This week, Preston saw a raft of development announcements, with new pictures showing the scale of the upcoming Percy Street high-rises and new apartments planned for Lune Street in Preston City Centre.

In other news, Brockholes Brow finally reopened after Lancashire County Council completed its major roadworks early, and Preston City Council approved a town twinning partnership request, continuing the city’s international exchange with Almelo, Nimes, Recklinghausen and Kalisz.

Here are five other stories you may have missed from Preston this week.

Lostock Hall toy firm lands prestigious silver industry award

A South Ribble business that creates ‘Magical Story Jars’ to help parents connect with their children has won a silver accolade in The Independent Toy Awards.

Beth De Nobrega, from Lostock Hall, set up Preston’s Magical Story Jars in 2017 to help parents create fun and imaginative stories with their children. 

The Independent Toy Awards is a prestigious scheme in which brands such as Vtech, Leap Frog and Duplo compete for the coveted accolade. But it is the second year running the local business has proven successful in the awards.

Read the full story here

Greenpeace Preston holds sale to combat ‘industrial fishing frenzy’ 

A local Greenpeace group this month has sold items and clothing from a stall at Accrington Eco-Fest to raise funds for a campaign tackling industrial fishing.

On Saturday, 13 August, Greenpeace Preston Local Group sold ‘past and present’ Greenpeace items at the Eco-Fest, which unites ‘environmentally conscious’ Lancashire businesses, organisations, and charities.

The Preston Group raised £75 thanks to the generosity of local residents, contributing towards the £10,000 cost of dropping a boulder around marine areas to protect them from industrial fishing.

Read the full story here

UCLan divests from fossil fuels in pledge to ‘sustainable and ethical’ investments

UCLan has announced it will no longer invest endowments in firms involved in the extraction and distribution of fossil fuels.

The divestment is part of UClan’s ‘ongoing commitment’ to ‘sustainable and ethical’ investment practices, with the university’s third-party fund manager also not investing in firms involved with fossil fuel reserves or fossil fuel-related equipment and services.

It includes all companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry, energy equipment and services industry, and diversified metals and mining industry.

Read the full story here

Preston retiree to honour late friend with 1,100-mile Rosemere cycle 

A retired Preston history teacher who now works as a climbing instructor is to complete a 1,100-mile charity cycle to Land’s End in South West England.

Simon Millward-Hopkins will undertake the challenge in tribute to a late friend, whose ‘initiative and example’ inspired local youngsters to get on their bikes, raising funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

The 66-year-old father-of-two, who works at Preston Wall Climbing Centre, is to set out from Wick in the far north of Scotland on Wednesday, 31 August.

Read the full story here

Preston’s Light Foundation celebrates ‘fantastic turnout’ at public Q and A night

A Preston interfaith group last weekend welcomed non-Muslims and the Mayor of Preston to a Q and A night to discuss Islam’s place in the modern world.

On Sunday, 28 August 2022, from 8pm to 9.30pm, Light Foundation and Greensville Trust received guests at Preston Quaker Meeting House.

The evening, titled ‘The Way of Islam: Beyond the Misconceptions’, featured a talk with international guest speaker Shaykh Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf from Yemen, with ‘a great number’ of non-Muslims in attendance.

Read the full story here

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