Snettisham murder trial, new mayor and review of health centre - Downham in the news (May 18 - May 26)

It has been another busy week for Downham Market with plenty of stories making not only local and regional news but also grabbing national headlines.

The biggest story of the last couple of weeks has been the murder trial of Mike Tucker who has now been found guilty of murdering his partner Becky Thorpe.

Miss Thorpe used to work in Downham Market as a dental nurse and lived in the town. She also worked at the Dray & Horses pub in Tottenhill and was schooled at Shouldham Primary and Downham Market High.

I have collected all the stories the EDP published about the murder trial and put them in order for you to browse (I'm nice like that..!)

May 24, 2011: Michael Tucker gets life for murder of former Downham Market resident Becky Thorpe
May 24, 2011: Murderer can “rot in hell”, his family say
May 24, 2011: Pub landlord who murdered his partner had mental health problems
May 24, 2011: Village pub dream brutally ended for “bubbly” former Downham Market resident
May 24, 2011: Murderer was “over protective” of girlfriend who he murdered
May 24, 2011: Guest house owner reveals how he ended hunt for murderer
May 24, 2011: Who owned the gun which killed former Downham dental nurse Becky Thorpe?
May 24, 2011: Family of Becky Thorpe celebrate conviction of her killer
May 23, 2011: Timeline to the Norfolk pub murder case
May 23, 2011: Pub landlord found guilty of murdering his girlfriend
May 23, 2011: Jury sent out in Norfolk pub murder trial
May 20, 2011: Norfolk body in freezer case - defence appeal for manslaughter
May 19, 2011: Prosecution completes case in Norfolk body in freezer murder trial
May 18, 2011: Accused sent texts telling of killing, murder jury told
May 18, 2011: Pub landlord charged with murder had ‘threatened to kill’ before, court hears
May 16, 2011: Pub landlord Michael Tucker shot his girlfriend Becky Thorpe in the bath, trial jury told

Moving on, the new mayor of Downham Market Val Starling was sworn in last week taking over the reins from John Fox and made one of her priorities the opening of a new skate park in the town.

There was also a nice little tale about Boughton resident Yvonne Hume who has released a book about her great-uncle who was a violinist on the doomed Titanic voyage in 1912.

Meanwhile, I told you in my last blog post that Downham Market borough councillor Colin Sampson was set to become the new mayor of West Norfolk and on Thursday, May 19, he was handed the chains by the previous mayor Zipha Christopher.

Earlier this week, there was also a great tale about how a deli, a butcher, a baker, a wholefood store and a farm shop have teamed up to launch Downham Fayre.

Finally, NHS Norfolk has announced that it is commissioning an independent review of how the health centre in Downham Market was managed prior to new management taking over in April. It will interesting to see how that review goes.

For the latest news from across West Norfolk and The Fens click here >>> Go on. You know you want to :)

Closure of train station crossing, new mayor for West Norfolk and build up to town festival - Downham in the news (May 7 - May 17)

There has been a mixture of news coming out of Downham Market over the last ten or so days and a wide variety of stories have got into the EDP.

To kick us off we had a story on May 7 about plans for six homes and two new shops on the site of a former slaughter house in Downham. I have to admit I was intrigued by this story and it looks like a good plan. What do you think?

Moving on, the barrow crossing at the town's station was shut by Network Rail on Monday, May 9, which angered South West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss. It does appear that Network Rail had simply had enough of people "abusing" the crossing but are they just moving the problem?

Town and borough councillor Colin Sampson has also made the headlines after it was revealed he will be the new mayor of West Norfolk. He already has mayoral experience having been Downham mayor in 2005 and I am sure he will serve the borough well.

The annual Hilgay book fair returned last weekend and yet again people packed the village hall to support the event and pick up a couple of "holiday books". It also raised a lot of money for Help for Heroes which is such a worthwhile cause.

I can't wait for the Downham Market Festival to bring the town to life at the end of this month. There are a lot of events planned for the eight-day festival. Click the link the get a round up of the events but make sure you buy a programme from a whole host of shops in town to get the full schedule.

Finally, this week saw the start of the trial of Michael Tucker who is accussed of killing his partner Becky Thorpe. Becky went to Shouldham Primary School and Downham Market High School. She also played hockey for Denver Ladies and worked as a dental nurse in the town for a while. I am sure there are plenty of townspeople who came across her and were saddened to hear of her sudden death.

For the latest news from across West Norfolk and The Fens click here >>> Go on. You know you want to :)

Town's county councillor's new role, water festival plea and events to look forward to - Downham in the news (April 27 - May 6)

So this is something new for me, a round-up of the Downham Market news in the EDP over the past week. For the full story simply click on the link.

Members of the Downham Lions Club are busy organising two fundraising nights - a horse racing evening and a quiz night. Both will be held at the Conservative Club.

Next up we have the Lions Club again which sent money to the Japan disaster fund after shaking their tins outside the Tesco store in Downham last month.

