Latest news with #Beds
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tuberous Sclerosis garden wins gold at flower show
A garden that was designed to raise awareness for the Tuberous Sclerosis Association has won a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Jen Donnelly and Catherine Gibbon volunteer at Amersham Hospital in Buckinghamshire and rejuvenate the gardens used by staff and patients. Their "Room to Breathe" garden was inspired by Ms Donnelly's experiences waiting in hospitals for her 15-year-old son Alex, who has Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, to have surgery. After the flower show, the garden will be moved to Amersham Hospital, which will become its permanent home. Tuberous sclerosis is a rare genetic condition that causes mainly benign tumours to develop in different parts of the body, such as the brain, heart, and lungs. Ms Donnelly recalled: "My memory is sitting on a plastic chair in a clinical corridor waiting for news of his operations. "I thought, wouldn't it have been amazing to have a little space outside space. I could've gone to [it] to escape, have a moment to yourself. "So we've created this little corner of a hospital courtyard where a parent could go to and have that moment to themselves." The design won its trophy in the Balcony and Container Garden category. It was created with planting containers off the ground, at various heights, in a 12 square-meter space. A "cocoon-like hanging chair" was included, which Ms Gibbon said evoked the feeling of having "a nice hug you really need when you're in hospital". During the show, the garden was visited by celebrities such as actor Sir David Suchet, Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova and singer Alexandra Burke. Ms Donnelly said: "David Suchet was so lovely and spent so much time with us, talking to the public about why it was important to raise awareness about the condition. The Poirot actor has regularly supported the charity in public. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Designer creates final garden for Chelsea Flower Show Nursery wins fifth gold at Chelsea Flower Show Royals and Beckham attend Chelsea Flower Show The Tuberous Sclerosis Association
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
How Stevenage theatre turned shy teen into Six The Musical star
One of the original cast members of Six The Musical has credited her childhood theatre experiences for helping her overcome shyness and achieve West End Atkinson, who can be seen in the cinema in the filmed version of the musical, recalled her introduction to theatre at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was "everything".As a 13-year-old she was unexpectedly drafted on to the stage while working as an understudy for a pantomime production of Cinderella."I was this like really shy, insecure 13-year-old, but it really I loved it so much and that really made me go 'oh, I want to do this'," she said. "The whole reason I'm here is because of my roots in Stevenage, although I like to call it St. Evanage, it's fancy" she encouraged young fans who want a future on the West End to visit their local amateur clubs."They're so accessible, they're not obviously hugely expensive. So that I think is definitely a place to start.""Then for me from there it was just like every single day doing something towards what I wanted to do. Whether that was dancing around my living room or doing a free online singing lesson. "I think it's just doing something small every day to what you want to do." The performer also reflected on the success of Six The Musical, a musical about the wives of Henry VIII where she played the role of Katherine Howard."To be with a show from its early start, where we were earning no money, to performing around the country - it's amazing to have seen it come to this."Doing the movie with the original cast was like a feeling of coming home, because those women have become like my family."While she found watching herself on the big screen version "terrifying", she loved watching her co-stars who she could never appreciate from an audience perspective. She described the production as a "massive part of me" and said it influenced her latest album Queen, which is out in lead single, a cover of Alone by Heart which is released on Friday, is a duet with fellow original Six cast member Natalie Paris."She's such an incredible vocalist and we just wanted to do something that was really sort of epic, cinematic and queenly."The album is influenced by the journey of Six that I've been on and includes covers of songs from other shows I've been in."When asked if it is nicer to perform without being dressed as a queen she joked: "Listen, I love wearing a crown, you never know." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Teacher sees opal stone his class gave author Roald Dahl
