Latest news with #BishopAuckland
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Work to start on delayed Bishop Auckland leisure centre
Work on a new leisure centre will start in the summer following facility, which will be built next to Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre in Bishop Auckland, will combine sports and library services in one place, Durham County Council will have two accessible swimming pools, a sauna and a 'move hub', with equipment for people who need to improve strength and centre will be built on the site of the current Woodhouse Close Library, which will be demolished. Plans for the project, which was priced at £26.6m, were approved in 2023. It was then delayed due to issues with a gas pipe underneath the leisure centre, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. The council is funding the building, along with a £2.75m contribution from Sport centre will also include soft play centre and a Joe Quinn, Cabinet member for resources, investment and assets, said: "The new venue will bring leisure and library services together in a single, modern site with new features to make our services accessible to all ages and abilities and support community wellbeing." The library will close from Saturday, with a click-and-collect service available at Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
First look inside the affordable café and pantry opening today in Bishop Auckland
A new affordable café and deli pantry that gives its profits to charity will open in County Durham today. The Beehive coffee shop and pantry, supported by the Angel Trust, opens its doors in Bishop Auckland this morning (May 30). The shop, on Kingsway, is set to offer 'luxury' goods but at more accessible prices, with any profits going to the Angel Trust. Beehive, Coffeeshop & Takeaway and Pantry opens tomorrow in Bishop Auckland supporting The Angel Trust (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Founder and CEO Clair McGregor said: "We are just so excited to bring the Beehive to Bishop Auckland. "It's an area that needs affordable options and we hope to help as many people as possible with our community pantry. "We just want to do some good." A preview opening night was held on Wednesday (May 28). (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Plans for the cafe began to form when the property next door to the Angel Trust's Kingsway pantry side became available. They took over the property to expand and Clair decided to open the café to bring more people into the pantry. The food bank and community pantry is currently in need of donations like canned goods, pasta, rice or fresh produce and will also be stocked with items made in house. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) The chef at Beehive will make chutney, pickles, and fresh bakes while an own-named coffee will also be on sale. The cafe will also offer takeaway services, daily specials and a range of drinks and snacks. The Angel Trust charity aims to help communities across County Durham. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) The shop and pantry will be open from 9am til 3pm daily and a takeaway hatch will be open from 8am. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Manager Alex Bestwick. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) Chef Martyn Hull. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT) (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Criticism is too often becoming abuse
Weeks after he was elected MP for Bishop Auckland, Dr Sam Rushworth was fearing for his family's lives as he was bombarded with death threats from an obsessed constituent. What is it like for politicians receiving torrents of abuse? As if the abuse and death threats sent to the new MP weren't bad enough, seeing online commenters hailing his tormentor as a "hero" reached a whole new level of scariness."It's absolutely right that people can criticise me and can scrutinise what I do," Dr Rushworth says, "but there is a difference between that and what is often just sheer abuse."Earlier this month, Benjamin Clarke, 31 and from Bishop Auckland, was jailed for one and a half years for making threats to kill his local Labour MP Dr told a social worker he would "smash [the MP's] head off the pavement until he dies," and sent chilling messages to Rushworth, including one that said: "I can't wait until your next public appearance, you'll be lucky to leave in one piece." Asked if he actually meant to carry out the threats, Clarke said it was "just a matter of time" before he carried out at an attack, echoing the horrific murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Rushworth says Clarke's campaign was a distressing time for his children in had seen a newspaper board outside a newsagents which quoted Clarke's threats to lock Dr Rushworth in his house, set it on fire and listen to his the comments underneath online articles about it were what was "really shocking", Dr Rushworth was a parade of abusive comments, with many calling Clarke "a hero". "My teenage daughter rang me in tears because their school friends had shared it with her," Dr Rushworth adds: "I used to work in atrocity prevention, stopping genocides, but it always starts with a human being ceasing to be human in the eyes of other people."And I do think that's what's happening with MPs."He says MPs of "all colours" are "routinely dehumanised", adding: "That level of personalised attack, when you have to live around it and see it all day long, it grinds you down."But then also you have opportunities to make a difference and that's very rewarding." The previous Conservative MP in the area, Dehenna Davison, said she had started receiving abuse before she was even police investigated a number of people for harassment, death and rape threats."It's horrendous," Ms Davison said of the thousands of abusive messages she would receive daily."