Growing concerns about the use of so-called “energy gum” have prompted warnings in Gedling borough about excessive caffeine use.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards team is urging parents and carers to talk to their children about the potential dangers of consuming caffeinated chewing gum.
The team have received reports of several youngsters reportedly becoming unwell after consuming too much caffeine by eating caffeinated gum, which is relatively cheap and widely available.
Although there is not currently any legal age restriction on buying caffeinated gum, a single piece can contain between 40-100mg of caffeine, depending on the brand, which could be the equivalent to drinking a regular cup of coffee!
According to the European Food Safety Authority it is considered safe for healthy adults to consume single doses of caffeine up to 200mg, with a total daily caffeine limit of 400mg. However, children can be much more sensitive to caffeine and consuming excessive caffeine can, in some cases result in a child becoming extremely unwell. Some of the more serious adverse effects of consuming too much caffeine include a rapid heart rate, abnormal heart rhythms, and even seizures.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standard team said: “Please share this information with friends and family who might not be aware of the health risks associated with children eating caffeinated chewing gum.”
Many people are stuck in the cycle of working, earning, and spending because they lack financial literacy. Due to this, most attempts at financial planning fail to produce the desired results. To plan your finances effectively, you need a combination of several strategies.
Budgeting, saving, investing, among other strategies can enable you to take control of your future and build financial security. However, without professional guidance, you’re prone to mistakes that might hinder you from achieving your goal. Let’s discuss some common mistakes to avoid when working towards financial freedom.
Not Setting Clear Financial Goals
It’s not enough to make vague projections of financial targets. You need to ensure that your targets are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). You can work towards setting aside £50 from your monthly salary over the next 12 months to enable you to buy an asset worth £600.
Categorizing your financial goals based on the time needed to achieve them also helps you prioritize your needs so you can plan properly. You can put more effort towards achieving short-term goals that contribute to your long-term objectives. This way, you can focus on what matters most at the moment, so you can achieve financial stability and build resilience.
Failing to Set a Realistic Budget
Many people make the mistake of spending more than they end. The risk of this is that you’ll run out of funds before your next income, and this pushes you to borrow. Curbing this problem cleverly involves accurate budgeting. List your monthly sources of income and essential expenses that cover basic amenities.
Allocate money to your expenses, inclusive of entertainment, savings, and miscellaneous. By creating a budget, you can keep track of your expenses and monitor them to ensure that they fit comfortably into your income bracket.
Ignoring the Need for an Emergency Fund
Emergencies are sudden and unexpected, which is why you need a safety net for support. So, besides your regular savings, you need an emergency fund. The money in this special account will come in handy if you or your loved ones suffer a critical health crisis.
You can also use it to cover urgent travel expenses, home or car repairs, and even to cover your bills if you suffer a loss of income. This way, you won’t have to liquidate your assets or get a loan to pay for unexpected expenses.
Overlooking Estate Planning
If you live there, estate planning in the UK is necessary as it helps you organize your finances, properties, and assets before incapacitation or death. Those who fail to plan their estates on time give room for uncertainties regarding the sharing of their properties.
As a result, family disputes often ensue. Apart from your family, you may also suffer the consequences if your health falters, as only the individual with the power of attorney can make decisions and transfer funds on your behalf. Therefore, you must include estate planning as part of your retirement plans.
Avoiding Investment
Some allow the risks associated with investing to hold them back. Hence, they end up spending their funds, bypassing the opportunity to attain financial freedom through wealth-building assets. Smart risks are important, and with proper planning and analysis, you can heighten your chances of generating a steady income from your assets. Study every investment project intently and diversify your asset portfolio to spread out the risk and maximize returns.
Endnote
Though money management can help you attain financial freedom, slight mistakes often cause major setbacks. You must avoid setting goals that aren’t SMART, budgeting inaccurately, and living without emergency funds. Other common pitfalls to stay clear of include neglecting estate planning and investment.
Shops in Gedling borough will soon need a licence to sell vapes as part of a crackdown on rogue traders, the Government has announced.
Retailers will need a licence to sell tobacco, vapes and nicotine products to help “root out” rogue operators, give enforcement officers stronger powers to shut them down and protect legitimate retailers.
Any business can currently sell tobacco or vapes without a licence, which has made it easy for rogue traders to sell illicit products on our high street, These traders often target children with cheap, colourful vapes sold alongside sweets and toys.
Those caught breaking the rules face unlimited fines or, on-the-spot penalties of £2,500.
The proposal is part of a call for evidence to develop regulations for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to protect children and young people from addiction.
