People working in Lincoln are among those working the most unpaid overtime in the country, according to a study released on Friday.
A record 5.26 million people worked unpaid overtime last year, clocking up an average of more than seven hours a week without pay.
People in the East Midlands are among those working the most overtime, the study from Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows.
The report said workers were missing out on almost £5,500 a year by working unpaid overtime, worth around £29 billion to the UK economy.
One in five employees regularly put in extra hours for no extra pay last year, with public sector workers most likely to work unpaid overtime.
TUC’s research found the number of workers doing unpaid overtime was the highest since records began in 1992.
Last year 5.26 million people clocking up an average of seven hours 12 minutes unpaid overtime every week.
Workers in London were most likely to work unpaid overtime at eight hours a week, followed by those in the East Midlands (7.5 hours) and North East and Scotland (both 7.4 hours).
The report warned unpaid overtime was likely to increase in the public sector because of heavy job losses expected in the coming months as a result of government spending cuts.
Tough economy, long hours
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “With tough economic conditions making employers reluctant to recruit, existing staff are picking up much of the increasing work load through unpaid hours.
“While most staff are happy to put in some extra free time to help their company through, forcing staff to endlessly put in too many hours could lead to increased stress levels, which can make staff ill and reduce the quality of the work they do.
“Public sector workers – already experiencing a sharp cut in their earnings as they have their pay frozen and pension contributions raised – will be understandably upset about the amount of extra unpaid work they are expected to do with the threat of redundancy looming over them.
TUC dubbed Friday, February 25 as Work Your Proper Hours Day, the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime finishes the unpaid days they do every year, and starts earning for themselves.
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A Lincoln-based photographer has spoken of her love of capturing images of spectacular aircraft flying in the county’s skies.
Claire Hartley’s main photography interests are aviation and nature and several of her pictures have been published, including of the Red Arrows as the sun was low on a winter’s day which featured on the front page of The Times.
In an interview with BBC Look North, Claire said it’s “nice to know that people want to use” her photographs and she picked out to of her personal favourites from her collection.
This photo of a Lancaster flying over Tattershall Castle is a personal favourite of Claire’s. | Screenshot: Claire Hartley/BBC
A photo she took of a Lancaster flying back to Coningsby over Tattershall Castle will always be a favourite, with Claire saying: “That was one of those days where I just sat out in the rain and then just for a split second it came really good just as it passed over the top of the castle.”
She added that her second favourite “is probably one of the Red Arrows” flying in formation.
Claire’s photo of the Red Arrows was used on the front page of The Times. | Screenshot: Claire Hartley/BBC
“It’s not a technically perfect shot, it’s not very good resolution, but it’s the first one for me that took off on social media and that’s kind of the one that made things work for me,” she said.
A group of pupils in Sleaford have represented their school at a recent national track and field event, with four relay runners winning their race and earning the crown of English champions for their age.
On Saturday, July 2, an Inter Girls Athletics team made up of year 9 and 10 students from St George’s Academy in Sleaford, took part in the English Schools Athletics Association Track and Field Cup National Finals in Oxfordshire.
The girls qualified for the event for the first time in the school’s history after winning the regional round comfortably in Derby on June 16.
Heading into the national final they were already the best school for girls’ athletics in the whole North Midlands, and despite difficult conditions they did themselves and their school proud.
Lily Wilcox and Holly Dilks ahead of their triple jump competition.
The team consisted of 15 athletes and one team manager, they were:
Kyla Copus – Team Manager
Lily Wilcox
Lucy Cullum
Laurel Mountain
Maddie Cody
Freya Nicol
Holly Dilks
Holly Johnson
Keira Woollaston
Izzie Hemmant
Gabby Greig
Sienna Slater
Tia Coulson
Natasha Doggett
Holly Young
Tegan Thompson
Notable achievements for the girls were a 2nd place finish for Keira Woollaston, who threw a new personal best in the Hammer event, as well as a 4th place in the 100m for Sienna Slater. Her time of 13.0 seconds saw her qualify for the English Schools competition too.
Freya Nicol, Maddie Cody, Tegan Thompson and Natasha Doggett are officially the fastest school relay team in the country!
However, it was the relay team of Tegan Thompson, Maddie Cody, Freya Nicol and Natasha Doggett who stole the show – winning their race with an impressive time of 57.2 seconds.
St George’s Academy finished in 11th place out of 13 competing teams, missing out on the top 10 by just 15 points across the board.
In a competition dominated by independent and grammar schools, the performance of St George’s Academy caught the eye as the Lincolnshire-based girls took on, and in some instances beat, some of the best athletes in the entire country.
The girls did fantastically well competing against some of the country’s top young athletes.
Miss Cox, the coach of the team and a PE teacher at St George’s Academy, said: “I am so proud of what the girls have achieved this season and they have been a pleasure to work with!
“Their successes have been as a result of a huge team effort; commitment and dedication to training has been exceptional and the bond and friendship between the girls has driven them to push for more.
“They have become role models to younger year groups and are inspiring the younger teams to be as positive and enthusiastic about Athletics as they are.”
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