Norwich City legend Grant Holt is swapping his football boots for walking shoes as part of a gruelling charity challenge.

The Canaries hero is trekking 44 miles from Ipswich to The Nook, in Framingham Earl, to raise funds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). He plans to set off at 5pm on Tuesday, 8th August and walk through the night before arriving at EACH’s hospice in Norfolk. Dad-of-three Grant is an ardent supporter of the charity and completed a fundraising skydive in January 2022.

In advance of his latest challenge, he visited The Nook and was given a tour by Corporate Fundraising Manager Caroline Allen.

This year, The Norfolk Association of Architects and The Norwich Society have been joined by Norwich University of the Arts for the 2023 Design and Craftsmanship Awards. These biennial awards are a celebration of outstanding buildings and places throughout Norfolk that positively affect our built environment and make Norfolk a fantastic place to live and work. The presentation ceremony will be held this November.

The awards will go to projects that deliver a high standard of design and craftsmanship in their construction and finishes, meet the needs of their users and contribute to the public enjoyment of places, and demonstrate that they have taken account of the wider environmental implications, including minimising any impact on climate change from their construction and use. 

Norwich is gearing up for three days of summer carnival fun from July 7-9 when the Lord Mayor's Weekend takes over the city.

The packed programme includes entertainment headlined by an historic procession through the streets featuring dancers,acrobats, bands and colourful walking groups; as well as exciting shows across stages in Chapelfield Gardens and outside City Hall presenting choirs, bands, poets, world champion beatboxers and the very best of local talents. There will also be a tempting array of food on offer from Norfolk's finest producers.

Councillor Cate Oliver, cabinet member for wellbeing and culture at Norwich City Council, said: "We're inviting all our residents and visitors alike to come along over the weekend and join us in celebrating the sights, sounds, voices and tastes of the city and the county. This weekend is a key part of our yearly programme of festive community events and we are proud to support the Lord Mayor and Sheriff's civic charity appeal for 2023-2024, the Norfolk Community Foundation."

Norwich-based hand-made frozen meals brand, Farmyard Frozen, have announced they will be moving into their new premises at the Broadland Food Innovation Centre as part of their continued growth. The business which was born out of the Covid lockdowns in January 2021, has grown to the extent where they have outgrown their current production facilities and need more space to fulfil growing demand.

Farmyard Frozen is the brainchild of Chef Andrew Jones and his wife Hannah Springham, the culinary figures behind the award-winning Farmyard restaurant in Norwich and The Dial House in Reepham. Their ambition was to create refined, chef-prepared, frozen meals made with top quality, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.  Meals range from luxury Beef Wellington to seasonal summer party food alongside vegetarian dishes and indulgent deserts. Farmyard Frozen’s products are also stocked in delis, farmshops and independent retailers across Norfolk and Suffolk as well as  nationwide retailers sold and direct to customers via their online shop.

Three young actresses from Norwich are taking their self-penned comedy play to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.  Amelie Breach, Ava Borthwick & Lola Morgans are the Attendants, working for Applesby Airlines, and introduce us to the characters they meet in flight.

“Join us on Applesby airlines, where we make the headlines.  We may not be as classy as Ryanair, but we’re willing to try and care.” – Quote from the play.

Having originally written the play for their drama A-level, Amelie, Ava & Lola, are now taking their comedy to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.  They’ve been invited to join the programme at theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39), performing every day at 2.25pm from Friday 4th to Saturday 12th August.

People are being invited to step into spring by signing up to Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life in Norwich.        

The charity’s much-loved events are returning to the city and anyone who joins between Wednesday March 22 and Sunday April 30 can claim 30 per cent off the entry fee as part of a special sale by using the code SPRING30.

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with headline sponsor Standard Life, is an inspiring series of 3k, 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research. This is the 30th year of Race for Life and participants will receive an exclusive medal to mark the milestone.  

St Martins Housing Trust has been given Honorary Freedom of the City of Norwich, following more than 50 years’ service and support to people facing homelessness. The honour was awarded by Norwich City Council at a special meeting of council.  

After starting out in a garage shed in the Cathedral Close half a century ago, St Martins has grown into an established charity which provides not only hundreds of beds and homes to those in need, but delivers education, training, psychological intervention and partnership work with other city organisations.

St Martins is now a key partner in delivering Norwich City Council’s rough sleeping strategy, which seeks to break the cycle of homelessness through prevention, intervention, recovery and systemic support. 

A local young people’s charity is celebrating after winning a prestigious Reuse Network award. The accolade recognises the work of The Benjamin Foundation, in partnership with leading waste and resource management company, FCC Environment, to promote reuse and prevent waste, while creating social value and raising funds to support young people in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The charity was presented with the Reuse Network’s Innovative Project of the Year award at a ceremony last month to recognise and celebrate the success of the Norwich Reuse Drop Off Centre which opened in June 2022. The Innovative Project of the Year award recognises originality, inspired ideas and acknowledges those who have worked hard to implement them. The Benjamin Foundation has transformed the former local authority operated recycling centre on Swanton Road, Norwich to an innovative, first of its kind for the UK, reuse drive through and drop off centre, making reuse in Norwich more accessible and convenient than ever.

This festive period, you don’t need to look any further than Norwich Market for the perfect Christmas – from gifts to lunch on the big day, and there’ll be little activities for children too.

Martin Jones from Norwich is a keen amateur photographer who over the past few months has been taking his camera out with him when going for a walk along a small part of the River Wensum in Norwich.

We are so glad that Martin took the time to share these wonderful selection of photographs with us which we are sure you will enjoy and just demonstrates what we can all see if we take a moment to just stop and observe the environment around us .

We are, of course, also very lucky to either live in or be able to visit the fine City of Norwich which the Sunday Times recently named Norwich the best place to live in the East of England in 2022.