Grass Root Sports, Union Flags, Glass Recycling & More

Good morning readers, its another Wednesday already and a huge welcome to our new newsletter subscribers - Thank You !

It's that time again - feet up for ten, kettle on and see what biscuits are in the cupboard.

Today's Quote of the Day -“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” ― Oscar Wilde

Enjoy the read, please email us if you have a story for us and have a great day wherever you are in Bassetlaw.

Justin Doddy, Editor

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Worksop Cricket Club Break-In - Can You Help?

The team at Worksop Cricket Club has shared the upsetting news that the club was broken into during the early hours of the morning (August 17), with high-value items stolen and damage caused both inside and outside the building.

The club is run by dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to provide sporting opportunities for local people of all ages. Acts of vandalism and theft like this have a significant impact on community organisations that rely on the commitment and goodwill of their volunteers.

If anyone has any information that may assist with this incident, no matter how small it may seem, please contact Worksop Cricket Club or the police.

Nottinghamshire Police is assisting with enquiries, and everyone hopes for a positive resolution as quickly as possible.

Let's stand with this valued community club and show our support during this difficult time. Together, we can help put things right.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE: What will happen to Nottinghamshire’s Union Flag banners under boundary shake-ups?

By: Lauren Monaghan, LDRS

Keeping Nottinghamshire’s controversial Union Flag banners may not be a “priority” under a new wider Nottingham council, councillors say.

The Reform-led county council made news last October when it announced it would be spending £75,000 installing 164 Union Flag banners on lampposts along the county’s roads. They were rolled out around the end of November and beginning of December 2025.

Its decision was partly to “enhance civic pride” in the area and draw in some cash from local businesses who could end up sponsoring them. So far, none have been sponsored.

The move has been criticised by opposition members on the authority, with some labelling the project a waste of taxpayers’ money and questioning if the cash could have been better spent on other services.

Council leader Mick Barton has often defended the banners, recently claiming they were funded with savings made on cabinet positions and not from money taken from any service.

But Nottinghamshire is heading towards its biggest boundary shake-up in 50 years with Local Government Reorganisation, which will see parts of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe merged with Nottingham to create a new unitary authority and another unitary to serve the remaining county.

Seeing as some of the banners will one day fall under the new Greater Nottingham Council, it raises the question: what will happen to Reform’s banners?

Councillors representing areas falling under the future wider Nottingham boundary say keeping them likely will not be a “priority” if their groups have any influence.

Councillor Ethan Radford (Lab), deputy leader of Nottingham City Council said:

“It’s a question of which party is running the new authority after the [shadow] elections – the main fundamental question is, is this what taxpayers want their money spent on?

“They said [the banners] were getting private sponsorship – they haven’t. That it’s not costing the taxpayer, which they have.

“It’s the flag of the nation, quite tatty on a lamppost, when I know children in care are struggling, there are older people who need support – it’s a real question of what people want to see their money going on.”

Cllr Radford said he believes there are “better ways” of displaying patriotism, with the city council having the record of England’s largest St George’s flag on the front of the council house in Market Square.

He said:

“When LGR happens there will be an enormous amount of people in a great level of need. A Labour administration on day one would be prioritising addressing those needs rather than playing performative politics.”

An FOI submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in early July showed a total of 16 banners, including those advertising fostering services, had been vandalised across the county’s boroughs and districts.

Three notable incidents of them being defaced include some in Chilwell and Beeston in May and June, where black paint was painted on three of them with sentences such as ‘your ad here’ and ‘sponsored by the taxpayer’ as a jibe towards the council for not receiving any sponsorships.

Cllr Teresa Cullen (Brox Alliance) represents Beeston Central and Rylands on the county council and Toton and Chilwell Meadows on Broxtowe Borough Council – both areas that will be absorbed into the wider Nottingham authority.

She said the banners “will not stay” if she is involved in the new council representing her area.

She said:

“We don’t know who will be elected but I will be astonished if Labour kept the banners. The [Broxtowe Alliance] wouldn’t keep the banners.

“I think the banners would be replaced quicksmart, with things like ‘we’re proud of Nottingham’, replace the ones in Beeston with ‘welcome to Beeston’.

“I can absolutely ensure you those Union banners will not stay if I’m any part of the decision making in the new administration.”

Cllr Mike Adams (Con) represents Carlton East on the county council and the Trent Valley ward on Gedling Borough Council – both areas also fall under the new Greater Nottingham authority by 2028.

He said:

“I wouldn’t be in favour of any action of the taxpayer taking on any extra cost.

“My view is we use banners like that how we used them for before, for information on public events, use the existing brackets for that.

“For me, leave them up until they fall apart, or they’re vandalised, at no point should the taxpayer be spending more money on them.

“Always take people over the banners – that money could have been spent elsewhere.”