Retailers will need a licence to sell tobacco, vapes and nicotine products
The Government is also seeking views from experts on the flavours, nicotine strength, and appearance of vapes as part of a series of measures to tackle youth vaping.
Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: “We aim to close a major gap in the law – making it necessary for shops to hold a licence to sell tobacco, vapes and nicotine products.
“Our new proposals will better protect children by rooting out the rogue retailers blighting our high streets and help adults know which shops are selling legitimate products.
“We want expert views on how we can develop the strongest possible regulations to protect our children as part of our Plan for Change, while ensuring adult smokers can still use vapes to quit smoking.”
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of ASH said: “The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a world leading piece of legislation with the potential to dramatically change how tobacco and vapes are sold – bringing in a smokefree generation, taking us closer to smokefree country and protecting children from vaping.
“Ensuring the regulations are shaped by the best available evidence is vital to ensure the bill has its intended impact.”
The Bonington in Arnold is showcasing a wide selection of films for all ages during the month of October.
Downton Abbey – The Grand Finale (PG)
Sun 19 – Thu 23 October
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the cinematic return of the global phenomenon, follows the Crawley family and their staff as they enter the 1930s. When Mary finds herself at the centre of a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble, the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future.
Dead of Winter (15)
Mon 20 – Wed 22 October
A widowed fisherwoman (Emma Thompson), travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden). Hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realises that she is the young girl’s only hope.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (15)
Fri 24 – Sun 26 October
Some doors bring you to your past. Some doors lead you to your future. And some doors change everything. Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present…and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Night of the Zoopocalypse (PG)
Mon 27 – Thu 30 October
When a meteor crashes into Colepepper Zoo, it unleashes a virus that transforms the zoo animals into zombies. Gracie, a quirky young wolf, teams up with a gruff mountain lion named Dan to lead a wacky team of animals on a perilous mission to escape the virus and rescue their zoo, on one spooky Night of the Zoopocalypse!
Corpse Bride – 20th Anniversary (PG)
Thu 30 October at 4.30pm
Returning to the painstaking stop-motion animation he employed with amazing success in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton presents a hair-raising legend based on a 19th-century Russian folktale, in which a young man mistakenly weds a corpse while on a two-day trek to the village of his real bride-to-be. It is up to the groom’s flesh-and-blood fiancée, who has been pining for the arrival of her intended, to face her wraith-like rival and make peace with her by promising to live her dreams for her and by vowing to remember her always. Only then are the living bride and groom free to proceed with their own wedding ceremony in the warmhearted fable Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.
The Long Walk (15)
Fri 31 October + Sat 1 November
From the highly anticipated adaptation of master storyteller Stephen King’s first-written novel, and Francis Lawrence, the visionary director of The Hunger Games franchise films (Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Pts. 1 & 2, and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), comes The Long Walk, an intense, chilling, and emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question: how far could you go?
Event Cinema
The Immortals: Wonders of the Museo Egizio
Sun 19 + Wed 22 October
Join Academy Award-winner, Jeremy Irons, as he takes the viewer on a your of one of the world’s most important museums: The Museo Egizio in Turin.
The oldest collection dedicated to ancient Egyptian civilization houses over 40,000 artifacts —12,000 of which are on display — ranging from colossal statues to the rich burial objects of Kha and Merit and welcomes over 900,000 visitors a year. Key exhibits include Sphinxes, the Turin King List, the Goldmine Papyrus, and sculptures of Ramesses II and Isis of Coptos.
The Royal Ballet & Opera and the Met Opera Present… La Sonnambula
Tue 21 October at 6.45pm
Following triumphant Met turns in Roméo et Juliette, La Traviata, and Lucia di Lammermoor, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into audiences’ hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found. In his new production, Rolando Villazón—the tenor who has embarked on a brilliant second career as a director—retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its somnambulant plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind. Tenor Xabier Anduaga returns after his acclaimed 2023 Met debut in L’Elisir d’Amore, co-starring as Amina’s fiancé Elvino, alongside soprano Sydney Mancasola as her rival, Lisa, and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo. Riccardo Frizza takes the podium for one of opera’s most ravishing works.
Dance Party Screening:Stop Making Sense (PG) + Djs
Sat 25 October from 7pm
No seats, just a ticket and a dancefloor!
Recently restored in 4K to coincide with its 40th anniversary, the 1984 film was directed by renowned filmmaker Jonathan Demme and is considered by critics to be the greatest concert film of all time. Shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December of 1983, it features Talking Heads’ most memorable songs.
