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News

Star search is on for Shrewsbury Town’s fan of the season

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15th March 2019

- News

Heads up, Shrewsbury fans – it’s time to nominate your Town Fan of the Season!
 
It’s been an up and down campaign for Town but they have been followed far and wide in League One again this season by their loyal supporters.
 
And there is no forgetting the storming FA Cup run to a fourth-round replay at Premier League Wolves – where 3,000-plus Salopians packed into Molineux.
 
Sam Ricketts’ men are aiming to pull up and away from relegation trouble between now and the end of the season and hope to continue their recent run of improved form.
 
Here at the Shropshire Star, we’re looking to find a supporter who has gone to extreme levels to support Town as we give out our second Shrewsbury Town Fan of the Season award.
 
We’re looking to honour a Shrews fanatic at this season’s End of Season Awards, which will take place at Montgomery Waters Meadow around the end of the season
 
Last year’s winner Rosemarie Cliffe who, at the age of 80, had been watching Town since 1953, was recognised on stage with the management and first-team staff in attendance.
 
Our winner will receive a special prize and have their story told in front of fellow supporters and Town’s first-team squad at the glittering annual ceremony.
 
Entries are now open and all you need to do is contact us in writing via the Sports Editor, Shropshire Star, Ketley, Telford, TF1 5HU with your nomination and reasons.
 
You can also nominate online at www.shropshirestar.com, via email at sportsdesk@shropshirestar.co.uk or contact us via Twitter and our Facebook page.
 
Supporters can nominate themselves or someone else, whether it be a friend, colleague or family member.
 
Please include your name, address and telephone number with your suggestion and their contact details, explaining why you think they deserve the award.
 
Young or old, there is no age limit for entries.
 
Nominations must reach us by Monday, April 1 and nominees must be free to attend Shrewsbury Town’s End of Season Awards.
 
The prize is two VIP places on the Shropshire Star table that night, as well as a memento to be presented on stage.
 
So get those entries in to reward that one fan whose passion and dedication for the club deserves to be recognised.
 
The Sports Editor’s decision is final.
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News

Picture archive has been labour of love for MNA and partners

By on

7th March 2019

- News

From late relatives to lost landmarks, Black Country residents have been enjoying a trip back in time using the Express & Star Photo Archive.
 
The project, a partnership between the Express & Star, the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton City Archives and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has seen thousands of people view images online dating from 1970s to 1990.
 
The 3,000 images published on the website as part of the £60,000 National Lottery project include photos taken during steel industry operations and during the final years of the mining industry.
 
An archivist, representative from the University of Wolverhampton, project volunteer and a former Express & Star photographer were invited to Queen Street to look at the physical archive and be interviewed by the BBC.
 
Scott Knight, from the University of Wolverhampton, said talks began about the project 10 years ago, and after hundreds of hours of work from volunteers the website went live this week.
 
He said: “Now we’re set up to do more, it’s just trying to get funding.
 
“There’s 800 Second World War pictures which we could do for as little as £1 per photo.
 
“It’s absolutely vitally important for local people to be able to see these pictures.
 
“There are changes in architecture, the industry, the landscape, it has all changed so much.
 
“The page views on the website and the response on social media has been fantastic. We put up a photo of six Payton brothers from Wolverhampton who had been to war and some distant family members responded.”
 
Heidi McIntosh, senior archivist at Wolverhampton City Archives, was also present, as were former Express & Star photographer Dave Bagnall, from Ironbridge and Sue Beardsmore from the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund.
 
Brian Lester, from Kingswinford, volunteered after retiring from his job as a teacher.
 
He said: “You’d look through and occasionally you’d see someone you know who was obviously a lot younger in the photographs.
 
“The interesting thing for me was the social history, how things have changed and how life has evolved.”
 
Chris Leggett, marketing and communications director at MNA Media, said the Express & Star was contacted by a relative of a man in a photo posted on social media.
 
He said: “Someone contacted us and said the man in the picture was their late father and they said they hadn’t got many pictures of him and asked for a copy – it really meant something to them.”
 
 
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News

Express & Star photo archive makes the headlines on TV news

By on

7th March 2019

- News

The historic digital photos from the Express & Star photo archive made the news when they appeared on the BBC evening regional news on Wednesday.

The project, a partnership between the Express & Star, the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton City Archives and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, was the subject of a four-minute feature on Midlands Today.
 
Watch the video on Facebook: click here
 
The project has seen thousands of people view images online dating from the 1970s to the mid 1990s after the website went live on Monday March 4. 
 
