On Wednesday 20th May, Christa Ackroyd, co-Presenter of Look North opened the new ‘Rotary Garden’ at Toll Bar Primary School.

Following the disastrous floods of Summer 2007, the Rotary Club of Doncaster St Leger secured £25,000 from the Rotary Flood Disaster Relief Fund to replace the ruined ‘green greenhouse’ and allotment areas at Toll Bar School with an ‘environmental ‘garden.  

The scheme was designed to raise the spirits and lift the imagination of the children in the aftermath of the disaster.   Whole school consultation took place and the original garden was extended to include a wetland area, performance circle and other discrete spaces to develop the excitement of growing. 

Work on the site was delayed until the school was moved back from temporary buildings into the refurbished school but commenced in the Autumn of 2008 and is now complete.   Final design and construction was undertaken by Axholme Landscapes with input from the School and the Rotary Club.

Barnsley Rockley Rotary club held their fourth annual Health Awareness day in the Alhambra shopping mall last Saturday. Local GP Dr Prakash Kakoty, the president of the club, with a team of doctors and practice nurses offered free blood pressure tests to the Saturday morning shoppers. 280 people were tested of whom 19 were referred to their respective GP's.

This compares with last year's 300 tests of which 11 had high values but were already under treatment and 1 referral to a GP.

In spite of this apparent increase in the number with high blood pressures over one year, the overall trend is for a healthier Barnsley and a growing awareness of the importance of regular check ups.