Knowsley Online

Work pairings give young people taste of life on the job

Young people were given the chance to get hands-on work experience with expert mentors at Knowsley Housing Trust.

A group of five young people took part in the Work Pairings scheme, which teamed them with a mentor for one-to-one support.

KHT staff Andy Coulson, Sharon Hughes, Julie Langton, Dawn Taylor and Ceri Hoppe all took part in the scheme, showing them the ropes and what daily life is like in their job.

The scheme was aimed at young people aged between 16 and 19 not in education, employment or training.

Over the seven-week programme they worked closely with tenants dealing with complaints and repairs, got to grips with marketing events and learnt about KHT’s services.

Rachel Parry, aged 19, was paired with Ceri Hoppe at KHT’s front counters.

She said: “Before work pairing I had been unemployed for six months. While at KHT I was working on the front counters dealing with customers, booking in repairs for their properties and dealing with complaints.

“I think I have gained a lot more confidence throughout the work pairing.”

Free event for families

There’s a free community event this Friday in and around the Phoenix Children’s centre in Bryer Road in Prescot. It’s being organised by the Family Voices = Family Choices group that runs activities to support local families.

There’ll be a small fairground, a magician, dancers, stalls, hot food and refreshments and a grand finale with fireworks. The event is called Phoenix Night and will run from 3pm to 9pm on February November 2nd. It’s supported by the children’s centres in the Whiston area, Knowsley Council, Merseyside Police and other community groups.

Family Voices = Family Choices was set up as a charity by local parents just over a year ago, with the help of the local children’s centres. It’s now being developed as a social enterprise with charitable status. The money raised from activities is ploughed back to increase and improve what’s provided.

They are based at Southmead Children’s Centre but run activities in the community across Prescot, Whiston, Cronton and Knowsley Village. These include ‘Stay and Play’ sessions, a dads club, community events and a buddy service.

To find out more about Family Voices = Family Choices or the event contact: Kelly Wallace on 0151 443 4531.

Aladdin comes to Knowsley!

The stars of the hit show Aladdin are causing a stir at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park.

The Panto’s being staged at the venue in Longview Drive in Huyton and the cast popped in as part of their rehearsals. 

They include former Big Brother star Grace Adams Short as Aladdin and Laura Handley from the cast of the TV soap Hollyoaks as The Enchantress. 

Local lad Tom Hogan is Widow Twankey, Victoria Earle is the Genie, Gary Doyle is Abanazar and Lauren Boote is Princess Jasmine. 

The stars are supported by Knowsley’s local dance group Street Feet. 

The Council’s leisure and culture service has teamed up with Trio Entertainment to stage the ever popular show. 

There are six performances at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park at the following times: 

Sunday 9^th December 2012 – 6pm

Monday 10^th December 2012 -  10am and 1.30pm

Tuesday 11^th December - 10am, 1.30pm and 7pm 

Tickets for daytime performances start from just £6 and evening performances from just £7. 

You can book by calling the box office on 0151 443 5749, by going online at www.knowsley.gov.uk/tickets or by calling into the centre. 

Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park has been open for over a year and offers excellent amenities to bring spectacular theatre to the community. 

So far the venue has hosted everything from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to Bob the Builder. 

Pictured:Widow Twankey raises a smile at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park. The centre hosts the Panto Aladdin in December. Laura Handley from Hollyoaks (in red) is The Enchantress and former Big Brother star Grace Adams Short is Aladdin.

Religious festival attracts thousands to Knowsley.

Thousands of people from across the globe came to Knowsley to celebrate one of the biggest Bengali festivals in Europe.

The Hindu festival of Durga Puja was celebrated over five days at Kirkby Sports College with prayer, singing, dancing and dining.

It’s been held in Knowsley since 1979 and is England’s only major Durga Puja celebration outside London.

People came from Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds with some visitors travelling from India to share the celebrations with relatives here.

The festival celebrates the Hindu Goddess Durga and the victory of Good over Evil.

The Knowsley event is organised by the Bengali Association of Merseyside and North West England.

Knowsley’s Mayor, Cllr Norman Hogg, who was at the festival, said: “This is a wonderful event and we’re so glad the organisers continue to hold it here.

“It was a success again this time and a marvellous spectacle for everyone who managed to get along. “

 Knowsley’s mayor, Cllr Norman Hogg meets some of the people at the Bengali Hindu festival of Durga Puja in Kirkby Sports College.

Prescot Cables 2 - Harrogate RA 2

Evo-Stick Division One North - Saturday 27th October 2012

Prescot Cables and Harrogate RA shared the spoils in an error strewn encounter at Hope Street.  Cables snatched a last gasp equaliser from Jack Webb in the final minute of added time.

