Oliver Coffin

A team of 17 staff from a Lincoln law firm are doing their bit to save the planet by leaving their cars at home and cycling to work every day.

The Sills & Betteridge LLP staff are clocking up more than 100 miles a day between them, which over a year is is the equivalent of cycling round the world, and will save 10 tons of CO2.

The Cycle to Work benefits are being offered to all staff at the law firm’s seven offices around the country.

One of the members of staff taking part is partner Tim Higham. He cycles from Newark Road every day, a round trip of around 12 miles.

He said: “I was an occasional cyclist before the cycle to work scheme and I hadn’t done much of that since my children had grown up but its a good way of fitting regular exercise into your daily routine.”

Senior partner Andrew Payne added: “The staff at Sills are always looking at ways to help improve the environment and we are delighted that so many of them have already taken up the cycle to work scheme.”

With the help of Access LN6, the law firm was able to install a cycle shelter at its office at Aquis House, in Clasketgate, to help promote sustainable travel too.

Councillor Richard Davies, Executive Councillor for Highways and Transportation at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We’re working with Sills & Betteridge to encourage sustainable travel, so it’s great that more of their staff are now cycling to work.

“We were delighted to provide them with funding to purchase cycle storage through our sustainable travel grant and they are just one of nearly 90 businesses in Lincoln that are doing their bit to cut traffic congestion and carbon emissions in the city.”

A student and two graduates from Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln have won prestigious early years awards from Nursery World Magazine.

The Nursery World Awards took place in London on 29th September 2014, and celebrates exceptional programmes, services and partnerships that improve the health, learning, development and well being of children from birth to eight years and their families.

The early years award identifies outstanding achievements by those in the early childhood sector.

Caralynn Fletcher, who is currently studying for a Foundation Degree in Applied Studies at BGU, won the Nursery Manager of the Year prize.

She manages Swineshead Pre-School near Boston in Lincolnshire, which has grown from 24 sessional places to 78 full-time places under her management and achieved an Ofsted grade of outstanding.

Carolynn Fletcher and her team.

Marie Walker, who graduated from BGU two years ago with a first-class BA (Hons) degree in Applied Studies in Early Childhood, is the owner of Little Learners Pre-School in Skegness, Lincolnshire, which won the Pre-school of the Year award.

Little Learners Pre-School is rated as outstanding by Ofsted even though it has only been open for less than a year and is part of Little Learners Nursery School, which won Nursery World’s Nursery of the Year in 2010.

Marie Walker and the Little Learners team.

Sally Forster, Lead Practitioner and Deputy Manager at Kidzone Cranwell, won Nursery World’s Outstanding Contribution Award.

Sacha Mason, Academic Co-ordinator in Applied Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University, said: “Carolynn, Marie and Sally are all extremely gifted early years professionals and we’re delighted to see their talents recognised with these prestigious awards.

“The strength of the FdA and the BA (Hons) Applied Studies in Early Childhood progression route is that it enables early years practitioners to really think about their practice in relation to what the research tells us about how to support and enable the best outcomes for young children.”