The event, which celebrates business success stories, was held at St Wulfram’s Church last night (Friday).
A Champagne reception, four-course dinner, awards presentation and disco were enjoyed by 350 people in the church, which had been transformed for the evening into a glittering venue fit for such a prestigious event.
Congratulations to all our winners and finalists – find out who won which award here.
** Pick up Friday’s Journal for a 24-page supplement featuring coverage from the event.

Thirteen Grantham Running Club members turned up at Harby for the Belvoir Clockback 10K on a grey and really quite chilly Sunday.

The course took in a variety of surfaces, including farm track, field edge, overgrown disused railway embankment, tarmac and – for one memorable 50-yard stretch – freshly ploughed field.

Fortunately, there had been little rain in the preceding days so footwear emerged relatively mud-free. As the race went on, the overcast skies were replaced by some glorious October sunshine which left some runners regretting adding an additional layer at the start.

First home for GRC was Stuart Reader in 45min 49sec. Achieving personal bests over the distance were Julie and Robert Braker, and Kirsty Truesdale.

The general view was that the race was well organised and marshalled and one to put on the calendar for next year. No medals, unfortunately, but there was a fine selection of homemade cake at the end.

Results: Stuart Reader 45.49, Stuart Baty 49.31, Julie Braker 50.06, Robert Braker 50.36, Kirsty Truesdale 58.16, Simon Hartley 59.46, Hayley Staff 61.55, Sue Swann 63.25, Nikki Carr 63.26, Berlinda Baker 66.51, Edina Burns 66.51, Yvette Taylor 70.32, Angela Wilson 81.20.

l The Leicester Marathon and Half Marathon took place two weeks ago and saw good conditions for running – overcast with occassional light drizzle, the sun never quite breaking through.

As expected for a ‘big city’ event, the first few miles were quite congested but after the marathon split, things thinned out a lot. The course followed the well-established route, starting near the university and taking in the ‘golden mile’ before heading out on to country roads and looping back in through various parks.

Grantham Running Club’s Tom Fowler was reasonably happy with his run in the full marathon following less than ideal preparation, coming home in 3.21.13 for 39th out of 517 – reflecting low turnout – with a fairly even pace, fading a bit in the last three miles.

The club was represented in the half marathon by Robert and Julie Braker, running their third race at the distance in four weeks.

Julie was the star performer again as she finished in a time of 1.47.26, which is an age grade in excess of 90 per cent. Julie finished first in the FV60 category, successfully defending a title she won last year She was the 54th female finisher of 892.

Robert ran 1.51.32 which was a season’s best and quick enough to earn him a UKA ranking score. He was 14th out of 45 in the MV60 category.

l Grantham Running Club were represented at the first fixture of this season’s Lincolnshire Cross Country League which took place at West Common in Lincoln on Sunday.

On yet another sunny, dry but blustery day, conditions were favourable with the course being mud-free and relatively flat except for a rather deceptively difficult hill to climb in the first 1,200m.

First home for the ladies and in 16th position overall was Amanda Ward, running her first cross country race and, indeed, her first race for the club. Sarah High followed closely behind with Sinead McDonnell, Roz Grindey (also in her first cross country league race for the club) and Justyna Gill completing the team.

Andrew MacAllister represented the GRC males, putting on a good show against a large and strong field to finish in 72nd place.

l Grantham Running Club’s Vicky Willan took part in the Yorkshire Coast 10K in Scarborough last Sunday.

Vicky finished in a time of 1.03.29, which was a solid performance considering injury concerns which affected her preparation for the race, as well as battling against breezy Storm Brian.

Vicky commented on her finish line experience: “As the last kilometre approached, the tannoy voices and music got louder and clearer, and the excitement of getting close to the finish was in me.

“I didn’t speed up – I just kept steady so as not to jinx my injury-free run. I had just enough energy to sprint past an elderly lady on the finish line!”

Northern Premier League

Premier Division

Grantham Town 3

Lancaster City 2

Grantham Town overcame their northern visitors to go third in the league in an exciting high tempo encounter at The Meres on Saturday.

The Gingerbreads had an early chance in the opening minute when the league’s top scorer Lee Shaw curled over in the opening minute.

Two minutes later, Town were in front. Grantham goalkeeper Kieran Preston took a long free kick from his own half. A Rhys Lewis header glanced the ball forward to Jordan Hempenstall whose subsequent header was saved by Joshua Powell, but the rebound fell back to Hempenstall who slotted in at the post.

