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A Bedlington woman, who is affected by cancer, has raised a grand amount for charity through a fund-raising event.

A successful summer fair was held before the end of term at Choppington Primary School to raise funds for important resources and equipment.

Officials have been urged by a large group of Bedlington residents to protect the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Humford Country Park.

Crowds flocked to Bedlington on Saturday to enjoy the second Northumberland Live of the year. The family-friendly festival took place in the town’s Gallagher Park, with headline act The Commitments performing soul classics such as Mustang Sally, Destination Anywhere and In the Midnight Hour. Other musical entertainment on the bill included the West End 80’s Mania Show, UB40 tribute band Ultimate 40, Pacific, The Sleeze Sisters, The Understudies, Just So and Unplugged.

Three students who all fell pregnant and gave birth while in the middle of the same degree at the University of Sunderland have graduated with honours together at the Stadium of Light.

A number of parks in South Northumberland have officially been named among the best in Britain.

Students at a school in Bedlington enjoyed a range of activities that brought issues such as recycling and making the most out of resources to life.

Bedlington’s Community Help Hub celebrated a major milestone this week when it welcomed its 20,000th drop-in visitor. First opened in 2010, the facility in Front Street provides assistance to those looking for work – including with creating a CV and uploading it to websites, searching for jobs and completing application forms. The Community Help Hub also supports people with applications and queries about benefits or problems with statutory organisations or utility companies. Users enjoy free use of computers, with internet access, and they can make free phone calls. Run by volunteers from Hope Church Bedlington, it currently receives around 20 drop-in users per day. Church leader and Community Help Hub volunteer manager Dennis Fancett said: “It’s been a pleasure to help the people of Bedlington and wider community in their hour of need over the last seven years and I’d like to thank all our volunteers, past and present, who have given up their time to make this possible.

New showhomes have been unveiled by a housing developer at two sites. Miller Homes has marked the official launch of its Barley Meadows development in Cramlington and Broadoaks in Bedlington. Prospective buyers can see the four-bedroom Seeger and Tressell showhomes at Barley Meadows, or the four-bedroom Tressell showhome and five-bedroom Buttermere viewhome at Broadoaks. Prices at Barley Meadows – which is less than a mile-and-a-hal from Cramlington town centre – start at £137,950. The development consists of 192 two, three, four and five-bedroom houses. Prices at Broadoaks – which features three, four and five-bedroom homes – start at £218,950.

A Choppington man was served up with a Centre Court ticket for Wimbledon on Monday after waiting in line for 56 hours. To give himself the best possible chance of realising his top bucket-list dream, Des Robson packed up a tent and comfy chair and left his home at 6pm on Friday. He drew up the list after surviving two heart attacks two years ago. The computer technician arrived at the main gate of the All England club at 1.30pm on Saturday and he was rewarded with first place in the queue. This meant he was able to get a ticket for the showpiece court with the action on Monday including defending champion Sir Andy Murray beating Alexander Bublik in straight sets.

Plans to leave South East Northumberland without a police station open 24/7 have been criticised. Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery says he has been left shocked at news that Bedlington Police Station is to reduce its opening hours. He says the move will leave the constituency without any 24/7 police stations as the front office will only be open between the hours of 8am and 8pm. Blyth and Cramlington police stations will see their front office opening hours cut from 9am to 5pm five days a week to 10am to 2pm five days a week. Northumbria Police say the changes will not see a reduction in the availability of officers but are being made in response to a significant decline in the use of front offices.

Cadet Sergeant Esmée Webley, has won 35 hours of flying tuition worth £3,000, thanks to the Royal Air Forces Association. The RAF charity runs an annual flying scholarship programme, which gives six awards to outstanding members of the Air Cadet Organisation. The awards attract more than 250 applications every year from across the UK. An Air Cadet with 2522 (Bedlington) Squadron ATC, Esmée was presented with her prize by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, at the association’s annual conference. Esmée said: “It’s been lots of hard work. I applied last year and wasn’t successful, so I think the message is, don’t give up. The amount you can achieve in one year with the ATC can really push forward your application. Just keep trying.” Air Vice-Marshal John Cliffe, chairman of the association, said: “We’re delighted these young adults who aspire to a life in aviation are going to receive some flying training. The quality of entries is extremely high and the application and interview process is very thorough. So our 2017 winners can be very proud of their achievements.”

