Local well-being organisation, Living Well Sefton, is inviting Sefton residents to mark World Health Day on Friday, 7 April by taking part in a postcard raffle to win one of a variety of prizes at their well-being event outside the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle.
Living Well Sefton will also be joined by Active Sefton, May Logan Centre and the Feelgood Factory between 10am – 4pm on the blue health bus to talk about the different ways people can feel better about themselves.
Migrant Workers Sefton Community received a highly commended award yesterday (21st March) for their 2016 project which warned migrant workers living in Sefton of the dangers of borrowing from loan sharks. Â 
The charity worked with The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), Multimedia Company Handstead Films and Sefton Neighbourhood Team to produce a short film to demonstrate the perils of getting involved with an illegal money lender and to promote the help and support available to loan shark victims through the IMLT.
The title for the film âStop Loan Leechesâ came about after the charity found that the term âloan sharkâ did not translate well in to Eastern European languages.
In order to get the message across to migrant workers, the short film was translated in to six different languages: English, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian and Russian.
Migrant Workers Sefton Community help mitigate the financial hardship among migrant workers and their dependents living in Sefton and the surrounding area.
In 2016, The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) delivered training to volunteers from the charity on how to support migrant workers borrowing cash from loan sharks. Volunteers were taught on how to spot a loan shark and how to signpost victims to the appropriate help and support available.
As a result of actively working with the IMLT to raise awareness of loan sharks, Migrant Workers Sefton Community effectively reached over 900 direct clients and over 2000 in-direct client family members.
The project was funded by Sefton Council with support from the IMLT.
Cllr. Trish Hardy, Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing in Sefton, said:
âIn Sefton we have always extended a warm welcome to migrants who choose to call our borough home and enrich it through their contribution to community life.
âUnfortunately, they often face real hardship, in particular managing their finances, meaning it can be all too tempting to seek out illegal money lenders, which inevitably makes their situation worse.
âIt is heartening to see a service working closely with Sefton Council, take the fight to illegal lenders by educating migrants to make different and better choices â this award is richly deserved.
âIt should also be noted that it is not only migrants in Sefton who are confronted by the dilemma posed by illegal lenders â it can happen to anyone. If you are worried about your finances or are considering illegal lenders, help is available from Sefton Council and our partners.â
Eileen Saunders, Co-founder of Migrant Workers Sefton Community said:
âWe are delighted to have been recognised for our work in trying to stamp out illegal money lending. Loan sharks prey on the most disadvantaged members of our local communities, including European migrants. We hope our âStop Loan Leechesâ video sends out a direct message that loan sharks will not be tolerated in Sefton and that there is help and support available to victims so they donât have to suffer in silence.â
Tony Quigley, Head of Service for the England Illegal Money Lending Team said:
âWell done to all our winners and âhighly commendedâ runners up in the National Champions Awards 2016. You have all contributed to making a difference and tackling this crime in your community.
âLoan sharks are a scourge on society and cause harm and misery to their victims. If you or someone you know has been a victim of a loan shark, we urge you to get in touch with IMLT on 0300 555 2222. You call will be handled by a trained officer and all information will be treated in the strictest confidence.â
Nationally, Illegal Money Lending Teams have secured more than 370 prosecutions for illegal money lending and related activity, leading to nearly 318 yearsâ worth of custodial sentences. They have written off ÂŁ71.9 million worth of illegal debt and helped over 26,500 people.
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To report a loan shark:
Call the 24/7 confidential hotline 0300 555 2222
Text a report to 078600 22116
Visit the website www.stoploansharks.co.uk
E-mail reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk Â
Private message us on www.facebook.com/stoploansharksproject
A Regional Adoption Agency covering Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral is set to be established. 
It follows a successful bid to the Government last year by local authorities on Merseyside to create a new organisation to get more children placed successfully as quickly as possible.
The new agency â set to be launched in January 2018 – will bring together a team of around 50 staff from across the four councils who will be seconded into the new organisation on their existing terms and conditions.
Responsibilities will include recruitment, approval and ongoing support for adopters, tracking, linking and matching of children and the training and development of staff.
Although the Regional Adoption Agency will have a centralised hub, staff will continue to have a presence in each of their local authority areas to ensure they retain close links with social work staff.
Every year, the four local authorities approve around 100 adopters each year and place approximately 140 children for adoption.
John Joseph Kelly, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Safeguarding at Sefton Council, said:
âIn Sefton, we are currently looking for adoptive families for 16 local children and young people. We know that we often receive enquiries from across the Liverpool City Region, so it makes sense that we are collaborating with our neighbours to meet the challenges we face together and increase the potential for our vulnerable children to find a forever family.
âIâm looking forward to this new regional adoption agency making the process for would be adopters quicker and more effective as both they and children in Sefton and the wider region are matched so they begin their new family life.â
Consultation has already taken place with staff and trade unions, and adopters are also being kept informed.
Reports recommending the approval of the Regional Adoption Agency will be considered by each councilâs Cabinet over the coming weeks, with Wirral Council the first to do so on Monday 27 March.
