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IN just three months, a village’s newest residents have created a disabled-friendly holiday let and next month they will take delivery of five alpacas.

Paul and Tina Wise are originally from Essex and moved to Berkshire in 2011 to provide accommodation for their son Aaron, who is profoundly deaf and was relocating to a specialist school. They have now opened Doals Farm Leisure in Weir, Bacup, which is home to ‘The Den’ a self-contained holiday let, will soon offer alpaca trekking and there are plans for a small caravan and camping site.

Aaron, 21, is now studying Physics at the University of Liverpool where their daughter Maria, 23, is just completing a five-year Veterinary course. As their children are planning to stay in the North, Paul, 53 and Tina, 52, and Paul’s mum Betty, 82, began looking for property within a 40-mile radius of Liverpool.

They first spotted Doals Farm off Burnley Road, after Paul was made redundant in 2017. He had been working in IT for the same company for 33 years since leaving school. At that time the property was under offer and disappeared from the market.

Their search took them 40 to 50 properties all over Lancashire, North Yorkshire, North Wales and Cheshire, while they were still looking to sell their own six-bed home in Lambourn. Paul completed a course and has now set up as a domestic electician then last year, a week before they found a buyer for the Berkshire home, they spotted the farm was back on the market.

Paul said: “It was as if someone was looking after us. The previous sale on this had fallen through so we put in an offer.”

They all moved in November and started work on the holiday let three months ago. Paul said: “We are members of the Camping and Caravan Club and we looking into having an area as a certified site.

“We have been members of the Essex County Scouts Caving Team for 30 years and they go on trips in Derbyshire and Yorkshire so now those trips are on our doorstep.

“We have joined Weir Pride and along with Ayesha Gavin of Ayesha Communications, another Weir resident, we ran a Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language workshop at the Doals Centre.”

Tina said: “The community here is fantastic and we have made more friends in the short time we have been living in Weir than the six years we lived in Lambourn. “I am amazed by how much we have in common with the residents in this area we have really fitted in. Thank you to everyone for making us very welcome.”

The couple plan to set up a puppetry group in Weir Baptist Church and a signing choir.

For more information contact Doals Farm Leisure h, like the Facebook page Doals Farm Leisure or email doals.farm@btinternet.com

by Catherine Smyth Media

ACCOUNTANT Nikki Belshaw has seen her client base grow 10 fold since taking the plunge and opening her own business.

When she completed work experience as a student at the former St Hilda’s RC High School in Burnley, she went into an accountancy department where her task was to input invoices.

Nikki, from Weir, Bacup, said: “I told my mum and granddad how much I enjoyed the work and they suggested that I do it as a job. Another relative was already working as an accountant in a company; I never imagined working for myself.”

Belshaw Bookkeeping Services opened its accountancy practice in Bacup in May 2017 initially in the back room of a former shop on Burnley Road. Nikki said: “At that time I was the only employee and I had seven clients, now there are four of us and we have more than 70 clients from all over the North West and even one in Devon.”

At one stage there were three people working out of what is now Nikki’s office, so when the landlord offered her chance to expand into the former shop, it made perfect sense. The finishing touches have just been made to the premises with a new sign hanging outside and the business name in frosted glass on the windows.

Nikki has a thirst for knowledge, so although she left school at 16 and went into work in the accountant department of car dealership Ford, in Burnley, she also studied at Burnley College completing her Oxford Cambridge RSA Level 1 Bookkeeping and Level 2 Accountancy.

When she worked for Glengarth Construction in Waterfoot, she went to Accrington and Rossendale College and added the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification. At Neales Waste Management in Blackburn she opted to study at Manchester Metropolitan University and passed her industry qualification – a CIMA. While working at Domino’s Pizza covering six outlets she was responsible for the payroll of 356 staff and of course she also studied. This time she gained Level 1 and 2 qualifications from the International Association of Bookkeepers.

