Portsmouth August 2021 review: Olympic bronze medallist Declan Brooks welcomed home with open arms

The BMX bronze medallist from Portchester was welcomed home by cheering crowds from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. After a long flight from Japan, the 25-year-old was stunned to be greeted by hundreds of cheering loved ones and neighbours.

In the following week, halts were made to any further installations of Voi e-scooter docking stations, after concerns were raised by Portsmouth politicians surrounding a surge in underage riders using the method of travel in a trial in the city.

In cheerier news, businessman Navid Assar – better known as the man behind Mr Pine – told The News how he brought his pet pigeon Petra to work at his store in West Street, Fareham. She is the fourth pigeon that the 62-year-old has trained in this way, since he was given his first bird as a child in Iran by his grandmother.

A day later on August 13, for many, fears of commiserations were instead swapped for celebrations on A-level results day as student’s around the city rejoiced. Portsmouth College principal was 'happy overall' with results but slammed the government over timing of their decision to introduce the triple lock system – allowing colleges to appeal results which are lower than mock examination grades. Announced the day before A-level results were published, Principle Simon Barrable said it had ‘created further stress for all involved’.

Later in the month, the leader of Portsmouth city council confirmed that it was to help resettle the fleeing families of Afghans who worked with British forces during the 20-year war. The city announced that it had committed to take in more than any other local authority in the south east.

And in the spirit of welcoming a different cultures and celebrating adversity, on August 20, Portsmouth photographer Charlotte Griffiths launched the Black Lives Matter-inspired exhibition from the Cathedral in Old Portsmouth. The exhibition, which ran until September, was comprised of 10 portraits and accompanying stories of black women and children from across the city. The photographer was inspired by the racism suffered by her daughter in the BLM protests in June 2020, she said the reaction had provided her with the ‘perfect medium to capture the raw emotion’ of everyone involved.

As the month entered into it’s final full week, athletes from the local area were gearing up for the pinnacle of their careers as the postponed 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games finally began to get underway after a prolonged period of uncertainty. The likes of Olivia Breen, Lorraine Lambert, Lauren Steadman, Micky Yule and Dave Henson all braced themselves for the multi-sport event and revealed they that they were ready to go into ‘battle’ and excited to get back into it.

One day later on August 25, The News reported that the casualties of the Falklands war would finally be remembered, through the launch of a campaign to add 128 'missing names' onto Portsmouth's Falklands Memorial. Falklands veteran Barrie Jones said that the £10,000 fundraising campaign to feature the extra names on a new plaque at Old Portsmouth’s Falklands Memorial site was ‘the missing piece to finally complete the memorial.’

And finally, the festival we had all been waiting for, Victorious Festival returned to Southsea Common boasting an impressive line up featuring headlining acts such as Madness, The Streets and Royal Blood, and with enough vibrancy to power the whole city. Following advice from event organisers to enjoy the festival but ‘stay safe’, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the city to do just that – and thankfully analysis weeks after the event showed there had been no increase in Covid cases in Portsmouth due to the festival.