The 3,000 images published on the website as part of the £60,000 National Lottery project include photos taken during steel industry operations and during the final years of the mining industry.
 
An archivist, representative from the University of Wolverhampton, project volunteer and a former Express & Star photographer were invited to Queen Street to look at the physical archive and be interviewed by the BBC.
 
Reporter Joanne Writtle, herself a former Express & Star journalist from the 1990s, visited to look around the archive.

She interviewed former snapper Dave Bagnall, who gave his memories of some of the images featured in the collection, along with MNA director of marketing and communications Chris Leggett, who led the project committee.
 
The BBC also interviewed city archivist Heidi McIntosh, who picked out her favourite images of people at work across the region.
 
Volunteer Brian Lester, who was among a group of helpers who gave the equivalent of 260 working days to sift the shelves, was also featured.
 
And there was a twist in the tail as Midlands Today host Nick Owen surprised co-presenter Shefali Oza with Express & Star archive images of her arrival as a TV weather girl in 1994.
 
Shefali got her own back by presenting Express & Star archive photos of Nick, dating back to his early days as a television sports presenter.
 
As a result of the appearance, viewers rushed to the website after seeing it on the TV news.
 
The number of page impressions generated by users leapt from 450 per hour during the day to 3,000 per hour between 6pm and 8pm.
 
Chris Leggett said: “The photo archive has captured people’s imagination since the website went live on Monday so it was fantastic for the BBC to report on the historic images in such detail.
 
“We can already see in the web analytics that people responded by immediately going online to see the photos for themselves.
 
“Given that the project was funded by a Lottery contribution, it was pleasing to see the public want to know more about their history by viewing images of the region’s past for free online.”
 
The TV appearance was the second time the photo archive has appeared on regional BBC this week. BBC WM 95.8 hosts Sam and Daz discussed the photo heritage on the breakfast show on Monday.
 
The project partnership was set up back in 2008 by the Express & Star with the University of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton City Archives to ensure the printed photos taken throughout the 20th Century were made available to the public via an online platform.
 
Development funding of £59,800 was initially awarded to the partnership in 2014, which includes Black Country community group representatives, to progress their plans. 
 
The Express & Star photo archive has been described as one of the most important regional photograph collections in the country, as it includes photographs of royal visits and speeches by Prime Ministers, through to images of local ways of everyday life which have been replaced in the modern world.
 
The industrial images were selected after a survey of 750 local respondents by heritage development consultants Tricolor Associates showed the subjects the public wanted to see prioritised were industrial history, the War years and the changing local landscape.
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News

E&S Wolves Podcast live: Steve Bull and Andy Thompson to appear

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13th February 2019

- News

Wolves legends Steve Bull and Andy Thompson will be joining the boys for the next LIVE version of the E&S Wolves Podcast. 

Tim Spiers and Nathan Judah are taking the poddy back on the road for their latest live and uncut special, which takes place at The Pavilion club (formerly Goodyear Pavilion) on Stafford Road next month.

Bully and Thommo – as you’ve never seen them before – will join the lads on stage and get in the poddy spirit and its usual cutting edge banter, before taking questions from the crowd and sharing stories from their combined 1,012 appearances in gold and black.

The podcast will be bigger and better than before, starting at 7pm and finishing at 9.45pm.

Tickets are on sale for £10 – book now to avoid missing out.
Buy Wolves podcast LIVE tickets here

Wolves Podcast LIVE Itinerary
6.15pm – Doors open (full bar available)

7pm – Wolves podcast live – Part 1

8.15pm – Interval

8.45pm – Wolves podcast live – Part 2

9.45pm-11pm – Have a post-poddy drink and a chat with the lads

Don’t delay, book your tickets now (which include free parking) to avoid disappointment.

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News

‘Thorough’ review values quality journalism – MNA editor-in-chief

By on

13th February 2019

- News

A wide-ranging review of the future sustainability of quality journalism has been welcomed by the news industry.

The News Media Association, representing national, regional and local news organisations, said it wanted to work with ministers to take forward the recommendations of the Cairncross Review as a “matter of urgency”.

“This is a thoughtful report which recognises the critical role of written journalism to democracy and sets out a series of detailed recommendations, many of which respond directly to the proposals put forward by the NMA and our members,” the association said in a statement.

“These include a Competition and Markets Authority market study into the ‘complex and opaque’ online advertising market, new measures aimed at constraining the behaviour of the online platforms, an examination of the BBC’s impact on commercial publishers, funding support for local news publishers, and tax reliefs such as extending VAT zero rating for online news publications.”

