Knowsley Online

Sinbad shares the limelight with parents.

Former Brookside cheeky chappy Sinbad was on his best behaviour at a presentation in Knowsley.

Actor Mickey Starke, who played the window cleaner in the Liverpool soap, was celebrating success with the parents of children with extra needs.

Pictured is Brookside’s Sinbad, actor Mickey Starke, celebrates with the parents of disabled children in Knowsley, following a course on how to get help

They’d “graduated” from a six week course on how to get the right support so their children can live ordinary lives.

The weekly sessions included advice about education, rights and the latest thinking on different disabilities.

Plan how you’re going to watch the Olympic Torch!

The Olympic Torch arrives in Knowsley this Friday, so its time to plan how you’re going to be a part of this historic event.

The iconic Flame will arrive at Knowsley Safari Park around 3pm for a welcoming ceremony.

The torch relay begins around 3.30pm at the Prescot end of Liverpool Road and the Flame is carried by the torch bearers through Huyton into Liverpool.

All of the free tickets to the event at the Safari Park have now gone but you can be part of the excitement by lining the route on Liverpool Road. 

Choose where you want to cheer on the torchbearers by logging onto www.knowsley.gov.uk to see a map of the route and suggested areas to watch.

There won’t be any road closures around the relay but there could be delays, so you should plan to get to Liverpool Road before 2pm. 

Don’t forget to bring water with you and dress according to the weather so you can enjoy the mounting excitement.

If you’re bringing small children with you, its even more important they’re dressed appropriately with protection from the sun or the rain and that you have drinks for them.

There may well be crowds and you might be waiting for a bit to see the Torch, but there’ll be stewards who can point out where the nearest toilets are and where there might be car parking.

It’s a moment in history and our chance to be part of it. Enjoy!

Housing staff hit the road to promote healthy living

Staff from Knowsley Housing Trust put on their running shoes once again to encourage people to get on the right road to health and wellbeing.

A group of 34 staff members from Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT) took part in the Active Knowsley Challenge 5k run on Wednesday, May 23, to promote a healthy lifestyle.

They joined around 260 people who took part in the run, held on the grounds of Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall.

People could also take part in a 3k or 8k walk, and for youngsters there was a 2k junior challenge.

“We promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle in many ways across KHT, so it is important we lead by example,” said Collette King, KHT’s Operational Director of Organisational Development.

“We have taken part in the Knowsley Active Challenge for the past few years and it is a great way for people of all ages and abilities to take a step towards a healthier lifestyle.”

Tae Kwon-Do Club's success at Cardiff

Halewood Tae Kwon-Do Club’s recent success at the 2012 Welsh Championships, held in Cardiff on 20th May. We had 15 team members taking part in the championships, and they came back with 13 trophies and medals – 8 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze.

10-year-old Callum McDonald, who only achieved his black belt at the end of April, won two gold medals in black belt boys individual and team sparring events. Callum did especially well, as this was his first experience of black belt competition. Faye Clifton (10), another of Halewood’s new black belts, also struck gold in girls team sparring, while her 6-year-old brother Joe bagged a bronze in the blue belt boys team event.

Adam Butler (14) and his sister Lauren Butler (10) were a force to be reckoned with, as they both took gold in the red belt boys and girls sparring divisions; and Lauren also earned a bronze in team sparring.

Kirkby residents are set to benefit from free home energy saving improvements.

Knowsley Council is working in partnership with Wetherby Building Systems to help homeowners, landlords and private tenants improve their energy efficiency with external wall insulation, energy efficient boilers and loft insulation.

To be eligible for the scheme, homes need to be located in certain areas of Kirkby and meet certain criteria. Eligible homeowners have already been contacted and some have attended open days to find out more about the programme.

Cllr Dave Lonergan, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills said: “Helping our residents to become more energy efficient is really important to us and we already work closely with local communities and businesses to achieve this.

“The energy saving measures available as part of this particular scheme will also benefit residents by helping them to save money on their energy bills.

“As this scheme is restricted to certain areas, we are also working with utility companies to identify further opportunities to assist even more homeowners and tenants to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient.”

Jumbo lighters seized in shop raid

Trading Standards officers in Knowsley have seized hundreds of jumbo lighters which pose a safety risk to consumers.

Officers removed more than 300 of the lighters from a shop in Kirkby Town Centre during a recent operation.

The products are a bigger version of standard lighters and were found in a range of colours. However, the lighters do not comply with European safety standards or general Product Safety Regulations.

Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services, Cllr Ken Keith, said: “It is good news for our residents that these unsafe products have been removed from sale.

“Our priority is to ensure the safety of consumers in Knowsley at all times and, where products do not meet the required standards, we will not hesitate to take appropriate action and prevent them from being sold.

Pictured is  Councillor Ken Keith with the confiscated lighters.

Targeting underage sales

Trading Standards officers in Knowsley have carried out a test purchasing operation targeting underage sales.

The team visited a number of premises across the Huyton area in a joint operation with Merseyside Police, with underage volunteers attempting to buy tobacco or butane.

During the exercise, three retailers sold age-restricted products to the 15 year old volunteer:

• One shop sold a multi pack of butane to the volunteer and a large quantity of suspected counterfeit and unsafe goods were seized, including children’s lunch boxes and potentially unsafe inflatable toys and children’s chairs.
• One shop sold cigarettes to a 15 year old girl and a small quantity of drugs was also found on the premises.
• One shop sold cigarettes to a 15 year old girl.

Further enquiries are on-going by Knowsley Council’s trading standards officers in relation to the offences in all three premises.

Kindle Surprise for Knowsley pupils!

Following the success of last year’s event, Huyton Arts and Sports Centre for Learning has again played host to a spelling bee event which saw pupils from local primary schools compete against each other and also against pupils from the centre’s partner school in Namibia.

Pupils from Blacklow Brow, Longview, St Columba’s, St Margaret Mary’s and Sylvester Primary Schools took part in the event which was broadcast live to Namibia via Skype.  The Namibian children opened the event with some traditional Namibian songs.

The winners, from St Margaret Mary’s Junior School, were presented with Kindle e-book readers which were donated by RM, the centre’s IT partner.

Damian Kenny, the centre’s Director of E-Learning said: “This was a fantastic event which showcases the achievements of our primary schools in the key area of literacy.  I would like to congratulate all the children who took part – they are a credit to their schools and the borough of Knowsley. 

A big thank you goes to everyone who has worked so hard to make this such a great success.  I would especially like to thank our friends from Namibia for helping to make this event so memorable and we hope it will help to further strengthen our relationship.”

Bring out the bunting for the Olympic Flame!

Local groups have been designing their own banners to cheer on the Olympic Torch bearers in Knowsley.

The flame arrives here around 3pm on Friday, June 1 and is taken into Knowsley Safari Park for a celebration event.

The Torch Relay then begins at the top of Liverpool Road about 3.30pm and continues down the road and out into Liverpool.

A workshop was held at Huyton Arts and Sports centre for learning to help local community groups design banners to line the route.
They were helped to create their own personalised bunting by professional artist Francisca Sierovogel.

“The excitement’s really building up, “said Cllr Eddie Connor, Knowsley’s cabinet member for Leisure, Community and Culture.

“We want to help people share in this historic event and this workshop was part of that.

“We’re hoping as many people as possible turn out on Liverpool Road to cheer on the torch bearers.”

There’s a map of the relay route and suggested spectator areas on the Knowsley Council website, www.knowsley.gov.uk

Local community groups at a workshop to create Olympic Flame banners at Huyton Arts and Sports centre for learning.