Grantham’s lead was short lived, however, when Lancaster equalised in the seventh minute. Town failed to deal with Sam Bailey’s long throw and Sam Hibbert looped his close range header over Preston and into the net.

And four minutes later, the Gingerbreads went behind. Preston’s goal kick clipped the head of his defender Lewis and the ball fell to City. It was fed to the lurking Melle Meulensteen in space and he made no mistake in slotting home.

Both sides had further chances but the half ended with Town 2-1 down.

The game continued apace after the break and Shaw had the first opportunity for Grantham seven minutes in. With Powell prone, Shaw’s shot looked to be a sure thing but it went straight to the Lancaster stopper.

Paul Dugdale conceded a corner to deny Shaw another chance a minute later, whilst Michael Hollingsworth drove over from 20 yards in the 59th minute, as the Gingerbreads searched earnestly for an equaliser.

And, as if on cue, it came two minutes later. Hempenstall put in a deft cross over the box and Curtis Burrows acrobatically volleyed the ball in past the diving Powell.

Grantham had a let-off in the 68th minute when, with Preston off his line, Meulensteen lobbed him – but he overdid it slightly and the ball landed on the roof of the net.

Currows doubled his goal tally and gave Town the lead and ultimately the win in the 77th minute, slotting in this time from a Hollingsworth cross in the box.

Grantham went close to increasing their lead in the 83rd minute, but somehow Hempenstall was just unable to get a header to Danny Meadows’ dangerous cross into the penalty area.

Shaw headed wide a minute later and the Gingerbreads had the ball in the net on the stroke of 90 minutes, but the linesman’s flag was already up for offside.

The last real goal scoring opportunity for either side fell to Shaw in the second minute of added time, but he was denied by Powell.

Grantham Town: Preston, Potts, Luto (Thompson 87), Lewis, Galinski (c), Hollingsworth, Meadows, Wright, Hempenstall (McMenemy 90), Shaw, Burrows (Curtis 90+4). Subs not used: Dasaolu, Baker. Att: 274.

Good on all those people who made the effort to turn out to march on October 14 through Grantham to protest about the injustice done to the NHS as a whole.

There were those who couldn’t march, wouldn’t march or couldn’t be bothered.

Needless to say, there were not many young people amongst the marchers (and there were not as many marchers as in the last march) but I do not think that they realise the significance of fighting for what we as a nation put there in the first place.

The NHS is ours and the only way of stopping this dreadful erosion is to make our voices heard. So please remember, if your husband, wife, son, daughter, girlfriend, grandma or granddad had a stroke after 6.30pm, for example, the ambulance has little time to get to them (if indeed there is an ambulance available) to Lincoln (40 minutes on a blue light) to get seen at A&E (timing – who knows?). The damage is done and is usually irreversible.

Whereas if Grantham A&E was open 24/7, this would not happen. This is just one scenario, there can be many.

However, the NHS Uprising is not just about Grantham A&E, it’s about different support groups throughout the country being one voice to save their services.

So if this bothers your conscience at all, then get out and do something about it!

Nancy Ellerby

A group of cyclists from Allington who have been supporting Children in Need over 25 years have raised up to £4,000 for the charity after a bike ride from Ironbridge near Telford.

The group of 21 riders, known as the Biking Vikings, set off on their 25th ride from the Shropshire bridge on Saturday morning, despite their van breaking down on the way to the bridge from Allington.

Rider Julian Withington said: “Fortunately, we were blessed with great weather and a tail wind, as the first day took in a lot of off-road – cutting through bridle ways, cycle tracks and minor roads from Ironbridge over Cannock Chase and through Rugeley, on our way to Burton upon Trent.

“After an overnight stop and a great group meal out, our second day’s ride was tougher into a head wind. Our route took us along the canal out of Burton and through Repton and East Midlands Airport. It nearly was a bridge too far when we were worried that the bridge over the M1 may have been demolished.

“From there, we rode through some of the lovely villages in south Nottinghamshire before riding the Grantham Canal from Kinoulton and then up over the Belvoir ridge, past the castle to Woolsthorpe and onward to Allington.

“After a final regroup at the Saltwell, the riders all arrived home to a fantastic welcome in the village and the traditional Viking stew at the Welby Arms.

