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News Titles

Ex-MNA snapper’s exhibition captures life around cooling towers

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27th September 2019

- News Titles

As time ticks away before Ironbridge’s cooling towers are demolished, an exhibition showing pictures of the landmark through the years will be on display at a festival in the Gorge.
 
Organised by former Express & Star and Shropshire Star photographer Dave Bagnall, The Electric Landmark exhibition pulls together some remarkable images he has taken, demonstrating how this historic feature of the Gorge has left an imprint on the area for a generation. 
 
The free exhibition will be on display at Coalbrookdale Gallery from September 21 through to October 4 as part of the Festival of Imagination, a celebration of the Ironbridge Gorge past, present and future. 
 
Local people, community groups, visitors, artists and photographers have all been inspired by the towers since their construction in the 1960s – and now their inspiration can be seen in the form of unique pictures captured from various locations around the area. 
 
The towers and the Ironbridge Power Station are set to be demolished by the end of 2019, so the festival may be one of the last chances for people to see the landmark structures from the Gorge while they are still standing.
 
“My interest in the towers themselves started when I went up to the top of the final tower as it was being completed to take pictures for the Shropshire Star newspaper,” said Dave.
 
“I went up in a lift, and as you can imagine that was actually quite a hairy experience. 
 
“Over the years they have grown on me and I have photographed them an awful lot of times. They are a bit like hide and seek as you walk around the Gorge, one minute they’re there and the next they’re not. 
 
“Whether you love or hate the towers, there’s no denying they are a pretty weird thing to see in a green valley like this and the pictures I have taken show how they have been a backdrop for the Ironbridge Gorge for a whole generation of people, and as they’ll soon be gone now feels like a good time to pull this exhibition together.”
 
The Festival of Imagination launched at the weekend and runs until September 29 with a variety of activities taking place. 
 
From poetry, arts, crafts, music and film to futuristic virtual reality, coracles and world record breaking bridges, the Gorge will be a hive to fun and activities. 
 
The festival kicked off on Saturday evening with folk music and street food at the Maws Craft Centre. Also running for the length of the festival is an exhibition of the work of the Ironbridge Coracle Trust, including the plans for the new Coracle Centre at the Greenwood Centre. 
 
The Gorge’s retailers, tradesfolk, businesses, organisations and clubs will be breaking out on to the Wharfage and into the Square when they take over the road between 11am and 4pm on Saturday, September 21. 
 
Spearheaded by the Ironbridge Gorge Business Consortium the free day will show off and provide a family day of fun, activity, food and music for visitors. 
 
The event will include brewing, busking, puppetry, paella, supercars and street entertainment. 
 
Councillor Carolyn Healy, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for visitor economy & the world heritage said: “It’s taken a lot of planning to extend the World Heritage Festival across two weeks, but it will all be worth it. 
 
“This is going to be the perfect celebration of the Ironbridge Gorge’s story.
 
“It’s is a unique and remarkable place and it’s only right we do something like the Festival of Imagination to mark this.”
 
The Festival of Imagination is organised by Telford & Wrekin Council and Discover Shropshire & Telford.
 
To see a full list of events and to book please visit www.ironbridgefestival.co.uk
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Events

Express & Star launches search to honour community heroes

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26th September 2019

- Events

The Express & Star has called on readers to nominate the selfless stars of the local community for the first Express & Star Heroes Awards 2019.
 
Launched in print and online on Thursday, the awards are being sponsored by leading local companies and brands including McDonald’s, Marston’s, whg, Paycare and HomeServe.
 
Following on from the success of the Great Big Thank You awards, the Express & Star Heroes Awards 2019 will celebrate the unsung heroes of the community and shine a spotlight on the people and organisations that bind it together. 
 
The Express & Star wants to find individuals and groups from across the region who make a difference on a day to day basis to the people around them and to recognise their efforts. 
 
To find out more, go to heroes.expressandstar.co.uk
 
The launch supplement in Thursday’s edition included the following article: Do you know someone who is constantly putting others before themselves by going above and beyond to provide a helping hand?
 
Is there a volunteer who has clocked up decades of work in the community or a teacher or coach who goes the extra mile to inspire their pupils?
 
Are you aware of a good neighbour who has helped your area to improve and flourish against the odds or a health worker who is always looking to make their patients’ lives easier? 
 
We think it’s about time they receive the recognition they deserve.
The Express & Star Heroes Awards 2019 will celebrate the unsung heroes of our community and shine a spotlight on the people and organisations that bind it together. 
 
The Express & Star has teamed up with a number of key businesses to reward the heroes of the Black Country and South Staffordshire.
 
