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Author: Martin Driver

How to apply for free school meals in Sefton during October 2020 half term

26 October 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News, Sefton Council

Families who live in Sefton and Knowsley whose children attend school in Sefton and who receive free school meals, can now apply for meal vouchers for the October 2020 half term.

To apply for e-vouchers fill out the form with their name, address, telephone number and email address and their children’s names, schools and dates of birth.

You can find the form here. 

The e-vouchers can be printed off or downloaded to a mobile phone and used in-store at any ASDA branch or used online at www.asda.com to buy food. The vouchers cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, phone top ups or stamps.

You can find out more about the scheme here.

Families who live in Sefton and Knowsley whose children attend school in Sefton and who receive free school meals, but who do not have access to e-mail can collect printed vouchers from a Family Wellbeing Centres. They need to phone to make an appointment and will need to wear a mask or face covering and remember to maintain space when they visit.

Sefton’s Family Wellbeing Centres are:

North Sefton

Linaker Family Wellbeing Centre
Linaker Street
Southport
PR8 5DQ
Tel: 0151 2886765

Farnborough Road
Birkdale
PR8 3DF
01704 572579

Talbot Street Family Wellbeing Centre
St Andrews Place
Southport
PR8 1HR
01704 534975

Formby Library and Family Wellbeing Centre
Duke Street
Formby
L37 4AN
0151 934 2063

Central Sefton

Netherton Family Wellbeing Centre
Magdalen Square
Netherton
Bootle
L30 5QH
0151 282 1405

Hudson Family Wellbeing Centre
Moorhey Road
Maghull
L31 5LE
0151 531 0117

Thornton Family Wellbeing Centre
Stannyfield Drive
Thornton
L23 1TY
0151 934 4991

Menai Family Wellbeing Centre
Menai Road
Bootle
L20 6PG
0151 288 6055

Litherland Family Wellbeing Centre
Boundary Road
Litherland
L21 7LA
0151 288 6661

South Sefton

Cambridge Family Wellbeing Centre
Cambridge Road
Bootle
L20 9LQ
0151 282 5436

Seaforth Family Wellbeing Centre
39 Caradoc Road
Seaforth
L21 4NB
0151 286 7807

Marie Clarke Family Wellbeing Centre
Linacre Lane
Bootle
L20 5AQ
0151 330 5260

Waterloo Family Wellbeing Centre
Waterloo Primary School
Crosby Road North
Waterloo
L22 0LD
0151 928 6539

People who do not have an e-mail address and who cannot get to a Family Wellbeing Centre can ring Sefton Council’s Contact Centre on 0345 140 0845 from 8m to 6pm Monday to Friday and between 10am and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

If you do not currently receive free school meals, you can find out if you are eligible and how to apply here.

Sefton residents are eligible for free school meals if they receive:

  • Income Support
  • Income based Jobseekers Allowance
  • Income related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Child Tax Credit ONLY (not entitled/receiving Working Tax Credit) and have an income of less that ÂŁ16190.00
  • Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
  • Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
  • Universal Credit and have a net household income of less than ÂŁ7400 per annum
  • Support under VI of the Immigration & Asylum Act

Announcing the scheme, Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “Sefton Council is putting in place a scheme to support children and their families accessing free school meals in the borough during this half term. We will be sharing more information on how to access the scheme as soon as possible.

“We will also continue to provide additional funding and support to our local voluntary sector partners, including the local food banks who are well stocked to enable them to help some of Sefton’s hardest hit families during these difficult times.

“Our family wellbeing centres in Talbot Street (Southport), Marie Clarke (Bootle) and Netherton also remain open to families who need their support during half-term. We have also increased the funding available to our Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme, and would encourage anyone in Sefton who may need extra support at this time to contact the council on 0345 140 0845.”

Cllr Hardy added: “I would also like to express my sincere thanks to local businesses in Sefton, and our voluntary organisations, who  have once again come out in support of their local communities and have offered to provide packed lunches, food hampers and meals to struggling families. They have proven that Together We Are A Stronger Community”

Find out about Sefton’s October half term free meals scheme here.

Council is encouraging Borough’s entries for 2020 Liverpool City Region Culture and Creativity Awards

23 October 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News, Sefton Council

Sefton Council is encouraging the Borough’s artists as well as arts organisations and other community groups to get their nominations in for the 2020 Liverpool City Region Culture and Creativity Awards.

Due to be announced in February 2021, the Awards will celebrate Liverpool City Region’s thriving culture and creativity, even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 Awards will recognise arts and cultural events, and innovation and creative activity, which has taken place within the Liverpool City Region between 1st April 2019 and 12th November 2020. Nominations can be completed online and the closing date for entries is Friday 13th November 2020.