“A big thank you from all the riders to those that supported and sponsored the ride, especially Andy, Janet, Liz and Kevin on back-up, those who helped with rider transport and Matt, Ange and all at the Welby Arms for the support at the start and end of the ride. A special mention to Barbara Carney too for the fantastic cake to celebrate our 25th ride.”

Since they began the annual ride in 1991, the Vikings have raised in the region of £82,000.

You can still make a donation by going to mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/bikingvikings2017

An Indian takeaway which only opened in July has won a national curry award.

Ashiana Curry Lounge, in Long Bennington, won Best Takeaway of the Year at the national Curry Life Awards.

Collecting the award on behalf of the Ashiana restaurant in North Muskham, and the Long Bennington takeaway, owner of the Ashiana Saiqul Miah said: “We genuinely didn’t think we had a chance of winning anything when we saw who the other award nominees were. But we were stunned when we were announced as winners of not just one award, but actually two!”

No other restaurant won more than one award on the night, leading host and former BBC newsreader Michael Buerk to describe Saiqul as “an entrepreneur in the Indian restaurant business,” for opening an award-winning takeaway in addition to his already successful Indian restaurant.

Saiqul added: “At the Ashiana, my head chef Shimul Ahmed and the service team always work so hard to deliver an authentic and contemporary Indian dining experience using only the freshest ingredients.

“However, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our wonderful customers nominating us. These awards acknowledge all the efforts of my chefs and the service teams at both the restaurant and takeaway. We’re all delighted that our customers enjoyed themselves so much that they wanted to nominate us for the Curry Life awards.”

The awards ceremony was held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, attracting Indian food industry luminaries.

Labour MPs Sir Kier Starmer and Rushanara Ali also congratulated the winners at the Ashiana.

Two organisations have benefited from donations totalling £1,500 from the town’s Freemasons.

Grantham Talking Newspaper received a cheque for £750 from the Doric Lodge of Freemasons, which will go towards new equipment.

Local freemasons, Walter Cook, Liam Steadman and David Pickup visited the talking newspaper office on Wharf Road on Friday to present the cheque.

Charity steward David Pickup said: “At the beginning of each calender year, we all decide on a charity to support. We like to keep them local, especially if a member has a connection to it. It is also normally a cause that is close to our hearts. One of our members volunteers for the talking newspaper, so it was a great cause for us to support.”

Grantham Talking Newspaper chairman John Williams said: “We are so grateful to receive such a wonderful donation. The talking newspaper provides a CD with news from the Grantham Journal, as well as producing a talking magazine. The money will go towards new equipment to enable us to continue to produce the CD for all of our listeners. Every donation is crucial as we don’t receive any funding, so we rely on the kindness and generosity from the people of Grantham.”

A second cheque for £750 was also presented to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People on Wednesday.

Registered fundraiser Denise Taylor said: “The majority of the money will be used to train the hearing dogs. They make such a difference to the recipients’ lives by not only alerting them to sounds but by also building their confidence.”

Denise visited the Masonic Hall on Chambers Street, along with service user Michael Wilson and his hearing dog Ronnie, to collect the cheque.

Belton Park seniors’ second Stableford competition of the new golfing year took place last Tuesday on the Belmont course, on an extremely windy but mild day.

With many of the seniors still recovering from the delights of Ufford Park over the previous two days, and a four hour journey home on the Monday due to difficulties on the A1, there was a much smaller field than usual.

As always, the course was in very good condition with the greens still running true and at a decent pace.

Although conditions were tough, the places at the head of the field were very tight with four players scoring 34 points.

Andy Kettle came out as victor on the day ahead of the in-form Simon Gray and Ken Mail.

Frank Overton was the unlucky one of the group not to be placed in the top three, but he was able to take some solace by taking the front nine prize with a commendable 20 points.

Peter Hancock came back after a very difficult front nine to take the prize for the back nine with 17 points.

BELTON WOODS

Seniors

Belton Woods seniors’ final match of the season took place away to Tofts in a new ‘Ryder Cup Format’.

However, the result was very similar to previous years at Toft, a 6½-2½victory for the home team. A disapointing result then for the seniors in what has been a mainly successful inter-club match season.

Results: Singles – Captain Ray Woodcock won 3-1, Ken Claxon lost 1 down; Greensomes – John Williams and John Thomson halved, David Toule and Colin Thornton lost 1 down; Fourballs – John Browne and Ian Nisbett lost 1 down, Richard James and Mike Gulliford lost 3-1, Mike Whittington and Alan Lowen won 3-1.

