Dunstable News Desk

Andy Godly describes himself on Twitter as “Ex Head Gardener Royal National Rose Society”, but locals in Dunstable will know him from his fantastic front garden displays in Victoria Street/ Albion Street.


When he's not looking after his plants Andy loves a good long walk, and he's recently become incensed with the amount of litter left on our beautiful local country walks and parks by others who aren't quite so thoughtful. And he's taken to Twitter to demonstrate how easy it is to take a stroll and make it into a positive exercise by picking up litter along the way.

On the 31 May, he had built up to walking 10 miles collecting litter as he went and he tweeted, “Ten miles of litter picking around Dunstable and Houghton Regis today. The amount of rubbish was the worst its been for weeks”



Ten miles of litter picking around Dunstable and Houghton Regis today. The amount of rubbish was the worst its been for weeks 😒 @KingHenryFirst@DLDD2009@HoughtonRegisNDpic.twitter.com/…

May has become the sunniest calendar month on record in the UK

It has been the sunniest Spring on record for the UK and all the home nations and the driest May on record in England.

Spring 2020 headlines
626 hours of bright sunshine were recorded in Spring 2020 for the UK and have exceeded the previous high (555 hours, set in 1948) by over 70 hours. Spring 2020 also exceeds the sunshine amount for most summer seasons, with only three summers being sunnier (1976, 1995, and 1989).The figure for England is even higher. Spring 2020 recorded 696 hours of sunshine, exceeding the previous record set of 594.3 hoursAll UK countries have recorded their sunniest spring on record in series stretching back to 1929It has been the eighth warmest spring on record for the UK, with both England and Wales having their fifth warmest spring on recordIt has been the fifth driest spring for the UK overall, but some counties in north east England and eastern Scotland have recorded their driest spring in a rai…

Central Bedfordshire Council is joining in with National Volunteers’ Week* 2020 by saying ‘thank you’ to volunteers throughout Central Bedfordshire who have stepped up to make a difference to others.

Cllr Tracey Stock, Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing and Communities, said: “This year, more than ever, people have come together to help out their neighbours and their wider communities. Local volunteers have been amazing.

“Many have never volunteered before but, following a request for volunteers to help during the coronavirus emergency, the response has been incredible.

“The 44 Good Neighbour schemes across Central Bedfordshire that provide day-to-day practical support and companionship for our more vulnerable and lonely residents is just one example of the many ways in which volunteers are helping others.

“I’m aware of many groups that are making a difference in their communities. I’m volunteering for a support group in my Ward, taking calls from shielded residents who need …

Buckingham Palace has today announced The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service winners for 2020 and HM Lord-Lieutenant¹ of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis, is delighted that four voluntary organisations in Bedfordshire have been recognised.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Winners are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. It is the MBE for volunteer groups.

Nationally, 230 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups have received the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations remains high year on year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them. The following Bedfordshire organisations have been successful. More information on the winners and the Award can be found at https://www.gov.uk/queens-award-fo…

Burglary gang sentencedGang targeted vehicles during burglaries.Committed 19 offences across three counties.Investigation led by Hertfordshire's Specialist Investigation Team.
Reece White from Dunstable is wanted by police for his part in a number of robberies across three counties. The other four men from nearby have been sentenced. Burglary offences took place across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Specialist Investigation Team launched an investigation after a number of burglaries were committed between April and July 2019. In most cases the offenders forced entry into homes during the night to steal car keys and other small items. They would then steal the car. The approximate value of the property stolen was in the region of £125,000.
Nineteen offences were committed in Hemel Hempstead, Harpenden, Caddington, Winslow, Leighton Buzzard and Chesham. And, the offenders would commit a number of offences in the same night.
Hertfordshire Co…

Coronavirus has changed how we all operate. Unfortunately, as a result of lockdown and the restrictions on movement, the Covid-19 emergency has seen drug dealers and other organised crime gangs move off the streets and into vulnerable people’s homes.
That is why the Safer Central Community Safety Partnership is raising awareness of the increasing criminal activity known as cuckooing.
What is cuckooing? Named after the cuckoo that steals other birds’ nests, this is the practice of drugs gangs taking over the home of a vulnerable person in order to use it as a base for their criminal network.
Last year, Bedfordshire Police identified more than 80 cuckooed locations in the county with theses addresses becoming a base for the production or dealing of drugs, as well as exploitation of the person living there.
Victims are befriended by the dealers as they may be vulnerable, isolated, and often drug users themselves. The victims can be robbed, threatened, bullied or even assaulted, sometimes seri…

