Van Gogh theft hits museum closed in crisis
Firm to give away sausages to charities
A YORKSHIRE firm has produced an extra 60,000 frozen sausages to give away free to charities, care homes and communities that are struggling to source essential food.
Heck! Food, based in Bedale, is also offering a discounted service for NHS workers who want fresh sausages and burgers delivered direct to their homes.
Ruby Parkyn from Heck! said: “We know there has been a big decrease in the amount of donations to food banks and also local care homes are struggling with deliveries, so we thought we’d get on board and help.
“We decided to over produce our frozen range because it can be a freezer stable and reducing the need to shop regularly.”
Heck! are already supplying the Bedale convenience store and the Harrogate Homeless and Ripon Homeless charities are on board with the scheme.
AN EMERGENCY support package is needed to save children from becoming the unseen victims of the pandemic, an independent think-tank has warned.
With almost all the UK’s children now forced to stay home, and amid growing restrictions on outdoor use, increased financial hardship and child poverty, IPPR has called for a package of measures to protect them.
From the right to paid parental leave, an increase in Universal Credit and child tax credits, and emergency payments to put money in the pockets of those that need it most, it says there should be a recognition of higher costs for caring and entertaining children at home.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has backed the call for a right to paid parental leave during the crisis.
“With schools and nurseries closed, lots of parents with
FRANCES O’GRADY: Has backed the call for a right to paid parental leave during the crisis.
younger children have no choice but to care for them at home,” she said. “For many, this means they can no longer work.
“Parents urgently need paid parental leave and protection from losing their jobs during this exceptional time.
“The Government should make clear that parents can qualify for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. And it should be
A PAINTING by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight raid on a museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police and the museum said.
The Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam said that The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 by the Dutch master was taken in the early hours of yesterday.
Museum general director Evert van Os said the institution that houses the collection of American couple William and Anna Singer is “angry, shocked, sad” at the theft of the painting.
The value of the work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known.
Police are investigating theft.
“I’m shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened,” said Singer Laren museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm.
Police said in a statement that the thief or thieves smashed a glass door. That set off an alarm but when police arrived the painting had gone. the available on a flexible basis, to enable shorter working hours and shared childcare between parents where possible.”
Among the measures, IPPR also calls for access to free online learning resources and for private parks to be opened up to young people, following an analysis which warns of economic insecurity as 3.9m parents are now caring for children during school hours, potentially struggling to work.
“It’s crucial that the Government ensure that the poverty, educational and health gaps we and our children already face are not widened further by our response to the pandemic,” said IPPR director Carys Roberts.
“It’s especially important that policymakers do not overlook the impact of the measures on a generation of the UK’s children, who have least voice in what’s happening but will live with the consequences of our decisions for decades to come.”