Knowsley Online

Kicking knives into touch

A team of young footballers in Knowsley are taking the battle against knife crime on to the pitch.

A squad from the Stockbridge Village Kickz project have won their way through to the North West final of the ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ tournament.

It is part of a Government campaign, to give young people an understanding of the consequences of knife crime, encouraging them to ‘say no to knives’.

The ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ project was conceived by the Home Office but developed by young people themselves.

It has been backed by the Kickz football scheme which provides coaching and matches for young people.

Regional football tournaments were arranged to raise awareness of the anti-knife crime campaign.

Twelve to sixteen year olds from across the country put on the strips of professional clubs to represent their local communities in a national competition.

The Stockbridge youngsters took part in the regional competition in Blackburn and have won a place in the final which will probably be played at Derby County’s Pride Park ground in May.

Cllr Bill Weightman represents the Stockbridge Village ward and has been a strong supporter of the Kickz project.

He said: “The power of football and premiership clubs in young people’s lives is tremendous.

“It is a great idea to link this appeal to a crucial campaign to let them know just how dangerous knives and carrying knives can be.

“The Kickz coaches said our local lads behaved excellently during the competition, both on and off the pitch and that the campaign had a really positive effect on them.”

The Kickz programme is backed by the Football Foundation, Premier League, Metropolitan Police and other forces around the country.

The anti-knife crime campaign has a dedicated website on the social networking site Bebo: www.itdoesnthavetohappen.co.uk

Pic Caption : The Stockbridge Kickz team wins through to the final of the ‘It doesn’t have to happen’ anti-knife crime tournament.

Knowsley special school is top of the class.

Education inspectors have given a Knowsley special school top marks.

The Elms school in Stockbridge Village is described as an “outstanding school in which pupils thrive” by the Government education watchdog, Ofsted.

The inspection, carried out at the school on Whitethorn Drive, found it to be outstanding in almost all areas.

The report said: “Each pupil is treated as an individual and relationships between pupils and staff are excellent.

“As a result, pupils make excellent progress in their personal development. They are happy, confident and gain a great deal of enjoyment from all that the school has to offer.”

The curriculum is outstanding and the school’s effectiveness is explained by excellent leadership and management.

The ages of the pupils range from 3 to 19 and the teaching, guidance and support given to those in the sixth form is said to be outstanding.

Teachers at the school, “know exactly what every individual needs to gain from the lesson and do their very best to ensure that these goals are reached”.

Pupils’ progress in literacy and numeracy is also said to be first rate.

But the inspector calls on the school to work on achieving similar progress in science.

The “wide range” of extra curricular activities is also said to be good and every effort is made to keep the pupils safe.

The report concludes, “Although looking to the future, the school's leaders and staff never lose sight of their current pupils and remain determined to provide them with the best possible quality of education.”

Chair of governors at the time of the inspection, Mike Birchall said: "We are all absolutely delighted with this report that pays tribute to the hard work that everybody who is involved with the school puts in, day in, day out.”

Cllr Graham Wright, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services said:” The Elms school works with pupils with severe and complex needs and this report shows that this is done with excellence and understanding.”

Knowsley’s mayor Cllr Michael Foulkes celebrates The Elms outstanding Ofsted report with head teacher Linda Lowe and pupils.

Hednesford Town 4 Prescot Cables 1

Saturday 20 December 2008

A tale of mixed fortunes in this Unibond Premier League encounter as there were six occasions when the attacker had only the keeper to beat – Hednesford scored three times, Cables failed in their three attempts.

As early as the 5^th minute Prescot’s Williams ‘one on one’ situation with Brock saw the Hednesford keeper parry the ball away.  Tommy Taylor also had opportunities gifted to him by the home defence.  On each occasion the net could not be found with only the keeper in front him. 

In between Hednesford took the lead on 35 minutes when a Cables free kick was cleared down field.  Draper evaded the Prescot offside calls to provide top scorer Barnett with his first goal.

 

Hednesford increased their lead on 52 minutes following a Cables corner that was booted away.  Barnett rounded keeper Jones to stroke the ball into the net.

The home sides’ third goal followed a similar pattern as a Prescot free kick was cleared away towards Durrell who raced towards Jones and calmly found the bottom corner in the 72^nd minute.

Cables pulled a goal back when Byers converted a cross from Flood on 83 minutes.  Hednesford restored their superiority two minutes later when Durrell scored his second.