The October Stableford was won with a fine score of 43 points by Peter Stephenson on the Woodside course, his gross score in the 70s being a fine effort from an exceptionally consistent golfer.

Results: 1 Peter Stephenson 43, 2 Richard James 40, 3 John Bratt 40, 4 Richard Kieffer 40, 5 Neil Hoyle 38, 6 Gary Waterfield 38, 7 John MacGillivary 38.

The October Medal was won by Gary Waterfield with a net 69 over the Lakes course on a warm, sunny Autumn day – two months running now for Gary.

Results: 1 Gary Waterfield 69, 2 Colin Musson 71, 3 Jon MacGillivray 72, 4 Mike Gulliford 73, 5 Paul Stanley 73, 6 Neil Hoyle 73, 7 John Billett 73.

Ladies

Following Lady Captain’s Day, Belton Woods lady golfers ditched their pink clothes and wigs and adopted more sober attire for their competitions this week.

The autumn weather heralded the start of the Weekday/Winter Challenge, a series of six competitions for pairs, held throughout the winter months on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This week was a foursomes competition, held on the Woods course. The individual winners on Wednesday were Chris Reynolds and Bev Warner, and on Saturday Wendy Stewart and Lis Isles.

Last Friday, a beautiful autumn day, four pairs of Belton Woods ladies, led by lady captain Liz Moses, went to Boston West for the last friendly match of the season, postponed from August due to a forecast of torrential rain.

The Boston West course was in very good condition and the ladies very welcoming. A lovely day was enjoyed by all, with some tight matches, Belton Woods eventually coming out the winners, 4-0.

On the same day, a team of four ladies took part in Melton Mowbray’s ‘Scary Scramble’. Witches and skeletons took to the golf course, and the Belton Woods team of Jackie Wilson, Wendy Stewart, Carole Stothard and Kylie Bullimore triumphed to take first place and win a magnificent hamper.

STOKE ROCHFORD

Seniors

For the seventh year Stoke Rochford seniors treasurer Tim Haward organised another successful Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal competition.

Fifty-one players competed in an individual stableford and on one morning raised £555.55, a total which will grow by the addition of further poppy sales before Remembrance Day.

The top three finishers won a golfing day out. Winner with 41 points was Barry Mitchell, one point ahead of runner-up Alex Whitelaw on 40. Terry Haggerty was third on countback with 38.

Reserves for the prize were those who finished in the next three place: 4 Graham Tebbutt 38 ocb, 5 Don Werner 38 ocb, 6 Gary Bell 38 ocb.

Alex Whitelaw’s score was improved by his hole-in-one on the 12th hole.

Combining points won in the Autumn Cup and the Poppy Appeal, the overall leader in the winter-long Winter Warmers competition is Mike Nixon with nine points. Next are Colin Doughty and Larry Larsen with eight points apiece.

SUDBROOK MOOR

Sudbrook Moor senior Tim Newbery got into his summer rhythm just in time to take the Thursday six month Eclectic title.

Interestingly, it was a similar repeat performance of Tim’s previous Eclectic title dash 12 months earlier.

It had been looking like a Nigel Corby Eclectic dominance in his first full year as a senior golfer. Nigel’s 15 gross birdies in the result table and his record net score was ultimately overtaken by Tim.

The final read-out was required to go to a back nine hole countback and the very last competition of the season, which was the annual Senior Captain’s Morning.

Nigel added a final birdie two to his tally, but even that was not sufficient to better Tim’s back nine holes, which won him the 2017 title with a margin two, including 10 gross birdies. Tim plays off a 20 handicap.

David Guy, who had held the trophy from the winter six month season, finished sixth, three shots back. With his best score to date, Roy Nelson finished third after a countback from Frank Brumpton, Barry Rohland, Tony Rose and Chris Wilmot.

The summer six month Main Club mixed Matchplay finals have been completed. Some of the names in the winning frames have enjoyed their first season as playing pairs and found success in the variety of formats.

Martin Greene has played well and taken two titles. In the Drawn Betterball, he partnered Chris Wilmot to beat Thomas Anthony and Amanda Roberts. In the Over-64s, playing with an under 64-year-old Betterball, Martin and Stuart Minter secured quite a coup to beat experienced Phil Hall with Mick Beasley.

