Sew that’s how you make bunting

As Yorkshire gears up for the arrival of the world’s biggest cycling event, Diary would like to toast the hidden army of bunting makers who have made our towns and cities turn a brighter shade of yellow.

Tiny, home-based businesses which focus on teaching sewing could enjoy an unexpected boost from Le Tour.

Spare a thought for the committed volunteers who have put the vast expanses of bunting together.

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They include Leonie Pratt, of the Sewing Shed in Ilkley, who has co-ordinated a volunteer force of bunting makers for Le Tour. She hopes the bunting displays will encourage more people to discover the delights of sewing.

Ms Pratt was asked by her local parish council to co-ordinate the bunting display in Ilkley town centre.

She told Diary: “Ilkley has a very strong textile heritage and there are lots of voluntary groups in the town doing creative things with textiles. It was an opportunity to bring those people together.

“We were inundated with local residents who wanted to come and help us. Sewing has seen a real resurgence recently.

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“There’s a real hark back to doing things like our mothers used to do, like make do and mend, and making clothes for yourself.”

But what is the secret of making perfect bunting?

“It takes patience and a steady hand to cut it out, but really, we kept it very simple,’’ said Ms Pratt.

“It’s the overall effect that’s going to look stunning.

“I’m sure it will encourage more people to get involved with sewing, because it’s a way of showing people you can achieve something really spectacular, with something that’s quite easy to put together. I’m sure people will find it inspiring.”

To watch video of this interview, visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/video

Take up challenge

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Staying with Le Grand Depart, Workplace Challenge is to launch a bespoke cycling challenge across Yorkshire and in other areas where the tour passes through.

Local businesses will be encouraged to get on their bikes and take part in the challenge, in a bid to get people active in the workplace.

Workplace Challenge said that with inactivity being high on the agenda of many workplace policies, now is the time for businesses to take action. The County Sports Partnership Network is encouraging businesses in areas where the Tour De France route will pass through (Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and London) to get involved in the four-week cycling challenge.

The challenge is for workplaces to cycle more and to compete against other workplaces to be top of the leaderboards.

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The challenge will end on Monday July 28 following the end of Le Tour in Paris.

Workplaces will be encouraged to log all forms of cycling to compete against other individuals, departments and workplaces on the Workplace Challenge leaderboards.

Throughout the four-week challenge workplaces can log any cycling activity completed and monitor distance travelled, CO2 saved and activity points gained as they compete to cycle the most during Le Tour. Cycling to work, lunch-time rides, spinning classes and recreational cycling are all included.

So what are you waiting for? Get on your bike!

Under scrutiny

Finance Yorkshire, which provides seedcorn, loan and equity-linked investments, has attracted the attention of one of New Zealand’s leading finance academics.

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Professor Stuart Locke has spent a month-long fellowship at the University of York studying the regional funding body, and looking at ways in which its infrastructure, and objectives could be applied to benefit small businesses in his home country and elsewhere. A professor of finance at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, Mr Locke told Diary: “We have an open economy with little regulation, but funding programmes have traditionally been very bureaucratic.”

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