News in Atherstone

More exciting news for Warwickshire cycling fans, as Annemiek van Vleuten, Olympic time trial champion and road race silver-medallist, has confirmed that the 2021 Women's Tour will be on her end of season programme.

Van Vleuten, riding for The Movistar Team, has already had a stellar August, having won the the Ladies Tour of Norway at the beginning of the month.

Parents of young children across the county are being encouraged to contact their local early years provider and find out how they can access their child's Early Education Funding.

Throughout the ongoing pandemic, the usual channels for parents to gain information about the Early Education Funding entitlements via early years providers, stay and play groups and talking to other families have broken down due to parents having much-reduced face-to-face contact with their peers.

Award-winning Midlands author Kit de Waal will open a week-long book festival next month, which will also feature talks from Kenilworth Books.

Middleway Words festival will be a week of discovery and advice for book lovers, celebrating the work of local creatives, and will be completely free.

School caterers, Educaterers, are posting a series of helpful tips and reassuring messages on their Twitter account (@educaterers) over the next two weeks aimed at parents of children who are starting school next month.

The caterers, who provide school meals for children across Warwickshire, Birmingham, Coventry, Leicestershire and Oxfordshire, want to help parents feel at ease about the school meals process and reassure them that school lunches are healthy, nutritious and delicious.

Warwickshire County Council and the Warwickshire Lieutenancy are encouraging residents to submit nominations for volunteering groups, charities, and social enterprises across the County whose exceptional efforts deserve to be recognised by The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS).

The QAVS is an annual award acknowledging the outstanding work delivered by volunteers who benefit their local communities and is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

Adults who are considering a career change following the pandemic are being invited to consider a college course to help them gain the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in high-demand job roles.

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) is preparing for the start of the new academic year by launching its latest range of part-time courses based at its ampus and in local workplaces.

There are quite a few writers and performers dotted around Atherstone's coffee shops and poetry scene, nowadays.

For instance, there is Erin Green, who writes on the Atherstone Market Square.

The event (and deal) of the week is a kebab and a drink at the Bubble Inn in Atherstone, from 6pm - 9pm.

All kebabs are served on a Lebanese flat-bread with fries, dressed salad and a choice of sauce.

Community groups across Warwickshire that support the health and wellbeing of ethnically diverse communities are invited to apply for funding from Warwickshire County Council to enhance their work and support COVID-19 resilience.

Groups can bid for small grants from a £325,000 Warwickshire County Council Reducing the Impacts of COVID-19 Fund to improve community health and wellbeing by focusing on at least one of the following:

Unforeseen delays to the construction of a new extension to a school in Atherstone has led to a second temporary classroom being ordered to deal with the increasing number of pupils.

It will mean a second storey will be added to the existing Portakabin at The Queen Elizabeth Academy in time for the return to lessons next month.