Knowsley Online

Winning ways to get more active

Two Knowsley school children are riding high after winning a competition to design their dream bike.

Daniel Bolton from St Leo’s and Southmead primary and Chloe Johnson of Park View primary each won a new mountain bike, helmet and lock.

The competition was part of Bike to School week, a campaign supported by Knowsley Council’s Road Safety and Travel Plan Team.

The campaign encouraged children to cycle to school in a fun and safer way and the prizes came from local bike supplier John Geddes.

They were presented to the children by Cllr Graham Morgan, the authority’s cabinet member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills.

Cllr Morgan said: “The campaign backs up the work we are doing to get people choosing healthier ways to get around.

“The traffic and congestion around our schools can cause real problems for our children and their parents and we need to address that.

“The competition raised pupils’ awareness of what we are doing and the entries were really good.”

The winning designs have also been framed and will be presented to the children to keep.

The Bike to School campaign included drop-in sessions where children could get their bikes fixed or checked over.

 Cllr Graham Morgan presents Daniel Bolton from St Leo’s and Southmead primary and Chloe Johnson of Park View primary with their new bikes.

Prescot Cables 1 Woodley Sports 1

Saturday 17 October 2009

Cables threw away a much desired three points against a team similarly positioned in the lower half of the Unibond Division One North.

Prescot’s almost handed the visitors the advantage as Blacker had only Paxton to beat when he was tackled from behind by Tobin in the penalty area.  The referee, generously for Prescot, did not see an offence.

Blacker then contrived a dreadful miss as he spooned the ball into the park from 3 yards out with an empty goal in front of him.

The breakthrough came on 58 minutes when Connell was sandwiched in a tackle and the referee pointed to the spot.  Dale Wright easily knocked away the penalty kick.

Woodley levelled on 84 minutes when Furnival produced a deft free kick into the corner of the net.

At the death Tobin’s shot bobbled past a stranded keeper Connett and agonisingly wide of the upright.

Prescot Cables :
Paxton, Sayer, Morgan, McIntosh, Ridler, Tobin, Wright, Riley, Green, Connell, Lundon.  Subs – Mitten (for Connell, 61), Calland (for Wright, 87), Cliff (for Morgan, 61), Couch, Fleury

Order,order,order

Budding young politicians in Knowsley have been given an exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ look at how the Council operates.

Pupils from All Saints in Kirkby and the Halewood Centre for Learning visited Knowsley Council as part of Local Democracy Week.

During their visit, the pupils learnt about the political history of the Borough, were given a tour of the Mayoral Parlour and Council Chamber and found out about the importance of Electoral Registration and voting.

The youngsters, who are members of their School Council, also took the opportunity to quiz the Mayor of Knowsley, Cllr Dave Smithson, and Cabinet Member, Cllr Ken Keith, on a wide range of topics including the roles of the Mayor and Elected Members and how Knowsley’s new Learning Centres originated.

Liam Corrigan, 14, is a pupil at All Saints in Kirkby. He said: “It is a really good insight into what happens inside the Council and I found the visit really interesting, particularly being able to see how the Council makes decisions and I also enjoyed seeing the Council Chamber and the Mayor’s Parlour.”

Cllr Ken Keith, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services, said: “This has been a really worthwhile experience, not just for the pupils but also for the Council. It is extremely important and useful for us to engage with the young people of Knowsley and hear their views. These youngsters will be eligible to vote in a few years and it is good that they know more about the Council and the democratic process.

“I was very impressed by the level of interest they showed during their visit and by the questions they asked me.”
 

 Cllr Ken Keith and the Mayor of Knowsley, Cllr Dave Smithson, with pupils from All Saints in Kirkby inside the Council Chamber.

Having their say and making a difference

Young people in Knowsley were given the chance to express their views to councillors in an event to mark Local Democracy Week.

The theme for the week - from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th October - is Take Part, Take Power. It aims to make people, especially young people, more aware of their local council, what it does, how it works with its partners and why it's important to get involved in local decision-making.

To celebrate and promote Local Democracy Week Knowsley Youth Parliament (KYP) organised a lively ‘Speak Up’ discussion where councillors and the authority’s chief officers heard about the KYP’s current campaigns.

Better access to sex and relationship education, improving public transport and addressing the negative stereotypes often associated with young people are among this year’s campaign themes.

Sports personalities show support for local talent and sporting achievements in Knowsley

Knowsley will be recognising local people who have made outstanding achievements in the field of sport and physical activity, at a star studded event on Monday 19 October at Kirkby Suite.

The event organised by Knowsley’s Sport and Physical Activity Alliance, acknowledges individuals who have excelled in sport and those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to inspire local people of all ages to get active, strive for great achievements or have impacted on an individual’s health and wellbeing.

Guest speakers on the evening will include sporting personalities, Steve Smith, Great Britain High Jumper, Paul Sculthorpe, ex St Helens and Great Britain Rugby League Captain, and Eddie Hemmings, Sky Sports presenter who will compare the evening.