Now I am sure you have seen the new not-for-profit shop in the High Street? Well it is run by Enobong Akpan-Etuk and he needs more volunteers to help him in his quest to help vulnerable children living in Africa who are being tortured and abused.

What are you doing this Sunday? Do you like to read books? Well how about popping along to Hilgay Village Hall during the day for a book fair which is raising money for charity.

The annual Downham Market Water Festival attracts thousands of people every year but this year organisers want more teams to sign up to make it the biggest ever. Have you signed up a team yet? If not, do it soon because you've not got long left to do so..!

It is a date that will live in the memory of people across the world, April 29, but how did Downham Market and the surrounding area celebrate the Royal Wedding?

And finally, Downham Market county councillor Shelagh Hutson hopes to help young people across the county after being sworn into a top position at Norfolk County Council.

For the latest news from across West Norfolk and The Fens click here >>> Go on. You know you want to :)

Project Namibia: I've reached my fundraising target!

It was just over three months ago that I started my fundraising drive so that I could join a group of 40 volunteers - including two former professional footballers - to head out to Namibia in June to revamp a primary school. I had just under 15 weeks to raise £4,000 so that I could join the Bobby Moore Fund-led project and I was daunted by the prospect of raising that amount.

But with the support of my company Archant, friends, family, Abbie Panks and the Vancouver Quarter, community website downhamweb, the beautiful Abby Pakes, Liz Pendleton, from Lingo Design, Michael and Wendy Foot, from the Robert Foot Leukaemia Fund, the rotary clubs covering Downham Market, Littleport and King's Lynn, HoldTheFrontPage, the EDP, the Wisbech Standard and the Fenland Citizen I have raised the staggering amount.

Obviously I couldn't have got anywhere near the target of £4,000 without the generous donations by people on my justgiving page. Here are those brilliant people:

Rachel Maloney, Matt Balding, John Taylor, Paul Ward, Jim McParland, Gary Drake, Donna Semmens, Hayliegh Beckles, Ian Berry, Paul Mannion, Chris Blackmore (My Dad), Dennis Bay, Ben Jimson, Daniel Briggs, Alix Young, Tim Lewis, Hayley Davinson, Kate Blackmore (My sister), Luke Bishop, Gemma Watson, Gary McGuinness, Victoria MacDonald, Derek Knight, Tara Greaves, Husna Miah, Shazia Afzal, Darren Baker, Jo Kelly, Simon Price, John Cordell, Donna Mumby, Lisa Dennison, Valerie Hollander & Michelle Rhodes.

The highlight of my fundraising effort was my big bike ride on Thursday, April 14 which saw me hope onto an exercise bike and cycle the equivalent of King’s Lynn to Calais, in France. I started the marathon effort at 8am and covered the 139 miles - as the crow flies - by 5pm.

*To watch the video of my big bike ride click here*

There were a lot of people to thank following the successful attempt - mainly the generous members of the public who dropped their loose change into my bucket! I also need to thank (again) Abbie Panks and the Vancouver Quarter management as well as LA Fitness and Sainsbury's in King's Lynn, KLFM, Nicola and Carla from the Flux Babes, Hayliegh Beckles, from Yours Business Networks King's Lynn, PR guru Kate Cleaver, and Purdie, from nearby Shakeaway.


I also have to say a big thank you to the following for plugging my challenge so well on Twitter:
_LucyInDisguise (Lucy Wright); Gary_McGuinness; RealLCrossley (Lucy Crossley); Ian_Burt; VancQuarterKL; Fluxbabes; TribePR; Snettisher (Ian Steel); LAfitnesstips; Richardhowitt (MEP); DerekKnight1; Kings_Lynn (King's Lynn Online); mrslaurenrogers; Hayley_Mace; Han_griffiths; KLcornexchance;
Speedball74 (Andrew Howell); JoJoBuzz; travorivory & CllrVickyMD (Victoria MacDonald)

As you can see there have been so many people and organisations that have helped me raise £4,000 in such a short time and I am grateful to everyone. I am still overwhelmed by the level of support I have received over the last few months and I cannot wait to tell you all about the project when I return.

Now all I can do between now and June 10 is look forward to the project which will see me travel with volunteers to the Tubusis settlement in the Damaraland region of Namibia and spend 10 days giving Tubusis Primary School a much-needed facelift.

The school consists of eight classrooms plus a library and although the school buildings are in reasonably good shape structurally, they are in need of general repairs to walls, paint work, doors, ceilings and windows. The building that houses the library, however, is in a really bad condition and requires a major revamp including the installation of new floors and proper furniture, the conversion of part of the library into a computer room and the provision of books to stock the library.

There will also be the chance for us to create a football pitch on the school grounds. I am really looking forward to travelling out to Africa next month and hopefully making a huge difference to the lives of all the pupils at Tubusis Primary School.

*Although I have reached my target you still donate to help me raise even more money for the Bobby Moore Fund and dedicated bowel cancer research and to help children at the Namibian school. The easiest way for you to help me is to visit www.justgiving.com/davidblackmore4 and donate as much as you can.