The Society of Editors (SoE) welcomed the review’s support for the reporting of local democracy – including the expansion of the BBC local news partnerships – but executive director Ian Murray said it was essential the press remained free from political interference.

Martin Wright, editor-in-chief of the Midland News Association, which publishes the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, said: “This is a thorough report on the newspaper industry and I welcome the fact that it recognises the importance of high quality local journalism to democracy.

“We are keen to see how the government plans to take forward the recommendations contained within the report and to understand how these will support sustainable local journalism in future.”
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News

Popular Shropshire Star newsagent scoops national retail prize

By on

13th February 2019

- News

One of the MNA’s partner newsagents from a small Mid Wales community has scooped a national award for making a positive contribution to local life.

Woosnam & Davies, which serves a population of 2,900 people in Llanidloes, won the community champion award at the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) centenary ceremony on Tuesday Night.

Trudy Davies collected her prize from esteemed newscaster Sir Trevor McDonald, who hosted the awards at a London hotel to mark the NFRN passing the 100 year mark.

In their citation, the NFRN said Trudy was “a legend in the Llanidloes community”.

Trudy, who had travelled down with family to attend, posted her reaction on Twitter. “Well I never expected that. Fab night,” she said.

She was joined on stage by her mum Barbara as she collected her award from Neil Jagger of sponsor Reach.

MNA newspaper sales manager Andy Maxwell was among a company group who attended the event along with head of circulation Rob Kelly.

Andy said: “We were delighted to see one of our longstanding newsagents honoured at such a prestigious national event.

“Woosnam & Davies have been an agent for us for many years, selling the Shropshire Star and Mid Wales Journal.

“The staff there are always enthusiastic about stocking our titles. As it was the centenary of the federation, they were fitting winners for the award.”

In total 12 awards were presented to those who had made an exceptional contribution to independent retailing.

Founded in 1919, the NFRN is one of Europe’s largest retail trade associations with over 15,000 independent retailers in membership across the UK and Ireland.

The NFRN says its aim is “to help the independent retailer compete more effectively in today’s highly competitive market by providing practical help and assistance, commercial support, deals and buying opportunities, training, expertise and services”.

The NFRN also actively represents its members’ interests at governmental and parliamentary level and within the news and magazine industry.

Membership includes newsagents, convenience stores, post offices, confectioners, florists and petrol forecourts.

For more information visit the NFRN website. Photo from NFRN awards website
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News

Getting an insight into virtual reality through MNA STEM Challenge

By on

8th February 2019

- News

Teachers and business mentors were given plenty of food for thought during masterclasses in virtual reality and 3D drawing as part of the MNA STEM Challenge.

They visited Dudley College of Technology and were shown demonstrations by tutors as well as trying out the equipment themselves.

The event was organised for teachers and mentors who are supporting school pupils competing in this year’s challenge which has been launched by the MNA, publisher of the Express & Star, to promote the importance of the key science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

Together they will work to design and manufacture a product that has a positive benefit for an individual/group and the environment, or just the environment.

The teams of six pupils will then need to demonstrate their product as a working model at a presentation on July 11 at Dudley College – the challenge’s main sponsor.

Teachers from the Black Country and Staffordshire schools, along with their partnered mentors, were invited to have a tour around the facilities at Dudley College.

They enjoyed a range of sessions including the chance to try out virtual reality headsets and discover more about the technology being used in the construction industry.

The teachers and partner mentors also tried their hand at virtual welding equipment, which allows students to hone their skills in a safe environment. The visitors were also given demonstrations using 3D CAD (computer aided design), robotics and automation, and electrical installation.

Among the schools taking part is St Peter’s Collegiate School, in Compton Park, which has been partnered with Made in the Midlands.

Teacher Matthew Buck said: “The STEM Challenge is very interesting. It is important to give them this kind of challenge early on as it keeps them motivated and helps them see the relevance of what we are teaching them in their key stage four studies.”

Richard Hobbs, from Made in the Midlands, said: “The event has been a really fascinating insight and the facilities here at Dudley College are incredibly impressive. You can really see how they progress students so quickly here.”

Brendan Oakley, who works at AM Griffiths & Son, in Wolverhampton, is a mentor for Pegasus Academy, in Dudley.

He said: “This visit has been really enlightening. It is amazing to see how the technology has changed since I was at school. It just shows how far the industry is changing.”
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