Community Action Bedfordshire are asking people to send in their photographs, comments or video clips to help say a huge THANK YOU to a neighbour or someone in the community who has been a big help during the  Covid-19 pandemic.
To make this part of  Volunteers’ Week you are asked to please send us in the photos by Monday 1st June.
As Volunteers' Week 1-7 June this year will be slightly different a novel way of saying thanks has been created. It will still be an opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered their time to help and support others in the community during this difficult time.
If you would like to join in and say thank you, please send off a photo of you with a thank you sign, a thumbs up, a short clip of you saying thank you, or simply a thank you comment! 
These will be combined into a Thank You video to go out during Volunteers' Week.  Please help to make this a video filled with thanks from across all the wonderful communities in Central Bedfordshire…

This video features Councillor Sue Clark, Central Bedfordshire Council's Director of Children’s Services, Sue Harrison and Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Early Help, Sacha Rymell and lots of the team behind the scenes, all thanking the wonderful foster carers in Central Bedfordshire.

Foster Care Fortnight is an annual event to mark the amazing work that foster carers do all year round, but this year due to social distancing they could not than people individually.  Instead, they've made the video to thank them from afar, More than ever before the work foster carers are doing for some of our area's most vulnerable children, is making such a difference.

Watch the video and if you’re interested in joining this wonderful group of foster carers, go to www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/fostering.

If you’d like to speak to a member of the fostering team you can reach them on 0300 300 8181, they’d love to hear from you.

“We've fostered one young man from Iraq. When we t…

The Signpost Hub has supported almost 2,500 victims of crime in the last year, as it celebrates its two year anniversary.



The Signpost Hub was launched in April 2018 to provide emotional and practical support and access to restorative justice for all victims of crime. From April 2019 to April 2020, the hub supported 2,452 victims who were referred into the hub by police officers, partner agencies, after being assessed as needing support, as well as a number of self-referrals. This is a rise of ten per cent more victims supported from the previous year and figures show 99 per cent of those say they’ve been satisfied or very satisfied with the service they have received from the hub in the last year.

Trained Victim Care Co-ordinators (VCCs) support those affected by the crime including children, partners and parents. Signpost provides a one-stop-shop offering access to available help, support, advice and guidance, with referrals to a wide range of specialist support organisations. As th…

There were 200 fewer victims of serious youth violence in Bedfordshire last year, with new strategies and Government funding helping cut the number of incidents by around 9 per cent.

It comes as the Home Office confirmed that us and the county’s Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (VERU) have both received fresh funding to carry on this successful work over the next 12 months.

Over the past year we have been able to draw on £1.38 million of ‘surge funding’ from the Government to run enforcement action targeting things like gangs and drug dealing.

A separate £880,000 from ministers was used to establish the Police and Crime Commissioner’s VERU, which brings together partners such as the police, councils, health and community groups to tackle the root causes of violence and offer young people an alternative path.



This has enabled Bedfordshire Police and the VERU to:


Reduce serious youth violence by 9 per cent in the year to March 2020, equivalent to 200 fewer victimsRun 152 ‘Operat…

The Amazon team at Dunstable have been keeping the team at Luton &  Dunstable Hospital stocked with food and toiletries throughout April and May.  Weekly donations of essential goods from the worth more than £4,000, included wish-list items of food, treats and hygiene products. They were delivered to the hospital by Amazon’s Dunstable Delivery Station team.

The Amazon team also treated hospital staff on International Nurses Day 12 May to an additional donation including chocolates, biscuits and sweets to acknowledge the hard work of NHS nurses during the COVID-19 crisis.

The International Nurses Day delivery contained easily wiped drawstring bags for carrying uniforms home from the hospital. The Amazon team learned that nurses were finding cloth bags difficult to wash and maintain and added them to the donation.

The products were donated to Luton and Dunstable Hospital Charity on a weekly basis as part of the “Amazon in the Community” programme, whereby the company supports the c…