 

Cables travel to Crosby to play Marine on Boxing Day followed by the return match at on New Years Day. Both games are 3pm kick offs.

 

Multi-million pound Stockbridge Village regeneration plan unveiled

People who live and work in Stockbridge Village are being invited to share their views on the first draft of a multi-million pound plan to transform and improve the area.

The consultation event on Tuesday 25 November (3pm - 7pm) will provide Stockbridge Village residents with an opportunity to have their say on the initial proposals.

It follows a consultation event organised by Knowsley Council in March this year, attended by nearly 300 local people who live, work or own their own business in Stockbridge Village. They gave their views on how they want the area to develop in the future.

Residents asked for improved sports and leisure facilities as well as more activities for children and young people. The council and its partners have used all the feedback from the event to help form the multi-million pound preliminary plan.

Cllr Bill Weightman, Stockbridge Village councillor, said:

"We want the community to be at the heart of the plans for Stockbridge Village and are now sharing with local people some initial proposals so they can give us their views on the plan.

"The consultation event in March was a tremendous success and we are now urging local people to work with us again so we can ensure the redevelopment meets the needs of the people who live and work in Stockbridge.

"The proposals include new leisure facilities and a new hub building with library, café and community space. Residents asked for more activities for children and young people so the proposals include a new primary school with a children's centre and nursery as well as an outdoor play area.

"We are at the beginning of a long term journey to transform the area, one which will bring about social change as well as physical regeneration.

"Knowsley Council and its partners are committed to consulting with local people every step of the way. The wishes of the Stockbridge Village community are key to the success of this multi-million pound investment in the area."

Marine 3 v Prescot Cables 1

Tuesday 18th November 2008.

A local derby is always something to look forward to and when it is also a Liverpool Senior Cup game, excitement is an added element. On reading the programme notes, the last sentence said “enjoy the game”. The players obviously read the note, because from the start both sides played a passing and movement game, which was visually pleasing to all the fans. This provided a game of many chances, both defences being put under a lot of pressure, it was end to end, but without that vital breakthrough.

Just on half time Cables nearly scored as Green forced Lake in the Marine goal to beat away his shot, the keeper recovered to make another fine save from Flood. Lake’s double save became even more important because in their next attack Marine were awarded a penalty, and Hussey converted the spot kick to put Marine ahead right on half time.

The second half started with Cables pushing forward, and Henders equalised after Connolly cut through the Marine defence and squared the ball across the area. After the goal Cables pressed forward but were unable to score again, although a fine diving header from Connolly went inches wide. Both sides were now starting to create more chances and Hibbert had to be alert to push over a shot from Hussey.

Marine scored the important second goal, when Hussey headed in a cross from Tuck. After this Cables pushed forward to try and grab an equaliser but were caught on the break in the fine minute and Tuck forced home the 3rd gaol after a scramble in the Cables area.

Prescot Cables 0 Frickley Athletic 2

Saturday 16th November 2008

Goals from Frickley’s  Neil Towler, settled this close encounter, between two sides who needed the points to move further up the table.

Cables started the better and applied early pressure on the Frickley defence, without creating any clear cut chances.

Play was becoming very scrappy and both sides lacked the cutting edge to breakdown both solid looking defences. Close to half time Cables had two excellent opportunities, but both Byers and Moore shot straight at the keeper and the chances were lost. Early in the second half Frickley made Cables pay for those missed chance, when they scored twice in a seven minute spell.

Both goals were scored by Towler, First a free header, when a deep cross was missed by Cables static defence, and the second when a long ball found Towler clear and he lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper. Cables used all three substitutes to try and get back into the game, but although they applied a lot of pressure they were unable to create any chances and Frickley’s defence easily held on till full time.

Prescot Cables Hibbert, Smith, Flood, O’Donnell, Moore, McIntosh, Cooney, Taylor, Byers, Connolly, S.Williams. Subs. Henders, Green (for Byers 62), Bell, Forsyth( for Taylor 62), P. Williams(for Smith 62).

Matlock Town 2 Prescot Cables 2

Saturday 1 November 2008

Prescot escaped with a draw when a victory was once again there for the taking in this re-arranged Unibond Premier League clash at The Causeway.

The encounter turned into a game of three penalties with the officials having just as much an impact as the players.