We want to find individuals and groups from across the region who make a difference on a day to day basis to the people around them, and to recognise their efforts. 
 
From the volunteers, to the young stars, from the helping hands, to sports men and women and for all those who step up when they are needed are encouraged to enter.
 
They may be members of your family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, someone you see regularly or someone who you have heard about and found their story inspirational. 
 
In order to keep the local community at the heart of the awards, we are asking you our readers to nominate potential winners via the newspaper and online now.
 
1. Amateur Power of Sport Award
Sponsored by McDonalds
This award will be made to an individual or team that is using sport to make a significant difference within their local community by helping people to overcome challenges they face on a day to day basis.
 
2. Ambassador of the year
Sponsored by Paycare
This award recognises the person who has done the most to promote their Black Country roots within their chosen charity, team or hobby and play a vital role within the community. 
 
3. Beyond the call of duty/ Emergency Services
Sponsored by HomeServe
This award is for 999 workers and members of the Armed Forces.
 
4. Carer of the year
Sponsored by McDonald’s
This award recognises someone who helps to support other people, a family member, friend or relative. 
 
5. Community Champion 
(Individual or Group)
Sponsored by HomeServe
This is an individual or group who has served, inspired or performed and have given something back to their community over the course of the year. 
 
6. Fundraiser/ Volunteer of the Year
Sponsored by Mander Centre
This award is for someone who regularly puts others before themselves; someone who is generous with their time to support an individual or group. 
 
7. Hero of the NHS
Sponsored by Paycare
This award is for people who work or volunteer within the NHS and make a difference to the lives of patients they care for.
 
8. Young Star
Sponsored by Mander Centre
This award celebrates the young person, aged 16 or under, who has gone above and beyond in achieving their goals in the past 12 months.
 
9. Special Recognition Award
Sponsored by whg
Chosen by Martin Wright, Express & Star Editor-in-Chief, this award will be given to an individual or group deserving special recognition within the local community. 
 
To find out more, go to heroes.expressandstar.co.uk
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Events

Shropshire Star winner among NHS heroes thanked in night of awards

By on

19th September 2019

- Events

It was smiles all round as the unsung heroes that work in Shropshire’s two acute hospitals were commended at an annual awards ceremony. 
 
A record number of people were nominated for this year’s Values in Practice (VIP) Awards, run by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. 
 
Founded to recognise and award the priceless helpers that work within the trust, dedicated teams and individuals were commended in a range of categories from the Rising Star of the Year, to the overall VIP Award winner.
 
Among the success on the night was Roger Turner, who was nominated by Shropshire Star readers to be the Volunteer of the Year – a category which received more than 1,000 votes.
 
Working in the Hamar Help & Support Centre in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Roger has created a number of videos to deliver to cancer patients prior to treatment. 
 
The 78-year-old said: “I feel amazed first and foremost. Having seen the nominations I was up against, I didn’t really think I stood a chance.
 
“But it is of course nice to be appreciated and, more to the point, I think this award isn’t really just for me. It’s for the whole team of people, the volunteers that agreed to appear in my videos for example, that helped make the videos become a reality.”
 
Roger was nominated by Bernadette Reidy, who works in the Lingen Davies Centre in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, just one of the areas Roger filmed for. 
 
She said: “Roger created a film on chemotherapy and when I asked him to do one for radiotherapy, he did three.
 
“When cancer patients come through they are often bombarded with information, but actually being able to see what they are about to go through and to be able to experience it first through the videos that Roger creates brings so many advantages to them and that’s why I thought he just had to be nominated for the Volunteer of the Year Award.”
 
Rachel Quartermaine was among the highly commended volunteers of the year for her tireless work in the neonatal unit, along with mother and daughter duo Jan and Anne-Marie Jones, who along with their canine friends Sacha, Lewis and Ziggy, provide patient therapy through their animals. 
 
From saving the life of a baby in a hospital car park, to live-streaming the funeral of an inpatient’s wife so they could attend, the night of celebration heard countless stories from SaTH members, resulting in nine awards being handed out.
 
SaTH’s Heart Assessment Team were awarded the Improvement of the Year Award, Emma Kay won the Rising Star of the Year Award, Charlotte Deakin came away with the Learner of the Year Award and Hannah O’Mahoney-Magee won the Inspirational Leader of the Year Award.
 
These winners were joined by Mary Beales who won the Behind the Scenes Award, the Dementia Team which won the Team of the Year Award, Nick Evans who won the Patient Experience Award and finally, the Critical Care Outreach Team which came home with the prestigious overall VIP Award.
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