Nominations for the Awards can include individuals, organisations, businesses, groups or partnerships that have ‘demonstrated outstanding creative achievement through cultural activity at a local, Borough or Liverpool City Region level’.

Categories include Artist of the Year, Arts Organisation of the Year, Student Inspiration and special Covid-19 Creative Response awards for individuals and organisations. And, there is a Borough of Culture ‘Star of the Year’ Award to celebrate an individual or organisation that has made a significant contribution to Sefton’s Borough of Culture 20202 celebrations.

Find out more about the 2020 Liverpool City Region Culture and Creativity Awards, the categories and the nominations process. 

Cllr Ian Maher, Leader of Sefton Council and Culture, Tourism and The Visitor Economy Portfolio holder for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said: “Our Borough has a wealth of individuals and organisations involved in the arts and is a hotbed of creativity. We want to see that reflected in the entry for these prestigious City Region Culture and Creativity Awards.

“The Awards are for any creative activity that brings people together within their communities. They can be real or virtual and can include voluntary and community based social activity, creative approaches by businesses and researchers and those involved in the creation and delivery of professional arts and cultural events and performances.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on every aspect of our lives including the arts and our own Borough of Culture 2020 celebrations have been affected but I have seen huge levels of creativity despite the restrictions and these Awards with the special categories will celebrate that innovation.”

Cllr Maher also highlighted the fact that the period covered by the Awards starts from 1st April 2019, before anyone had heard of COVID-19.

Cllr Trish Hardy Sefton Council’s main Borough of Culture sponsor said: “These have been unprecedented times that have affected our Borough of Culture celebrations but we saw an unprecedentedly creative response from everyone involved.

“When the COVID-19 restrictions hit, individuals and organisations behind the planned Borough of Culture 2020 reacted swiftly. They adapted their projects and made them digital so that people could enjoy them and take part in the activities online, through home-based activities or even by post.

“Local people were able to enjoy and take part in online comedy and bingo create an origami squirrel and take part in a photography competition. ‘Playing In’ packs were delivered to vulnerable families along with food parcels, older people created memory boxes and we are marking the whole year by burying a time capsule.

“The 2020 Liverpool City Region Culture and Creativity Awards and particularly the Borough of Culture ‘Star of the Year’ category, are an ideal way to recognise this adaptability and determination to deliver projects that have helped lift local people’s spirits and provided fun things for people of all ages to do.”

Find out more about the 2020 Liverpool City Region Culture and Creativity Awards, the categories and the nominations process. 

Finalists will be announced on Monday 5th January 2021 and the Liverpool City Region community will be able to vote for their chosen winner for the People’s Choice Award.

The Awards ceremony, which will be a digital event with presenters still to be announced, will take place on Friday 19th February 2021.

Finalists will be chosen from a panel of judges including Cultural Partnership Co-Chairs, Phil Redmond and Maggie O’ Carroll, Michelle Charters the CEO of Kuumba Imani, Alastair Machray, Editor in Chief, Reach PLC Merseyside and North Wales, Claire McColgan, Director of Culture Liverpool and Dinah Birch, Pro Vice Chancellor for Cultural Engagement, University of Liverpool.

Promotion and use of art and creativity can include but is not limited to the following art forms:

  • Performing Arts (including: Theatre, Dance, Music, Poetry, Opera)
  • Visual Arts (including design and public art)
  • Digital and VR
  • Photography
  • Film and broadcast media
  • Literature (including comedy and comics)
  • Museums, Galleries and Heritage
  • Sculpture
  • Craft
  • Technology

Public consultation on possible improvements at Southport Golf Links now underway

22 October 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News, Sefton Council

Sefton Council’s Green Sefton team has launched a public consultation on ways to improve the course and facilities at Southport Golf Links.

As well as the tees, greens and fairways, people taking part are asked to rate current facilities including the reception and shop, changing rooms and toilets and parking and signage.

Participants are asked to indicate and prioritise on possible future improvements they would like to see at Southport Golf Links, including a new driving range, a chipping and bunker area, a putting green and floodlights. They can also comment on improvements they would like to see to the current facilities, including the White House Café.

Work to improve the course by redesigning is also among proposals on which people can express their views. And, as part of Sefton Council’s commitment to combating climate change, the consultation also includes questions about renewable energy, sustainable irrigation, recycling and reducing the use of plastics and improving existing wildlife habitat on the course.

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “The results of this anonymous survey will help our Green Sefton service plan any possible future developments at Southport Golf Links and we want to hear from current users but also golfers who might consider using an improved course.