Harrogate kicked off playing towards the far end of the ground.  It was Cables however who got off to a flying start after only 2 minutes.  Webb found Lambert on the left whose powerful low cross was prodded in by Bathurst from six yards. 

Harrogate were awarded a free kick taken by left back Hunter which the Cables defence headed away for a corner.  Cables then produced a good move with Booth finding Fargin whose cross was taken by Harrogate keeper Dobbs.

Harrogate then had a spell of pressure.  A free kick taken by Hunter was deflected across goal for a corner, Youhill then shot high and wide and on 14 minutes Moor made an outstanding point blank save from Cartman’s header.

Save Energy, Save Money wins top sustainability award

Knowsley Housing Trust’s (KHT) Save Energy, Save Money project, which has helped hundreds of people cut their household bills, has picked up a prestigious award.

It has been named Energy Saving Project of the Year in the Sustainable Housing Awards, which celebrate the best examples of sustainable working across the country.

Save Energy, Save Money provides home energy audits to help people identify where they can reduce their energy use through behavioural changes or improvements to the fabric of their homes.

The project also includes EcoTeams – a series of community workshops to advise households on how they can reduce their impact on the environment on topics such as grow-your-own, recycling, energy, water, travel, and creative cooking.

Around 80 households took part last year, each typically saving £170 and one tonne of CO2 annually.  EcoTeams was also delivered to six different schools across Knowsley to over 150 children saving an estimated one tonne of carbon emissions.

Boost for Prescot town centre

Efforts to revitalise Prescot town centre were given a boost when the ‘Town Team’ working on revamping its fortunes was made an official Portas Pilot Town Team Partner.

This means Prescot’s retailers will benefit from a support package created as part of retail guru Mary Portas’s national review into the future of the high street, as well as a £10,000 grant to kick-start plans to boost trade in the old market town.

Prescot’s Town Team, which comprises local retailers, landlords and representatives from local bodies including Knowsley Council, Prescot Town Council and the Knowsley Chamber of Commerce, applied to become a Town Team Partner in September.

The £10,000 funding, from the Department for Communities and Local Government, will help the Team support more advertising and marketing of town centre businesses and trial a shuttle bus to link the town centre and Cables Retail Park on market days.  

The funding will also support  an improved package of events in Prescot town centre to increase visitor numbers, and pay for the production of a promotional newsletter for residents and businesses, raising awareness of local shops and offers and encouraging people to ‘buy local’.

First Ark launches new YouTube channel

The First Ark Group has launched a new YouTube channel where people can keep up to date with the Group’s activities and find information and advice on issues affecting them.

First Ark, the parent company of Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT), has already uploaded around 15 videos to the channel and plans to keep it regularly updated.

The latest video explains changes to welfare that will be brought in next year to help tenants understand how it might affect the support they receive.

Other additions include videos about Welfare Reform and the impact it will have in Knowsley, KHT’s annual Community Day, its Community Achievement Awards, its new Homefirst app and videos celebrating KHT’s 10^th birthday this year.

KHT hopes to produce ‘how-to’ videos to give people tips on how to carry out small DIY tasks around the home which will also be featured on the channel.

Sharon Steele, Head of Communication and Intelligence, said: “This is another way for us to reach our customers to communicate important messages and keep them informed with what is happening within the Group.

“Alongside our Twitter feed, Facebook page, website and our new smartphone app, this will offer people even more choice in how they keep up to date with us online.”

KHT is part of the Go On Knowsley digital inclusion campaign to get people ‘online’, so that more people can take advantage of these different channels.

The videos can be found at www.youtube.com/firstarkgroup.

 

Kirkby children’s theatre wants new members

A children’s theatre group in Kirkby is looking for new members.

Knowsley’s Youth Theatre has performed everything from Shakespeare to Narnia and is looking for new members. 

Its supported by Knowsley Council’s Leisure and Culture department and has  branches throughout the borough. 

The group in Kirkby is keen to bring some new people on board. It’s for children aged 7 to 11 and meets at Kirkby Sports Centre for Learning in Bracknell Avenue. 

The sessions are held every Wednesday, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and cost just £1.  

You don’t need to have any experience – just a desire to get involved and have fun. 

To find out more about the Kirkby group or any of the other Knowsley theatre sessions call 0151 443 0333, email kristy@altru.co.uk or just turn up on the night.

Music gig helps new talent

The best of new, local talent was showcased in a night organised by a group of young music enthusiasts from Knowsley.

En-Chord is a group of young people who came together as part of a Knowsley Leisure and Culture project in Stockbridge Village.

They set up their own music project in March 2011 with help from Knowsley Council and Youth Music.

They had very little experience of the music industry but lots of passion and enthusiasm, not only for music, but for reaching out to help other young people in the area.

They now run consultations and music workshops as well organising jamming sessions with other musicians and gigging themselves.