Review of the Year 2017: June - Sheffield marks 10th anniversary of deadly floods

Following the deadly deluge of June 25, 2007, Sheffield Council estimated that £83m was required for flood defences to safeguard the city. A £19m project to protect businesses along an 8km stretch of the Lower Don Valley between the Wicker and M1 at Meadowhall - partly funded by the firms themselves - was completed this year, but that stilol leaves £64m outstanding, to protect homes and businesses elsewhere in the city, including an estimated £53m for flood defences along the Upper Don, Porter Brook and Sheaf rivers.

Also in June, The Star launched its Pounds for Pups campaign, to help raise awareness of and funds for Sheffield charity Support Dogs, which has been operating in the city for 25 years.

Through its three training programmes – for disability support dogs, autism dogs and seizure alert dogs – the charity uses an entirely reward-based system to teach special dogs to carry out a wide range of tasks that make life safer and easier for its clients. And we think they’re absolutely amazing, which is why we were delighted that our three-month campaign raised £13,286, to train our very own support dog, Star, who has since been matched with a Sheffield family.

Shock figures released by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust revealed that 100,865 out-patient appointments were missed in 2016-2017 and that these missed Sheffield appointments are costing the NHS millions every year, equating to the entire workload of 26 doctors in 12 months, and over seven per cent of all appointments. The Trust issued a plea for those unable to attend their appointments to cancel them.