. Councillor Gemma Davies, cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets, says: “The Herefordshire Hoard is part of the county’s history. The fact that some of the coins from different kingdoms share designs and features actually changes our understanding of the relationship between Wessex and Mercia at the time. The hoard would be an invaluable asset for Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, for the county as a whole and for anyone with the slightest interest in history. I really look forward to seeing it where it belongs, in Herefordshire.” Jane Adams, chair of Herefordshire Museum Service Support Group (HMSSG), adds: “It’s really important that this collection is on public display where it was found. For example, bringing the Herefordshire Hoard home will mean that all schoolchildren studying the Anglo-Saxon and Viking period will be able to examine evidence from our local region.” Vikings to invade Hereford on Sunday 10 April! HMSSG also hopes to raise £70,000 from the public towards the purchase of the hoard. People will be able to give cash donations during an event held between 10.30-3.30pm on Sunday 10 April at Hereford Rowing Club. This free, fun family day will feature a Viking village as well as a range of activities to suit all ages. The rowing club will be serving hot and cold snacks and drinks as visitors enjoy a flavour of life during Viking times. Treasure hunters will be able to meet members of a metal detector club, who will offer advice on declaring valuable finds. Visitors will be invited to dress up in traditional Viking clothing and try their hand at everyday Viking crafts and enjoy displays of shield and combat skills. And experts will be on hand to explain the hoard and tell you about the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse invaders during the event. Judy Stevenson, team leader at Herefordshire Museum Services, says: “The stretch of River Wye alongside Hereford Rowing Club will provide a beautiful and appropriate backdrop to our Viking-themed family fun day. “In many ways, we’re very fortunate because Viking culture seems to be more popular than ever, thanks to series like Vikings Valhalla and The Last Kingdom on Netflix. They have helped renew interest in Anglo-Saxon history. Among activities to suit all ages, we also have real experts providing some surprising details of our Viking invaders. Many people know the Vikings caused mayhem in small towns and villages over 1000 years ago. But there is much more to them than that, as our experts will reveal. We also have replicas of the Herefordshire Hoard on display so people will be able to get a sense of how skilful people were over 1000 years ago. The hoard is a really beautiful and surprising treasure. “The event hopes to raise awareness of what life was like in 9th century England, before it was a united kingdom. We also hope those who can will make a small donation towards our campaign to bring the hoard home to Herefordshire.”

Friday 25th marked the official opening of the international Ferrous Festival of Artist Blacksmithing with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by the Right Worshipful, The Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Paul Stevens, accompanied by Cllr Sebastian Bowen, Chairman of Herefordshire Council. Ferrous 22 brings an abundance of exhibitions, talks and events to Hereford over 10 days, hosted in both established and pop-up spaces around the city centre. From international exhibitions, such as Sharing is Caring II, to live forging demonstrations, there is something for visitors of all ages. Now in its 3rd year, with previous festivals held in 2017 and 2019, Ferrous celebrates the craft of blacksmithing and Herefordshire’s own reputation for blacksmithing excellence. This popular festival welcomes visitors from near and far, through its offering of events and activities that allow everyone to discover the world of forged metal. “It gives me enormous pleasure and pride to declare the 3rd Ferrous Festival open. It is wonderful to see a world class event returning to Hereford and I encourage everyone to try to see it.” - Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Paul Stevens. The Ferrous team invite you to explore the various exhibitions, demonstrations, talks and workshops that are available both over the main weekend and throughout the full 10 days of the festival, including a free walking trail on the LoyalFree app, designed to connect visitors with nature, as they uncover the various permanent metalwork sculptures on display around Hereford. Ferrous Festival is produced in partnership with Hereford City Life and Hereford College of Arts.

