A brass band festival and a spectacular Brass Band Proms will be adding a Yorkshire flavour to the city’s summer of celebrations for York 800 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Eight York brass bands will showcasing their talent in a weekend of open-air concerts in York’s Museum Gardens on 30 June and 1 July, while on 20 August York’s top two bands join forces for a rip-roaring Proms concert on the stage of the Mystery Plays Theatre in the Museum Gardens.

Both events are being put on by Brassed On York Ltd with the support and backing of City of York Council to mark York 800.

The brass band festival follows on from the original Brassed On York 2010 festival, which drew audiences of several hundred to the massed bands performance of music from the popular film Brassed Off. This year the bands will play different music, but the links with fictional Grimley Colliery Band continue: just as the film, two of York’s bands – Shepherd Group Brass Band and the York Railway Institute Brass Band – have qualified for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain!

York audiences will be able to appreciate the bands’ quality musicianship themselves when the two bands come together to play as one on the massive Mystery Plays stage for the special ‘Proms in the Gardens’ on Monday 20 August. The outdoor theatre, which seats over 1400, is a temporary structure for the York Mystery Plays 2012 and the audience will be under cover (though the performers will not).

The Proms concert, in aid of the Lord Mayor of York’s charities, is a one-off event and will feature the 1812 Overture and all the Last Night of the Proms favourites, as well as specially arranged and commissioned music to celebrate York’s 800 years of history. Tickets cost from £12 to £20 and can be booked through the Theatre Royal box office. (more…)

1. The Green Deal is essentially a very cheap loan scheme to pay for energy-saving measures which will make the UK more energy-efficient.

2. Why is this being done? Firstly, our homes suffer from a shocking amount of heat loss. Secondly, Britain has ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions, and the Green Deal is an important part of meeting those targets.

3. The golden rule of the Green Deal means the amount you save on your bills will always be greater than the cost of the energy-saving measures.

4. The cost – up to a current maximum of £6,500 – is absorbed into the future energy bills of your home and paid back over time.

5. An estimated 26,000,000 homes could be eligible for green deal financing.

LibDem Energy Secretary and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey said:

“Today I have published the Government’s detailed plans along with legislation that will allow the industry to bring the Green Deal into existence. The Green Deal will play a huge role in improving the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses, with ECO making sure that the most vulnerable homes benefit too.

“I am determined to make sure that, in addition to creating huge opportunities for Green Deal providers and businesses along with thousands of new jobs, this new market in energy efficiency will deliver the very best deal for consumers.”
More details see: http://www.uswitch.com/green-deal/

The largest number of sports club in York to host open days have been put on the starting blocks by City of York Council to help get more people fitter and healthier as part of the York Gold 2012 summer of sporting activities.

Starting shortly after the Olympic Torch visits the city on 19 and 20 June, the programme of open days has been awarded the Inspire Mark by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for its innovation and inclusivity. (more…)

Tesco has withdrawn its plans to install a “pod” for online shoppers in the car park of its Tadcaster Road store.

Tesco had applied for the system to be set up, which would allow customers who order goods online to collect them more easily,

But the scheme, also including a canopy to offer protection from bad weather, has now been put on hold.

It would have replaced ten parking spaces at the store

York police are investigating the theft of a valuable diamond ring.

It was stolen at around 3.30pm on Friday 25 May 2012, from a car parked at Heworth Golf Club on Muncastergate in York. (more…)

The Ward Councillors are recommending that the – now very limited – 2012 Ward Committee budget is spent as follows:

Friends of Chapmans Pond Funding for ongoing maintenance of Chapmans Pond (Can be done if given in a grant) £580 (41 residents votes)

Bingo Club Contribute to room hire for the Elderly Persons bingo club at Moor Lane Youth Club (Can be given as grant) £500 (39 votes)

Friends of Acomb Wood A grant to the Friends of Acomb Wood, for an information notice board. £500 (32 votes)

Woodthorpe After School Club A Grant to Woodthorpe after school club to subsidise places and purchase new play equipment £975 (23 votes)

St Edwards Playgroup A grant to St Edward’s playgroup for 5 pre-school sessions a week £975 (22 votes)

Rising Stars A fund for Rising Stars to help with activity costs, trips and equipment £500 (18 votes)

Dringhouses Dance Group A grant to Dringhouses Dance Group to provide outings and contribute to running costs £400 (17 votes)

Police are urging residents to be on their guard following a spate of burglaries in the York area.

York police arrested two men in the early hours Monday 11 June following a burglary in York Road, Haxby.

Police received a call just after midnight after the householders discovered the break-in. Officers were dispatched to the scene and arrested two suspects nearby. (more…)

The shortlist of books for City of York Council’s first ever Children’s Book Awards have been released today (Monday 11 June).

The Children’s Book Awards were launched in March, when children under the age of 14 were invited to nominate their favourite picture and story books. The shortlist of the five favourite books in each category has now been announced.

Shortlisted in the ‘picture book’ category are: (more…)

With tickets for the Olympic Flame entertainment spectacular on Tuesday 19th June now available from Libraries, the City of York Council has announced that over 260 local people have signed up to ensure crowds watching the Olympic Torch on its journey through York stay safe and enjoy the experience.

The council and employee-volunteering charity York Cares have been working together to enlist the help of local people for the Torch’s visit to York. (more…)

3 organisations in York are to benefit from the latest Lottery awards. They are:

• Vale of York Environment Group £9,875: This is a project by a voluntary and community organisation in York. The organisation will use funding to manage a series of family nature walks and events to be delivered by BTCV in York. This will reduce isolation and enable integration among the families through outdoor activities.

• Strensall with Towthorpe Parish Council £6,720: This is a project by a parish council in Strensall, York. The organisation will use funding to erect fencing around the children’s play area. This will enable them to increase the safety of children.

• St Paul’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School £3,690: This is a project by a primary school in York. The organisation will use funding to develop a recently donated allotment plot into a community garden for children at the school and the wider community. This will enable opportunities for them to grow vegetables and learn about nature and the environment.
Some 62 groups in Yorkshire are sharing nearly £500,000 of funding this month from the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme, with several of the groups using their awards to provide fun activities for children and young people to enjoy.