Knowsley Online

State of the art centre for young people, designed by young people opens in Knowsley

Last night (Thursday 25th June) saw the launch of the new Westvale Youth Centre in Kirkby, offering local youngsters a safe place to socialise, and the opportunity to get involved in a range of activities such as sports and arts along with accredited courses and awards such as Duke of Edinburgh.

The new centre has been designed to the specifications of the young people who will use it and was officially opened by Anne Weinstock, Director of the Youth Task Force. Young people showcased all the centre has to offer with DJing, rapping and an electric guitar performance on the staged area, while others surfed the net and created animation on the new suite of computers. Young people from the centre also prepared healthy snacks and ‘mocktails’ for the guests.

Knowsley’s ‘Big Deal Grants Panel’ made a symbolic presentation to the young people at the centre with a cheque for £80,000, the money was awarded to the centre in October 2008 and has been used to add value to the project through additional interior design and the purchase of equipment.

Jade’s the ideal candidate to succeed

A Northwood teenager who rates Hillary Clinton as her inspiration is aiming to be the first lady to progress with a new Kirkby-based youth charity.

Described as “a jewel” by her tutors at Moorgate Road based Rathbone, artistic Jade Lea Hogg has drawn a line under her troubled past and taken her first steps towards a career in child care. And she believes that the current United States Secretary of State is the perfect role model for any woman wanting to achieve.

“Hillary Clinton is just amazing” says Jade, who recently designed a poster depicting the former first lady’s varied career for her classroom. “She is very successful and has done so much – and she really doesn’t look 61.”

Jade joined Rathbone (which took in its first trainees back in February this year) after struggling with her daily journey to and from her home to St Helens College. Now 17, Jade moved to the Knowsley area from Lowestoft in Suffolk three years ago and found the transition difficult. Upheavals at home meant she couldn’t complete her GCSEs.

Engaging on the Entry to Employment course – which gives 16-18-year-olds the support they need to gain work – Jade has enjoyed picking up new skills and qualifications and will soon go on work placement at a local nursery school. She is also about to move into her own place and being the creative type (she studied art and design at St Helens) she plans to decorate her front room in fetching shades of black and grey!

History in the making.

Children in Knowsley are helping to revive the building skills of the past.

Skilled professionals are teaching the youngsters how to make bricks, stained glass panels and how to carve stone.

It is part of a conservation project to preserve the area’s historic buildings by teaching the next generation traditional building techniques.

These skills are fast dying out yet demand for craftspeople who know how to work on older buildings is growing.

The lessons in schools are “Have a Go” taster sessions and construction students at local colleges are being taught the methods for real.

The Conservation Skills and Interpretation Project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the taster sessions are being held at St. John Fisher, Overdale and Prescot primary schools.

Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, Cllr Graham Morgan, said: “It’s not often that our young people get the chance to use a chisel and mallet, throw clay into a brick mould or even see delicate pieces of glass being cut.

“The chance to learn these fascinating skills with some of the industry’s finest craftspeople might inspire them to pursue this as a career.

“The conservation project is aimed at preserving our marvellous historic buildings but also passing on these vital building techniques for future generations.”

 Children at Overdale Primary School, Kirkby taking part in stone carving.

The Big Balloon Race

The sky really was the limit for shoppers in Kirkby town centre, as they stopped to watch the spectacle of over 800 balloons being launched last Friday.

The balloons were launched as part of a balloon race organised by Balfour Beatty Construction in association with Knowsley MBC. The balloon race is one of a number of charity events being organised by Balfour Beatty to support a new charitable partnership – ‘Building Better Futures’.

Building Better Futures has been created by the company in association with The Prince’s Trust and Action for Children to help disadvantaged young people. The aim is to raise at least £500,000 by the end of 2009 and Balfour Beatty has pledged to match every pound raised.

Local youngsters from Simonswood Primary School, All Saints Catholic High and Kirkby Sports College attended the launch to help set the balloons off on their journey and a prize has been offered by Balfour Beatty for the balloon that travels the furthest.

