Christmas in Ruddington

As December begins, for most of us the festive season ahead is likely to be a rather different affair to the one we’d normally be able to enjoy. Even if Ruddington drops from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in mid-December, followed by the Government’s promised five days of even looser COVID-19 restrictions over Christmas, the threat of Coronavirus will still be looming large over everything we do. However, a number of ‘low risk’ activities and initiatives are taking place this month in our village to try to get Ruddingtonians into…

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Free Fish ‘n’ Chip Fridays for Ruddington School!

Although pupils will be able to stay in class during the Government’s new, national COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ from Thursday, the Coronavirus has already had a noticeable impact at one of our village schools this week. Other than for those entitled to free school meals, parents and guardians of children at St Peter’s Junior School have been asked to provide packed lunches for their kids after its kitchen was closed. It followed an email from the Ruddington school on Monday advising that a member of staff had tested positive for COVID-19. Although asymptomatic,…

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Second National ‘Lockdown’ Confirmed

All non-essential retailers and hospitality businesses in Ruddington will be forced to close again this week if plans revealed by the Prime Minister today receive parliamentary backing. With trick-or-treating already off the agenda for tonight, Boris Johnson’s Hallowe’en announcement is a scary warning that even more urgent action is required to stem the alarming second surge of COVID-19 infections in England. It follows stricter measures already announced in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Mr Johnson was joined by England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the government’s chief scientific adviser…

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24 More Hours ‘Til Tier 3

It’s been announced that Ruddington will now enter the highest category of COVID-19 restrictions a day later than originally planned. The short delay to towns and villages in the Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) area moving from Tier 2 into Tier 3 is due to Nottinghamshire County Council and our eight other local authorities deciding that the alarming recent rise in Coronavirus cases means that all areas should now face the toughest measures. Following further discussions between the Government and Council Leaders, all have agreed the City of Nottingham and the entire County…

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Council to Fund Half Term School Meals

Ruddington businesses, community groups and individuals are welcoming Nottinghamshire County Council’s announcement that it will provide the necessary funding for free school meals over this half term. As we reported on Saturday, many in our village, including St Peter’s Junior School Headteacher Michael Bradley, were critical of the Government after a Commons bid to extend free school meal vouchers to holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic was rejected by MPs last week. It prompted footballer Marcus Rashford MBE to step in again with a new plea for local help from Councils and businesses.…

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Ruddington Rallies Around Rashford

Big hearted Ruddington businesses, community groups and individuals are backing the appeal by footballer Marcus Rashford to provide food during the half term break for all children who’re entitled to free school meals. It comes after a Commons bid to extend free school meal vouchers to holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic was rejected by MPs. The 22 year-old Manchester United star then stepped in again to make his new plea for help. Earlier this year, Rashford was awarded an MBE following his campaign to allow 1.3 million children in England to claim free…

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Black Cat’s New Owner

Not to be confused with Ruddington’s most famous feline, the legendary Wilbur (who mostly pretends to have no owner at all! – Ed), this Cat is the popular Café which sits at the corner of High Street and Parkyns Street. It may seem as if Julie Smith has been here forever, since she’s so quickly become a major player in our village community.  In fact, it’s only four years since she took over the Mathew’s Café and Deli business and rebranded it as The Black Cat Café. When RUDDINGTON.info spoke to…

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Hospitality Takes Another Hit as Ruddington Goes ‘Tier 2’

Ruddington businesses are weighing up the impact of new restrictions which have been set out by the Government today to tackle the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in Nottinghamshire. If approved by MPs, the changes announced by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, this evening will see a new, three tier system of local Coronavirus alert levels – in which different parts of England will be placed into ‘medium’, ‘high’ and ‘very high’ categories. These proposals will be voted on tomorrow in Parliament before coming into force on Wednesday. Mr Johnson said that further action is required now…

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‘Fiver Fest’ Returns to Ruddington

Once again traders in Ruddington are joining in with ‘The Totally Locally Fiver Fest’. It’s a national celebration of small businesses and shops which runs for a fortnight from today (Saturday October 10th) until October 24th. Being part of this UK-wide initiative was suggested to fellow traders in February this year by The Bottle Top‘s Alex Preston, who is also part of the award-winning Ruddington Village Centre Partnership (RVCP) team.  As numerous independent retailers in the village got involved first time, she decided to also co-ordinate a second one for…

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One Way? No Way!

Plans drawn up by Via East Midlands to implement a temporary one-way system in Ruddington village centre, with the aim of improving traffic flow and providing extra parking, have been rejected by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC). It follows the short public consultation, on which we reported last month, to find out the views of residents and traders on introducing such traffic measures to help with COVID-19 safeguarding. Both Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) and Ruddington Parish Council (RPC) asked for these measures to be given due consideration as a way of mitigating the effects…

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