Disney Jr Cinema Club (U)
Sun 26 – Wed 29 October
An unmissable big-screen adventure for little ones with an hour-long cinema experience, featuring Disney’s Mickey Mouse and friends, Marvel’s Spidey and Iron Man, plus SuperKitties, Bluey and more! Whether it’s their first time in the cinema, or they regularly enjoy the movies, it’s something you can enjoy together as a family, and you’re encouraged to join in! Disney Jr Cinema Club 2025 brings together songs, dancing, interactive games, and episodes for your pre-schoolers from late October for a limited time only.
National Theatre Live: Mrs Warren’s Profession (12A)
Sun 26 October – Tuesday 4 November
Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (The Crown) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic.
Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune – but at what cost?
Filmed live from the West End, this new production reunites Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Follies, Good), exploring the clash between morality and independence, traditions and progress.
Bat Out of Hell – The Musical (12A)
Fri 31 October + Sun 2 November
Get ready for the ultimate rock experience as Bat Out of Hell roars onto the big screen this Halloween! The cast of the West End production will bring Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s iconic anthems to life, including I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad, Dead Ringer For Love, and, of course, Bat Out of Hell.
Silents Synched: Nosferatu x Radiohead (PG)
Fri 31 October at 7pm
Silents Synced pairs classic silent movies with epic rock music to bring audiences a unique big screen experience. This reimagining of the iconic Nosferatu (1922) features Radiohead’s Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) albums.
Cinema prices are very competitive, with tickets at £7, and concessions at £6. Concessions are open to those Under 18, Students with valid student ID, and over 60s. On Tuesday’s, cinema tickets are just £5
But they’ve not done it, citing the reason the hole on Glendale Close “does not meet the criteria for remedial work”.
Mr Taylor begs to differ.
“I’ve been drenched three times getting in the car when cars drive past through it after it’s rained,” says the 72-year-old retired mechanic. “Once I was sitting in the car with the window open and I got drenched.
“And another time my daughter parked it and left the window open overnight. The upholstery was wet through the next day.”
The two-metre long, beer-bottle shaped crater was but a small inconvenience when Mr Taylor first reported it in early 2022. Not long after, highways workers came to repair it, filling the hollow with tarmac.
But as the sun dawned the next day, Mr Taylor noticed a fist-sized cavity remaining next to the newly filled hole in the road.
“I phoned them to ask if that was actually the repair,” he says. “I couldn’t believe it. They told me they only do what’s necessary.
“I said: ‘It is necessary’. I said: ‘Mark my words – in a few weeks or months time it’s going to get bigger. Cars will go over it and break the side’. And that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Over the following three years, the road surface around the tennis-ball sized cavity began to wear away.
Mr Taylor said he kept repeatedly ringing the council, and staff have been out seven or eight times, he claims, to the patch.
But it’s only ever to measure it – not repair it, he claims.
When they arrive, with a long ruler, according to Mr Taylor, they find, repeatedly, that the pothole is less than 30mm deep – allegedly the threshold for repairs.
But they only measure around the edge, he says, not the middle, where it’s at least 50mm down, he claims.
A neighbour of Mr Taylor’s, Patrick Flewitt, says he has made his own complaints after he tripped in the hole on the way back home from a local pub.
“I was coming back from Wetherspoons,” said the 82-year-old. “I got off the bus, it was dark, and I crossed the road. I went over on it and it was aching for a few days.
“It’s been going on for years. They’re not making a proper job of it. We’re not getting value for money on our council tax.”
In the past, Mr Taylor has been out with buckets to collect the stone chippings that have come off the surface.
“Bits break off daily,” he said. “There are chips of tarmac all over the road. I got rid of my car because it kept getting stone chips on it.
“They shoot up that far that I found them on my windscreen. They started scraping when I turned the wipers on.
“I shouldn’t have to put up with it. It’s faulty workmanship. They haven’t done their job correctly.
“If I’d have paid someone directly to do it and I came back and saw what they’d done, I wouldn’t have been happy. I’d want my money back.
“Someone said we should paint a red cross on it and then they’d come and do something.”
Nottinghamshire County Council was contacted for comment.
A Mapperley woman probably “would not have died” if correct risk assessments had been made by mental health teams, an inquest has heard.
Sophie Towle collapsed in cardiac arrest while she was a patient at Sherwood Oaks mental health hospital as a result of a blood clot in her lung on May 27, 2024, aged just 22.
Two weeks earlier, in a form of self-harm, she had inserted a pen into a pre-existing open wound on her left leg and went to hospital three times in the incident’s aftermath.