Williams was fouled in the Matlock area in the 14th minute and Moore calmly stepped up to knock away the spot kick.

Cables looked dangerous on each attack.  Byers header was foiled by a flying save by keeper Richmond.  In quick succession McCulloch and Connolly had outstanding chances to increase the lead.

After the break Prescot allowed Matlock to drift back into contention.  Keeper Hibbert was judged to have brought down one of the Matlock forwards in the 68th minute.  Hannah put away the penalty kick.  3 minutes later he was helping himself to another penalty goal when Moore was judged to have handled in the area.

Not believing their good fortune, the Matlock spectators censed a gifted 3 points.

In the 93rd minute, a hopeful long throw into a crowded Matlock box was turned into the net by substitute Green to earn Prescot a deserved yet unlikely draw.

Prescot’s next competitive game is at home to Frickley Athletic on Saturday 15 November.

Prescot Cables 1 North Ferriby United 2

This Unibond Premier League match is one that was, for the home side, there for the taking.

Cables carved out a host of chances in the first half.  Rainford, who produced his best performance so far, created opportunities for Williams and himself.  He had a glorious chance of opening the scoring only to produce a feeble effort on goal.  McIntosh’s precision pass found the head of Williams, whose unchallenged header disappointingly missed the target.

Ferriby made Cables pay dearly for these missed chances as they took over the second half. 

The visitors dominance paid off as Russell headed in from close range in the 67th minute.

Ferriby sealed the points in the 87th minute in bizarre fashion as Bradshaw’s shot was initially saved by Hibbert only for the Prescot

keeper to mysteriously knock the ball into his own net.

Newcomer Muktar Mahama headed a consolation for Prescot with the final act of the game.
Prescot have another home Unibond Premier League match on Tuesday evening 28th October when Nantwich Town visit Hope Street.

'Autumn strings' concert

A string quartet, featuring members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra strings section will be performing the concert ‘AUTUMN STRINGS’ in the magnificent surroundings of the 17th Century Prescot Parish Church on Friday 7th November at 7.30pm.

The annual visit to Prescot of members of The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will treat the audience to an eclectic mix of classical, contemporary and new world music including Gershwin, Lennon and McCartney, Mozart and Elgar.

Tickets are available from Prescot Museum 430 7787, Whiston Library 0151 426 4757, The Huyton Suite 0151 443 3761 and from Prescot Parish Church. Tickets cost £5.00 for adults and £3.00 for concessions

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the oldest concert-giving organisations in the world so don’t miss out on this opportunity to hear this quartet play in Knowsley.

For further details contact Knowsley Arts Service on 0151 443 5619.

Stockbridge Village wins five North West in Bloom awards

Residents of Stockbridge Village have won five awards at North West in Bloom 2008.

Villages Housing entered Stockbridge Village into North West in Bloom for the fourth time this year, building on previous efforts and developing new community projects in partnership with Knowsley Council, Local Solutions and the community.

• The residents of Stockbridge Village were delighted to receive five awards in the competition’s RHS Neighbourhood Awards and a Commendation Award for the SEEDS Project which was funded by Local Solutions. The following community groups were all represented at the ECHO/BT Arena Convention Centre:
• The SEEDS Project at Stockbridge Resource Centre – Outstanding
• Pool Hey Community Garden - Outstanding
• Little Moss Hey Community Garden - Improvement
• The Tenants Forum - Improvement
• Pool Hey Community Association – Merit

Cllr Bill Weightman, Chairman of the Stockbridge Village Regeneration Board, said:
“This is a great achievement for the residents of Stockbridge Village. The council’s neighbourhood team has worked in close partnership with Villages Housing to support a number of community environmental projects across the estate and the rewards are clear to see.

pictured Pool Hey Community Garden members Sophie McGowan, Ellie Jenkins, Ria Spring and Ellie McCormack. Judges were impressed with Pool Hey's Community Garden which was described as outstanding.

Winning has been made possible by the hard work of local residents and their sterling efforts have given everyone in the village the pleasure of beautiful, colourful community gardens. Congratulations to all the winners.”

Barbara Murray Community, Relations Manager with Villages Housing, said:
“Villages Housing organises and supports its residents to take part in North West in Bloom but at the end of the day it is their hard work that has impressed the judges. This is the fourth year we have entered this prestigious competition and we are very pleased with these results. Well done to everyone involved as this is a whole community effort.”