Peterborough this week: Five stories you might have missed

Posh goalkeeper Jed Steer said meeting six-month-old Luna-Violet was "magical and brought a smile to all of our faces"

John Devine/BBC Baby Luna-Violet is in a white baby grow and is being held by her mum. She is looking at Jed Steer who wears a blue Peterborough FC branded Santa hat and is entertaining Luna-Violet by making faces. His mouth and eyes are open wide and they are both smiling. In the background there is a Christmas tree on the hospital ward. — Posh goalkeeper Jed Steer said meeting six-month-old Luna-Violet was "magical and brought a smile to all of our faces"

Peterborough United players spread Christmas spirit off the pitch and gave fans something to cheer about on it.

A budding 11-year-old chef from the city came to the rescue with a truckload of pies, and people in Peterborough were asked to comment on radical proposals to cut council spending.

Posh stars in 'magical' children's ward visit

Peterborough United players and hospital staff holding presents outside the hospital.

John Devine/BBC Peterborough United players and hospital staff holding presents outside the hospital. — Peterborough United players and hospital staff holding presents outside the hospital.

Footballers brought festive cheer to a hospital ward by handing out early Christmas presents to youngsters.

Peterborough United players met children at Peterborough City Hospital (PCH).

The club and the Posh Foundation surprised the patients with presents from a local toy shop.

Soup kitchen is fifth emergency service - charity

Jessica has been volunteering with The Light Project Peterborough, which helped her when she lost her job and home

Emma Baugh/BBC Close up photo of Jessica smiling at the camera. She has brown eyes, black hair and is sat outside during the day. She has a khaki green coat on and stripy jumper. Behind her is a patch of bright green grass, highlighted by a patch of sunlight. — Jessica has been volunteering with The Light Project Peterborough, which helped her when she lost her job and home

Peterborough Soup Kitchen said it had become like a fifth emergency service amid a rising number of people experiencing homelessness.

The soup kitchen offers hot food and drinks to about 100 people a night from its serving van.

The number of people presenting themselves to Peterborough City Council as homeless has risen by 40%, from an average of 51 a week in 2021-22 to 70 a week in 2023-24.

Non-verbal boy gets career support from top chef

Joshie Harris and his father travelled more than 120 miles (193 km) to deliver replacement homemade pies to Tommy Banks

Dan Harris A composite picture: In the left picture Joshie Harris is pictured placing a pie in a white dish. He is wearing a white winter jacket and a red chef's hat. In the right hand picture he is with Tommy Banks in York's Christmas market. He is wearing a red hat and a multi-coloured jumper with gingerbread men on. — Joshie Harris and his father travelled more than 120 miles (193 km) to deliver replacement homemade pies to Tommy Banks

An 11-year-old autistic boy from Peterborough travelled more than 120 miles to deliver a batch of pies he made himself to Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, who lost 2,500 of them to thieves.

A refrigerated van containing the pies, which were intended for sale at York Christmas Market, was stolen on 1 December near Ripon and later found damaged, along with the pastries inside.

Budding chef Joshie Harris, who is non-verbal, baked replacements and travelled with his father from their home in Peterborough to York at the weekend to hand them over.

Burglar smashes jewellery cabinets in shop raid

The thief clambered in through a window before ransacking the counters

Cambridgeshire police Black and white image of a hooded man picking up a large display of wrist watches from a jewellery counter. — The thief clambered in through a window before ransacking the counters

CCTV pictures showed a Peterborough man breaking into a jewellery shop and stealing goods worth more than £4,000.

Darren Wheeler is seen using furniture to smash cabinets at Underwood the Jewellers in Darling Mews, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire on 29 February.

The 38-year-old, from Deerleap in Bretton, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to burglary and unrelated offences including GBH, affray, assaulting an emergency worker and possession of cannabis.

Public has say on council's cost-cutting proposals

**Mothballing the city-centre lido is one proposal being considered**

Emma Baugh/BBC Peterborough Lido, which has separate swimming lanes. A single swimmer is in the pool. The sky is cloudy. The water is bright blue and there is a lifeguard dressed in red at the side of the outdoor pool. — **Mothballing the city-centre lido is one proposal being considered**

People can now have their say on the cash-strapped city council's proposals to save money, which include mothballing a lido and cutting back on libraries.

Peterborough City Council has asked residents for their views on draft plans to help balance the budget in the next three financial years.

The authority predicts a £23m budget gap for 2025 to 2026 because of increased demand for services and rising costs.

A week in Peterborough politics

Works to replace the Key Theatre roof and other mechanical systems are due to begin in June

Shariqua Ahmed/BBC The Key Theatre - a glass-fronted building with paving and grass in front of it. It is two-storeys. It is a cloudy day. — Works to replace the Key Theatre roof and other mechanical systems are due to begin in June

Aside from the proposal to mothball the lido, there are suggestions that most of the city's libraries could close and that the museum's opening hours could be reduced. A survey inviting feedback on these cost-cutting ideas is now open.

The council announced this week that its meetings will no longer be held in the Town Hall, but rather at Sand Martin House in Fletton Quays. It's been beset with several issues including the presence of RAAC. As has the Key Theatre, which will soon have a new roof after council sign-off on work to replace it.

While the council grapples with short-term budget issues, there is also a longer-term question over what the future looks like. Leader Dennis Jones was among those who reacted to news that councils could be merged under government plans aimed at simplifying local democracy. It's not yet clear how Peterborough might be affected. Mr Jones said the "devil will be in the detail".

A week in Peterborough sport

Peterborough United secured their place in the last 16 of the EFL Trophy with a 3-0 win over rivals Northampton Town.

Ricky-Jade Jones, Ryan De Havilland and Abraham Odoh got the goals at London Road.

Posh will now face League 2 Walsall in the next round.

Peterborough Sports are now six league games unbeaten after a 3-1 win over Warrington Town.

Hugh Alban-Jones, Michael Gyasi and Bayley McCann were on the scoresheet for the Turbines.

They're 15th in the National League North standings.

Meanwhile, in ice hockey Peterborough Phantoms' four-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday when they were beaten 6-2 by the Swindon Wildcats.

Phantoms had started the weekend well with a 6-3 win away at Sheffield Steeldogs.

Slava Koulikov's side remain fourth in the National League table.

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