Simon McEneny, Service Director for Future Schooling in Knowsley said: “It’s been a pleasure working with local schools and Balfour Beatty to encourage them to take part in the balloon race for charity. It also supports our engagement with schools and pupils in our Future Schooling in Knowsley programme.”

Malcolm Robertson, Contracts Manager for Balfour Beatty said ‘We have been able to raise over £875 for the charity, which is fantastic. All the proceeds will help to support young people on a wide variety of projects and we would like to thank Knowsley Council, the local community and all our subcontractors and staff for their support with the race.’

Pictured are local youngsters from Simonswood Primary School, All Saints Catholic High and Kirkby Sports College with Malcolm Robertson, Contracts Manager for Balfour Beatty (left) and Simon McEneny, Service Director for Future Schooling in Knowsley.

If anyone would like to make a donation to Building Better Futures, they can do so by contacting Josie Neil at Balfour Beatty on 0151 632 8500.

Kirkby Sports College awarded Artsmark Gold

Arts Council England has awarded an Artsmark Gold to Kirkby Sports College in recognition of the school’s commitment to, and excellence in, arts education.

Since Artsmark began 9 years ago, almost 10,000 awards have been made, with 1649 schools receiving the award this year.

Pam Jervis, Head teacher of Kirkby Sports College in Knowsley, said:

“I’m delighted that the Arts Council has recognised Kirkby Sports College’s dynamic arts education programme. Our students have really enjoyed working with the Bluecoat Liverpool Philamonic, Artist Neil Keating, members of LARC on a number of creative projects, and I’d like to thank all our staff for their hard work in achieving this award.”

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said:

“Arts Council England is committed to great art for everyone and we believe that the earlier children are creatively inspired, the more likely they are to have a lifelong engagement with art.

“Artsmark sets the standard for an outstanding arts offer in schools and it’s great to see so many new schools attaining the Artsmark award this year. The award recognises Kirkby Sports College’s passion for the arts and belief in the power of creativity.”

A school must dedicate a minimum of 10 per cent of its curricular teaching time to the arts to receive an Artsmark; 12 per cent wins a Silver Artsmark and 15 per cent qualifies for Artsmark Gold. An Artsmark school also provides teachers’ professional development and involvement with local artists and arts groups. Any school in England can apply for Artsmark at: www.artsmark.org.uk

All Artsmark recipient schools from the North West region will be invited to a ceremony and evening reception to be held at the Brindley Arts Centre in Runcorn on the 21st September where they will be presented with their Artsmark award. 

Local artists to perform at major charity fundraising event

No doubt like the rest of the population of this country and indeed the rest of the world you will have been horrified by the never to be forgotten, terrible events that led to the tragic death of a beautiful little boy James Bulger. Please take a moment of your time to read this letter.

Esther Rantzen, patron of Red Balloon, was inspired to develop the idea of a memorial to my son, James during a visit to Liverpool in 2007. She believed it extraordinary that there was no memorial to him, and so with the help of the people not only in Liverpool but across the world, we, together created James Bulger House.

The Red Balloon Learner Centre is a charity aiming to raise £1,000,000 in order to create James Bulger House, a place where children who have been bullied can study in safety. The young people we take have been bullied to such an extent that they are unable to go to mainstream school. Our aim is for them to recover, and then return to school or move on to college or into employment.

In order to bring us closer to our target,we are holding a celebrity Charity Gala evening, to be held at the Kirkby Civic suite, Knowsley, Liverpool. The night will hold a variety show showcasing Liverpool's "best" talent, appearing will be Lewis Devine, Terri-Ann Devine, James Rooney,Kelli Bond, Tina Malone (Shameless), Esther Ranzsten, Schooner, All for you, Gillian Ross, Diane Marsh, Alex Devine, X Factors Danny Morris (Former Eton Road member), Tracy Jay, plus many more. It will be a red carpet event with many of The north west's celebs attending. (Tickets are selling fast but a small amount are still being sold at the Kirby Suite, For more information please contact 07825519453 )

Aside from this event all the above have teamed together to release a charity single version of Michael Jacksons Heal the World, this song lies close to the hearts of all our trustees and especially to James' mother Denise as Michael Jackson himself personally wrote to her after the death of her son, The single will get a full UK Release in July this year, along with a music video aired across the whole network of music television, So that we can touch the nation and raise as much money possible for such a good cause.

