⏩ The Gloucester Start: Thursday May 1st
Polling day | City win play-off semi | 'Cynical' fake letter circulating
Good morning, welcome to Thursday’s Start and, most importantly, don’t forget to vote! Here’s today’s bulletin.
☀️ Today’s weather: The UK’s set for its hottest start to May on record. It’s due to hit 29C in some parts, although here in Gloucester 26C will do just fine.
🗳️ Election watch
🗳️ Gloucestershire County Council’s elections take place TODAY, May 1st. Polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm.
See who’s standing where you live using your postcode - Who Can I Vote For
Not sure where your polling station is? Find it here
Don’t forget to take ID - accepted forms can be found here
🤞 Who’s promising what? Community journalist Will Luker’s interviews with representatives of the six main parties, and independents, fielding candidates are a good reference point: Labour | Independents | Liberal Democrats | Reform | Conservatives | Greens
🎤 BBC Gloucestershire’s election debate, featuring representatives from Labour, Reform, the Green Party, Conservatives and Lib Dems, can be recapped here.
❓ And if you’re still unsure about what the county council actually does, there’s a decent summary here, also from BBC Gloucestershire.
🗳️ You can follow live updates through the day from Gloucestershire Live here.
🎯 An internal document has revealed which seats the Conservatives are most and least confident of competing in. It shows where they believe they are likely to hold or gain seats and in which areas they are fielding so-called paper candidates but contains ‘no real surprises’ according to the party’s Gloucestershire leader. - Gloucester News Centre, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service
❌ Don’t believe everything you see on Facebook. A letter being widely shared and claiming to be from the Home Office regarding the future of the Wall’s Club is a fake. It claimed the site was being requisitioned and Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre said it was an attempt to ‘sow division’ in the city and called it ‘cynical’. - Gloucestershire Live, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service
🩸 Strike action continues at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals among phlebotomists - blood sampling specialists - who are fighting for changes to pay and banding. The latest rounds of industrial action take place this week, next week and the week after as the dispute continues. - NHS Gloucestershire
↪️ It means vulnerable patients are potentially facing multiple blood tests, according to union Unison. The hospitals trust also says it is ‘inaccurate’ to say their phlebotomists are underpaid. - BBC Gloucestershire
⚽ Gloucester City won a semi-final thriller on penalties last night to progress to the Southern Premier League South play-off final. The Tigers came back from 2-0 down at Walton & Hersham to make it to Monday’s final against AFC Totton. - Gloucestershire Live
📺 New snippets of an upcoming Netflix documentary about Fred and Rose West have been released. Howard Ogden, Fred West’s solicitor, can be seen discussing the scene that greeted him at their Cromwell Street home as a skeleton was uncovered by police. The programme airs from May 14th. - Gloucestershire Live
🚆 Check your journey before leaving if you’re heading by train between Gloucester and Chepstow this month. That’s the message from Network Rail as engineering work on the line is likely to cause some disruption. - Network Rail
🚫 Upton Street in Barton will shut for 11 days from May 12th for work to upgrade gas pipes. - Punchline Gloucester
🚨 Police and crime news
🚨 A 31-year-old motorcyclist from Swindon died in a collision on the A417 near Birdlip on Tuesday, police have confirmed. The road was closed overnight following the collision at about 5.30pm. - Gloucester News Centre
🚨 Police arrested 50 people last month on suspicion of stalking or harassment offences, making up nearly a quarter of all domestic abuse-related reports. The force is continuing to publicise its activity in tackling domestic abuse, revealing there were 211 total arrests in March. - Gloucester News Centre
📌 Community Noticeboard
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📌 Gloucestershire Academy of Music is getting a fresh coat of paint, and we’re lucky to have some amazing volunteers helping out. To help us get the space looking its best, we’re kindly asking for donations of any unused decorating supplies you might have at home. 👇
📌 Less than two weeks to go until Walk4Hollie. Join on Sunday May 11th 2025. Starting and finishing at The Glevum Inn, 60 Oxstalls Way, Longlevens, Gloucester GL2 9JN from 10am, we will take in a 10km walk around Gloucester. We’ve also arranged a shorter 6.5km option. We encourage walkers to set up a fundraiser to help support our fight against domestic abuse and stalking. 👇
📅 Things to do today and tomorrow
🚶 City Guided Walk starting from St Michael’s Tower | Daily except Sundays, 11am | £7 adults | Details
🏉 An Evening With Martin Johnson at GL1 Leisure Centre | Today, 7.30pm | £30 | Details
🎺 Jazz Festival at The Thirsty Pine | Today, 8pm until Saturday | Free | Details
🍺 Tap Takeover with Lune Brew and Accidental Brewery at The Drunken Duck | Today, 12pm until Sunday | Free | Details
The top posts from Wednesday’s Start:
🗳️ Reform candidate considering legal action over ex-MP’s Facebook post
🎭 Gloucester Guildhall unveils new logo as part of rebrand
🚨 Woman jailed on same day as her arrest for breaching antisocial behaviour injunction