Knowsley Online

Housing Trust shows the way with loan shark crack down

Knowsley Housing Trust’s (KHT) work to crack down on loan sharks in its communities is being held up as best practice in a new guide by the Chartered Institute of Housing.

The CIH’s ‘improving financial inclusion and capability in social housing’ report was published on Friday (April 15) and KHT is included as an example of how housing associations are successfully tackling financial inclusion.

It highlights how well KHT is working with the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) in tackling loan sharks.

KHT Financial Inclusion Officer Darren Reynolds was invited to give a presentation at the release of the report in London on Friday.

“We are very proud that our work has been recognised as best practice,” he said.“We are extremely proactive in raising awareness of illegal money lending and the alternatives to loan sharks and this has brought very positive results.”

Arts in Prescot

Saturday 21st May 2011, 7.30pm

Prescot Parish Church

Stephanie Howard & Wirral Wind

Inaugural concert of the grand piano

in the Parish Church

 
Tickets £5 on the door

www.prescotfestival.co.uk

School finds curriculum inspiration at home

Teachers looking for inspiration to improve the school curriculum didn’t have to search very far.
Staff at St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Knowsley Village, chose to make the most of what Liverpool had to offer when looking for a unique opportunity to evaluate the current curriculum and develop the school environment.

A successful funding application to the Creative Partnerships organisation enabled the school to create the ‘In my Liverpool home’ project.

Working with Curious Minds, As Creative and other partners, the project encouraged the children to explore their own city and be creative in showing their findings through artwork.

KHT development nominated for award

A housing development that transformed dilapidated flats into modern family homes has been nominated in awards that recognise building excellence.

The Knowsley Housing Trust development, at Marsden Road in Halewood, has been put forward by Knowsley Borough Council for the North West Local Authority Building Excellence Awards.

KHT will now head to the North West final on May 13 in Bolton, and if successful, would go through to the national final in London in November.

The project provided six new build three-bed homes in Marsden Road for local families whose KHT homes had become unsuitable for their needs.

Easter eggstravaganza in Kirkby

There’s lots of activities on offer at Kirkby market this Easter weekend.

As well as having over 130 stalls offering a wide range of goods and fresh local produce, visitors can also take part in Easter egg hunts, face painting, fairground fun and donkey rides.

Call in between 11.00 am and 4.00 pm on Saturday, 23 April to browse over 130 stalls and take part in our Easter activity fun.

KCC Live will be broadcasting live and running competitions throughout the day

Two Easter egg hunts will start at 11.00 am and 2.00 pm with all participants receiving an Easter egg.

A market stall will be transformed into a craft area where children can show their creative style and make Easter bonnets and decorate Easter eggs. At 3.00 pm there will be a bonnet parade around the market and the lucky winner will be brought on stage by KCC Live to be presented with a fantastic prize.

Don’t delay, put Kirkby Market on your shopping list this Easter weekend.

Licence suspended at Kirkby Public House

A Kirkby public house has been closed with immediate effect following concerns relating to the management of the premises and the prevention of crime and disorder at the premises.

Merseyside Police applied for the review on Tuesday, 12 April, which triggered a hearing by Knowsley Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee this morning to decide whether any interim steps were needed prior to the full review hearing taking place in 4 weeks time

The hearing, under Section 53A of the Licensing Act 2003, considered the premises licence at the Molyneux Public House on Westhead Avenue, Kirkby.

The Sub-Committee considered reports of several incidents of violence and disorder that had occurred over the last 12 months, ranging from disorder both within and outside the premises to most recently in the early hours of 10 April 2011 when offenders entered the premises with weapons causing injury to a customer.

Spring into Summer with

FREE fit clubs for kids

CWM Clubs in Kirkby and Whiston

Get the family fit this spring with new Clubs from CWM Health in Knowsley. Clubs will be available in Kirkby and Whiston starting on Saturday 7th May. All programmes are FREE for families to attend.

•  Clubs are available at: Kirkby Sports College, Bracknell Ave, L32 9PP from 9am - 12:30pm
• St Edmund and Arrowsmith Centre for Learning, Cumber Lane, Whiston, L35 2XG from 1:30 - 5pm.

There are two sessions per club – one for the younger ones aged 4-10 and one for the older children aged 11-16. The FREE programme is funded by Knowsley Health and Wellbeing will run every weekend for 10 weeks followed by a 12 week follow up and exclusive online access to a member’s site.

Reward of up to £100,000 to unmask armed bank robbers

Crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers has launched a campaign to ask the public to pass on information anonymously about armed robbers in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, with a reward of up to £100,000 available for information on armed bank robbers that leads to an arrest and conviction.

A major issue with armed robbers is that it is not merely robbers taking money – they are attacking and frightening staff and customers of all ages and from all backgrounds.

A reward of up to £100,000 has been put up by The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) for information given to Crimestoppers on armed robbery in banks which leads to an arrest and conviction. Crimestoppers operates the 0800 555 111 telephone number for people to pass on information about crime anonymously and is not part of the police.

Knowsley football talent goes head to head

Budding young football stars in Knowsley battled in out in a national competition for the chance to play at the iconic Wembley Way.

The latest regional round of the National Street Soccer Showdown was held at Knowsley Park Centre for Learning last week, where teams from the school went head to head.

The two winning teams will now head to the grand final which will be held at Wembley Way on July 16.

The competition has been organised by Streetwise Soccer, a community interest company that offers a range of street soccer and freestyle football events, activities and coaching packages.

Pupils to name new Knowsley BMX club

Knowsley Council has offered pupils the opportunity to officially name a new BMX club. The club will be based at the new BMX and velodrome track, which is being built on the same site as Knowsley’s Leisure and Culture Park.

As part of their Sport and Leisure Diploma Project, pupils in year 10 at both Kirkby Sports College and Huyton Arts and Sports College are working with other pupils across the borough to generate a list of suggestions which will help to create an identity and ownership of the new club for young people from the local community.

The brief was to design a logo and name for the new BMX club, which will give the Knowsley club an eye catching appeal and logo which will be used for anticipated local, regional and national competitions. Young people will hopefully be enthused and inspired to take up the sport at the new facility, which caters for a wide range of ages and abilities.

The closing date for entries was Friday (1 April). A high number of entries have been received which will now be reviewed by a judging panel consisting of pupils. They will shortlist 5 submissions which will then be reviewed by representatives from Knowsley Council, British Cycling and Knowsley Cycling Association in May.

The winner will see their chosen name used on publicity and at official events at the new facility, which is due to open later this year. They will also be rewarded with a new BMX to use at the new facility, plus an exclusive tour of the velodrome and BMX track, which will be situated on Longview Drive in Huyton.

Sheena Ramsey, Chief Executive for Knowsley Council and Acting Chief Executive for NHS Knowsley, commented “This is a hugely exciting and unique opportunity for our young people to be involved in the new state of the art leisure and culture park. The level of entries clearly shows there is an interest in this new development and I hope we have inspired riders and users when the facility opens.”