New Milton Advertiser 29th Jan 2021

6 · Friday 29th January 2021

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Marie loses over nine stone after health shock

Plan to open 60 special needs spots at primary school

A SCHOOL for children with special educational needs is seeking to increase places by creating provision at Somerford Primary School. Winchelsea, in Poole, wants ultimately to provide an ad- ditional 60 Key Stage 1 and 2 places at Somerford where annual school admission rates have fallen from 60 to 30. It said that creating the extra places will meet the increasing demand for a special school locally while also reducing the cost of transporting pupils to education establishments outside of the BCP Council area. Members of the ruling cabi- net are due to consider the pro- posal at a meeting on Wednes- day 10th February. Cllr Nicola Greene, cabinet for Covid resilience, public health and education, said: “I

am pleased to announce the development of additional good quality school places for chil- dren and young people with special educational needs to meet local demand. “The satellite provision will provide additional capacity across the school and enable them to offer education to pu- pils over 16 years old on their existing site. “The special school will be in- creasing capacity over the next two years initially offering an additional 25 places in Septem- ber 2021.” It is estimated that expand- ing special school provision at Somerford by 60 places will re- duce the budget pressure on the council’s high needs fund by approximately £1.5m as chil- dren will not need to be placed in more expensive special schools outside of the area.

Teacher ‘lucky’ to turn life around given the current Covid risks

way to stop them was to try and lose weight and decrease the percentage of fat in my body. “I was also struggling to be as active as I wanted to be. I went to my doctor, cried and then walked out knowing that I needed to join Slimming World.” She was true to her word. She joined the programme in Janu- ary last year and 12 months lat- er she has shed nearly half her weight – going from a size 24 to 14. A delighted Marie said: “I was amazed, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I soon fell into the way of cooking and eating more healthily and was losing weight week in, week out and picking up new ideas, rec- ipes, and healthy habits along the way. “I got a lot of support from my consultant Emma and the group.” Before pledging to lose weight, Marie was already suf- fering with arthritis and strug-

gling with her mental health. She said: “The arthritis has improved greatly since los- ing weight. My mental health is also so much better as I am much more active and am mak- ing the most of every minute of each day. “I also had some underlying women’s health issues which have been eradicated as a result of losing the weight.” Marie said she had tried all her life to lose weight unsuc- cessfully before joining Slim- ming World which she was delighted to find included her favourite meals such as shep- herd’s pie, pasta, and rice dish- es. Marie said she did strug- gle to keep motivated during lockdown but found exercise helped. She said: “I take part in on- line Pilates and yoga classes. I also run 5k four times a week and do strength training twice a week along with cardiovascu- lar exercises like body combat.”

AFTER

BEFORE

BY ANTONELLA LAZZERI

DEPUTY head teacher Marie Loftus felt like a star pupil for losing a whopping nine-and- half-stone after being inspired by the realisation that her weight was a huge health risk. Marie, from Totton, burst into tears following a visit to her doctor last year who said tests had showed that, weigh- ing in at 20 stone, the excess pounds were seriously harming her wellbeing. “I feel incredibly lucky to have turned my health around, especially knowing the links between being overweight and more serious outcomes of Cov- id-19,” she said. “I was having irregularities with some tests and the only

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Week of disruption amid railway works

43 Old Milton Road, New Milton, BH25 6DJ 01425 638288

RAIL travellers through the New Forest will be hit by engi- neering works forcing line clo- sures of up to a week. The disruption will come from Network Rail modifying the railway around Southamp- ton to increase capacity for longer freight trains. Many passenger services are set to be diverted or served by replacement buses as the com- missioning of a new signalling system for the route requires temporary section closures. Tomorrow (Saturday) lines to Brockenhurst from South- ampton Airport Parkway will be closed, and the following day Eastleigh to Brockenhurst will

be shut along with Brocken- hurst to Bournemouth. Further work on Saturday 13th and Sunday and 14th Feb- ruary will see the lines from Eastleigh to Brockenhurst closed off. Then the line to Brocken- hurst from Southampton Cen- tral will be out of action from Monday 15th to Friday 19th February. Brockenhurst will be served by rail replacement bus and shuttle services throughout the work. A spokesperson for Network Rail urged passengers to check before they travel. For more in- formation visit bit.ly/2M17AN7

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Woman comes forward after report of assault

Sunrise over Longslade Bottom (Photo: Graham Wiffen)

New Forest in top five national parks in Europe

A WOMAN came forward after policemade a photo appeal over a dog walker’s alleged attack on a father in a Christchurch field. The assault reportedly took place as the man, who was in his 40s, played football with his son in Winkton Fields, off the B3347 Salisbury Road, around 3.25pm on Tuesday 12th January.

