Return of the dragons!

All kinds of exciting – and unusual! – events in and around Newark recently…

And on Girls Around Town this week, there’ll be news of yet another one set to make its return on Sunday 19 September!

Joining June in the studio in the second hour of the show, Beaumond House Hospice head of fundraising Cathy Lowe will have all the latest information about the Dragon Boat Festival coming to the River Trent alongside Riverside Park.

Originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020, the event was of course postponed due to Covid-19 but Cathy and Rachel Wilson of the Children’s Bereavement Centre have been busy since early spring making sure it will be back bigger and better than ever this autumn.

“We’re determined to build on the success of the Dragon Boat Festival held here in 2019,” says Cathy. “That one raised vital funds for both charities and brought together people from our communities in a fantastic fun-filled day – we can’t wait to do it all again!”

Cathy will be live on air from just after 11.10am on Sunday to talk about some of the teams taking to the water in their dragon boats and the different prizes on offer, not just for the finalists but for the best-dressed team and the one raising the most money for the two charities.

She’ll have details too of what’s in store for visitors making their way down to Riverside Park on the day, when some of the Radio Newark team will be taking to the stage – although not to the water! – to entertain one and all between 10am and 5.30pm.

So a couple of important dates to remember…

Make sure you tune in to 107.8FM or listen online this weekend to hear what Cathy has to stay – and don’t forget to put Sunday 19 September in your diary to enjoy an action-packed day in support of two of Newark’s best-loved charities!

Without dance, what’s the pointe?

If there’s one person who’d definitely agree with the words above, it has to be the next guest on Girls Around Town!

It’s almost two years since Christina Philllips-Kelly was last in the studio with June talking about The Studio at Averham, where she runs ballet and tap classes for young people aged over 14 and for adults.

But she’s back in the studio this weekend, this time describing how she kept in touch with her students during lockdowns…

And how the recent lifting of restrictions has finally allowed them to get back to classes and workshops, among them a three-day event aimed at nine to 14-year olds taking place later this month.

Christina is over the moon about the studio’s re-opening of course but she’s particularly excited about one other piece of news she’ll be sharing this weekend – that right now one of her young students is busy honing his skills at the Royal Ballet School!

Pictured above in his ballet uniform, 14 year-old Jem Allam is taking part in an intensive summer course run by what is widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest centres of classical ballet training.

She’ll be explaining how Jem got this incredible opportunity, the kind of things he’s doing and learning during his time there and what it means not only to him but to his fellow students back in Newark and to Christina herself as his tutor.

Make sure you’re tuned to 107.8FM or listening online, on the apps or on Alexa from 11.10am on Sunday to hear what Christina has to say…

And don’t forget to Put On Your Sunday Best from 10am to join June for more local news and great music in the first hour of the show too!

Sewing to swimming, patchwork to paddle boarding – and more!

If you were listening to Girls Around Town last weekend, you’ll have heard June sharing a little bit of good news…

Face-to-face interviews in the studio are back at last!

Some guests will continue to join her by phone and, in the first hour of this week’s show, one of them will in fact be doing that.

But the second guest of the day will be sitting behind the mic on the other side of the desk, just like the good old days!!

Put On Your Sunday Best between 10am and 12 noon to hear what Kath Fox and Rachel Repper have to say – two very different interviews but, as with all the stories shared on the show, both well worth a listen.

Kath will be on the phone to talk about how she and her neighbours on Winchelsea Avenue in Newark joined forces to keep in touch via WhatsApp shortly after the start of lockdown one…

And how, more recently, they’ve gone from friendly chats to putting needle and thread to fabric and started getting crafty.

Featuring 35 different patches, The Lockdown Quilt is a record of some of the different elements that have helped keep everyone going during these unprecedented times and, in Kate’s own words, it ‘symbolises resilience and stoicism, optimism and community cohesion’.

Find out more from Kath at 10.20am – and why not pop over to St Mary Magdalene Parish Church to take a look at their handiwork for yourselves?

But not before you’ve heard the rest of the show, of course, when Rachel will be doing the first face-to-face interview in the studio since March 2020.

A regular Girls Around Town guest for quite a while and until lockdown a co-presenter too, she’ll be back to chat about what she’s been doing over recent months and how Covid-19 affected her life, both personal and professional.

On a lighter note, she’ll be describing some of the activities she’s taken up in the last few months to make the most of the great outdoors – a definite water-y theme to these, as you’ll hear when she picks up the mic just after 11.10am!

Make sure you’re tuned to 107.8FM or listening online, on the apps or on Alexa to join June, Kath and Rachel on Sunday

For a show that covers everything from sewing to swimming, patchwork to paddle boarding and a whole lot more!!