The Dolby brothers, Andrew and Richard, who have shown great form in all the club strokeplay competitions this year, beat Chris Winfield and Bob Kimminau.

Dave Clark and Ali Hotson remain unbeaten over the past two years in the nine hole Betterball sections, beating newcomers Mark Rapley and Keith Bedford.

Another name that has again risen to the top is Steve Furphy whose Singles Matchplay skills have rarely been challenged in recent seasons. Steve has made all the singles finals again this October and only senior John Chatburn has beaten Steve, 2 up. Steve had a close match to beat Phil Hall in another singles final, with a result of 1 up.

James Wall, who trains at Grantham Squash Club’s fitness centre, impressed at the British Novice Armwrestling Championship held at The Crofters Hotel, near Preston, on Saturday.

James not only won in his armwrestling category but went on to win the Champion of Champions – often against much heavier weight categories.

He was among more than 70 competitors contesting five categories in the championship, ranging from 65kg to 105kg.

The event is an open championship, giving UK armwrestlers the chance to to ‘pull’ against some of Europe’s finest.

Armwrestling is a much bigger sport in Europe, to the extent that sports personality of the year is very often won by an armwrestler

James beat Marius Gudonis, from Poland, the winner of the 105kg category to win Champion of Champions and he is looking forward to the next British championships which will be held at the same hotel in January 2018.

l Anyone wishing to train at Grantham Squash and Fitness, on Harlaxton Road, should pop along or call 01476 561449.

I’ve been reading the recent ‘scandalous’ reports about the beer festival at St Wulfram’s Church with interest.

Yes, it is a slightly unorthodox method of getting people into the church, but, as a member of a smaller church, I understand how difficult a task this can be.

Unfortunately, support for the church is dying out and becoming less significant amongst the younger generation (as a whole) – if even one person comes to visit St Wulfram’s and decides to visit again or support the church financially as a result of the festival, then it is a victory for the church and Christianity as a whole.

I have also seen nothing but respect from any of the schools who have used the church for events, (whether it be KGGS, King’s or the National School), and so cannot understand the comments from previous weeks about their conduct, or its significance in relation to holding a beer festival.

I congratulate the PCC of St Wulfram’s for their success with this event last year, and wish them well this year, as nice as traditional church events and sermons can be, the faith needs to be rekindled in some, and remind others of what they have on their doorstep.

Name supplied

Grantham’s Remembrance Day Parade will go ahead on Sunday thanks to volunteers.

The parade will be able to go along the High Street on Sunday despite Lincolnshire Police being unable to support the event because of budget constraints.

Volunteers will help marshall the parade which will start outside Grantham post office at 10.20am and make its way to St Wulfram’s church. The route was agreed following discussions between Lincolnshire Police and Lincolnshire County Council highways department.

Following a service at the church, the parade will reform and return along the High Street to St Peter’s Hill, taking the salute from the Mayor of Grantham outside the Guildhall.

Long serving Parade Warrant Officer Nobby Clark said: “The changes to the police procedures did cause us some concern about whether this year’s parade would happen but I am pleased to report that all is on track for Grantham to show its respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

“Generations of Grantham people have supported this event and I am relieved that this year once again we’ll be doing our part.”

Lincolnshire County Council executive councillor for highways, Richard Davies, who represent Grantham North West, said: ”Like Nobby I was concerned about the future of the event. However, I’m pleased we’ve been able to make everyone see sense and allow the event to continue. I am particularly grateful to Nobby and the volunteers who have come forward to help keep this even the cornerstone of the town’s civic year.”

The term ‘outlet village’ is an abuse of language – in the English language the name ‘village’ means a group of houses, usually inhabited by ‘villagers’.

The term ‘designer outlet village’ is an abstract concept, used to describe what is essentially a shopping precinct.

If positioned on the edge of a town it will usually have a large car parking area, often much larger in size and area than the shopping precinct itself.

Try to imagine such an outlet on the edge of a not unattractive market town, however a town that is bedevilled by traffic problems, which have existed for a very long period, has very poor parking facilities and a chronic road network complicated by low bridges and light controlled single vehicle bottlenecks.

The people pushing the designer outlet village concept, Buckminster, inform us that they expect people to travel in from up to 90 minutes away to visit both ‘the village’ and the local town , as a ‘destination’. 3.5million according to Buckminster’s own figures.

