Countryside La Vie Magazine

Loughborough University has been named as the country’s first women’s University Centre of Cricket Excellence (UCCE) thanks to additional funding from Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

MCC’s investment of nearly £30,000 in the Loughborough centre takes the total Club spend on the six UCCE’s (collectively known as MCC Universities) past the £2 million mark since 2005, the year that it began funding the scheme.

Loughborough, which currently has 35 players at its mixed UCCE, successfully applied for funding from MCC to support a dedicated women’s section and allow more female cricketers to access the world-class facilities and expertise available as part of the programme.

The additional funding will enable the University to run a separate squad of up to 13 female students in 2008. They will benefit from a supported strength and conditioning programme, nutritional and psychological advice, video analysis, medical screenings and subsidised kit and equipment. In addition, they will receive top class coaching and increased access to the ECB National Cricket Performance Centre.

Taking up the role as Assistant Coach for the women’s UCCE will be Nicky Shaw, the England vice-captain and current Loughborough student. Nicky, who is also a former MCC Young Cricketer, will work alongside UCCE Head Coach and former England fast bowler, Graham Dilley.

Loughborough has a proud history of women’s cricket and has been committed to the development of its female cricketers since the programme’s inception in 2000. More women have progressed through the Loughborough system than at any of the other five UCCEs across the country, with 10 UCCE graduates gaining international honours and many taking up captaincy roles with senior county sides.

Loughborough are current BUSA champions, having won the event for the last four years in a row, on top of several BUSA Indoor titles.

John Stephenson, MCC’s Head of Cricket, is impressed with the University set-up, commenting:

“MCC is proud of its involvement with the UCCE scheme and our investment in University cricket continues to grow each year. Loughborough have put a great deal of time and effort into women’s cricket and this funding is fully merited and well deserved. With Graham and Nicky leading the coaching, I have no doubt that we’ll see even more talented women cricketers emerge from the University and, we hope, challenge for a place in the national side.”

Loughborough University Head of Performance Sport, Andy Borrie, is thrilled to receive the go-ahead from MCC.

“The additional funding from MCC underlines our commitment to women’s cricket and is testament to the brilliant work our coaches and staff have done at the UCCE,” he said.

In support of the Daily Mail’s campaign to ban the use of all single-use disposable plastic bags, IKEA UK have announced that a total of 100 million plastic bags have been saved since first launching a 10p charge in June 2006 and then a complete phasing out of plastic bags in July 2007.

Every year an estimated 17.5 billion plastic bags are given away. This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. Most of these bags never get a second use – they get thrown straight into the rubbish bin and have a high social and financial cost attached to them.

In 2005 IKEA UK gave away 32 million bags. Laid out, they would stretch 19,200 kilometres, or the equivalent of a return journey from London to Tokyo.

After a successful two year trial in its Edinburgh store, on World Environment Day in June 2006, IKEA UK announced it was to stop offering free plastic carrier bags to customers introducing a 10p charge for them. All money raised by the charge of plastic bags was to be donated to the organisation ‘Community Forests’. It was part of a three step initiative that included changing the material of standard plastic bags to a biodegradable material and encouraging customers to use reusable bags by reducing the cost of the iconic ‘big blue bag’.

It was estimated that this would reduce plastic bag consumption in IKEA UK stores by 20 million to 12 million bags a year. However, pricing plastic bags at 10p saw a 95% reduction in use to just 1.6 million a year – much higher than ever expected. As a result IKEA UK took the decision that plastic bags were no longer needed and completely removed plastic bags from all stores throughout the UK in July 2007.

Charlie Brown, IKEA UK Environment Manager, said:

“It’s fantastic to see other retailers taking such positive steps to minimise plastic bag usage. Our role as retailers is to help customers make small changes that will reduce their environmental impact. Together we have a huge opportunity to make a real difference.”

The phase out of single-use plastic bags follows far-reaching steps already taken by IKEA to reduce energy consumption, cut emissions and to source products from sustainable suppliers.

One of England and Wales’ newest and most impressive civic buildings – The Loughborough Courthouse - has been handed over to Her Majesty’s Courts Service by local developer William Davis Ltd, in partnership with Willmott Dixon and London & Capital.

The striking three-storey £15.5m landmark building, which will start to hear cases on 12th March 2008, is located in Pinfold Gate in the town centre. As one of over 300 magistrates’ courts in England and Wales, The Loughborough Courthouse will provide first class facilities, replacing Loughborough’s previous courthouse in Woodgate, a former police station built c1860.

William Davis Ltd appointed main contractor Willmott Dixon to construct the multi-million court, which comprises:

five court rooms, two with video screens custodial facilities open plan administration offices consultation and waiting rooms for defendants and witnesses court hall a secure van docking area

Funded by asset manager London & Capital, who now own the building as part of its specialised Public Sector Real Estate Fund, and designed by architects Stephen George & Partners of Leicester with engineers and sustainability advisor, Arup, the high specification 37,000 sq ft courthouse occupies a site of approximately one and a half acres adjacent the route of the proposed Loughborough Inner Relief Road. The building’s distinctive design has been created using a mixture of high-quality stone masonry throughout, decorative curtain walling (non-load bearing exterior walls) and copper cladding to the façade of the building.

The building is ‘highly sustainable’, with a design which adopts all the latest best practice techniques in sustainable building and has already achieved the highest BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’, the industry standard for measuring sustainability in new buildings . Willmott Dixon’s in - house BREEAM team advised on design, including recycling and energy efficiency,