On this week’s Winchester Now:
- Winchester Radio recently received an email from 9-year-old Alfie Lawless. This resourceful pupil wanted to tell us all about his school’s big fundraising campaign. St Bede Church of England Primary School, is asking pupils to walk, run, hop or skip 26 miles over a month to fund a special project. We sent Mary Blaxland to meet Alfie – and Mum Lettie – to find out more.
- News-in-brief:
- A “critical incident” was declared at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital this week because of high demand. The move is unusual in early summer, but the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that both Basingstoke and Winchester hospitals had seen an unprecedented attendance in the emergency departments over several weeks, alongside a high number of admissions, and a low discharge rate. Declaring a “critical incident” enables the hospital to put action plans in place. People are being asked to attend A & E only for a life-threatening illness or injury, to collect a loved-one who is ready to go home as soon as possible, and to make use of GP and pharmacist services.
- Detailed plans will be revealed next week as part of the Central Winchester Regeneration project. A series of events will be open to residents and businesses – where artists’ impressions of the area, including homes, shops, and workplaces, will be on display. Organised by developers Jigsaw, along with the City Council, and located at The Nutshell in Kings Walk, events are planned for next Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 to 7pm, and next Thursday from 12 to 4pm. Further events are planned in Colden Common, Alresford and Kings Worthy later in the month. Phase One of the regeneration is expected to begin in 2027.
- Swift and bat boxes have been installed on more than 120 council homes across Winchester, to help protect endangered species. The work took place as part of a planned maintenance and roof replacement programme. Swift numbers in the UK have declined drastically since the1970s, and the authority says, with the help of organisation Hampshire Swifts, it aims to install 250 specialised nest boxes on council buildings by 2030.
- The Winchester Sport and Leisure Park has announced plans to introduce a new soft play facility, as part of a 200-thousand pound investment. It will have a dedicated play space for children with special educational needs. The project will also include improvements to the café area, and a social space for visitors and community groups. Work began this week.
- Walkers will set off this weekend on a hike along the Clarendon Way from Winchester to Salisbury, to raise money for ‘Naomi and Jacks’. This year is the 20th anniversary of the charity walk. Hundreds are due to take on a 5-mile, 12-mile, or the full 26-mile walk. There will be entertainment along the way, with all the money raised supporting the children’s and young adults’ hospice in Sutton Scotney.
- Volunteering Opportunities:
- The Summer Reading Challenge is a national scheme provided by the Reading Agency and delivered for free throughout Hampshire’s libraries. It is designed for children aged 4 to 11, with the aim to keep them reading during the school holidays. This volunteer opportunity is open to people aged 14 and older and runs from mid-July to mid-September. Volunteers will be talking to children, parents and carers, helping families register to take the Challenge, talking to children about the books they have chosen and what they like to read, understanding and being able to explain about the Challenge, and handing-out stickers when books have been read and medals when they complete the 6-book Challenge. All those accepted to volunteer in this role will have an induction session to complete before they start. Days and hours required will vary depending on the opening hours of your local library. If you are interested in putting in an expression of interest to be considered for this role, then visit the Hampshire County Council website.
- The Winchester Poetry Festival has volunteers who help remotely, assisting with the administration of the Winchester Poetry Prize, the finances, and creative souls who feed their knowledge into different aspects of the poetry activities on an ad-hoc basis. The team would love to hear from you if you’d like to assist with their Poetry Day in October, or maybe you’d like to contribute your skills and experience in another area of their organisation? Find out more about how you can help on their website.
- Read Easy is a charity whose volunteers make a huge difference in the lives of adults who want to learn to read. People that volunteers support are empowered, enabled and their lives are enriched through becoming able to read. Read Easy have groups of volunteers around the country including here in Winchester. Volunteers coach readers 1-to-1 in safe spaces like libraries, coffee shops and community centres. Readers and coaches usually meet twice a week for a 30-minute session. A well-structured course is followed, which takes some time to complete, with coaching going at the best pace for the reader. Reader-coach pairs are supported by a leadership team and coordinators. Everyone in Read Easy Winchester is a volunteer; they have no paid staff. They are currently seeking more volunteers, including for roles assisting with publicity, I.T. and fundraising. If you would like to find out more, visit the Read Easy website.
- 2026 marks the 40th anniversary for local charity Trinity Winchester, which was set up to support people experiencing homelessness. Through the decades, its work has grown to also help those who have been victims of domestic abuse, and people who are vulnerable in other ways too. Kirsty Boote who is employed by the charity as a Community Fundraising Manager, spoke to our reporter Isobel Jones, ahead of this month’s 13th ‘Big Sleep Out’ fundraising event.
- Shout-outs:
- To all volunteers! This week is ‘Volunteers’ Week’, so we start our community shout-outs with A BIG, BIG THANK YOU to volunteers everywhere who give their time, share their skills and enthusiastically commit to helping others. So many things in society could not happen without the dedication and support of volunteers. So well done to everyone who is a volunteer!
- To members of the Royal Winchester Golf Club who raised over £1,200 for ‘Winchester Bereavement Support’ who organised and took part in a ‘Has Winchester Golf Club Got Talent’ night as part of its fundraising efforts for this year’s Captains’ Charity.
- To all students who still have exams to undertake this month. Many will have put in extra revision over last week’s half term break. We wish them all well with the remainder of their exams and hope they stay calm, focused, work hard and keep revising and believing in themselves. Plus a shoutout too, to all the parents, families and teachers providing valuable support and encouragement to our young people at this often very anxious time.
- To Winchester-based social enterprise ‘Munch CIC’, for their excellent educational work, running cooking workshops for young people over half-term. These help them learn essential kitchen skills and the benefits of cooking from scratch, and are fun too! Munch’s resident chef also led discussions around the different career pathways in food.
- To a popular independent village inn and brewery located in Cheriton – the ‘Hampshire Flowerpots Inn’, Cheriton, near Alresford on scooping South Hampshire ‘Pub of the Year 2026’. Staff and customers were recently joined by South Hampshire CAMRA Members to celebrate receiving the prestigious accolade, which bosses at the pub said was “a real team effort.”
- To Winchester City Football Club Under-23s, who have been crowned League Champions! What a fantastic season for the lads, and a promising future lies ahead for the ‘Citizens’ side.