A ten-day festival of artist blacksmithing begins on 25 March, bringing an array of exciting events to Hereford City Centre. Created in partnership with Hereford City Life and Hereford College of Arts, Ferrous Festival showcases cutting edge work and ideas, with international exhibitions hosted alongside popular attractions. Visitors are encouraged explore the city centre and discover the world of forged metal. Must-see festival highlights include: {Queer} + {Metals} This Craftspace exhibition is co-curated by Dauvit Alexander and Deirdre Figueiredo in collaboration with Rebekah Frank. It features artists including jeweller John Moore, jeweller and drag artist Fei He, knife maker Gilbert Hadden and metalsmith Theo Somerville-Scott, amongst others. Queer + Metals explores the multiplicity of queerness—whether as identity, lived experiences, thinking, cultures, aesthetic, influences, stories, place, and imagination—in relation to metalwork and metalsmithing. Planet of the Blacksmiths For the first time, Japanese photographer, Jun Ishikura’s photographs of blacksmiths in their forges around the world will been shown in the UK. Jun travelled to many different places to create the incredible collection of work on show and it is fascinating to see the similarities and the differences in the way that the blacksmithing community work in the many different countries represented in Jun’s photographs. Live Forging Forging at Ferrous has once again captured the imagination of visitors, with tickets for the popular Have a Go Forgingevent selling out in advance. Visitors can watch as experienced Hereford Anvils blacksmiths guide novice makers through forging their own tree support at the Live Forging tent in High Town or visit the Old Market Shopping Centre to see demonstrations at The Nowhere Forge, a mobile blacksmithing workshop run by Simon Bushell. Ferrous Festival will officially open tomorrow morning at 8:30am with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Paul Stevens. Live forging begins at 9:30am, with exhibitions opening between 10:00am and 11:00am. Learn more at www.ferrousfestival.co.uk

Herefordshire Council continues on its improvement path with planned major investment in Children’s Social Care Services. A recommendation to Cabinet, published today, requests a £11.49m investment to help ensure Children’s Social Care Services are adequately resourced and that we provide the foundations for a more secure and resilient service for the future. Chief Executive, Paul Walker said: Corporate Director for Children and Young People, Darryl Freeman said: Previous investment in Children’s Social Care Services has already led to increased stability of workforce, reduced caseloads for some staff, increased levels of personal and case supervisions, and increased frequency of visits to children and young people and their families. The additional £11.49m funding will allow for significant and lasting improvements to reduce caseloads for Social Workers, provide more frequent and better supervision and management of our social care staff, and allow us to make more changes, more quickly to improve our social work practice for children and families in Herefordshire. Funding for the investment is being allocated from the Resilience Reserves, which is a fund to address unexpected organisational costs and help support the organisation in a time of need. The total amount currently held in Resilience Reserves is £16.7m. Herefordshire Council Cabinet will consider the decision at its meeting on Thursday 31 March.

Humour | Our friend and local DJ Ian Davies posted this earlier and we thought it was hilarious and thought we would share it will our followers, certainly made us laugh! Ian Davies wrote - "Only in Hereford, photo taken 23rd March 2022"

A political row has broken out after plans to improve England’s most expensive piece of tarmac with tree planters was linked to council tax increases. Conservative Herefordshire councillor Ann-Marie Probert has slammed the proposals to install tree planters along Hereford’s City Link Road as ‘disgusting’, arguing that the money should be used for other purposes, including lowering council tax but Independent for Herefordshire's Cllr John Harrington said: ‘The City Link Road, which Coun Probert criticises, perhaps not realising was a Conservative led scheme, was badly designed and badly thought out and has cost £30 million for less than a mile of tarmac, with no segregated cycle path and a huge ugly central reservation.’ ‘We have managed to secure funding to put tree planters along the road that can be re-used when we are able to put in a proper tree planting system. This is not money raised through council tax, this is capital funding, raised and ring-fenced, that can only be used for this purpose - I know Ann-Marie is a relatively new councillor but she needs to get her basic facts right.’ The furore has been caused by calls from the Conservative councillor to ‘help residents first’. Defending the decision Coun Harrington said: ‘We have done exactly that. We have trebled the support for anyone who is struggling with council tax, but we cannot divert money from capital projects specifically for identified works, into revenue pots for running services. If Ann-Marie wants to help residents first then she should lobby her political masters in Westminster who have told councils they must ‘wash their own faces’ and ensure that services are funded by local taxes.’ ‘We've lost £100 million a year in revenue coming in when you compare 2022 to 2010 and both her Conservative MPs voted for those devastating cuts - has she expressed her disgust towards them? This is not our decision; this is Conservative Party policy. We know how hard increased cost of living will be for many and therefore set aside wide-ranging support for anyone struggling.’ Coun Harrington said that deadlines for spending £6 million budget, half of which was from a grant from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, for the city centre improvement scheme were looming. ‘I took the decision not to dig up High Town, as planned by the previous Conservative administration, because I couldn’t justify two years of disruption to traders as a building site moved around High Town simply to replace a surface, that needs minimal repair, with a complete excavation and relaying with several millions pounds worth of Chinese granite.’ Coun Harrington said he had instructed that some of the funds were diverted instead to make improvements to the Widemarsh pavements which ‘have long been overdue and which the Conservatives refused to address’. The funds also ensure the Cycle Contraflow proposals for St Owens Street go ahead and improve the street scene around Hereford. Tree planters were chosen as they could be moved for the May Fair in the City and would give planners time to consider where to plant the planned increase of trees in the ground. ‘This has nothing to do with council tax’ said Coun Harrington, adding: ‘every councillor should know that. This is about spending funds ring-fenced for specific jobs that are important to Hereford, have been identified as needing attention for many years, and will start the process of improving air quality and the aesthetics of the county’s important mother city.’