[Dr Rushworth] and I may be political opponents, but no elected official - regardless of your political standpoint - should be having to face this."She said abuse was happening across all constituencies. 'Young people put off' Chi Onwurah, who represents Newcastle Central for Labour, told BBC Radio Newcastle she has had people following and harassing her in the streets."I was on the radio recently, and I was called a vile creature, ugly inside and out," she said."There were over 400 comments being really abusive, the subject I was talking about didn't even matter."Misinformation is used to fuel hatred, Ms Onwurah said, referencing the misinformation about the Southport attacks that sparked last summer's riots."I think we need better regulation with how algorithms drive misinformation," she said, adding: "We need more responsibility for the platforms and a better response to getting out the truth." Ms Davison also warned that young people have told her they are put off going into politics because of the abuse."There are legitimate ways that you can criticise them [MPs], but behaviour like that is absolutely not one of them," she said. Additional reporting by Collette Howe, Imogen Moir and Pamela Tickell. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Newcastle Life Science Centre celebrates 25th anniversary
A woman who discovered she had a higher risk of developing breast cancer has praised the science centre where she was tested. Abbie Yorke, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was diagnosed with a BRCA gene variant by a team at Newcastle's Life Science Centre in 2022. The variant increases a person's risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. "It almost felt like I could act upon it to safeguard me but also my little boys," she said. Ms Yorke went on to have a preventive double mastectomy in said she was "very proud" of the science centre - which has celebrated its 25th anniversary - and called the team who helped her "life saving". The Life Science Centre was officially opened by Elizabeth II in May 2000 and has since been home to medical research and treatment, spanning fertility to diseases including Power, from Newcastle, said whenever she drives through the city she always points out the site to her triplets. "It was always my dream to have a baby and I knew that I would have to go down the IVF route or the fertility route," she said. After seeking help from the fertility centre at the site, she recalled seeing the first scan of her children in 2022."I'll never forget [it]," she said. "There were two sacs there… it was confirmed just before Christmas – there's triplets there."She said the team "from start to end were fantastic". Linda Conlan, chief executive of Life, said: "Over that quarter century there have been numerous breakthroughs in medical research which have enhanced the lives of so many people."It's been a rollercoaster of a 25 years." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Auckland Palace's beehive project in Bishop Auckland marks World Bee Day
A new collection of beehives has been installed at a 17th Century walled garden to celebrate World Bee installation at County Durham's Auckland Palace features three hives and forms part of a wider network buzzing across Bishop Auckland, including several at nearby Binchester Roman the end of summer, the total number of hives will house an estimated 540,000 bees.A spokesperson said it was "so important" given the crucial role bees play in biodiversity that they are given somewhere to help pollinate crops and plants amid declining habitat numbers. Behind the new apiary is the Auckland Project, a regeneration charity working to establish Bishop Auckland as a must-visit cultural destination."The installation of beehives in our walled garden is symbolic," said Andy Nesbitt, the project's head curator of parks, gardens and landscapes."Their presence is a sign of a healthy, thriving ecosystem, and we're proud to create spaces where both people and pollinators can flourish." David Land, its interim chief executive, added: "We're not just restoring buildings and landscapes - we're restoring life. "These bees are part of a much bigger vision to connect past, present and future through sustainability, education and storytelling." Beekeeper Ashley Galley, who is based at Binchester, described the project as continuing a rich centuries-old reverence for the insects, with the Romans even having named the goddess Mellona after them."Bees are essential to life as we know it, pollinating one-third of the world's food supply and playing a vital role in the health of entire ecosystems," he Galley said the work being done by the bees at Binchester - once one of the largest Roman military sites in northern Britain - was "staggering"."To make just one kilogram of honey, a hive collectively flies around 90,000 miles - that's the equivalent of three times around the Earth," he said. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
