Bedford Borough Council is looking for someone to open the café at Great Denham Country Park, bringing a fantastic venue to life.

Great Denham County Park runs along the River Great Ouse, with a children's playground, football pitches and a games areas, along with cycle and jogging routes.

The 'Archers Rest Café' facility is in a central location overlooking the park, playground and sports facilities with indoor and outdoor seating, and a fully fitted kitchen and store area.

SEMLEP's Recovery and Resilience Grant scheme will re-open for Expressions of Interest submissions today (17 June) until 2 July at 5pm.

The scheme offers match funding to businesses to invest in new technologies, plant equipment, machinery, or premises growth to help businesses create employment opportunities.

There was praise for Bedford town businesses and for Bedford Borough Council's extensive efforts to support them during the pandemic and beyond as Councillors discussed the reopening of the town centre at the latest, informal meeting of the Environment and Sustainable Communities Committee.

Liberal Democrat Committee Member Councillor Jon Abbott praised everyone involved in the various regeneration and business support schemes for their work on behalf of the town and in 'helping make the town somewhere people want to come to.' He reflected on the positive changes in the town centre over recent years due to 'investment across the town'. He praised the transformation of a former car park into the Riverside Bedford development, and projects such as the current High Street works which will 'make Bedford a far more beautiful and attractive place than it was, and will attract the smaller businesses in.'

Thameslink have launched a consultation on their proposed May 2022 timetable.

The consultation will run until to Thursday 5 August 2021. You can find out more about this consultation and give your views at https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/timetableconsultation

Following the Prime Minister's announcement that Step 4 of the Roadmap to the end of Lockdown will be postponed by four weeks until 19 July, Mayor Dave Hodgson has written to the Prime Minister asking for additional financial support for local businesses.

Mayor Dave has urged the Prime Minister to provide another round of Business Support Grants to help businesses and ensure that our economy can rebound once the restrictions are lifted.

The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities.

The nomination window for 2022 round will close on 15^th September and nominations can be made online at https://qavs.culture.gov.uk/.

Carers Week came to a close for another year yesterday, and through the week Bedford Borough Council along with a number of local organisations marked the event in a range of ways, raising awareness of caring, highlighting the challenges unpaid carers face and recognising the contribution they make to families and communities. Their efforts had in common a focus on Making Caring Visible and Valued, the theme of this year's Carers Week.