Council News

A Blackburn with Darwen scheme supporting families of children with SEND has been recognised nationally for the second year running, with Bethany Pegg named Best Newcomer at the Coram Parent Champions Awards 2026.

Apple Trees children’s home in Blackburn has been rated Outstanding by Ofsted for the 11th year running, with inspectors praising the warmth, care and progress of children who use the short break service.

Blackburn author and educator Christina Gabbitas has picked up a national special achievement award after using books, poetry and school workshops to help young people speak out about county lines exploitation and knife crime.

Volunteers from across Blackburn with Darwen will be recognised next week at a drop-in event outside Blackburn Town Hall, with certificates, refreshments and a line-up of workshops and a volunteer fair during Volunteers’ Week.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is joining a national coalition calling for tighter controls on gambling advertising, saying the move is part of its work to protect residents from gambling-related harms.

An outreach van is being used to bring vaccinations, health checks and prostate cancer screening conversations to people across Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire who may not usually use traditional health services.

Families in Blackburn with Darwen are being offered a new toilet training toolkit, after the Louie Says… approach was officially launched following a pilot that has been running since late summer 2025.

Michael Rosen, the author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, will headline Blackburn with Darwen’s Children & Young People’s Literature Festival when it begins on June 8. The free festival runs until June 20 and will bring talks, activities and authors into libraries and schools across the borough.

People in Darwen are being urged to have their say on how £20m of Government Pride in Place funding should be spent over the next decade, with the first consultation now live.

Dame Rachel De Souza visited Little Harwood Family Hub on 21 May as part of a Blackburn trip that also included Blackburn Youth Zone, where she launched her latest survey for children and young people.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has set out its new political balance for 2026/27 after the Annual Council meeting, with Labour continuing in charge as a minority administration following the May elections.

People across Lancashire, including in Blackburn with Darwen, are being asked to help shape a new transport plan setting out how travel could be improved across the county up to 2030.

Councillor Mahfooz Hussain has become Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, with his mayor-making ceremony held at Blackburn Town Hall and his Civic Sunday postponed after urgent hospital treatment earlier this week.

The National Festival of Making is back in Blackburn on 4 and 5 July, with more than 300 artists and makers, 100-plus workshops and exhibitions, live performances, film screenings, markets and street food spread across the town centre.

More than 100 people from health, local government and the voluntary sector gathered in Blackburn last week as the borough stepped up work towards becoming fully trauma informed. The council says the aim is to change the way services work across the board, not just at the front line.

Darwen Live returns in a week with The Ordinary Boys, Ferocious Dog, Janet Devlin and more spread across three stages and more than 20 venues in the town centre.

Blackburn Cathedral Choir was invited to sing at St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the 371st Festival of Clergy Support Trust, performing alongside choirs from St Albans and St Paul’s in front of 1,500 guests.

Weekly overnight closures at M65 Junction 5 are due to begin on 11 May and are expected to run until September as part of the ongoing improvement scheme.