West Bridgford Air Cadet, Rebekah Oldknow, has gained all the badges available to an Air Cadet, becoming one of a select band in the country to have achieved this milestone. Nineteen years old Rebekah is a Cadet Warrant Officer(CWO) with 209 (West Bridgford) Squadron in Nottingham. CWO is the highest rank a cadet can aspire to.

Badges are awarded for qualifying on may varied subjects in addition to badges awarded for completing each stage of the Cadet Syllabus of Training. During her cadet service Rebekah has gained qualifications in subjects and activities as diverse as Music (playing in the Regions Concert and Marching bands), parachuting, leadership, target shooting, and First Aid, to name but a few. She has also successfully taken part in the Nijmegen March in Holland and successfully completed a Cyber Course at The Royal Air Force No 1 Radio School.

Aeronautics is important to the Air Cadets and Rebekah has been awarded gliding and flying “wings” under the Air Cadet Aviation Training Package. She is also a Qualified Aerospace Instructor, entitling the wearing of the Blue Lanyard. Although hugely satisfying for the Cadet Warrant Officer, the awards and qualifications not only encourage other cadets on the squadron to achieve, it has also given Rebekah the skills and knowledge to mentor the other cadets at West Bridgford.

“We are all extremely proud of Rebekah and she is a great asset to us. She has grown in confidence and proved to be enthusiastic and committed, qualities that have endeared her to both staff and cadets”, said the Squadron’s Commander, Flight Lieutenant Jade Waring RAFAC.

A new report has confirmed that Nottinghamshire is amongst the best places in the country for superfast broadband. Councillor Kay Cutts MBE, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, has welcomed the broadbandchoices.co.uk study, which found that residents and businesses in the county have the second highest download speeds in the country. She says the availability of good quality, superfast broadband remains key if job creation and economic growth ambitions are to be realised. Using the latest OFCOM data compiled by the County Councils Network, the new report shows that the average download speed in Nottinghamshire is 54.4Mbps, compared to an average for English counties of 37.65 Mbps and overall national average of 43.6Mbps.

Compared to other English counties, on average, only residents in Hertfordshire can perform tasks like downloading documents, music and video or stream Netflix TV faster than people living in Nottinghamshire.
Meanwhile, thinkbroadband.com – which compares the availability of superfast broadband in every district, county and region of the UK – shows that people living in Nottinghamshire are more likely to be able to access superfast broadband than in any other shire county in the country. A total of 97.68% of homes and businesses in Nottinghamshire are currently able to access superfast broadband speeds (30 Mbps or quicker), compared to an East Midlands average of 97.06% and UK average of 95.46%. Superfast broadband availability in the Nottinghamshire districts of Mansfield (99.57%) and Broxtowe (99.39%) is better than in most UK cities, including Nottingham (98.9%), Manchester (95.28%), Leeds (97.02%) and Birmingham (96.77%).

The Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire (BBfN) programme, led by Nottinghamshire County Council, has invested more than £30 million in the county’s digital infrastructure since 2014, providing superfast broadband access to over 80,000 homes and businesses across the county.
Phase three of the programme, which is currently being delivered, is using full fibre technology at more than 3,000 properties in rural parts of Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood, providing ultrafast download speeds of up to 330 Mbps – meaning residents and businesses can download a two hour HD film in 90 seconds, a 45 minute HD TV show in 16 seconds, or a nine hour audio book in three seconds. Councillor Cutts said: “The internet has revolutionised the way we do business, keep in contact with friends, use services, access entertainment and store data. Having fast, reliable broadband is now viewed on a par with access to a water, gas and electricity supply.

“Over the last five years, Nottinghamshire County Council and its partners have invested £30m in improving the county’s digital infrastructure which, it is estimated, will generate more than £300m for our economy and create 5,800 jobs by 2030. “The availability of good quality, superfast broadband remains a key driver for our job creation and economic growth ambitions. Continued investment by both the County Council and the private sector in Nottinghamshire’s digital infrastructure, including new ultrafast broadband, is keeping us ahead of the rest and in pole position to attract more inward investment.”

Openreach announced in November that Nottinghamshire was to be the first place in the East Midlands to be included in their ‘Fibre First’ programme, where fibre optic cables take reliable, ultrafast broadband right to people’s front doors. As well as adding even more reliability and resilience to broadband connections and making them less likely to drop out, FTTP offers speeds of up to 1 Gbps – about 24 times faster than the current UK average of 46Mbps.

A station adoption group in Radcliffe-on-Trent has scooped a national accolade for their relentless hard work in making their railway stop inviting, colourful, clean and tidy for rail travellers. The ‘Friends of Radcliffe Station’ have been acknowledged with an Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) award for recognition in weeding its platforms, planting beds for flower displays, scrubbing signage and even creating a community herb garden. Their work has also included clearing old vegetation, sowing a large area of wild flowers and planting over 1,400 spring bulbs.

They installed a plaque on (Thursday) recognising the award together with a permanent mosaic of artwork created by children from Radcliffe-on-Trent Junior School that will welcome passengers using the station.
Representatives of Rushcliffe Borough Council, Radcliffe-on-Trent Parish Council, East Midlands Trains and the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership attended the plaque and mosaic unveiling to meet members of the group and the children who worked on the design. Head Co-ordinator of the volunteer group Phil Thomas explained his delight in being recognised by ACoRP. He said: “We are so pleased to win this national award for all our efforts at Radcliffe-on-Trent station. “Not only does it highlight the hard work of our volunteers but also the sense of community spirit we all share.
“Many many hours have been spent in recent years ensuring the station is kept up to scratch and we’re proud of the impression it creates for residents and visitors when they arrive or catch a train.

“We hope it helps the efforts towards more investment and trains to run on the Poacher Line.” More plans for the group’s work at the station this spring and summer are expected soon. Kaye Robinson, Community Rail Partnership Officer for the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership said: “I am so proud of the work the Radcliffe-on-Trent station adoption group delivers, the station has undergone a massive transformation over the past 15 months and we’ve also worked with the local junior school to install a fantastic piece of artwork.

“It is great to see the group being recognised at our national industry awards and look forward to even more improvements over the coming year.” Donna Adams Stakeholder and Community Rail Manager at East Midlands Trains said: “The unveiling of the ACoRP award plaque and the junior schools artwork is a great example of community collaboration. “Over a short period of time the station adoption group have grown not only in numbers but also in stature within the community and this is credit due to effective partnership working of all those involved. “The efforts are all aimed to help integrate the railway back into the community at Radcliffe-on-Trent and enhance the lives of which it touches. “We hope that for all those involved, either with the award achievement or the artwork, the local community will take pride in what has been achieved so far.” The Friends of Radcliffe Station started in November 2017 and with 30 volunteers are now one of the largest groups in the region with more plans for the group’s work at the station are expected this spring and summer. The group have been supported by the Poacher Line CRP, East Midlands Trains, Network Rail, the Parish Council and Streetwise, Rushcliffe Borough Council’s associated grounds maintenance team, who have regularly collected the waste vegetation.

Radcliffe-on-Trent Swimming Pool Association and the Borough Council’s ward councillor Cllr Roger Upton have also been supportive of the group, the latter with a £200 donation as part of the authority’s Community Support Scheme Grant. Across Britain, around 60 community rail partnerships, with over 1,000 station adoption groups together with other groups and social enterprises, make up the community rail movement.