But ultimately she was not assessed as being in danger of developing a blood clot, despite factors that should have rung alarm bells that she was a high-risk patient, intensive care doctor Jasmeet Soar told the inquest at Nottingham Coroners Court.
The lack of this assessment “more than minimally” contributed to her death, Dr Soar said during the first day of proceedings at Nottingham Council House on Monday, October 6.
Sophie Towle was sectioned at Sherwood Oaks Hospital in Mansfield.Sophie went to A&E at King’s Mill Hospital in Mansfield, and was booked in the next day for a surgery to take the pen out. But the surgery did not take place
Sophie, from Mapperley, had been in and out of mental health facilities since 2021, had a history of self-harm, and at the time of her death, was sectioned at Sherwood Oaks Hospital in Mansfield.
Sophie and her family had serious concerns about her transfer from a mental health facility in Doncaster back to Sherwood Oaks, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
On May 12, 2024, just over two weeks after she had been moved back to Nottinghamshire against her will and while she was on one-to-one observations, Sophie stuck the broken end of a ballpoint pen into a wound in her calf, just below her knee.
The following day, in severe pain, she went to A&E at King’s Mill Hospital in Mansfield, and was booked in the next day for a surgery to take the pen out.
But the surgery did not take place because doctors considered that the risks of removing it outweighed the benefits.
These risks were related to the difficulty of getting to the pen, the risk of her reinserting a foreign body into the wound, and her BMI of 49, which made her severely obese and meant anaesthetising her was a bigger risk than for someone with a healthy BMI.
She was sent back to Sherwood Oaks instead with a crutch to help with her mobility, as the pain meant she was unable to walk unaided.
Over the next five days the wound developed an infection, and she returned to King’s Mill for a third time on May 19.
She was offered antibiotics, which cleared the infection, and she was sent again back to Sherwood Oaks without being admitted to hospital.
But over the next few days, she began to complain of chest pains and shortness of breath.
On May 27, she suffered a number of seizures and eventually went into cardiac arrest that evening and was later pronounced dead.
The inquest heard she had suffered a massive pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in the lungs – resulting from blood clots in her legs which had travelled up her bloodstream.
Dr Soar said that if she had been admitted to King’s Mill, Sophie would have been automatically subject to assessments that would’ve scored her at a high enough risk level to be treated with prophylaxis medication to prevent clots from happening.
But the inquest was told she only ever visited A&E and did not become an inpatient.
Dr Soar added that Sherwood Oaks, as her primary care giver, should have risk assessed her themselves in the circumstances.
Her weight and immobility were factors that should have been noticed by staff.
He said: “There was an oversight on her blood clot risk. I think she should’ve had a risk assessment due to her immobility. If she had, on the balance of probabilities, she would not have died.”
Two huge international acts have been announced as the headliners for Splendour 2026. The Wombats will headline on Saturday, July 18 and Snow Patrol on Sunday, July 19 2026.
Day tickets from £72 are being released now for the Nottingham festival weekend, with many more acts to be announced this year. With payment plans in place, buying early is the perfect way to spread the cost over a full nine months.
Since they emerged as leading lights of noughties indie, The Wombats have maintained an incredible upward momentum and show no signs of slowing down with the release of their sonically adventurous sixth album.
The Liverpool trio are known for their joyous, playful and energetic live shows all the while delivering songs with a searing confessional emotional honesty. With a fantastic catalogue and knack for showmanship, the Splendour crowd is in for a treat.
Iconic Northern Irish / Scottish indie-rock band Snow Patrol are known for their swooningly sensitive songs led by the soaring vocals of Gary Lightbody. Formed in Dundee in 1994, the band released their 5x- platinum, major-label debut ‘Final Straw’ in 2003. Hit track “Run” saw the group catapulted to national fame as they led the charge of the post-Britpop movement.
Over the course of their career, Snow Patrol have amassed a momentous seven Meteor Ireland Music Awards and been nominated for six BRIT Awards and one GRAMMY. Last year, the band released their UK Number One album ‘The Forest Is The Path’ to widespread acclaim. With fan favourites Chasing Cars, Run and Spitting Games in their hit strewn catalogue, the stage is set for an epic performance at Wollaton Park next summer.
DHP Family Director of Live Anton Lockwood said: “We’re delighted to welcome The Wombats and Snow Patrol as the two headliners for Splendour 2026. With sing-along-hits and huge anthems, they are both artists we’ve been wanting to secure for a very long time – so it’s fantastic they are both coming to Nottingham. Of course there will be lots more to follow across all our stages, with more to announce soon.