If you are a member of facebook, please join the James Bulger House Group by typing 'James Bulger House' into your facebook search engine. There is also a page dedicated to the charity single under the title of 'BULIEF', a sample of this track can be found on youtube, by clicking on this link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxjwFAlL59A

Please do not hesitate contacting us through our spokesperson Terri Ann on 07825519453.

With kind regards,

The James Bulger House Team.

Patron  - Esther Rantzen CBE

Trustees  -  Peter Currie. Denise Fergus. Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe QPM (Chair). Peter Kite

Director  -  Dr Carrie Herbert

The Recovery of Bullied Children

Red Balloon Learner Centre Group Registered Charity No. 1109606 Company Limited by Guarantee No. 05385341
www.redballoonlearner.org.uk

The good young people do.

A gala celebration has paid tribute to the work of hundreds of young people who volunteer across Knowsley.

The Casino Vol event at the Kirkby Suite celebrated around £100,000 worth of free hours to 18 charities and statutory organisations.
It was hosted by the “vinvolved team” at Knowsley CVS and everybody was surprised at the number of young people doing so much good.

Volunteer police cadet Erika Conway said: “This event showed that people who volunteer are actually being noticed and that we’re not all thugs.

“I didn’t know there were so many organisations and I was really surprised at how many people volunteer in Knowsley”.

The work of the volunteers ranged from helping on a city farm, to sports coaching and hospital and care work.

Six young people were also awarded Volunteer of the Year prizes for their outstanding contribution.

Rebecca Bowers, who volunteers with Knowsley Council’s Youth Service, was one of them.

Louise Molyneux, Alcohol Misuse Worker with the service, said: “Rebecca’s positive attitude and commitment to the project creates a fantastic environment in which other young people can learn and develop and model their behaviour”

Knowsley’s cabinet member for Children’s Services, Cllr Graham Wright, said “We hear an awful lot about the minority of young people who get into trouble but not nearly enough about all of these wonderful youngsters who are giving so much.”

“A night like this really opens up our eyes to how much we need to praise our young people, rather than condemn them all as troublemakers.”

The other Volunteer of the Year prize winners were, Michael Morris , who volunteers for the British Heart Foundation, Adam Moscrop, a volunteer with Huyton Cricket and Bowling Club, Jing Ouyang, a volunteer at Aintree University Hospital, Steven Prescott, a volunteer at Trinity Church in Page Moss and Jack Purcell, a volunteer in Halewood parish.

To find out how to volunteer for local projects, contact Cathy Georgeson on 489 1222 or e-mail c.georgeson@knowsleycvs.org

The Knowsley young people who have been named Volunteers of the Year.

Two off-licences are reviewed in Knowsley

Two off-licences in Knowsley have had the conditions of their alcohol license amended following a Licensing Review meeting held by the Council’s Sub-Licensing Committee on 12 May 2009.

The review involved the Beer Garden and Cheers Off Licences, both situated in Kirkby.

Knowsley Council’s Trading Standards Officers had applied for the review, supported by Merseyside Police, due to repeated sales of alcohol to under-aged persons.

Following deliberation, the Committee determined that it was necessary and reasonable for a number of conditions to be applied to their alcohol licences in an effort to minimise the risk of future sales, these included:-

(1) All staff to undertake a nationally accredited licensing course within the next 4 months.
(2) All new staff employed at the premises shall undertake and pass a nationally accredited licensing course within 12 weeks of their employment at the premises.
(3) The premises shall adopt and maintain an up to date refusals book recording all refusals of alcohol. This refusal book shall be made available to officers from Trading Standards or Merseyside Police upon request.

