Chesterfield FC Community Trust are set to launch a series of Soccer School sessions for 5 – 13 year olds this August.

Taking place at St Mary’s Catholic High School, the sessions will be delivered by FA qualified Chesterfield FC coaches in a fun environment and feature a technique and skills masterclass, as well as free-kick and penalty challenges.

Michael Noon from the Chesterfield FC Community Trust said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Chesterfield FC Soccer School. Our aim is for the kids who attend to receive top quality coaching and enjoy themselves at the same time.

“There will be appearances from club mascot Chester the Field Mouse and we will also have tours of the Proact Stadium on Friday afternoons.”

The sessions are open to ages 5-13 and will take place from 9am to 4pm. Those attending need to bring trainers/shin pads and football boots (if available), along with a packed lunch.

Pre-booking costs just £15 per day or £60 per week while pay on the day costs £20. All those pre-booking will be entered into a prize draw to win a signed Spireites shirt.

To book, please phone 01246 264030 or email activities@chesterfield-fc.co.uk.

Tickets are now available to buy for the much-anticipated RHS Chatsworth Flower Show.

The iconic, spectacular 1,000-acre parkland – home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and set in the heart of the rolling Derbyshire countryside – is set to host the show for the first time in June 2017.

Nick Mattingley, Director of RHS Shows said: “RHS Chatsworth will be playful, fun and unforgettable for visitors from beginning to end. We, and our contributors, are developing really exciting ideas for show content, we’re looking forward to sharing them as they develop over the next year.”

“For the 2017 show, the overarching theme will be ‘Design Revolutionaries’, celebrating creative people through history, the present and future, who through their foresight and innovation change the way we think about and approach gardens and garden design.

The show will celebrate great historical revolutionaries such as Sir Joseph Paxton and Lancelot Capability Brown; both of whom have left a lasting legacy in landscape design and had a great impact on the Chatsworth Estate.

The Floral Marquee will take inspiration from Joseph Paxton’s Great Conservatory which housed a host of horticultural specimens, from exotic palms and aquatic plants, to brilliantly coloured flowers.

The legacy of world-renowned landscape designer Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown is the inspiration behind this year’s Florabundance festival at Chatsworth, taking place from 24-28 June.

Leading floral designer Jonathan Moseley is set to showcase extravagant and colourful displays featuring British flowers, herbs and fragrances celebrating the tercentenary of the iconic garden designer.

‘Capability’ Brown transformed the parkland at Chatsworth in 1760 designed out of what was then working farmland – a challenge for the great designer who often talked of a garden’s ‘capabilities’ which earned him his well-known nickname. He continues to be hugely influential to landscape gardeners and architects across the world to this day.

This year’s Florabundance will see Chatsworth transformed with colourful displays of British grown flowers, fragrances and herbs and unusual exotics inspired by the current exhibition ‘The Grand Tour’. Each room will be bursting with foliage and colour and will have its own distinct features, with the Chapel drawing inspiration from Damien Hirst’s Saint Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain. Local growers from Derbyshire and Yorkshire will provide assistance in setting up the displays.

The house will be dressed with large floral sculptural installations in both classic and contemporary styles using a combination of foliage specially gathered from the Chatsworth Estate.

The Sculpture Gallery is always one of the highlights of the event and will feature a collection of naturalistic displays influenced by the Chatsworth gardens and wider Capability Brown landscape.

Jonathan Moseley will be hosting a series of demonstrations and a workshop during the exhibition where visitors will be shown how to create inspirational designs using British flowers and receive top gardening tips from the renowned designer.

Florabundance takes place at Chatsworth from 24-28 June. For more information search online for Florabundance Festival.

(Image below shows leading floral designer Jonathan Moseley).

Chesterfield’s community choir Qdos is set to showcase some of its best songs this week in a free performance taking place on Thursday 16th June at West Studios on Sheffield Road.

Set up in March 2015 by Qdos Creates – a local arts charity, which deliver projects, performances and workshops for children and adults locally and nationally – the choir includes members of all ages.

Anjie Taylor, Co Founder and Artistic Director of Qdos Creates comments: “There will be no written music or any instruments – just the natural voice and lots of lovely harmony lead by Andrea Small, a natural voice practitioner. We look forward to seeing lots of people at our performance!”

Community choir Qdos will perform at West Studios, Sheffield Road, Chesterfield on Thursday 16 June at 11.15am and everyone is welcome to attend. The performance is free of charge and refreshments will be available to buy.

The group is currently looking for a local sponsor or further funding so the choir can continue. If you are able to help with this or would like to join the choir please email anjie@qdoscreates.com or call 01226 242905.

Residents and visitors can take part in a host of events in Chesterfield’s town centre this Friday 17th June to celebrate the arrival of the world’s top women cyclists competing in stage 3 of the Aviva Women’s Tour.

Coordinated by Chesterfield Borough Council, events at Chesterfield Town Hall, Rose Hill will include:

• A Workplace Challenge event, allowing companies and individuals to hop on stationary bikes to see who can pedal the furthest (time slots available between 8.30am and 1pm);
• A cycling promotional area open from 10am to 3pm
• A display of disability bikes by Wheely Fun Wheels from 11am to 3pm with the chance to have a go from noon to 1pm;
• A display by a unicycle display team from 11.30am to noon.

Events in and around the market place include:
• Students from Chesterfield College presenting spin bikes and advice on activities for women from Active Chesterfield in New Square from 9.30am to 3pm;
• A chance to have a go on kids’ balance bikes outside the Market Hall from 10.30am to 1pm.

There will also be displays by a unicycle display team at Vicar Lane Shopping Centre from 12.45pm to 1.45pm and 2.15pm to 2.45pm.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy, said: “It is a great honour for Chesterfield to welcome the world’s top cyclists as the Aviva Women’s Tour takes place in the town.

“As well as seeing the thrilling finish of the race in the market place, we have a packed programme of fun events for all ages to take part and learn more about cycling and fitness in the market place, Vicar Lane and outside the Town Hall – I’d encourage everyone to come along and join in.”

The Aviva Women’s Tour will enter the town centre by Saltergate, Soresby Street, Rose Hill, West Bars and Low Pavement before finishing in the market place between 1.30pm and 2.30pm where the podium presentation will take place.

This event will be attended by local schools who will take part in guided cycle rides and by the Eroica Britannia cycle team.

Find out all the details for the Stage 3 finish in Chesterfield including family entertainment, road closures and parking information.

Time is running out to enter this year’s Chesterfield in Bloom competition which closes on Friday 24th June.

Run by Chesterfield Borough Council, there are a total of ten categories open for entry this year, from Best blooming pub or restaurant sponsored by Weightron Bilanciai to Best kept allotment site sponsored by Chesterfield Markets.

Finalists will be invited to an awards ceremony this September and some of the entrants may also be visited by the East Midlands in Bloom judges next month as part of their tour of the borough.

Councillor Chris Ludlow, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing said: “Last year, we had more than 100 entries to the Chesterfield in Bloom competition and the standard of them is always very high.

“Chesterfield in Bloom is not just about growing pretty flowers; people with well-kept landscaping can enter – and if you don’t have a garden, you can enter the best kept hanging basket category. There really is something for everyone and I encourage people to take part.”

This year’s Chesterfield in Bloom competition closes on Friday 24 June. For more information, download an entry form using the link below or contact john.ramsey@chesterfield.gov.uk.

Chesterfield in Bloom competition 2016 entry form.