Wanted: Vincent Jackson

COVID-19 vaccinations will be available at Blundell Park on Saturday during Grimsby Town’s match against Wealdstone in an ambitious attempt to make the jabs more accessible to the community.

The Mariners face Wealdstone at home on Saturday, January 29, and while the game is taking place there will be availability for fans to get their coronavirus vaccine.

The volunteers will be offering first, second, and booster doses for people aged 16 and over without the need for appointment. The jab site can be found next to the executive entrance, which is across the main club car park directly behind McDonald’s.

Pfizer vaccinations will be offered at Blundell Park from 1pm to 5.30pm on Saturday, as Grimsby kick off against Wealdstone at 3pm, and you don’t need a match ticket to get jabbed.

Lincoln City’s LNER Stadium was used as a COVID-19 rapid testing site at the start of 2021, but it was never operational while the team played their matches, making Grimsby’s move a Lincolnshire first.

North East Lincolnshire acting director of public health, Geoff Barnes, said: “With schools now well into the new term, North East Lincolnshire is starting to see a rise again in cases amongst children, which is inevitably spreading to their parents and older relatives.

“All the figures suggest that whilst the Omicron variant is less severe in its symptoms it does still pose a significant risk to older and more vulnerable people. That alone is a vital reason for everyone to be fully vaccinated. Whether it’s your first, second or booster dose, we urge you to go along either on Saturday or to one of the many clinics.”

As well as the vaccinations at the football ground, there will also be a host of walk-in clinics across Grimsby for anyone wanting either a first, second or booster jab.

Pfizer doses will be available for people aged 16 and over wanting a first or second dose, as well as boosters for over 16s who had their second dose at least three months ago.

There will also be a select few of the sites that offer first and second doses for 12 to 15-year-olds, so long as the gap between jabs is at least 12 weeks and they are 12 weeks clear after testing positive for COVID-19.

The local walk-in dates are:

• Sunday, January 30 – 10am to 2pm: Drugs4Delivery, Acorn Business Park, Moss Road*
• Sunday, January 30 – 10am to 2pm: Freshney Place Shopping Centre (opposite the HMV store)*
• Monday, January 31 – 9am to 1.30pm: Periville Pharmacy, Cromwell Primary Care Centre, Cromwell Road
• Monday, January 31 – 9am to 5pm: Drugs4Delivery, Acorn Business Park, Moss Road*
• Monday, January 31 – 10am to 2pm: Freshney Place Shopping Centre (opposite the HMV store)*
• Tuesday, February 1 – 9am to 1.30pm: Periville Pharmacy, Cromwell Primary Care Centre, Cromwell Road
• Tuesday, February 1 – 10am to 6pm: Centre4, 17a Wootton Road
• Wednesday, February 2 – 9am to 1.30pm: Periville Pharmacy, Cromwell Primary Care Centre, Cromwell Road
• Thursday, February 3 – 9am to 1.30pm: Periville Pharmacy, Cromwell Primary Care Centre, Cromwell Road
• Thursday, February 3 – 4pm to 7pm: Open Door, Albion Street*
• Friday, February 4 – 9am to 1.30pm: Periville Pharmacy, Cromwell Primary Care Centre, Cromwell Road
• Friday, February 4 – 4pm to 7pm: Open Door, Albion Street*
• Saturday, February 5 – 8.30am to 4pm: Open Door, Albion Street*

* = doses for 12 to 15-year-olds

South Kesteven District Councillors have approved a £1.3million spend to demolish the majority of the former Cummins site in Stamford in order to start building a major new development.

The council’s St Martin’s Park proposals for the site, along with a field next door owned by Burgley Estate, were approved in October and the authority’s full council on Thursday voted in favour of putting the money aside to move forward with the build.

When finished, the Barnack Road development will include 190 new homes, a retirement village of a further 150 homes and a series of business units.

It will also include a convenience store and café, as well as public open space and cycle and pedestrian access to the parkland to the south of the site.

Council leader Conservative Councillor Kelham Cooke said: “This is the next stage in the journey of St Martins Park and presents the district with an amazing opportunity not just in Stamford but across the whole of the south of the district.

“For many years, businesses in Stanford have been unable to realise their potential in the town due to the lack of available space… many key businesses have been forced to move to other towns nearby.

“St Martins gives us the opportunity to not only capture a number of businesses looking for a footprint in the town, but also to realise high-skilled high-wage employment opportunities to for existing and future residents of our town.”

“Naturally, of course, we should avoid spending such sums where possible, however, the cost benefit analysis in this instance, suggests that the potential it will bring to our district strongly outweigh this fee.”

How the site would be laid out.

The demolition will see the removal of all but one of the buildings on the site.

SKDC bought the site for £7.5million in 2019 and declared it in its corporate plan for 2020-23 as being strategically important for its growth ambitions.

Councillor Nick Robinson supported the report, adding: “It’s an exciting time both for the the mix of changes we’re bringing in the development and for the expansion of Stamford.”

Councillors were mostly in support, though some had questions around climate change, the finances and just a £250,000 contribution from Burghley Estate.

The councillors delegated authority to the chief executive, in consultation with the leader of the council, and enter into a contract with GF Tomlinson to undertake the works.

A year six teacher with coronavirus has been teaching her class virtually from home as a Lincolnshire primary school continues to battle against staff shortages.

The Richmond School in Skegness had 20 staff off last week, meaning some children had to be sent home. At one point there was just one adult for 60 children, which the school decided “wasn’t safe”, so the reception class was closed last week, as well as on Monday, January 24.

This week there are 14 staff off sick and the school is working hard to manage the situation.

But year six teacher Emma Green was determined to carry on and is teaching her class virtually from home while recovering from coronavirus.

She told BBC Look North: “I have been told on numerous occasions I don’t need to, however I don’t feel that poorly so I feel like I still need to give and I still want to be part of the class.

“We’ve been quite short across the school, particularly lower down in the school, so anything that I can do to help if that means my teaching assistants can be deployed somewhere else and I can teach my class then that’s fine.”

Headteacher Caroline Wellsted said: “It meant we had to close our reception class for the whole of last week and Monday of this week because I only had one adult in school for 60 children and it just wasn’t safe.

“There have been other odd days when I’ve had to close just one class in some year groups because staffing levels have dipped to an unsafe level.”

When asked how school staff in the county have been affected since they returned from the Christmas break Martin Smith, assistant director for education at Lincolnshire County Council, told The Lincolnite: “This continues to be a challenging time for schools, who are regularly having to deal with staff absences. Every school is different and the situation changes on a daily basis.

“However, at this time, schools are managing to adapt and remain open. I want to thank school leaders and their teams for their resilience and commitment at this time.”