It all started with a small notice in the Daily Echo. In 1952, Mr and Mrs F Evans sent a letter to the paper, appealing to other parents of children with cerebral palsy to get in touch with them to form a support group in Southampton. “Saturday get-togethers
THE owner of a fitness centre has offered free membership to hundreds of women affected by the closure of a Southampton gym. Sarah Harding, from Accolade Health and Fitness, in Northam Bridge Road, Southampton, has vowed to honour the contracts of members
A RESCUE group is moving its main lifeboat – to stop it being wrecked by intruders. Isolated buildings used by Solent Rescue have repeatedly been targeted by burglars and vandals, resulting in a series of repair bills. In the latest
A MAN will appear in court tomorrow charged with intentionally injuring a wild bird on the Isle of Wight. John Winn Robert, from Northern Ireland, was arrested by police in November for the suspected offence at a quarry on St George’s Down,
HE sat in the back seat and waited. Surely nothing could go wrong. The hold-up had been well planned and a lookout accomplice stood nearby concealed by darkness. Eventually he heard the approaching footsteps of the garage foreman, heavy cash box
A 61-year-old man from Fareham killed himself, an inquest has ruled. Geoffrey Allen was found dead at his home in August last year. A verdict of suicide was recorded at Portsmouth’s Coroners Court.
SHAHID Afridi will be the most expensive player at next month’s inaugural Bangladesh Premier League. The Hampshire t20 star has been bought for (US) $700,000 by the Dhaka Gladiators, despite only being available for the last two round-robin matches.
HUNDREDS of children across Hampshire are to be taught in temporary classrooms to cope with a shortage of primary school places. The county council is set to apply for planning permission for mobile units at 20 schools next September. Council figures
COUNCIL chiefs have said that no decision has been made over the future location of a multi-million pound tourist attraction in Southampton. The team behind the £8m Aeronautica attraction that would celebrate Southampton's maritime and aviation
A HAMPSHIRE designer who filled his manager's water bottle up with water from the toilet after she criticised his work has escaped a jail sentence. Waterlooville man, Jonathan Oliver, 40, of Haslar Crescent, pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown
I WRITE on behalf of the Solent Lions Club to give a big thank you to the people of Woolston for their generosity following our collection at the Co-op there last month. We will be using the money to help fund a tea party for local pensioners
I NOTE the statement from one of the leading house building contractors that the sector is currently drastically underutilised, because the industry is only producing about 100,000 housing units per year, rather than the requisite 240,000 which
OOPS! Someone’s popped me into the funny farm when I was off my guard. I’ve read in the Echo that Broadlands intends to sport a supermarket in its grounds, with another coffee shop – just what Romsey needs. Of course, running the estate is expensive
OVER the last 20 years or so, I have written about over a dozen or so children (11-15) who have killed themselves. Bullying seems to have been a factor in most of these tragedies. Years ago, you could not get a school to admit they had a bullying
THE Liberal Democrats delivered their most recent ‘Focus’ newsletter to me the other day – it always raises a chuckle in my household. Whatever the coalition Government does that involves spending money or is popular, they try to take credit for
AT long last that awful eyesore marquee/skating rink has been taken down at the Bargate. Perhaps next year we could have a nice decorated Christmas tree that everyone in the city would appreciate. DEREK WHITAKER, Southampton.
AS a Romsey resident and tenant of Broadlands estate, I welcome the news that Tesco could be opening a store in Romsey as it would give a boost to employment in the area. I live in a property that overlooks the site of the proposed store and would
YOUR headline in Friday’s Echo, ‘Every little helps’ (front page of the printed version), is to say the least misleading. I was shocked when opening up the paper to read that you were referring to the ruination of one of the few remaining treasures
DISABLED Hampshire yachtsman Geoff Holt has been selected to take part in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant. His wheelchair accessible powerboat, Wetwheels, was chosen to be one of a thousand boats which will gather on the River Thames on June 3 for
SHE was the most vulnerable of victims, unable to care for herself. Having suffered a stroke, 97- year-old Louisa Wood was wheelchair bound and relied on regular visits from trusted carer Tara Rolfe to help her with the most basic tasks.
AN aircraft was damaged during a flight test in Hampshire because the pilot ran out of time to carry out landing checks, an investigation has found. The prototype motorglider landed at Chibolton Airfield near Winchester with the landing gear retracted
FROM climbing Ben Nevis to throwing themselves out of a plane and daring to don fancy dress, businesses from across Hampshire have worked tirelessly to help make hospital a better place for patients. So to thank them for their continued
England lost the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai by ten wickets, inside three days. Saeed Ajmal finished with match figures of 10-97 after taking the final England wicket of Graeme Swann (39) who, together with Jonathan Trott (49), provided the
AN inquest has heard how a father died of pneumonia. Colin Hazeldine, of Beaucroft Road, Waltham Chase, died at his home on November 27 last year. Winchester Coroner’s Court heard how the 65-year-old had a history of alcoholism and depression,
Southampton has become renowned in football for its academy. Down the years the club’s name has become almost synonymous with developing young talent. It started off with players being recruited and brought through at local levels and stepped
A SOUTHAMPTON student has denied hacking into a school’s computer system and posting a pupil’s report on the Internet. Matthew Higgins, 19, from Colwyn Bay, Wales, is studying biomedical sciences at the University of Southampton and is also the
WEST Ham have failed in a bid to sign Jason Puncheon on loan. Saints' main promotion rivals had asked to take the winger to Upton Park on a temporary deal. However, they were told the 25-year-old is only available on a permanent transfer. For
FOOTBALLERS from Saints' Championship rivals Brighton have been arrested in connection with a sex attack. Another man, reported to be a Bournemouth player, has also been arrested. The men, one aged 18, one 19, two aged 20 and one 24
Southampton council’s Labour group last night split with leader Ed Miliband over support for public sector pay cuts. The Labour leader is urging public sector workers to prepare for public sector pay cuts if they are needed to save jobs.