Police investigating a rape in Northumberland have charged a man. The incident happened in the early hours of Thursday in the Langdale Crescent area of Ashington, near to the town’s cricket ground. Ryan Brody, 20, from Ashington, has been charged with the offence and is due to appear at South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court, in Bedlington, tomorrow.

A family fun day is set to take place this Saturday. Following the success of the inaugural event last year, the Bedlington Picnic is returning to the town – with organisers promising it is bigger than better. The event, from 11am to 6pm, will allow local people to showcase their talents. A variety of foods, stalls, crafts, rides and a dog show will be on offer, as well as free activities for children and a full programme of talented local artists on the stage. Among those performing on the bandstand will be Bedlington Brass Band, Bedlington Choir, Bedlington Ukulele Band, Callie Griffiths School of Dance, Arrieanne Masters and a battle of the bands from 3pm to 4.30pm.

Detailed route information for the Ovo Energy Tour of Britain has been announced today – and the course will give scores of Northumberland residents a grandstand view of some of the world’s top cyclists. The UK’s biggest and most prestigious cycle race will go through the heart of the county on Monday, September 4, passing through 26 communities and covering 117 miles. Northumberland is hosting stage two of the race, which will start in Kielder Water and Forest Park at 10.15am. The cyclists will then head out through Bellingham and Otterburn before heading towards the coast via Elsdon, Rothbury, Alnwick, Eglingham, Chatton, Belford and Bamburgh. The competitors will then head down the stunning Northumberland coastline, passing through the communities of Seahouses, Beadnell, Embleton, Longhoughton, Lesbury, Hipsburn, Warkworth and Amble. The race will then travel through Widdrington, Widdrington Station, Longhirst, Ulgham, Morpeth, Guide Post, Choppington and Bedlington, before passing through the finish line at Blyth to take in Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval before culminating in an exciting finish back in Blyth, scheduled for around 3.30pm. This will give spectators at the finish line in Blyth the chance to see the riders pass twice.

The Matthew Project, based in Bedlington, has received a bundle of products from Asda Blyth that was donated to help those feeling financial strain. Items handed over included tinned goods, biscuits, crisps and toiletries such as toothpaste and toothbrushes. The project provides food parcels for individuals, families and homeless people in the Bedlington and Blyth areas following referral by organisations such as social services, Citizens Advice, Barnardo’s and Sure Start. Leadership group member Maureen Chilton said: “It is thanks to the kind donations of individuals, churches and supermarkets such as Asda Blyth that we are able to continue to provide our vital service and lend a helping hand to those in need.”

A woman who grew up in Bedlington and today lives in Australia recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Hilda Pearson, born on May 29, 1917, completed her schooling at about the age of 14 and left to do domestic work further south. This money was sent home to help the family – her parents were John and Abigail Worn and she had two sisters, Emma and Rachael, and two brothers, Stanley and Sidney. Her father was a coal miner.

Ian Lavery has urged the Conservative-led administration at County Hall to announce its intentions for some key sites to ‘put mine and my constituents’ minds at rest’. The areas highlighted in the Wansbeck MP’s letter to Northumberland County Council leader Peter Jackson – sent last night – include the town centre development in Newbiggin and future leisure, library, parking and school provision in Morpeth. He also raises concerns about Arch, the local authority’s development company, and calls on the Tories to make a pledge not to reduce council jobs or services or pass any of them to the private sector. But Coun Jackson has hit back today, accusing Mr Lavery of ‘unnecessarily scaremongering residents and council staff’. He pointed to the example of the Pipers Place development in Bedlington, as he has said the planning permission process for this scheme should not be slowed down – an outline application for the mixed-use project was approved by the council earlier this month.

An ambitious bid to overhaul the centre of Bedlington was given the go-ahead last week, alongside less popular plans for hundreds of new homes. An outline application for a mixed-use development on a site to the north of Front Street, which includes land formerly occupied by the Tesco store, was unanimously approved at last Tuesday’s meeting of Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee. On the same night, another outline proposal – for up to 500 new homes on land south-west of Glebe Farm, Choppington Road, was also approved – by 11 votes to one.