Nottinghamshire County Council was contacted for response and to indicate any plan for the banners under LGR. It did not respond at the time of publication.

Support for Nottinghamshire Farmers During Drought Conditions

Farmers across England will receive new support to help manage the impact of prolonged dry weather as the government steps up its response to the ongoing drought.

The package announced on 15 August includes:

💷 Temporary adjustments to Environmental Land Management (ELM) agreements, allowing farmers affected by drought to continue receiving payments while taking practical steps to protect livestock, crops and land. This includes creating firebreaks and cutting or grazing land in ELM agreements to help ease shortages of animal feed and bedding.

🌱 An extra £50 million for Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2, taking the total SFI26 budget to £290 million.

💧 Action to make it easier to build reservoirs by reducing unnecessary barriers and updating planning guidance.

🚜 £15 million to support the construction of on-farm reservoirs, helping farmers store water and strengthen resilience against future droughts.

✅ Improved access to water during drought conditions, with the Environment Agency prioritising requests for short-term variations to abstraction licence conditions.

Further information available on : https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/08/15/new-drought-support-for-farmers/

Credit: DEFRA

Mayor Opens £10,000 Fund for Grassroots Sports Organisations

Community groups across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are being encouraged to apply for a share of £10,000 following Mayor Claire Ward's Summer of Sport initiative.

The new Community Activity Challenge Fund will offer grants of £250 to £2,000 to help local organisations deliver free sport and physical activity opportunities between 1 September and 30 November 2026. 🤝

Funding can support a wide range of activities, including:

✅ Community sports sessions
🚶 Walking initiatives
♿ Disability sport programmes
👩 Women's and girls' activities
🎉 Community events
🏃 Sport-focused holiday provision

The fund aims to increase participation in physical activity while supporting healthier, stronger and more connected communities.

💬 Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, said:

"The East Midlands is a fantastic region for sport, but we know there are areas across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire where people face barriers to participation, and I wanted to do something to address that.

"I’ve opened this fund to help local organisations create more opportunities for our residents to reap the benefits that sport and physical activity can bring.

"By investing this money directly into local communities, it will support initiatives that improve health, wellbeing and community pride."

Eligible applicants include charities, community interest companies, voluntary and community groups, faith organisations, parish and town councils, and sports clubs operating within Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

📅 Activities funded through the programme must be free to participants and take place between 1 September and 30 November 2026.

📝 How to apply

Applications for the Community Activity Challenge Fund are now open.

For full eligibility criteria, guidance and application details, visit:
🔗 Community Activity Challenge Fund information

⏰ Applications close on 23 August 2026.

Glass Recycling Service Delivers Early Success

Pictured: Shane Atkins, Interim Head of Neighbourhood Services, Waste Management team and Cllr Darrell Pulk, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods

Bassetlaw residents and waste collection crews are being praised after more than 770 tonnes of glass have been collected since the launch of the Council’s new kerbside glass recycling service.

Introduced at the end of April, the service has been welcomed by households across the district, helping to ensure hundreds of tonnes of glass bottles, jars and containers are recycled instead of being placed in general waste.

Bins are collected from households every six-weeks and during the first 12 weeks of the service, crews collected a total of 771.22 tonnes.

The strong early figures reflect both the enthusiasm of residents and the commitment of waste collection crews, who have worked hard to successfully roll out the new service across Bassetlaw.

Cllr Darrell Pulk, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said:

“Collecting more than 770 tonnes of glass in the first two collection cycles is a fantastic achievement and clear evidence that Bassetlaw residents are committed to recycling. The success of the service is down to the combined efforts of our residents and waste collection crews, and I would like to thank everyone involved.

“By recycling more glass, we are reducing the amount of waste sent for disposal and helping to create a cleaner, greener Bassetlaw for future generations. A huge thank you is also extended to the Council's waste management crews for their continued hard work in collecting waste and recycling across Bassetlaw.”

If you would like to know when your next Bin Collection is due to take place, you can download the Bassetlaw ‘Binformation’ App, which allows you to view your collection dates for each bin, sign up for alerts and access information on which items you can put in your recycling collections.

The Binformation App is available to download free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. A desktop version is also available through the Council's website.

For more information and to access the desktop version, visit the Bins, Recycling and Waste section of www.bassetlaw.gov.uk.

Thanks so much for reading our local newsletter and for supporting us. We’re committed to providing Bassetlaw with the quality local news service it deserves, but sustaining this work may come with some challenges. Our team is currently discussing how to make Bassetlaw Today financially viable in the long term, and one option we’re considering is introducing a subscription model to help cover our costs.

We want to be open with you about these conversations so you’re aware that a fee may need to be introduced in the future. If that happens, we hope you’ll continue to stand with us and support the publication.

Have a great day and I look forward to seeing you read our next newsletter.

Justin Doddy, Editor