Home   Spalding   News   Article

Subscribe Now

A lovely gesture and a controversial application in Spalding




A random act and a licensing meeting are discussed in this week's letters...

Wonderful gesture made us so happy

We were recipients of a lovely act of kindness recently and we wanted to tell as many people as possible about it.

We are Janice Neale and Carol Usher, two friends who live in Georgian Court, Spalding.

On Friday, November 18, we were having a cup of coffee in Morrison’s Café when a man walked past us carrying two bunches of flowers. We jokingly said to him “are those for us?” He laughed and said no that they were for his wife and daughter. He was a foreign gentleman who is obviously making a life for his family in our area.

A couple of minutes later the man came back into the Café carrying two beautiful bunches of flowers which he presented to us. We were absolutely delighted and were both even a bit emotional. He left before we had the chance say a proper thank you or even to find out his name.

We wanted to thank the gentleman in your newspaper for his wonderful act of kindness. We are all living through difficult and changing times and it’s so nice to know that there are some really good people in our area. We hope he’s reading this and he sees just how grateful and happy he made us.

Janice Neale & Carol Usher

Spalding

John Elson's Spalding Guardian cartoon (53416308)
John Elson's Spalding Guardian cartoon (53416308)

Turn them down again

I note with dismay that Merkur Slots has made another application for 24 hour gambling in Spalding’s former Dorothy Perkins premises.

Many of the same objections apply as pertained to the previous application:

  • 24 hour gambling is not welcome in a small market town.
  • Gambling in all forms is a national problem leading to mental health problems and financial difficulties – we all know who the real winners are in these scenarios.
  • Merkur state that the crime rate for the area is relatively low – 212 reported crimes since April this year – and that simply means we want to keep it that way. How on earth will Merkur, because of the very nature of their business, improve the situation or even retain the status quo?
  • Spalding is an attractive small market town in a rural area and because of the pandemic and the downturn of the High street we need to boost the town with retail and even café culture, not the inevitable increased deprivation that 24 hour gambling will attract.
  • Parking may be an increased problem.
  • Litter most certainly will be an increased problem. The Spalding Wombles – a volunteer litter picking group – have worked wonders in clearing the town of mess and litter. We don’t need more rubbish.
  • Noise and nuisance will inevitably be an increased problem.
  • This very company was refused a 24 hour gambling licence at these same premises recently, many local people objected and now they are calling it ‘bingo’ in a bid to get in by the back door.

I want to be even more proud of this town than I am already.It has beautiful architecture, a market, a very unusual carillon that is hugely underused and a great deal of history.

Please, please members of the Licensing Panel and councillors of South Holland do the right thing and believe in Spalding by making it better, not worse. Refuse this application and let’s do the things that can make Spalding wonderful again.

Make a difference.

I have known this town and the surrounding area all my life. It is very special to me and many others and if I can help in any small way I would be delighted to do so.

Jacqui Woods

via email

EDITOR: This letter was sent in on Monday, the day before Tuesday’s licensing committee meeting where the application was passed.

Thought For The Week: Life is a message

I don’t remember where I read it, however it jumped off the page and I made a note of it, because it made me think and reflect. I wonder if it strikes you as it did me. “My life is a message.” My life is a message, it made me think about my life message. What message have I left in the minds of those I have met over the years, my family, friends, work colleagues, even those I have met perhaps only for a moment.

You see every moment of every day we are sending out messages, that touches others and, in some way, influences them.

Our anger even when not spoken radiates out, causing tension.

Our sorrows, moments of joy, our fear, our prejudices all radiate out and others are touched and affected by them.

Have you not felt good, even excited, when another shares their moment of joy with you? Conversely, when someone is angry, bitter, or sorrowful, even if no word is spoken, you feel the tension as it radiates into your being, and you are uncomfortable.

I wonder what sort of memory my life message has and is leaving on those I have met and shall meet.

After all, when I am gone, that is all that really matters about my life. I could leave material things, money, possessions, but that is not me.

And what can I take with me, nothing other than the person I was in spirit.

As I look forward, I pray my life message is worthy of my time. And should I not try to leave a lasting positive life message in the time I have left?

Rev Brian Shenk

Spalding United Reformed Church



Comments | 0
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More