Bedford Borough Council is providing free school meal vouchers to parents of thousands of children and young people in the Borough throughout the summer holidays.

Bedford Borough children from families that receive income-related free school meals are again eligible for a £15 voucher per week each, for the full six weeks. To date, £665,090 worth of vouchers have been directly issued to parents of 6,609 eligible children and young people to help with the cost of shopping for food.

This morning I visited Mark Rutherford School, for the opening of the STEM teaching block.

The new centre of excellence comprises of seven classrooms and a lecture theatre and will inspire a whole generation of young people in Bedfordshire to pursue STEM subjects and help grow the next generation of engineers, scientists and technologists.

The latest weekly coronavirus snapshot for Bedford Borough has been published.

The figures show that in the seven days up to July 11th:

• 8,509 PCR tests were taken
• There were 453 Coronavirus cases (90 more than the previous week)
• The weekly positive cases per 100,000 population was 261.4 (up from 209.5 in the previous week)

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner are conducting a survey ahead of the new Police and Crime Plan which is due this August.

You can take part in the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/publicconsultation2021.

The Higgins Bedford have joined in with the Summer of SEND to deliver a number of free and fun online activities for children and young people with disabilities and/or special educational needs, which will run from 26th July - 23rd August.

Children and young people are invited to take part in a series of pre-recorded video workshops filled with movement, music and games themed around transport. Workshops include going on a sensory adventure to discover hidden treasure, getting crafty to make hot air balloons, dancing like aeroplanes and bikes, and much more.

Following the Prime Minister's briefing this week (Monday 12 July) the rules on what we can and can't do will be changing from Monday 19 July.

With rates increasing in Bedford Borough, the Council is asking residents to continue to exercise caution and common sense, and continue to:

• take a free test if you have symptoms and get the vaccine if you are 18 or over.
• self-isolate if told to do so by NHS test and trace.
• if you can, wear a face covering indoors, in busy places and on public transport and, where possible, keep your distance from people that you don't live with.
• try and meet outdoors rather than indoors, and test twice a week with a rapid lateral flow test to keep your friends and family safe.

Bedford Borough Council has awarded £5,000 to Thurleigh Playing Field through the Rural Grants Scheme to help towards improving the site's facilities and making the area more accessible.

One of the major improvements taking place is the installation of a new patio area, which will be usable by local residents, spectators who are watching sports on the playing field, or parents and families using the children's play area.