“Although no specific funding has yet been identified for investment at Southport Golf Links, as a result of feedback from last year’s similar consultation on Bootle Golf course, plans are now underway to create the new driving range that people told us they wanted to see as part of improved practice facilities at the course.”

Take part in the consultation.

The consultation opened last week and closes on Friday 20th November.

Southport Golf Links was originally opened in 1912 as a 9-hole course on reclaimed land bordering the Irish Sea. During the 1930s more land was reclaimed and it was extended to 18 holes. The course’s designer was Harry Shapland Colt who, in his time, was one of the world’s leading golf course architects.

Autumn edition of Aiming High for Disabled Children newsletter out now

21 October 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Essential Sefton, Front Page, Health, Latest News, Sefton Council, Sefton CVS, Your Sefton

The Autumn 2020 edition of Sefton Council’s Aiming High for Disabled Children newsletter is out now and available for you to read.

Aiming High for Disabled Children is a service provided by Sefton Council to make sure disabled children, young people and their families have the same access to fun, fulfilling activities and life chances as those without disabilities.

It provides specially tailored sessions during term-time and holidays that young people can access, and specialist support when young people reach key transition points, such as moving from education in to employment.

Aiming High’s newsletter is produced three times a year and contains good news stories about things that are happening within the service. This includes blogs from young people and service users, a closer look in to some of the activities, groups and events available for young people in Sefton and up-to-date information about local and national guidance and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

You can read the Aiming High Newsletter by clicking here. This autumn 2020 edition focuses on the positive outreach work our Aiming High team and partner agencies have undertaken throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and there’s also plenty of inspirational stories of achievement and success from young people across the borough.

Find out more about Aiming High for Disabled Children at Sefton Council’s website here. Use the links on this page to discover Aiming High’s Short Breaks activities, family support for SEND, and transitions services for young people age 13-25 SEND.

You can also register with Sefton’s Disabled Children’s Database at The Sefton Directory to keep up-to-date with services that are useful to you. Once registered you are also guaranteed a regular copy of the Aiming High for Disabled Children newsletter.

New refuse and recycling collections for Sefton

21 October 2020
Martin Driver
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Categories: Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News, Sefton Council, Sefton Stories, Waste & Recycling, Your Sefton

Changes to Sefton’s refuse and recycling service mean residents at thousands of homes across the borough will receive new brown and grey wheeled bins.

The bins replace sacks previously delivered to residents and will be collected on alternate weeks, with brown recycling bins collected one week and grey residual bins collected the next.

Around 4,000 households in Linacre, Derby, Litherland, Ford, Church, Blundellsands, Netherton and Orrell & Victoria are receiving bins as part of the new scheme.

The aim of the initiative is to create cleaner neighbourhoods across Sefton, reduce the risk of vermin and fly-tipping and introduce a safer, more hygienic system of storing household waste prior to collection.

Collections of wheeled bins begin the week commencing Monday October 26 and a calendar of collection dates will be delivered to those homes receiving the new bins, along with instructions on how to use the new service.

Households with a garden will also receive a green garden waste bin. Details of collection dates for garden waste will be on a sticker attached to the green bin lids.

Head of Highways and Public Protection for Sefton Council, Peter Moore, said: “We are pleased to be rolling out this successful collection system, already enjoyed by most Sefton residents, to these properties.

“This will result in immediate benefits to the local environment and has been welcomed by the majority of households for whom this new system represents a significant improvement on current collections.

“Introducing the new bins will mean people will no longer need to leave refuse bags out for collection, which will also help reduce the problem of fly-tipping in those areas.

“We will still provide assistance with wheeled bin collections to anyone who received help with refuse sack collections, and anyone who cannot put bins on the kerb edge for collection due to infirmity or disability can also apply for extra support.

“And, we will be ready to step in to help any of the households benefiting from this new service if they experience any issues as we roll out these improvements.”

“There is lots of helpful information on the Sefton Council website at www.sefton.gov.uk/bins-recycling which explains the process and provides a calendar of collection dates.”

People can find all the information regarding wheeled bins collections on Sefton Council’s website at: www.sefton.gov.uk/bins-recycling

Important information about the new collection service

  • Bins should be presented on the kerb edge outside properties by 6.30am on the morning of collection, and once emptied your bins must be put back within your property boundary.
  • Lids of bins must be fully closed when out for collection.
  • Residents must not put any extra bags of general waste or recycling at the kerbside next to the bins, these will NOT be collected.
  • All recycling can go together in the brown bin. Recycling should be left loose in the bin with no carrier bags inside.
  • Green garden waste bins can be emptied up until 8pm on collection days. Details of what can go in garden waste bins and collection dates will be displayed on bin stickers.

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