Some great news for the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire as a whole thanks to the £11.3 million from the Government’s £900 million ‘Getting Building Fund’, topped up by £450,000 from the Gfirst LEP.

Enjoyed visiting The Fountain Inn, Parkend last night, another great Forest of Dean establishment participating in the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out initiative.

Hartpury College of Further Education is to receive more than £500,000 of extra Government funding to begin immediate work from this September to repair and refurbish buildings and campuses.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is receiving an extra £4.4 million of capital funding for hospital upgrades, as part of the Government’s NHS winter preparations this year.

On Saturday, we marked the 75th Anniversary of the Victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War.

As you almost certainly will have heard by now, Ofqual and the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson have apologised for the stress they caused and decided that students will be awarded their centre assessment grade for this summer - that is, the grade their school or college estimated was the gra

Last week, I visited another of the Forest of Dean’s key tourism destinations, Go Ape at Mallards Pike.

I unleashed my inner Tarzan (the jungle sort rather than the Michael Heseltine sort) and had a go at their Treetop Challenge high ropes course, which was great fun!

In March, the Government announced that it had taken the difficult decision, in light of the public health emergency, to cancel all GCSE, AS and A level exams due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer.

Great to pop in to Lydney Brew on Church Road this morning.

With a wide range of sustainably sourced coffees on offer, it’s heaven for coffee lovers like me!

Recently I was privileged to visit Beachley Barracks, home to 1st Battalion The Rifles, just outside Sedbury.

Upon arrival I was met with a bugle fanfare and the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Shercliff and members of his senior leadership team.