Day tickets are £80pp or £72pp with City Resident Discount. The payment plan works out £8 per month on ticket purchases made now. Weekend tickets are £115pp or £103.5pp with City Resident Discount, or £11.50 per month on the payment plan. Booking fees apply.
In his latest column, Cllr Barton shares his thoughts on the recent results from a public survey on the impending local government reorganisation…
The recent LGR survey in Nottinghamshire has been held up as a barometer of how the public feel about the impending local government reorganisation. I do not feel that this is the case.
Our requests to review the survey were denied, which I found disappointing that thirty-four residents were selected for the focus groups to represent an entire county. I do not feel that this representative sample of the people of Nottinghamshire.
Despite being well advertised we only received 11,483 responses. A minuscule one percent of the population. 900 responses came directly from council employees and councillors, only 200 received from local business owners. The under 45’s, made up 21% of responses, with no responses from ethnic communities. I am afraid this is not a reflection of Nottinghamshire’s opinion, it is misrepresentation.
In my opinion the public have been scared that services will be cut, believing that leisure centres, libraries will be closing. That adult care would collapse overnight, forcing merges with Nottingham city, causing fearmongering. Where is the informed debate here?
Let’s not forget, remaining as we are, is not an option. The Labour government has made that clear. If we do not act, the decision will be imposed on us. Reform UK believe in choice… fair informed choice.
“Let’s not forget, remaining as we are, is not an option. The Labour government has made that clear.”
This is why we are working with PWC and experienced council officers to design two new fit for purpose councils that will deliver value for money, a stronger local voice.
Reform will not allow a flawed, rushed and biased process to dictate the future of our communities. I will fight for a fair, transparent and evidence led solution – one that puts residents first, not for political convenience. Nottinghamshire deserve better and I intend to deliver better for you.
Moving on positively, Notts Reform councillors are willing to engage with you if you have questions for clarification or even require further information on LGR and what it means to you. I am looking to come out into the community and speak directly with any of you who want more information, Or if it is easier for you to chat with me my e-mail please send your query about LGR to LeaderofReform@nottscc.gov.uk .
I do want to share with you a few updates on the work we have started.
I initiated a highways review back in May, which will be complete later this month, I will hopefully be taking this through the cabinet and council process in November. I am looking to introduce a right first-time approach, especially when it comes to fixing potholes and smaller repairs to roads, to save money in the long run. You have probably already noticed there is a massive improvement in the larger repairs we are doing to roads and the full resurfacing programs we have planned for the near future, next year and the following year will set us on the right path for years to come. This was one of the main priorities that the residents gave us, we have not let you down and we will continue to deliver on our pledges. Reform councillors have reported over six thousand potholes repaired, along with ten miles of roads, so far. I will keep you updated in my columns.
Works on revamping a former Arnold church into more than 20 new apartments are progressing.
In February, Gedling Borough Council approved plans to convert the former Baptist Church in Cross Street into nine flats and a further 14 apartments to be built in a new four-storey building next to the church.
The developer, 9 Property Group Ltd, will partly retain the two-storey extension to the south of the church – believed to have been attached to the previous chapel and acted as school rooms – and the very east section will be demolished.
In the converted church, there will be five duplex apartments, with three one-bed and two, two-beds, along with one two-bed and three one-bed single-storey apartments.
The church, which dates back to 1909, replaced the previous chapel built in 1825, closed in 2020.
In the converted church, there will be five duplex apartmentsThe church, which dates back to 1909, replaced the previous chapel built in 1825, closed in 2020.
Works to revamp the site are now progressing, with vegetation being cleared and an archaeology team, led by Contour Archaeology, appearing on site on Monday (October 6). Once the team has completed its works, the ground works can then take place.
The church building has suffered from vandalism since closing and several windows have been broken and damaged. In August 2024 a fire started in the church.
But nearby residents say the antisocial behaviour has reduced since the fire and after the church was boarded up.
One resident said: “They were just breaking in and you could hear them smashing things up inside, or teenagers running around in there. There’s even been teenagers on the roof before. Since they’ve boarded it up it hasn’t been as bad.”
Once complete, the new scheme will not come with any parking spaces due to the sloping nature of the site, but residents believe this will create traffic problems in the area.
Another. resident said: “They [could have] at least 20 cars. There’s no spaces. [I] already have one space [nearby], it’s already a bit of a problem.
“There’s going to be more people, are they going to be walking round here? There will be more people and more traffic.”
On 9 Property Group Ltd’s website, it says the gross development value – the estimated value the new development would gain on the open market – is £3.1 million and states the year for the scheme as 2026.
