Author: John McCabe

The Atkinson, Southport, will host an exhibition of the Battle of Mons during 2022.

The announcement follows a visit from a delegation from Mons, Belguim, who are officially twinned with Sefton.

Claudine Stuaert, President of Mons Twinning Committee, Corentin Rousman, Curator of Mons Museum, and Catherine Houdart, Deputy Mayor of Mons, visited Sefton to increase their knowledge of the borough and outline a five-year programme of twinning projects which will begin in 2020.

As part of their visit the delegation toured The Atkinson where the exhibition will be housed.

The visitors were also invited to Bootle Town Hall as guests of the Mayor of Sefton and Bootle MP Peter Dowd. A comedy night at The Vincent Hotel, Southport, also featured on the tour.

Taking place in 1914, the Battle of Mons was one of the earliest stages of WWI as Allied and German forces clashed.

Many local servicemen from the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) fought alongside other British regiments against the invading German forces.

A formal twinning agreement was signed with Mons in 1964, 50 years after the battle took place.

Green Sefton are seeking volunteers to help preserve the borough’s unique coastline.

Help is sought to cut and drag Sea Buckthorn out of an area of dunes beside Ainsdale Discovery Centre.

Sea Buckthorn is not native to Sefton’s coastline and can shade out valuable habitats for rare plants, natterjack toads and sand lizards.

It was originally planted to stop sand blowing across grazing areas, crops and tracks.

Green Sefton will be staging three public ‘buckthorn bashing’ events in the coming weeks.

Volunteers will need to wear old clothing, stout footwear and bring sturdy gardening gloves.

The events will take place on:

• Sunday, November 17^th – 10am to 3pm
• Saturday November 30^th – 10.30am to 3pm
• Saturday, December 7^th – 10.30am to 3pm

If you are interested in registering to help at one of these events, please contact GreenSefton@sefton.gov.uk, or call 0151 934 2961.

Sefton residents have until Friday 1^st November to have their say on proposed changes to council tax discounts on empty properties.

Sefton Council is proposing to reduce council tax discounts on empty properties, with the aim of bringing more homes into use across the borough.

Properties that have been empty for less than one month would have the discount reduced from 100% to 50%.

Complete the survey online or by visiting your nearest One Stop Shop.

A Netherton charity has secured a prestigious national award.

Fun4Kidz were named SME of the Year at the 2019 ERSA Employability Awards for their commitment to providing employment opportunities in Sefton.

Sefton@Work, who support residents into employment, education and training in the borough, nominated the charity for their work in reducing unemployment within the borough.

Fun4Kidz was established in 1998 to provide out of school clubs in Netherton and have since expanded to meet the needs of families across the borough.

The charity provide activities for over 850 children per week and have been recognised for offering employment opportunities to people who may have faced barriers to work.

The work of Fun4Kidz was singled out by a panel of expert judges, who recognised the charity’s “exceptional commitment in creating opportunities for disadvantaged and long-term unemployed jobseekers.”

Fun4Kidz Chief Exectuvie Debbie Stevens said she “couldn’t believe it” after collecting the award and thanked Sefton@Work for their nomination.

For more information about how Sefton@Work can support your career ambitions visit http://www.seftonatwork.net/