Centre manager Charles Cooke and long-serving Renew member Kim East. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
A mental health and trauma hub in Lincoln celebrated its 34th birthday on Monday with the perfect gift – £185,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to help save it from potential closure.
As previously reported, [email protected] on Mint Lane needed to raise at least £70,000 so the local charity running it – Community Assets Plus – could potentially buy the building, which is currently owned by Lincolnshire County Council.
The council previously said it would be putting the building up for sale by 2022. Volunteers said the charity which runs the centre were invited to buy the freehold and it appealed for the community to buy shares towards the cost.
Some of the latest money from the National Lottery will be used to help purchase the building, along with the proceeds of the Community Share Offer.
Mint Lane Cafe volunteer coordinator Anastasia Oyebanji, directors at Lincoln Trauma Centre Andrea Stott & Michelle Freeman, [email protected] centre manager Charles Cooke, Renew member Kim East and Cafe manager Angeletia Padmore-Clarke. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The remaining money will be used to refurbish and improve the building and support its operations over the next two years. This will see the future of the centre saved from the threat of closure at the end of its leases in 2022.
It will mean it can potentially attract additional investment and house more long-term activities and services. It will also help the centre become more sustainable as the rent currently payable comprises nearly half the running costs.
Martha Vahl, Chair of [email protected] said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to be certain that the centre can survive and go on with its work.
“This is important because the burden of poor mental health is increasingly recognised and the work that goes on in the centre is so important for hundreds of people a year, helping them stay well and avoid the need for expensive clinical care in the NHS etc.”
Centre Manager Charles Cooke added: “All members of the community can buy shares from as little as £50. Over £40,000 has been pledged so far and it is expected that at least £70,000 will be needed to enable the purchase of the building to go ahead. The good news from National Lottery should ensure that that target is reached and we can then go ahead.”
The Mint Lane centre opened its doors on February 3, 1986 as an NHS facility, but since 2012 it has been run by Community Assets Plus. [email protected] offers a range of services to help improve people’s wellbeing and is largely centred around mental health.
The latest news was also welcomed by Kim East, who has been a regular and frequent attender at the centre since it first opened. He said: “This is fantastic news. I have been coming to Mint Lane since it opened as an NHS facility on February 3 1986 and I cannot imagine a better 34th birthday present for the centre than finding out it might be saved for years to come.”
Kevin Kendall, assistant director for corporate property at the county council, said: “We had positive meetings with Community Assets Plus following their request to buy the Mint Lane building instead of renting it from us, and this funding announcement is great news for them. We’re looking forward to helping them progress their plans.”
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City of Lincoln Council has approved a 1.9% tax hike despite a series of cuts for 2021-22 due to the financial uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1.9% rise will take city council’s share of council tax for a Band D property in Lincoln to £285.39 – an increase of £5.31.
The executive committee agreed on increasing allotment charges, council house and garage rents.
Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million and said it must close the hole for financial stability.
Allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51 pence per week.
Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1.5%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.
Attendees at City of Lincoln Council’s executive on Monday.
The authority said it faces a number of ongoing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and requires a substantial reduction in all of its budgets.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Leader of City of Lincoln Council said: “It’sareasonablymodestincreaseformostpeople,andwewill support lowincomegroups stillwiththeconcessions.”
The council has saved more than £9 million annually over the past decade, however will have to increase savings by £850,000 next year, rising to £1.75 million by 2023/24.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.
The draft budget will go to consultation and return before the council later this year for a final decision.
There have been 372 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 325 new cases in Lincolnshire, 30 in North Lincolnshire and 17 in North East Lincolnshire.
Some nine deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in North and North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported nine new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on Monday. Hospital deaths have now surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic started in Greater Lincolnshire.
National cases increased by 37,535 to 3,433,494, while deaths rose by 599 to 89,860.
Leader of South Holland District Council, Cllr Lord Gary Porter, put the spike down to outbreaks in two care facilities, one being a children’s care home.
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules. Two groups of revellers in the woods near Woodhall Spa have also been fined.
In national news, Public Health England have confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week.
Ten hospital trusts across England consistently reported having no spare adult critical care beds in the most recent figures available.
It comes as hospital waiting times, coronavirus admissions and patients requiring intensive care are rising.
All UK travel corridors, which allow arrivals from some countries to avoid having to quarantine, have now closed until at least February 15.
Travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test to be allowed entry.
Supermarkets face increased inspections from local councils to ensure they are COVID-secure amid a push from the government to clamp down further on coronavirus transmission.
Local governments have been asked by ministers to target the largest supermarkets for inspection to ensure companies are enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and limits on shopper numbers.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to January 17 according to the government dashboard:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 11 to Jan 17. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, January 18
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,374 cases (up 372)
30,784 in Lincolnshire (up 325)
6,927 in North Lincolnshire (up 30)
6,663 in North East Lincolnshire (up 17)
1,686 deaths (up nine)
1,196 from Lincolnshire (up nine)
268 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,006 hospital deaths (up 10)
612 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
363 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
3,433,494 UK cases, 89,860 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Eight people were fined for two separate COVID-19 rule breaches over the weekend, after being found partying and camping near Woodhall Spa.
Officers were called to two different incidents at Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland area near Woodhall Spa on Saturday, January 16 and on Sunday, January 17.
Five people were issued with £200 fines after a report of partying at around 11.08pm on Saturday.
The next morning, police were again called to the area at 8.21am after people were seen camping at the location.
Three people were fined as a result of this, again valued at £200 due to being first time offenders.
If these fines are paid within 14 days of the offence, the cost will be cut in half to £100.
On the same weekend, but this time in a different location, six urban explorers were fined after travelling from three different counties to try and gain access to an abandoned hospital in Grantham.
The behaviour of COVID-19 rule breakers has been described as “dangerous” by Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable Kerrin Wilson, who referred to them as “Covidiots”.
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