THESE are the first images of a £64m redevelopment of a Hampshire shopping centre. Whiteley’s previous designer outlet centre has now been totally demolished, ready to be replaced with new shops, cafés, restaurants and public facilities – creating up
TODAY the Daily Echo is teaming up with Sport Relief to make £50,000 up for grabs for local community groups. The popular fundraising event will soon be here and people are being urged to pull on their trainers and take part as money
CORHAMPTON'S Neil Raymond has been knocked out of the Australian Amateur Championship. The Hampshire and England ace was beaten 5&3 by New South Wales golfer Jordan Zunic at Woodlands Golf Club, in Melbourne. Raymond had breezed through the stroke
ONE of the world’s oldest conservation groups has launched a bid to ban off-road cycling “races” in the New Forest. The New Forest Association (NFA) is demanding a crackdown after discovering that 1,800 riders are planning to take part in
THERE has been a slight drop in the number of young people claiming jobless benefits in Hampshire. New figures out yesterday showed the youth claimant count across the Southampton and Hampshire County Council areas dropped by 85 people. But Chris Grayling
TWO teenagers have been charged with burglary after money went missing from a tanning salon in Eastleigh. The cash went missing from a purse in the staff room of Universal Tanning on Monday, January 9 at around 7pm. An 18-year-old girl and a
Shane Warne is preparing for a Big Bash semi-final duel with Simon Katich. The former Hampshire captain helped the Melbourne Stars reach the last four by winning their last group game against Adelaide Strikers this morning. Warne did not take a wicket
A MAN died despite the efforts of his flatmate to revive him, an inquest heard. Winchester Coroner’s Court heard how Wayne Davies, 52, stopped breathing at his home in Harwood Place, Winchester, at around 4.30pm on October 21 last year. In a
NIGEL Adkins will come face-to-face with one of his former strikers when Saints host Leicester next Monday night. And Jermaine Beckford, who hit a hat-trick for the Foxes in their 4-0 FA Cup replay win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, has a lot to
AN urgent appeal has gone out to find the owner of “several thousand” euros left at Southampton Airport. The bundle of cash was found by staff and is being kept in a safe in the hope that the person who lost it will come forward. If the owner
BANISTER Park reached the quarter-finals of the English Indoor BA over-60s’ double-rink championship with an emphatic 46-30 victory against Folkestone. The travelling rink were the Hampshire club’s heroes with Cliff Higgins, Brian Barber, John Joslin
HE did not have a driving licence, has been disqualified numerous times and was only recently out of prison. But that did not stop a Southampton dad getting behind the wheel of a car and leading police on a pursuit through Southampton at speeds
BIG and small cheeses of the food and drink industry were out in force to give a taste of what Hampshire has to offer. From wine and beer to game, fruit, confectionery and ice-cream, the county’s bounty was laid out at the Business Solent Suppliers
LADY Windermere, a young wife and mother, allows her strict principles to lead her to the brink of social suicide. Her only hope of social (and marital) salvation lies with the mysterious Mrs Erlynne, whose scandalous relationship with Lord Windermere
AS FUNNY and tender as it is dark, it is easy to see why the spectacular South Pacific has picked up so many awards since its revival. The New York production is touring fresh from a stint at The Barbican in London – and brought a handful of
Compared with recent years the action was far better during the annual Lymington & District SFC open flounder competition. It attracted 99 competitors who fished in two zones around the Lymington & Pennington Sea Wall. Roland Blomfield, the vice
IT HAS a reputation for mouth-watering steaks and some of the best live music in the area. Customers have included TV film critic Mark Kermode and award-winning actress Emma Chambers, best known for playing Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy series
A SOUTHAMPTON sailor was washed overboard in one of the world’s deadliest oceans without a lifejacket during a round the world yacht race. Sam Goodchild 22, spent 25 minutes in the freezing Tasman Sea west of New Zealand after a huge wave swept
A SHORTAGE of top class office space in Southampton is putting the city’s financial and professional services economy at risk, property agents have warned. It comes in a report by commercial property firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) looking at
THE race director of the Bupa Great South Run is hoping new records will be set at this year’s event. Colin Goater organised the very first Great South Run in Southampton in 1990 and has seen it grow into one of the world’s most popular ten-mile races
FIRST they dropped the fireworks – and now struggling Cowes Week has been dumped as the UK venue for the Extreme Sailing Series. The series, which features some of the world’s best sailors racing high-tech 40ft catamarans just metres from the shore
A shop manager has been hit by a car as thieves drove off with stolen alcohol in Eastleigh. A cashier at Lidl in Twyford Road spotted two men stealing six bottles of vodka. Three managers chased them out into the car park and tried to stop the shoplifters
CELTIC forward Anthony Stokes hopes the club “do everything they can” to prevent his strike partner Gary Hooper leaving for Saints. The Championship leaders have already had two bids turned down for the 23-year-old Parkhead star, with one offer estimated
A TEENAGER was set on by a gang of eight yobs at a busy Hampshire shopping parade when he refused to hand over his mobile phone. The youths went up to the two 14-year-old boys at an alleyway next to Lordshill Shopping Centre in Southampton and demanded