A teacher from Australia was reunited with an opal gifted by his class to the children's author Roald Dahl more than 30 years Taylor, 57, made a special trip to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to see the precious gem while on a visit to the world-renowned author had kept it on the desk in his writing hut at his home, Gipsy was given it by the class at Mintabie Area School in central Australia after doing a telephone link-up when he visited the country as part of his book tour promoting the recently published Matilda in 1989. The children had been reading his books and were fascinated by the author, Mr Taylor said."He had a way of saying the most extraordinary and hilarious things, while remaining perfectly calm and teaching us at the same time," he which is now an abandoned mining town, is more than 1,000km from Adelaide and a long way from facilities that other children would take for Taylor said his students' faces transformed when Dahl told them how lucky they were to live in a place where treasures were dug up from the recalled that Dahl told the class: "There could be treasures all around you, waiting to be found, and you might never know it. In fact, you could be sitting or standing on an incredible treasure now." Mr Taylor said the author had asked if the students had ever found opal stones, to which the class responded they opal stone was duly sent to Roald Dahl via his publisher, Penguin. Steve Gardam, director of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, said: "The opal stone has been on the writing desk of Roald Dahl since he received it in 1989 and has remained there ever since. "In 2011, Dahl's writing hut was transferred to the Museum and is one of the key exhibits here in Great Missenden." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Gavin and Stacey star donates rare gift to charity
A rare signed call sheet from the last ever episode of popular sitcom Gavin and Stacey is up for Scarborough, who plays Pete, has donated the call sheet for the show's last ever scene to Hertfordshire-based charity DENS as a raffle show's writers - Ruth Jones and James Corden - have signed the call sheet - which typically is a daily outline for a shoot - and even included farewell money raised is set to be given to DENS which is a local charity that helps rebuild the lives of people facing homeless and poverty. Gavin and Stacey was first screened in 2007 and more than 12 million viewers watched the final episode on Christmas Day 2024. Scarborough, 56, who lives in Hertfordshire, first supported DENS as a guest speaker at the charity's 20th anniversary Gala Dinner in early a patron of the charity, he said: "I've had the privilege of seeing the incredible work they do to support vulnerable people across the community – and their services are needed now more than ever. "I'm excited to work alongside the great team at DENS and do whatever I can to help grow their impact."Wendy Lewington, the charity's CEO, added: "From the moment Adrian started supporting DENS, we knew he was the perfect champion of our cause. "We can't wait to see what the future holds for our exciting partnership, starting with the extraordinary raffle prize he has donated."A signed script of the final episode raised more than £50,000 when it was donated to a children's charity by Robert Wilfort who played Stacey's brother. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
27-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Bowel cancer survivor overcomes treatment to run London Marathon
A man who struggled to walk after being treated for bowel cancer has trained to run for the London Knowles, from Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, only began training for the event in January as he was still recovering from treatment caused nerve damage to his hands and feet, meaning it is now "extremely painful" to walk or run longer than about seven joked: "The intention is to run the marathon in six or seven minutes." The father of four explained that although the nerve damage could heal over time it was unlikely the pain in his right foot would September 2023 the music producer had danced through a walking marathon wearing a heavy backpack and a later he assumed the pain in his stomach was due to a pulled shortly after Christmas 2023 he was told he had colitis and sent for a colonoscopy the following February, when it was detected as stage three was set for an operation to remove the cancer in May but it was brought forward to April due to a cancellation."If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be here now because it would've become stage four," he Knowles' core took time to recover from the surgery. In hospital his wife Mikhaila joked that he could manage only 26 steps while London Marathon runners were achieving 26 miles the same weekend. Although the chemotherapy treatment has left him with difficulties walking, the 44-year-old is grateful to be paid tribute to the support of his family, which includes his uncle - television presenter Nick laughed: "When I said I was going to do it in the first place, he said, 'are you sure about that?'"I'll probably have one of his songs, and my father's songs as well, in my ears just because we're a close family."I'm trying to think about how because I also don't want to switch off from what's going on around me. I want to take that in as well. I think that's a huge part of it." Mr Knowles is currently cancer free and hoping to raise money for Bowel Research UK, who he described as "unsung heroes"."What they do working in the background has given me a second shot of life," he said."It's given my wife her husband back. It's given my kids their dad back." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