A woman shouted at him to pick up his ball and there was a verbal altercation before she pushed a ball-throwing stick into his face. On Wednesday a Dorset Po- lice spokesperson said a woman was helping officers with their enquiries and no arrests had been made.

NEW Forest tourism bosses are celebrating after the national park was named the fifth best in Europe. It was ranked highly in the annual Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Best of the Best Awards 2021, giving a morale boost par- ticularly to hard-pressed hos- pitality businesses struggling during the pandemic. The Forest was described as “welcoming” and “filled with scenic views and wide trails that beg to be explored as they wind through centuries old woodlands”. Anthony Climpson, chief ex- ecutive of local tourism group Go New Forest, said: “We are

absolutely delighted. It’s no mean feat for our wonderful destination to be voted the fifth best of over 400 national parks across Europe. “Whilst non-local visitors are currently unable to enjoy the New Forest until restrictions are lifted, accolades such as this will certainly help boost our hard-hit tourism industry when everyone can visit again.” It is the first time national parks have been included in the awards which are voted for by members of the online review forum. The Yorkshire Dales took top place. Tripadvisor spokesperson Hayley Coleman said many

travellers have been dreaming of getting out to explore na- tional parks when lockdown is over. She said: “According to a recent survey of Tripadvisor travellers, more than half (52%) say they are more likely to take an outdoor or nature trip than they were before the pandemic. “With this in mind, it seemed timely to introduce this year’s new category, national parks. “While the pandemic has been incredibly tough in lots of ways, one positive that we can take away is that it has unleashed a new found love of getting back to nature for many of us.”

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WEST End and cinema per- formers unable to work during the pandemic have joined forc- es with a local dance studio to provide online lessons. Shine Studios, based at New Forest Academy in Holbury, is run by Katie Day and Emma Williams, who came up with the idea of offering work to artists whose stage and screen cre- dentials include Cats, MTV and Star Wars.

Emma told the A&T: “We have so many local peers with incredible credentials, so cre- ated an amazing timetable of classes to give local children the experience of being taught by superstar teachers which they otherwise may not be able to geographically or financially access.” Fees apply for the classes which are for existing students, but new members are welcome.

Bad buoy – storm blows visitor to village beach

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BEACH-GOERS got a shock when a giant navigation buoy washed up on the beach at Milford after it was believed to have been blown by Storm Christoph from the entrance to Poole Harbour. The wild weather was fol- lowed by freezing temperatures this week and a scattering of snow at the weekend which caused some injuries and dis- ruption on the roads. The South Hook Cardinal Buoy washed up below Hordle Cliffs where it was removed by contractors working on repairs to Milford’s sea defences. A Lymington Coastguard team was the first to respond to the incident around lunchtime last Thursday, but they were unable to recover it due to its size and location. An Earlcoate digger was seen being used to bring the marker out of the water around 4pm last Friday. It was placed in a compound at nearby Paddy’s Gap. Witness Vern Beaumont told the A&T: “First the buoy had to be nudged and pushed out of the sea to a point where it could be attached to the jib of the dig- ger by what we assumed must be very strong rope of some sort. Very strong, yes – though at one point it snapped and the buoy had to be reattached.”

The buoy was removed by contractors (Photo: Vern Beaumont)

Poole Harbour Commission- ers, which own the buoy, issued a local notice to mariners on Sunday urging them to navi- gate with caution in its absence. Adverse weather continued throughout the weekend and, as snow and ice gripped the New Forest, a walker was badly hurt in a fall and a vehicle ca- reered off a dual carriageway. Paramedic teams includ- ing the Hampshire and Isle of Wight air ambulance were dis- patched to woodland off the A337 Southampton Road at Setley after a woman slipped shortly after 11am on Monday. The casualty, aged around 65,

was treated at the scene for a serious lower leg injury before being taken by road ambulance to Southampton General Hos- pital. Shortly before 9am the pre- vious morning, firefighters re- sponded to a car which left the snowy A31 between Picket Post and Castle Malwood, near Ringwood. A post about the incident afterwards on the town’s fire station Twitter account said there were no injuries. A crew from the station remained at the scene with colleagues from Burley for about 20 minutes to ensure it was safe.