Since becoming self-employed and then opening the business, Nikki has also become a forensic accountant and so examines financial divorce settlements and also works on fraud. In 2017 she was runner-up in an international competition to find the Payroll Professional of the Year and attended a glittering presentation at the House of Commons. She has also been nominated in the Rossendale Business Awards and Inspiring Woman Award.

Nikki, 31, is married to Jonny and has two children Hayden, nine, and Charlie, five. She said: “When I met Jonny and he said I really should be working for myself I decided that I wanted to have my own business by the time I was 30. I did it with six months to go.

“I now employ a receptionist, an apprentice and have a part-time member of staff. I take on work experience because I want to give a young person the opportunity to learn because I was given work experience when I was at school.”

To find out more visit www.belshawbs.co.uk, call Nikki on 01706 873325 or email nikki@belshawbs.co.uk

by Catherine Smyth Media

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A SPECIAL evening to discuss and debate the murder of Sophie Lancaster will be held at her former school.

In response to a request from Sylvia, Sophie’s mother, a fundraising event will be held at Haslingden High School Sixth Form Centre on Monday June 3 at 7pm when the tables will be turned on journalist Catherine Smyth, author of ‘Weirdo Mosher Freak’, which documents the murder.

Catherine said: “Last year I led an interview with the author Denise Beddows about her book ‘Odd Man Out – a Motiveless Murder’. That detailed a murder that happened 70 years ago. Maggie Allen confessed and was later hanged for the murder of Nancy Chadwick. I was tasked to examine the book and put questions to the author in front of an audience at Rawtenstall Cricket Club.”

Director of Antony and Patricia Salon, in Rawtenstall, Tony Winder organised the Denise Beddows’ evening, which Sylvia was unfortunately not able to attend. He said: “Shortly after, while Sylvia was having her hair done, we were discussing the evening and she said, ‘I wish someone would do that about our Soph.’ That was the catalyst which has led to June’s event being organised.”

In the audience for the Denise Beddows’ interview was Garry Gluyas, who was brought up in Rossendale, and is a good friend of Tony. He has agreed to conduct the interview and has been examining Catherine’s book, both the original 2010 ‘Weirdo Mosher Freak’ and the updated 2016 version ‘The Sophie Lancaster Story’.

Catherine said: “This time I will be the person being interviewed and for me it will be strange not to be putting the questions. I was the news editor of the Rossendale Free Press at the time of the attack in August 2007 which resulted in Sophie’s murder 13 days later.

“As I only lived two miles from the park and Bacup was ‘my patch’, I was informed about the incident by a friend before statements had been released by the police. I followed the case closely and got involved with fundraising because I was annoyed that such a senseless act had happened on my doorstep.”

Tony, Catherine, Garry and Sylvia have collaborated to arrange the evening.

Sylvia will set the scene by describing her daughter and both Sylvia and Catherine will be answering questions from the audience. Sylvia said: “If you don’t talk about things you don’t learn from them. We have to look at why this happened and how it came about so that lessons are learnt to stop it ever occurring again.”

All profits from the evening will benefit The Sophie Lancaster Foundation and tickets are on sale priced £5 from Antony & Patricia Salon, Rawtenstall, 01706 217129. Copies of Catherine’s book ‘Weirdo Mosher Freak’ will also be on sale.

NESTLED between Loyd Grossman, Napolina and Dolmio – Rossendale’s own sauce brand Nowt Poncy now sits proudly on the shelves of Booths supermarkets.

Owners of the company, based in Water, Jools Abel and Karen Walker can’t believe how far their sauces have come since they decided in December 2015 to give them away as Christmas presents. At that time, Karen had just finished in her role as a Headteacher because of stress and Jools was in need of a new challenge, having run his own businesses for 30 years.

Karen said: “The feedback we got was so brilliant that the cogs stated to turn and The Nowt Poncy Food Company was launched in August 2016.”

The couple, both in their 50s, met at Manchester Polytechnic and they enjoyed eating out. Because nouvelle cuisine was the trend at the time, they used to look for good quality, tasty, simple food – that they styled ‘nowt poncy’.

Booths has added 175 new products to their international food range and they were looking for authentic handmade artisan foods – so Nowt Poncy fitted the bill.