Let’s just look at that for a moment (leave out two days of year for Christmas and New Year and let’s do the maths) – 3,500,000 divided by 363 days = 675,000 visitors per week. That’s 96,418 per day.

Buckminster also claims that 10 per cent will visit the town of Grantham – that’s 9,641 people into Grantham each day. Really?

When they have made their long 90-minute journey, arrived at the ‘village’ only to be confronted with long queues to enter the place, made their all important purchases, then it’s time to visit the historic market town of Grantham?

And what will they find if they make it into Grantham? Well, not very much really. A town that spends most of its day gridlocked, often by the weight of its own self generated traffic. Nowhere to park. No shops of any great distinction. That’s about it really.

They may be fortunate and actually make it all the way in, providing they don’t mind queueing on South Parade for a few hours. They should be able to spend all of two minutes trying to visualise what the Angel & Royal looked like in Dickens’ time, without the backdrop of a town bus running 20 minutes late trying to get through the traffic.

The King’s School should be good for another two minutes – trying to imagine the young Issac Newton at his studies all those years before he became the genius he went on to be, then a quick try to the ‘Tipsy Vicar’ which was formerly the church of St Wulfram.

That’s the tour of Grantham over and back to their car to find it ticketed by the county’s finest, and now the long and painfully slow journey home.

Grantham as a tourist destination? I don’t think so.

The A52 relief road will become a service road for the ‘village’ and will be like Sankt Augustin and be gridlocked for most of the day, reducing its effectiveness as a bypass (it’s already single carriageway in parts). This development, I believe, will be the final straw for Grantham.

George Duffy

The on-line car buying company webuyanycar.com has opened a branch in Grantham.

The Grantham branch launched today in Greyfriars, becoming the first branch in the town and fourth in the county.

Richard Evans, head of technical services at webuyanycar.com, said: “Our latest opening in Grantham is testament to the continued growth of webuyanycar.com and our support for customers in Lincolnshire who we have been buying many thousands of cars from over the years. With the new branch we hope to reduce customer traveling time by opening in a more central location.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming many new customers in branch and continuing to be the area’s top consumer choice for selling cars in a convenient and hassle-free way.”

One job has been created with the opening of the branch.

webuyanycar.com has over 200 branches in the country and employs more than 500 people.

Mr Evans said: “We are continuing to grow and put customers back in the driving seat, as more and more motorists realise they can negotiate a better deal by not part-exchanging. Our Grantham branch will be open five days a week and will offer instant bank transfers to motorists, saving valuable time.”

For further information go to www.webuyanycar.com

Pupils at The West Grantham Academy St Hugh’s have had the day off today, due to heating issues.

The academy on Dysart Road, was forced to close its doors to years seven, eight and nine.

The school will be closed again tomorrow for years seven, eight and nine but open for years ten and eleven.

The West Grantham Academy St John’s will be open for years two, five and six only.

Grantham College has been praised by government inspectors for raising its standards to ‘good’.

Last year, the college was told it ‘requires improvement’, after Ofsted found faults with its teaching, leadership and work experience opportunities.

But now the college, in Stonebridge Road, has received an across the board ‘good’ rating for its leadership and management; teaching, learning and welfare; plus personal development and outcomes for learners.

‘Good’ ratings were also given for its 16-19 programmes, adult learning programmes, apprenticeships and provision for students with high needs.

The report follows the college’s own latest student survey which showed 84% of students would recommend Grantham College as an education provider; 89% of students agreeing their course meets their needs and 87% saying they receive the support they need to progress.

College bosses praised the hard work and dedication of staff, students and governors for the improved “good” rating.

Chief executive Linda Houtby said: “We will not rest on our laurels and seek to continue to improve.”

Principal Paul Deane said: “This confirms that Grantham College is a great place to learn and develop your career and we are confident that we will encourage more individuals and employers in the Grantham area to take advantage of the excellent services that we offer.”

Chair of governors Mos Kalbassi added: “Despite all the funding challenges, Grantham College remains a great place to learn for everyone.”

In their report, Ofsted highlighted: “Leaders and managers have improved the standards of teaching, learning and assessment since the previous inspection. As a result, most students make good progress.

“Students’ achievements have improved and are now good in most subjects.

“Teachers make good use of their industrial experience to prepare well-structured and interesting lessons that motivate students and help them to succeed.

“Most students progress into further learning or employment.”

However, further improvements including assessments made by teachers and work placements were called for.

