
New Crewe history centre ‘to be stuffed with stories'
Cheshire Archives is a shared service between Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington councils.The archives have been based in Chester, but are now being divided between the two new sites.Michael Gorman, the deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, told BBC Radio Stoke there was a "real appetite" for local history in the area."Think of the success of programmes like Who Do You Think You Are?"People love stories, they love stories about their family, stories about their town, city, region and this building is going to be stuffed with stories."
'A lot of ambition'
But he added that it was also one of a number of regeneration projects in Crewe including the development of a new youth centre and a "meanwhile use" for a site that had been earmarked for a leisure development but was scaled back in recent years."There's a lot going on in Crewe, there's a lot of regeneration projects," said Mr Gorman."Our aim is to make Crewe fit for the 21st Century."We're talking to the government about really developing Crewe as a new small city by the year 2050, so we've got a lot of ambition and we've got developers that we're talking to and we want those developers and those investors to match our ambitions for Crewe."
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The Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Sun
Meet the heir hunter who reunites families with £1million lost fortunes – as retired teacher gets £10k out of the blue
SITTING at her desk, Shannon Freeman pores over a family tree. Using historical records as well as birth and death certificates, she is trying to trace the relatives of a woman who was abandoned in hospital as a baby in 1922. 5 When she finds them, she has good news to share — they are the legal heirs to her £40,000 estate. Shannon is a probate genealogist, and spends her day tracking down families to reunite them with long-lost fortunes. She works at Fraser & Fraser, which featured on the BBC series Heir Hunters. Such companies will reunite unclaimed estates with relatives, and take a cut of the inheritance (usually ranging from ten to 30 per cent) for doing the legwork for you. There are around 5,800 unclaimed estates in England and Wales to chase. These are estates without a will or with no known relatives to give to, and are initially passed over to the Crown. If no family can be tracked down after 30 years, it stays in the Government's coffers. Sizes of estates can vary, but can be as much as £1million. Shannon, who has worked at the firm for 13 years, has never been busier, with nearly 300 cases on her list — six of which are worth more than £1million. Below, she reveals how she finds families — and offers tips on how to be your own heir hunter. HOW TO TRACK DOWN RELATIVES THERE are several ways for Shannon to chase leads. Local authorities, hospitals and even neighbours of the deceased will get in touch, asking for her help locating relatives. She looks at the address where the person lived and checks the electoral roll, to see if the deceased lived with anyone as they could be a family member. Researchers are dispatched all over the country, hunting down lost relatives by knocking on neighbours' doors to collect as much information as possible. Family trees are pulled together using birth, death and marriage certificates, information from old censuses and catalogues called Kelly's Directory, which list families who had a certain profession. 5 PASSING ON SAD NEWS IF Shannon strikes gold and tracks down a relative, it can be tough telling them a long-lost family member has died. 'Reactions are mixed,' she says. 'Sometimes you tell someone their father has passed away and the reaction is positive, as they had a difficult relationship. 'Other times, they might never have met the person, but are in tears as it's a shock.' The largest estate Shannon found living heirs for was valued at £1.2million. It was shared out to a total of 19 relatives with the largest share of £110,000 going to a cousin. But beware of cowboy heir hunters knocking at your door. Check a company is legitimate by asking local Trading Standards offices, and checking with Companies House and the Association of Professional Genealogists. 'Be cautious of any heir hunters company that asks for money upfront, as this is not standard practice,' warns Shannon. 5 BE YOUR OWN HEIR HUNTER YOU can check if you could be in line for a surprise inheritance by asking heir hunters if they have a list of cold cases you can look through. If you find someone you think is a relative, see if they have a will at If there's no will, map out your family tree to prove that you are both related. You'll need to pay for copies of birth, marriage and death certificates at £12.50 each. You might not be the sole heir. There could be other relatives who are also entitled to a share of the estate. To make a claim, send evidence to the Bona Vacantia Division at bvestates@ If successful, you will have to administer the estate — making a log of the assets such as property, money and investments, and ensuring any debts are paid off. This process can take two years to complete. 'Knock on the door brought me £10k' A KNOCK on the door changed Sarah's life when an heir hunter told her she was in line for a £10,000 windfall. The 66-year-old from Chelmsford, Essex, was told in 2022 that she was the sole heir to a two-bedroom house in Yorkshire, owned by a long-lost great aunt she had never heard of before. Sarah, a retired nursery teacher, said: 'I was nervous as, usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it is. 'But they talked me through every step and now it's just a case of waiting for the money to come through.' The property is worth £220,000 and is in the process of being sold. As there are debts including a mortgage to pay off, Sarah is expecting to be left with £10,000. She said: 'That is a life-changing amount for me. 'I've been struggling to make ends meet for years. 'I'm hoping to take my two children, aged eight and six, to Disneyland with the money.' PLUM NEW OPPORTUNITY POPULAR banking app Plum has launched a fun new feature based on the weather for millions of customers to use to boost their savings. Plum works out how much you can afford to save then automatically transfers this amount from your bank account into a savings pot in the app. 5 Money saved in this pot can earn interest of 3.53 per cent AER (Annual Equivalent Rate). The new feature on the app uses a weather-based classification for the amount of money you wish to save into your Plum pot. The app checks the weather in your registered location then you choose the amount of money you want to save from five options. Pick 'shady spot' and the app will set aside £1, 'sunny side up' saves £2, 'summer's here' is for £5, 'beach day' saves £10, while 'blazing hot' puts away £20. The highest savings option could see you stash a scorching £2,078 a year. Britain is not known for its balmy weather, so you can always boost your savings by choosing Plum's existing 'rainy day rule'. You can choose to save as much as £20 every time it rains. There are other apps to help you save, such as Snoop, that connects to your bank account and credit cards and sends you alerts so you don't overspend. Monzo allows you to set up spending targets and round up outgoings to set aside into your savings account. Emile Mee LEARN HOW TO SAVE MORE 5 CHECK if you are eligible for a new discount app that could be better than the Blue Light Card scheme. If you work in education, you can sign up to the Discounts For Teachers app that offers exclusive money-off deals at retailers such as Asda, Ikea, Jet2 and B&M. It is not just available to teachers. Teaching assistants, support staff, caterers, maintenance workers, lecturers and professors can apply to join. People who have retired, but used to work in education, can get one too. The app claims its 1.5million members save £2,262 a year including £265 on travel and transport, £259 on groceries, £214 on utility bills and £186 on their mobiles and TVs. The savings are said to be double the amount people can make on the Blue Light Card, which provides reductions of up to £800 a year. However, the Blue Light scheme is available to a wider number of people including NHS staff, emergency service personnel, social care workers and people in the Armed Forces. Sign up to Discount for Teachers by filling out the registration form at discountsforteachers. Then provide a work email address or a valid document to prove you work in education. To sign up for the Blue Light Card, head to Give proof of your profession by uploading a form of valid ID or recent payslip.


BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Hopes fence will stop 'illegal encampments' in Sittingbourne park
Fencing will be installed around a recreation ground in Kent to help prevent "illegal encampments", a council has Borough Council is putting "knee rail" fencing around Milton Regis recreation ground, near Sittingbourne, because vehicles have driven on to the area three times this council says removing the encampments, cleaning up after them and carrying out any repairs costs local taxpayers thousands of pounds each 1,476ft (450m) of wooden fencing will be roughly 1.6ft (50cm) high and will be paid for through funding set aside for open space improvements, the council said. Part of the recreation ground already has fencing around its edge. The new fencing will cover the Wooster, chair of the council's environmental services and climate change committee, said: "So far this year, Milton Rec has seen three illegal encampments and residents have expressed their concerns on how it impacts their use of the recreation ground."Each incident also costs local council taxpayers thousands of pounds to remove, along with the costs of cleaning the site, waste removal and carrying out repairs."We need to follow a number of legal steps – welfare checks, legal notices and, when necessary, court applications - which takes up valuable resources."We want to prevent further incidents and have been trying to find ways to retain the original use of the park."Ms Wooster said the fencing would stop vehicles getting into the park without losing the "formal but open feel" of the the area.


Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Belief in God doubles among young people
A belief in God has doubled among young people in the past four years. More than one third of 18 to 24-year-olds now believe in a supernatural deity, up from just 16 per cent in 2021. The YouGov survey findings also reveal that atheism – the belief of no God – has fallen in the same age group from 49 per cent in August 2021 to 32 per cent. The poll, which did not break down the respondents by religion, appeared to support claims of increased belief in Britain amid a 'quiet revival' in churches and the growing Muslim population. 'Spiritual awakening' The Rt Rev Jill Duff, the Bishop of Lancaster, told The Telegraph that Britain was undergoing a 'spiritual awakening'. 'I'm not surprised by this,' she said. 'It is very much what we are seeing on the ground in our churches. 'There has been a trend in this direction – that the younger you are, the more spiritually open you are – for quite a number of years, and we are seeing a real openness to God and Christianity and especially to the supernatural in the younger age-group. 'I think there is a spiritual awakening. Covid led to a big increase in prayer – for example, there is a global week of '24/7 Prayer' coming up in September. 'The data is that as people pray, the nation spiritually awakens. That has been the case for generations.' The research also identified smaller increases in belief in other age groups during the same period. Among those aged 25 to 49, belief in God has increased from 21 to 25 per cent between 2021 and 2025, with atheism declining from 45 to 42 per cent. In the 50 to 64 age bracket, belief in God has remained consistent at 27 per cent, but atheism has declined from 41 to 36 per cent. But for those aged 65 and above, belief in God has decreased from 35 to 32 per cent and atheism has increased from 30 to 35 per cent. The figures indicate that the long-term decline of faith in Britain could be beginning to change. Church attendance has declined significantly since the middle of the 20th century, with those going to a Church of England service estimated to have fallen by 1.5 per cent every year since the 1950s. The 2021 census also revealed that Christians now account for less than half of the population of England and Wales for the first time in recorded history. 'Quiet revival' of Christians Other recent research also indicates that this decline in religious observance may be slowing amid mass immigration and a claimed 'quiet revival' of Christians. The Bible Society found earlier this year that 16 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds were monthly churchgoers, up from just four per cent in 2018. The research identified particular increases in attendance at Roman Catholic and Pentecostal churches. Bible sales in the UK have also almost doubled in the last five years. In 2019, sales totalled £2.69 million, but in 2024 they stood at £5.02 million, according to figures from Nielsen BookScan. Census data also shows Britain's Muslim population has increased in the past decade, rising from 2.7 million in 2011 to 3.9 million in 2021 – almost 50 per cent of whom were under 24. There was also a 5.7 per cent increase in the Jewish population between 2011 and 2021, up from 271,904 to 287,360.