Jools said: “I was at a conference in May last year when I heard a senior manager from Booths speak about their love of artisan products. We were later invited to a ‘Meet the Buyer’ day at Booths in the summer.”

Karen said: “We took all of our products along and we had 15 minutes to do a pitch. In January this year the buyer came back to us to say they were interested in stocking our Italian range, Arrabbiata, Tomato and Basil and the L’Amore É Pizza sauce.”

The first was delivered on March 22 and the sauces launched in all 28 stores at the beginning of April.

Jools said: “We knew we could make something better than what was available on the supermarket shelves. We knew that we could create something that tasted amazing and still have our sauces be low in sugar, salt and calories and with no preservatives. If someone had told me two-and-a-half years ago that our sauces would be on the supermarket shelves I would have never believed them.”

Booths Buyer Haris Deane said: “Booths is renowned for supporting emerging brands and championing the artisan producer and that ethos extends to International flavours. We look for exceptional products made by people who care about quality, taste and flavour. Booths are stocking some great tasting products with a story to tell and Nowt Poncy fits the bill.”

Nowt Poncy sauces and pasta are already available in more than 70 outlets mostly across the North but also in London as well as being sold online.

Now the 28 Booths supermarkets across the North West in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Cumbria and Yorkshire also stock their Nowt Poncy Italian sauces.

The company also donates to local charity Veterans In Communities from every sauce bottle sold.

by Catherine Smyth Mediahttps://catherinesmyth.co.uk/

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ALL 203 pupils from a Baxenden primary school learnt about deaf issues and finger spelling at a special Deaf Awareness Day.

Five-year-old Alex Gibson is in the Reception class at St John’s CE School and although he had glue ear as a baby and had two operations to fit grommets, it was not until November last year that his family had it confirmed he was deaf and needed hearing aids.

His parents Daniel and Debbie and older sister Abigail, six, along with Alex are all learning British Sign Language Level 1. Their tutor and friend is Ayesha Gavin, from Ayesha Communications, based in Weir, and as part of Deaf Awareness Week, Debbie sought funding from seven local businesses so the special day could be held at her children’s school.

Ayesha spoke to each class to make them more aware of deaf issues and let them hear what sounds are like through a hearing aid and she was accompanied by her personal communications assistant Mark Gavin who signed the children’s responses.

Debbie taught the pupils about sign language, how to finger spell and how to spell their name and the pupils also used special stamps to create their own bookmarks with their name spelt out in signs.

Alex loved being able to teach his ‘special language’ to his friends.

Debbie said: “I completed my Level 1 British Sign Language 20 years ago when I worked in customer service because a deaf man came in and I couldn’t communicate with him. I then learnt it so I could communicate with all customers.

“When we found out Alex would be wearing hearing aids, I said he also needed to learn sign language because I want him to be able to live in both worlds.”

She sourced sponsorship from the Bay Horse in Baxenden, the Dog and Partridge, Clearview, Scott Clean Services, M Neal Builders, Tiger Lounge and The Beauty Emporium to pay for the day.

Ayesha said: “It has been a very busy day and the pupils have responded brilliantly. They asked good questions and they really thought about the subject.

“We had one child say that if you shout at a deaf person you can make them really anxious because they didn’t understand you and when I asked what they can do to support someone who is deaf one child said that you should just, ‘be loving’.”

Headteacher Julie Green said: “Debbie organised funding for the day and I thought it was a fantastic opportunity for all the pupils in the school to learn more about sign language and be more aware about deaf issues.”

Ayesha Communications will be holding special family evening British Sign Language classes to learn the basics of British Sign Language and help to break down barriers. These are open to all, deaf and hearing, school children and home schooled.

The company will be hiring venues in Burnley, Bolton, Halifax, Littleborough and Rossendale to run the sessions and from September, Debbie will be delivering the evening class for children aged 6-13 and families in the Hyndburn area.

For more information visit http://www.ayeshacommunications.com/

by Catherine Smyth Media