Both premises shall adopt a “challenge” scheme – The Beer Garden “Challenge 25” and Cheers “Challenge 21”. Under the scheme, people will have to produce photo ID, if asked, in order to buy alcoholic drinks. Posters outlining this scheme shall be displayed in prominent locations at the premises.

In addition, the Designated Premises Supervisor at Cheers off Licence will provide refresher training to all staff on an annual basis and CCTV footage must be made available to Trading Standards/Merseyside Police Officers upon request.

Cllr Ken Keith, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services said “The Council regularly undertakes test purchasing exercises as part of its Get Real campaign. This has shown us that the majority of licensees are responsible and refuse to provide alcohol to under-age persons. However, where we find that this is not the case, the Council working with Merseyside Police, will take positive action against licensees and this is demonstrated in these two cases. The decision of the committee should send a clear message to the licensees in Knowsley and we will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure that the sale of alcohol to under 18s does not continue.”

Shakespeare without the ruffs

Teenagers in Knowsley are dressing down Shakespeare to get to know him better.

Pupils in Year Nine at schools across the borough are working with professional actors to explore a particular scene in the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

The project has been drawn up by Knowsley Council’s standards taskforce, working with a freelance drama specialist and the Ullaloom Theatre Company.

The team use the sort of performance exercises and theatre techniques used by the Royal Shakespeare Company to prepare their actors for a performance.

The thirteen and fourteen year old pupils will be looking in depth at scene one in act three of Romeo and Juliet that includes the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt.

Chris Ball, the drama specialist who has been working with the pupils, said: “This scene has resonances for today, as it deals with knife crime, forbidden love and the tensions of class and status in society.

“Romeo kills Tybalt because Tybalt has killed his friend Mercutio so Shakespeare is dealing with the passion and thoughtlessness of youth.

“In the workshops we talk about how to consider the consequences of what we do, as well working through taking the play from the page to the stage.”

The organisers keep to the original text but do not use the type of Elizabethan costumes that were worn when Romeo and Juliet was first performed.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which has overall responsibility for the nation’s examinations, is piloting the workshops as a way of teaching Shakespeare to secondary pupils.

The Globe Theatre, the recreated version of the London playhouse that Shakespeare used for many of his plays, and the Royal Shakespeare Company are also involved in the initiative.

Cllr Graham Wright, Knowsley’s cabinet member for Children Services, said: “These workshops give young people a better understanding of the words and the way in which Shakespeare told his story.

“I think this and other teaching methods we employ here in Knowsley assist our young people to understand these great works as well as securing good qualifications.”

Pupils at All Saints High school in Kirkby perform part of Romeo and Juliet with the Ullaloom Theatre Company.

Kirkby community production brought to the Everyman stage in successful arts partnership

Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse has been working in partnership with Knowsley Arts and Heritage Service and Kirkby’s communities to develop a community production written by Liverpool playwright Laurence Wilson and directed by Gav Cross. Spirits of the Stone is a play researched in Kirkby and the final production will be performed by 20 Kirkby residents on the Everyman stage on Friday April 17th and Saturday April 18th 2009.

Through the work of the Everyman and Playhouse Theatre and Community department together with Knowsley Arts and Heritage Service, Liverpool playwright Laurence Wilson and director Gav Cross led reminiscence sessions in Kirkby last autumn working with a range of individuals and groups including Sea Cadets, Mums and Tots, and Elders and Wardens to research stories for the play. They even planted themselves on a sofa chair in the town centre to collect Kirkby tales from anyone who had a story to tell.

Spirits of the Stone was inspired by the research, interweaving Kirkby’s myths and folklore with Kirkby’s colourful history as told to him by its residents. Laurence Wilson has created a fast-paced story that follows three generations of the Glover family on a rollercoaster adventure from the Liverpool blitz to the modern days of a strong community who stand tall and proud and ready for anything. Following open auditions held in Knowsley last November, a cast of 20 people aged 14 – 83 years have been developing performance skills and rehearsing the play over the last 10 weeks that they will now perform in a full production on the Everyman stage.