Test your detective skills as the game opens at Hereford Cathedral starting 21 April 2022. Exciting challenge for all ages To celebrate National Lottery Open Week, Hereford Cathedral is excited to announce the launch of its new Escape Room; an immersive clue-cracking and decoding game, hosted in the Old Chapel in the Cloisters. Get a team together and book a session to test your skills this Easter! It is 1890. You have been accused of embezzling money from the funds of the Vicars Choral. The police have been called and are on their way. You have been shut in the Old Chapel until the police arrive, and you have just one hour to work out who has committed the crime. If you can successfully convince your guard that you are innocent, you will be released before the police arrest you...Can you prove that you are innocent? Jess Stallwood, Events Officer, is very pleased to launch the Escape Room and welcome visitors in to try out the game; “this is such an exciting thing to introduce to our current events programme! We believe this is a unique offering and one which the team here at Hereford Cathedral can be proud to own.” The experience lasts one hour and is suitable for groups of up to six people. Each session costs £45. Booking is available on selected days throughout the year, so please keep an eye on the cathedral website for future dates across the year. The first sessions are available to book on Thursday 21 & Saturday 23 April. For more information, please visit https://www.herefordcathedral.org/.../escape-room-april2022. The Escape Room was developed as part of the Eastern Cloisters Project which was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other donors. The Eastern Cloisters Project was a major project to renovate the buildings of the College of Vicars Choral, built in 1475, which are home to many of the cathedral staff as well as housing offices. The project was completed in 2021, and has enabled this beautiful and tranquil area to be opened up to the public for events and activities by creating a more accessible space, improving the facilities throughout, and offering new reception rooms for hire.

1️⃣ Capooches is a Dog Outfitters, Specialising in Collars, Leads, Harnesses, Coats and a selection of Premium Healthy Foods & Natural Treats for your pups! Opening today in Capuchin Yard just off Church St in Hereford If you love Dogs you'll just adore Capooches Pop along and say hello to Hereford's latest Doggy Boutique. 2️⃣ Pear-Laine Lingerie are opening their exclusive lingerie store in Broad Street Hereford this morning. They have a huge selection of bra's including first bra, maternity, post surgery, mastectomy, special occasion and sport! They have also teamed up with a couple of breast cancer charities. Against Breast Cancer have even supplied a bin so you can donate your old bra’s to be recycled for charity when you come in for a nice good fitting new one. Hereford Voice wishing Anna Barnes and her family good luck 3️⃣ Wren Kitchens grand opening is also today! Wren Kitchens have now moved into the unit formally occupied by Harveys on the Newtown Road Retail Park (next to Curry's) Wren Kitchens is a privately owned British designer, manufacturer, and retailer of kitchens. It has over 106 stores nationwide, employing over 4,000 people throughout the UK. The majority of their kitchen components are manufactured in England. Hereford Store is the latest state-of-the-art showroom offering a huge selection of kitchens. Let us celebrate Hereford and all the good things that our wonderful city has to offer. Hereford Voice will also be announcing some exciting news soon! ❤️ Please share our positivity ❤️ 🔸Shop local and visit some of our fabulous local independent retailers including all those lovely shops, cafes and boutiques in The Independent Quarter and Hereford Butter Market 🔸Outdoor markets and events in the city centre are very popular and bring vibrancy, together with some unique products and produce from many independent traders. 🔸Take a walk along the River Wye and stroll over the Victoria Jubilee Bridge or just relax on the Castle Green. We love our city and county and we like to shout about it and promote everything POSITIVE. It's all too easy to moan but we are truly privileged to live in such a beautiful part of the World. Hereford Voice will continue with our efforts to promote local business and encourage people to visit Hereford and Herefordshire. Join us in our campaign and 'BE POSITIVE' about this fabulous city of ours. 'Positive Hereford' 'Embrace Hereford' Follow our latest hashtag #EmbraceHereford #HerefordVoice | #HerefordNews | #PositiveHereford