The best young athletes in the county will
be gunning for national glory after a great send-off from the University of Bedfordshire.

The Beds county schools’ athletics squad
are meeting at the University’s Bedford campus
on Thursday, 9 July, prior to setting off for the English Schools’ Track and
Field Championships in Sheffield on the Friday
and Saturday (10-11 July).

The 25-strong squad consists of the most
talented sporting boys and girls aged 13-18 from schools across Bedfordshire
who will compete against the top athletes in the country in sprinting,
hurdling, jumping and throwing events.

Team manager Allen Adamson is confident
that Bedfordshire have a strong team capable of bringing home medals.

A talented women’s footballer from the University
of Bedfordshire
is poised to test her skills on the world stage.

Lauren Impey, who plays her club football
for the Leicester City women’s team, is in the Great Britain squad for the World University
Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

This is the first international call-up for
the 19 year old from Northampton
but the centre-half is staying calm.

Lauren, who has completed the first year of
a sports science and personal training course at the Bedford campus, said: “I try not to get too
over-excited and just to keep my feet on the ground about it all. I’m a bit
apprehensive but it’s sure to be a great fortnight.”

The GB squad includes some of the best
young female football talent from the FA Tesco Women’s Premier League.

British students joined with their
counterparts from Estonia
and Finland
for an educational trip south of the river.

The PDYJ (Professional Doctorate in Youth
Justice), run by the University
of Bedfordshire, is a
three-year programme for senior practitioners and managers in youth justice and
allied fields.

This takes the form of an autumn, winter
and summer school each year interspersed with a couple of two-day seminars.

The international summer school recently
went to St Giles Church in Walworth Road, Southwark.

This is where Robust Training has an
innovative training scheme for gang-involved youngsters among others, run by Michael
Gross who is now an award-winning poet.

Beauty and brains go hand in hand for University
of Bedfordshire
student Laura Brown.

Laura has been crowned Miss Northampton
2009 and is now in the semi-finals of the Miss England competition at Champney
Springs on Monday (8 June).

The 21 year old from Barton Seagrave, Kettering, who is in her
second year at the University studying specialist make-up and design, said: “I
was a bit shocked to win the title but I am really proud.”

Laura said she has worked behind the scenes
before, but does not mind a bit of the limelight herself. “You work behind the
camera in make-up,” she said. “But it’s also nice to work in front of the
camera.”

The University of Bedfordshire has leapt 18 places in The Times Good University Guide 2010 – the most authoritative and widely respected guide to universities in the UK.

The leap makes the University the highest climbing institution in the Guide which ranks 114 UK universities according to eight criteria, including student satisfaction, research quality and degree results.

Commenting on the University’s jump from 89 to 71, Vice Chancellor Les Ebdon CBE, said: “This is fantastic news and recognition of our growing reputation as somewhere students want to come to pursue their goals. The number of applicants to courses is going up weekly.

“It’s also recognition of the hard work our talented staff put in to make the student experience here the best it can be.”

It’s lights, camera, action in Luton all this week as B:Fest brings a full programme of diverse film events to the town.

On Wednesday 3 June, from 1pm to 2pm an Indian film seminar is being held at the University of Bedfordshire, Park Square where a leading expert on Indian cinema will be talking about the mechanics and subtleties of Indian Film Making. Entrance is free but booking is essential.

It’s awards time on Thursday 4 June at the inaugural Bedfordshire Animation Graduate Screening Awards, when the BAGSAs – Luton’s answer to the BAFTAs - comes to The Green Room. Up-and-coming new animation talent will present a range of 2D, 3D and stop motion animation productions followed by an informal awards ceremony. The event starts at 6.30pm and entrance is £4.50 or free with the Festival Pass.

The £7 million building is part of a wider £125 million investment project by Arts Council East and EEDA aimed at creating cultural centres of excellence.  Designed to encourage the development of carnival arts, the building will host showcases for musicians and costume designers, and includes welding and casting space for building floats and costumes, a band practice room, bar, creche, and a small business centre arranged around a “street” space.

Donald Harley has been officially announced as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Resources), responsible for Finance, Estates and IT, at the University of Bedfordshire.

He joined the University as Director of Finance in 2006. Latterly he has taken on the additional responsibilities of Estates and IT.

Prior to 2006, he held various senior finance and corporate development positions, working the majority of his career in the Private Sector including Scottish & Newcastle plc and Anglian Water plc, and subsequently in the Public Sector with Westminster Council.

He commented: “It’s great to be part of developing and improving the student experience at the University through my role, particularly in terms of estates and IT developments and improving the level of services to our students, faculties and stakeholders.”

University of
Bedfordshire’s, Head of Centre for Applied Research in Dance, Helen Bailey,
recently attended BAFTA’s screening of ‘Mad, Sad & Bad’, a film made by
Moxie Makers and Soda Pictures for which Helen was commissioned to choreograph
a short dance sequence.

Helen, along
with 2 other members of the University’s dance staff, Senior Lecturer in Dance, James Hewison and Lecturer in Dance, Amalia Garcia and
dance students Nicola Drew, Nicola
Hannibal and Giuseppe Marcarelli, appeared in the film which was shot on
location in Luton.

‘Mad, Sad & Bad’
is a 90 minute comedy about mixed race relationships and set in Luton. Amongst the
cast include: Nitin Ganatra more recently known for playing EastEnders’ postman
Masood, Coronation Street’s
Ayesha Dharker and Meera Syal, the outrageous granny from The Kumars at 42.

Local residents can now go on-line to list the things they most like about Luton, by visiting www.loveluton.com