On this week: July 21 – 27, 2005 in Burnham Market, Downham Market, Heacham, King’s Lynn, North Creake, Ringstead, Snettisham, Stanhoe and Terrington St Clement

On this week: July 21 – 27, 2005…

The launch by the Lynn News of its £60,000 Helipad Appeal has been a great success, with generous readers raising £1,510 in the very first week. With another £600 raised through traders and advertising at the Lynn News Motor Show it means we have now banked £2,110. With the cash we will build an illuminated helipad which will allow the East Anglian Air Ambulance to land at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital at night. Among the forthcoming fundraising events are a fish and chip supper at Premier Racquets and Fitness in Ringstead, an open garden day by Charles Adlam at his home in Greenwich Close, Downham, and a bingo night at Stanhoe Sports and Social Club.

North Lynn Community Centre has been presented with the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of the outstanding achievements of its volunteers. The award was presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Richard Jewson, in Norwich in the presence of dignitaries from across the county. The unique award-winning centre is a multi-use building, which serves as a base for local and town voluntary groups such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, the Forward Day Centre and Victim Support.

A school council’s suggestion to improve play facilities has led to parents and friends of Burnham Market Primary School raising £6,000 in only three years. The council said there was a lack of play facilities for younger pupils because an existing adventure play area was only suitable for older children. So, the idea for a second adventure play area was taken up and the equipment is now in place, much to the delight of the children. The cash was raised entirely by the school’s parent-teacher association and friends in the village.

Dozens of young families have said a sad farewell to Downham Community Area Playbus, which has made its last journey. The service has now ended – in part following the termination of a funding agreement by Norfolk County Council Social Services – and to mark the closure all the past and current families and anyone involved in running the mobile pre-school facility over the last 15 years, were invited to a party at Howdale Community Centre in Downham. Baroness Gillian Shephard, who had been Patron of the Downham Playbus since its inception, sent a letter expressing sadness at its end, while also congratulating all those who had been involved in enriching the lives of so many local children.

Beach-goers are being urged to continue making their way to holiday hotspots on Heacham and Snettisham beaches once their £4.5 million revamp gets underway. Plans to top the beaches up with around half-a-million tons of sand and gravel have attracted criticism, but an Environment Agency official has said that while there will be some disruption the most popular areas will be avoided during the summer holidays. It is hoped all work will be finished by November.

We live in one of the safest counties in the country, and crime is on the decrease – according to new figures which showed a 4.6 per cent drop in overall recorded crime in Norfolk. Figures from the latest British Crime Survey (BCS) covering crimes from April 2004 to March 31 this year, show that home burglaries in Norfolk have dropped by nearly a third (30.3 per cent) compared to only 20 per cent nationally. There have also been substantial falls in vehicle crime and robberies.

The buried secrets at Terrington St Clement have been revealed, thanks to the help of an expert from Channel 4’s Time Team programme. Carenza Lewis, a presenter from the archaeological series, visited the Marshland village to dig some mini test sites, assisted by villagers and local schoolchildren. Ms Lewis hailed the dig a great success, as many treasures were unearthed including the floor of a medieval building to the west of the church. Pottery including Anglo Saxon and medieval jugs and bowls were also found.

Illegal ravers converged on an area near North Creake over the weekend for a massive outdoor party. Up to 500 people are believed to have driven to the event late on Saturday night and when police went to the site in the early hours of Sunday morning, they found an “extensive” sound system set up at Coxford Abbey Quarry. Around 40 officers were called in to break up the party, arresting three men and confiscating a large quantity of electrical equipment brought to the rave site by party-goers.