Steve Smith is Britain’s most successful ever high jumper and is still the current British Record Holder. An achievement he set 16 years ago at a staggering 2 meters 37 or 7ft 10’!. Steve is now one of the country’s best motivational speakers with extensive experience of working with leading corporate organisations and elite level sport.

Good result for NHS Knowsley in Annual Health Check

NHS Knowsley is one of the three best performing Primary Care Trusts in Merseyside. NHS Knowsley has received an overall performance rating of “Good – Good,” for Quality of Commissioning of Services and Quality of Financial Management, from the Care Quality Commission annual health check released today (Wednesday October 14th).

Knowsley performed particularly strongly in Urgent and Emergency Care, receiving an overall rating of excellent in this area. NHS Knowsley was found to be above average in offering timely access to services which meet the needs of patients.

The Care Quality Commission looks at a number of aspects of the work of health and adult social care services, in terms of both managing resources (e.g. finance and staffing) and the quality of the services.

NHS Knowsley’s financial management has been assessed as ‘performing well in relation to the management of its financial resources, with arrangements embedded across the organisation’.

Winning ways to get more active

Two Knowsley school children are riding high after winning a competition to design their dream bike.

Daniel Bolton from St Leo’s and Southmead primary and Chloe Johnson of Park View primary each won a new mountain bike, helmet and lock.

The competition was part of Bike to School week, a campaign supported by Knowsley Council’s Road Safety and Travel Plan Team.

The campaign encouraged children to cycle to school in a fun and safer way and the prizes came from local bike supplier John Geddes.

They were presented to the children by Cllr Graham Morgan, the authority’s cabinet member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills.

Cllr Morgan said: “The campaign backs up the work we are doing to get people choosing healthier ways to get around.

“The traffic and congestion around our schools can cause real problems for our children and their parents and we need to address that.

“The competition raised pupils’ awareness of what we are doing and the entries were really good.”

The winning designs have also been framed and will be presented to the children to keep.

The Bike to School campaign included drop-in sessions where children could get their bikes fixed or checked over.

Knowsley homeowners focus of debt advice campaign

It’s Your Home – Let’s Keep it That Way

Knowsley will this week become the focus of an intensive drive to help to local residents struggling to pay their mortgages so they can get a grip on their finances and save their homes.

As one of 22 ‘hotspots’ across Britain, homeowners in Knowsley face a higher risk of repossessions due to high levels of unemployment and numbers of court orders for repossession.

Between April and June this year, there were 140 claims for repossession by lenders against homeowners in Knowsley. 95 of these (68%) lead to possession orders.

So from this week, advertisements highlighting the range of Government support available to homeowners will appear in local newspapers, online and billboards.  It is the second stage of the national Mortgage Help campaign that John Healey launched last month.

Concerned homeowners can go to www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp or call the National Debtline free on 0808 808 4000, where they can get impartial advice, find out the steps they can take to keep their home and prepare an action plan to tackle their own finances.

Launching this drive, Housing Minister John Healey said:

“The worst thing any struggling homeowner can do is bury their head in the sand.  A comprehensive range of Government support is available to them, from free debt advice and representation in court to help with mortgage interest payments and, for the most vulnerable households, the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.  

“These measures have meant we’ve seen recent falls in the numbers of repossessions, but people are still under pressure and the risk of repossession will remain high throughout this and next year.

“I want anyone in Knowsley concerned about paying their mortgage to know that practical and impartial advice is available online and over the phone.  Our message today is clear: it’s your home – let’s keep it that way.”

Local MP, George Howarth said “I know how important it is to protect your home in times of financial difficulty .  I’m pleased that the Government has chosen to target local Knowsley residents with this information as it should help as many people as possible to stay in their own homes.”

The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show there were 11,400 repossessions between April and June this year – 10 per cent lower than the previous quarter. 

However, a quarter of these repossessions were voluntary – homeowners who have fallen into mortgage arrears but rather than seek help available from Government or their lender have instead handed in the keys or abandoned their home.

Cables earns a valuable away point

Wakefield  1    Prescot Cables  1

Saturday 10 October 2009

Prescot earned their first away point in the Unibond League Division One North with a battling display at Wakefield Sports Club.

For the second successive week Cables presented their opponents with the opening goal.  A horrendous passing error in the defensive line gifted the Wakefield attackers.  With forwards Thompson and Howarth bearing down on him, Andy Paxton in goal had little hope of preventing the home side scoring on 11 minutes.

Following half time substitutions, Cables strived to create openings.  Three efforts came in the space of 30 seconds and left supporters wondering whether it was going to be ‘one of those days’.

The equaliser on 83 minutes was Prescot’s first shot on goal.  Darren Connell took advantage of a misunderstanding in the Wakefield defence to fire past a crowd of players into the corner of the net.

Lundon for Prescot and particularly Howarth (twice) for Wakefield could have won the game for their sides in stoppage time. 

Prescot Cables : Paxton, Sayer, Morgan, Callaghan, McIntosh, Tobin, Wright, Calland, Mitten, Green, Lundon.  Subs – Fleury, Couch (for Mitten, 45), Riley (for Morgan, 76), Connell (for Callaghan, 45)