Derbyshire Times news bulletin 29th July

Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley

Transcript

00:00Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.

00:03A Chesterfield pub is set to host a charity event in memory of a baby boy who tragically died at three weeks old.

00:09The Crown & Ankle Pub on Sheffield Road in Chesterfield is set to host Tobyfest on Saturday August the 3rd,

00:15with all funds raised being donated to the Sick Children's Trust.

00:19The event is being organised by Laura Hicklin and her partner Dale Barker, both 31,

00:24who were left heartbroken after their baby son Toby died earlier this year.

00:29Toby passed away at three weeks old after he was born with a congenital heart defect

00:33and his parents received support from the Sick Children's Trust

00:36while they were at a special ward in Leeds where Toby was receiving medical help.

00:40The charity event, which is set to start at 2pm on August the 3rd,

00:44will see attractions for families including raffles, a tombola, bouncy castles, stalls and live music.

00:50Only cash donations will be collected.

00:52At the event the couple will also be collecting signatures under their petition

00:56to change the bereavement laws to allow dads to have more time off work to grieve if their child passes away.

01:02Currently the UK law allows fathers up to two weeks to grieve their child

01:06while mothers can get up to 52 weeks of bereavement leave.

01:12The number of suspensions in Derbyshire schools reached a record high in the last academic year, new figures show.

01:17It comes as Impetus, a charity advocating for disadvantaged young people,

01:22said the government's ambition to break down barriers to education

01:25cannot be achieved if tens of thousands of students are not in the classroom.

01:29Department for Education figures show there were 12,344 suspensions from Derbyshire schools

01:35in the 2022-2023 academic year, the highest since records began for the area.

01:41It was up from 8,718 suspensions the year before

01:44and more than double the 5,033 number in the 2018-19 year before the pandemic.