Deputy editor's comment: 20,12.16

Nicola Worthington’s route to success has been through the game of football – her skills taking her all the way across the Atlantic for the sort of opportunity that is far rarer here in the UK.
From a youngster in Lancashire, Nicola outplayed the opposition and the boys – something she admits they didn’t much like.
Against the odds she kept working away, eventually getting the phonecall from the blue that would change her life.

Offered a scholarship to the US, she jumped at the chance of a lifetime and is now travelling across America competing with her new university.
She’s working hard – training two hours a day –and is a real inspiration to any young women out there who thinks women cannot rise to the top in this male-dominated sport.
We will be watching her progress with interest.

*It is always heartwarming to hear of those reaching out to the less fortunate, something which always has added resonance over the holiday period.

Today we have hairdressers taking their scissors down to the homeless centre at Fox Street to provide a service for those in need of a spruce up.