Grantham Town Supporters Club lotto, November 4 draw:

£200 – 257 Mrs Childs; £10 – 749 C. Smith; £5 – 350 H. Oliver, 263 G. Lindford, 74 Mrs Winter, 690 L. Shaw, 64 F. Porter, 67 S. Lambey.

Police are appealing for information after two men wearing masks were spotted on Hillingford Way, Grantham, on Friday night.

A police spokesperson said: “We received a call about suspicious behaviour of two men in the area wearing masks.

We are investigating whether there was any sinister intent and would appeal for any witnesses who saw anything suspicious in the area.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call 101 with incident reference number 423 of November 3rd.

Nottingham Forest Supporters Club (Grantham branch):

Forest have no game this Saturday.

Bookings are being taken for away matches at Birmingham City on Saturday, November 18, kick-off 3pm, Ipswich Town on December 2, kick-off 3pm, and Bristol City on Saturday, December 16, kick-off 3pm.

For details, contact Bob Taylor on 01476 550242.

United Counties League

Division One

Harrowby United completed a hat trick of wins against Irchester United as they travelled to Northamptonshire on a chilly autumnal afternoon.

Having won there by the odd goal in five in the League knockout cup, the Arrows enjoyed a more comfortable victory with a goal in each half.

Harrowby started well and in the seventh minute good work down the right between Jorrin John and Sam Grouse ended with the latter firing a low shot across Romans keeper Sam Foulsler, who got down well to turn the ball around his right hand post.

The opening goal arrived four minutes later when Tawanda Bilson set John away down the right flank, the Harrowby man taking the ball forward before sliding an inch-perfect square ball for Grouse slot home from inside the six yard box.

Foulsler again came to his side’s rescue midway through the half when a driving run from Arrows debutant Jack Gurney ended with a well-struck shot that was pushed behind for a corner by the keeper, diving to his left.

Irchester carved out a chance of their own when Harrowby’s back line backed off the centre back, James Dixon, who carried the ball forward before firing a right foot shot that flew just over the crossbar.

The second half began as a very even affair, both teams cancelling each other out in midfield. However, Harrowby forced a corner just before the hour mark and a fine whipped in delivery from Gurney was met by the head of Jack Havron who steered the ball past Foulsler and into the net.

The home side’s best opportunity of the second half came after 67 minutes when Arrows custodian Sam Andrew had to get down smartly to parry away a powerful low drive from Josh Burge.

The game petered out with no more real goal scoring chances as the Arrows returned home with a deserved three points.

Harrowby United: Andrew, Currall, Havron, Hogg, Bilson, Phillip, Gurney, Briers, John, Grouse (Smith 87), Sylla (Simmonds 73). Sub not used: Peberdy.

+ This Saturday, Harrowby United host Thrapston Town at Dickens Road, kick-off 3pm, whilst Bourne Town are their visitors on Tuesday night, kick-off 7.45pm.

Hospital trust bosses have met this morning (Tuesday) to discuss fully reopening Grantham’s A&E 24 hours a day.

The recommendation to reopen, not until December, was approved by the board of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) – however it is subject to a staffing review which will be carried out over the next month by NHS Improvement.

Grantham A&E was closed overnight in August last year after staff were transferred to the other A&E units in Lincoln and Boston where there was a staffing crisis.

The review will look at the staffing model for all three A&Es, to ensure that before Grantham is reopened overnight, safe staffing levels can be maintained over the busy winter months.

A spokesman said the trust has been successful in securing the employment of more permanent, locum and agency middle grade doctors, which increases the number to 22 – slightly above the minimum of 21 middle grade doctors needed to safely staff the three A&Es at Grantham, Lincoln and Boston. But the trust says staffing rotas in the long-term still remain very challenging.

ULHT chief executive Jan Sobieraj said: “On behalf of ULHT, I would like to thank the people of Grantham for their support for reopening over the past year. We appreciate what a difficult time it has been for some people.

“I want to reassure people that the closure of the A&E on grounds of patient safety had nothing to do with long-term future for the hospital. We’ve always said we were committed to reopening when we had safe staffing numbers.

“We are now working with our partners to review the options on the long-term future of Grantham. We are committed to supporting local health commissioners in engaging local people in this important decision and we will share any developments.”

NHS Improvement has advised that it expects the review of A&E staffing to be completed within a month. Until this is completed the opening hours at Grantham A&E will remain 8am to 6.30pm.