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Here is Thursday's (October 27) edition of The Nottinghamian:
Hello,
Thursday's edition of the Nottinghamian brings news of the city's Christmas light switch-on ceremony. Fans of the annual Old Market Square tradition will be disappointed to hear this year's extravaganza will not be happening like before as the City Council take a "low key" approach. But do not fear... there's something different in Mansfield.
We will also take a look at a charity doing random acts of kindness after an anonymous donor left them funds to carry out their work. Plus we have our monthly street style feature, which rounds up October's looks, and details of 71 Nottinghamshire pubs being added to the 2023 Good Beer Guide.
'Low key'
If you have step foot in the city centre over the past couple weeks you would have seen work is well underway on Nottingham's Christmas market. But the question on the lips of fans of the festivities is what is happening about the Christmas lights switch-on?
The last grand switch-on ceremony in Nottingham was in 2018 when the then Lord Mayor and Sheriff of Nottingham, Councillors Liaqat Ali and Catharine Arnold, did the honours with help from Buddy the Elf from Elf: A Christmas Spectacular at the Motorpoint Arena.
In the thick of the pandemic in 2020, and again in 2021, it became a low-key event with city suddenly lighting up without warning. The switch-on wasn't publicised to prevent large crowds from gathering in Old Market Square. This year there will be no ceremony once again. The lights are due to be turned on November 15, the opening day of Winter Wonderland.
A Nottingham city council spokesman said: "The Christmas lights switch-on has been low key for a number of years now (certainly a couple of years pre-pandemic) mainly because of the expanding nature of the Winter Wonderland in Old Market Square and less space being available."
Acts of kindness
An anonymous donor has offered funding for a Nottingham charity to deliver food parcels across the city. Shifting Your Mindset, who focus on wellbeing, community development and men's support, were given the donation of £1,000.
So far, the money has been used to fund food parcels. The charity will be delivering around 100 to 150 parcels on Friday nights as random acts of kindness. CEO and founder of the charity, Mutsa Makaka says they will be delivered randomly to those who she thinks needs it.
Some food parcels have been donated C The Barbers in Beckhampton Road, where the barber will be handing out food parcels to children that come in for their haircut. Mutsa added: “On our social media platforms, we posted we’re going to be handing out food parcels and asked people to send their postcodes and fill out a survey on the things they wanted.
“We’ve went to random hot spots for the homeless or we see people randomly and have then reversed the car to go and speak to them and see if they want food.” Programme Leader at the charity, Emmanuel Israel said: “I’ve noticed that people are more willing to accept help, pride is left aside.” Read more on the charity's work here.
Weather and trivia
Weather: Dry to start on Friday but a band of rain spreads during the morning with fresh, gusty winds. Rain clearing into the afternoon to give some sunny spells. Maximum temperature 18 °C.
UV: Low
Further reading: Nottingham tram workers could strike over threat of pay cut for terminally ill staff
Trivia question: Why did Forest players wear their opponents shirts in the photos when they beat Derby to win the FA Cup in 1898?
The answer to today’s trivia question is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Street style
Simran Varghese perfectly described her style as: "Comfortable but rugged and colourful always." The 25-year-old from Aspley studied in Nottingham as a student. She gets her style inspiration from social media, movies and TV shows. Simran's style advice is to "be colourful and don't be boring".
Outfit breakdown:
- Jumper - Zara
- Jeans - Vintage
- Trainers - Nike
- Bag - Sports Direct
Best pubs
Pubs across Nottinghamshire are being celebrated in the 2023 Good Beer Guide. With the 50th edition of the best selling book by the Campaign for Real Ale, drinkers can find out which Notts pubs serve the best pints.
From the smallest micro pub to bigger establishments with lounges, snugs and sprawling gardens, 71 pubs in the county feature in the A-Z listings. Some of those making the grade include Kimberley micro pub Roots Emporium, city centre-based Angel on Stoney Street, Blue Monkey in Giltbrook and Castle Rock in Queensbridge Road.
Steve Westby, the chairman of Nottingham CAMRA, said: "This is the 50th edition of the guide and in that time the pub situation has changed beyond recognition. Back then almost all of the pubs belonged to our local breweries, Shipstone's, Home and Hardy's & Hansons."
He added: "Whilst we continue to lose our local pubs almost on a daily basis, there is still a good number of excellent pubs and Nottingham CAMRA has a difficult job in selecting those to go in the limited space available in the guide. However, pubs are currently facing a torrid time with rapidly rising costs and it is important that we continue to support them or we will lose even more." Read more here.
Switch on
Despite no celebrations in Nottingham, Nineties boy band East 17 are set to headline Mansfield's Christmas light switch on event this year. The group, famous for hits including 'Stay Another Day'c, will perform at The Big Switch On event in the Market Place on Sunday, November 27.
Executive Mayor Andy Abrahams said the town was "beyond excited" to welcome the band. “After two years when Christmas community events were drastically curtailed due to the pandemic we’re returning with a bang this year," he said.
The band is currently represented by founding members John Handy and Terry Coldwell as well as Robby Craig. The free Christmas event will be hosted by local radio station Mansfield 103.2FM from 3pm to 5.05pm and will also feature the 90s sounds of singer Suki Soul.
That’s all for today
Thank you for joining me for today's edition of The Nottinghamian. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did why not sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every weekday by clicking here.
The answer to today’s trivia question, why did Forest players wear their opponents shirts in the photos when they beat Derby to win the FA Cup in 1898, is the photographer was worried their red shirts wouldn’t show up.
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