Author: John McCabe

Sefton Council’s Cabinet has approved plans for a significant investment in Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre.

The £3.1m investment plans will transform the hospitality facilities at the Centre and include:

• New bar and coffee area with capacity for 120 seated and standing
• Fully glazed restaurant extension on lakeside terrace
• New decking on outside spaces for hosted events and four new events spaces
• Complete revamp of hotel accommodation
• New accommodation module added, purpose-designed for community and school groups
• New rooftop and garden and seasonal ‘pop-up’ facilities

The plans to transform the facility will provide an enhanced hospitality offer, generating additional income needed to provide a sustainable future for this important community asset in the medium and long-term.

The investment in the Centre will directly support the strategic objectives of Sefton’s Coastal Plan, to provide high quality visitor infrastructure, attracting more visitors, contributing to the local economy and managing impacts on areas of environmental significance.

Councillor Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Labour Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “This investment will enable the Council to significantly enhance facilities at what is already a valued community asset. Investing in Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre now will enable the Council to make the facility sustainable in the long-term. The Council expects the enhancements will enable Crosby Lakeside to become profitable in the future, generating investment in frontline services.”

All the current leisure facilities will remain open during the improvement works, which are scheduled to start in April 2020, with the revamped hospitality facilities scheduled to launch in Spring 2021.

A Southport tech firm has created a cutting-edge immersive training room for nurses after receiving business growth support from InvestSefton.

Immersive Interactive worked with Liverpool John Moores University to create and install a bespoke cloud-based experience, providing students the experience of delivering clinical care under realistic, high-pressure conditions.

The immersive room, designed and built by the Southport firm, uses pioneering technology to bring training scenarios to life.

Having received business support from InvestSefton, Immersive Interactive has enjoyed significant growth over the past six years and has received funding through the Local Growth Hub to further develop the cloud-based software on which its technology is based.

Immersive Interactive now has a global reach, providing its technology for all aspects of healthcare.

Chris Porter, Director at Immersive Interactive, said: “The financial and advisory support has really helped us to bring our immersive rooms to life, develop our technical capability, and push into new territories. We’re set to keep on growing and pushing the boundaries of immersive training.”

Mike Mullin, Service Manager at InvestSefton, said: “We are delighted to see Immersive Interactive receive this funding and support which has enabled them to use their technology in such an exciting venture with LJMU. This brings great economic benefits to both Sefton and the Liverpool City Region and we look forward to seeing how this and other projects develop.”

Immersive Interactive worked with John Moores University to create realistic clinical environments. The platform also allows students and lecturers from the University’s nursing faculty to design and produce their own interactive learning programmes to tailor course content to their needs.

The room will be officially launched as part of the University’s Adult Nursing programme.

Jan Williams, Senior Nurse Lecturer, at Liverpool John Moores University, said “Immersive Interactive developed the basis of the room for us and set it up within the University so staff could see if this was something they could use. Overwhelmingly, the staff felt that the room would enhance the students learning experience. We worked with Immersive Interactive to make the room as interactive as possible – students have created a range of scenarios which mimic real life. Clinical scenarios don’t happen in silent, sterile rooms – they happen at roadsides, or busy A&E departments – so this technology is key in helping our students become effective practitioners out in the real world.”