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Health and wellbeing event to help those affected by cancer

25 February 2019
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: 2019 - Sefton's Year of friendship, Front Page, Health

Southport Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre will be holding its first ‘Health and Wellbeing event’ of the year on Thursday 14th March at the Royal Clifton Hotel in Southport and anyone who has been affected by cancer, whether directly or through supporting someone is invited to come along.

The centre, a joint partnership set up by Macmillan and NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), is holding the event in partnership with Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, at the Royal Clifton Hotel from 2pm – 4.30pm.

On the day there will be lots of information stalls for people to visit and access support from cancer nurse specialists, support groups and other key organisations. There will be a talk at 3.15pm by Kate Wilson from Access Sefton about talking therapies and emotional wellbeing.

There will also be a mindful movement taster session at the event, Boots mini pamper sessions and hand massages by Sefton OPERA throughout the afternoon.

Dr Graeme Allan, Macmillan GP and NHS Southport and Formby CCG cancer clinical lead, said: “These events are ideal for people to come along and meet others who have had a similar experience. It is always useful to share and the hope is that there may be an activity or group out there that suits an individual’s needs, so you might go away with an idea of what we can help you with. It’s a friendly and informative event and everyone is very welcome.”

Sonia Holdsworth, Macmillan Partnership Quality Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “We saw over 150 people at the last event and we hope to see even more this time, they are always a great success and the more people we can support the better.

“The feedback we get is that people enjoy meeting others they can chat to, whether that be other patients, clinical nurse specialists or someone from a support group. Many people who come to the centre or one of our events have joined one of the support groups such as the walking, cycling or craft group, which they feel is another good way to meet others and get out and about during or after treatment.”

Elaine Deeming, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust’s lead cancer nurse, said: “We’re delighted to continue to build on the success of previous health and well-being clinics. The events provide access to the wide range of services available locally in one venue, making it easier for our attendees.”

The Health and Wellbeing events aim to support people in adjusting to life with and beyond cancer by providing information on the wide range of services which are available locally as well as healthy living activities.

Anyone affected by cancer, either recently or in the past, as well as family and friends supporting others are welcome to book onto this free event.

The events are friendly and educational with the opportunity for visitors to chat to cancer nurse specialists, key organisations and support groups. The Macmillan Singing Group will also be performing on arrival, to welcome people to the event.

You can watch a video from the last event here: https://youtu.be/jr4d9S3xRy4

The Health and Wellbeing events are free of charge and refreshments are provided, but booking is essential. To book onto the next event please call 01704 533024 or email: sfccg.macmillancic@nhs.net.

For more information about the work of the Macmillan Information and Support Centre on Stanley Street in Southport, please see the website: www.southportmacmillancentre.org.uk

Sefton launches major bid for Future High Street funding

25 February 2019
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Business and Economy, Front Page, Latest News, Regeneration, Sefton Council, Sefton Stories, Your Sefton

Sefton Council is bidding for a slice of the ÂŁ675m Future High Street Fund with bids planned for both Southport and Crosby.

The Future High Street Fund was announced in last November’s budget and aims to support and fund local areas’ plans to make their high streets and town centres fit for the future.

In this first round, Sefton will include bids for both Crosby village and Southport town centre and builds upon the Council’s ambitions for its town centres encapsulated within its agreed regeneration frameworks and 2030 Vision.

The Future High Street Fund aims to help Councils, their communities and the private sector work in partnership to develop and sustain town centres to enhance their vitality and viability.  The fund also includes the opportunity to bid for part of a £55m Heritage High Street Fund.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Labour Cabinet Member for Skills and Regeneration, said: “Building on Sefton’s ambitions for its town centres, we are aiming to submit two bids to the Future High Street Fund for both Southport town centre and Crosby Village to help sustain them for the future. The bids will also support Sefton’s and the City Region’s ambitions for future growth.

“For Southport this will build upon Sefton’s success in securing around ÂŁ10m of Heritage Lottery and Coastal Communities Funding for King’s Gardens, Southport Pier and the recently announced Townscape Heritage Scheme.

“For Crosby this will build on the significant private sector funding by St Modwen into the village centre. If successful, Sefton Council will continue to work in an inclusive way with private sector and community sector partners.”

Formal stage 1 bids for both projects will be made in the coming months with further details issued in due course.

Sefton awarded ÂŁ500k to help bolster prevention of youth crime

25 February 2019
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: Active Sefton, Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News, Police, Regeneration, Sefton Council, Sefton Stories

Sefton Council has been awarded half a million pounds for its early intervention programme and ongoing work to prevent youth crime in the borough.

The ÂŁ500,000 from the government’s Supporting Families Against Youth Crime fund with help the local authority to continue in-depth work with parents, carers and professionals around the dangers of children being exposed to gang culture.

The Supporting Families Against Youth Crime fund enables keyworkers, community groups, teachers and other professionals working with children and young people at risk, to intervene early on and help stop them from becoming drawn into gang crime, serious violence and the youth justice system.

Sefton Council will now use the ÂŁ500,000 funding to continue with a range of initiatives, which will see teams work closely with young children who may be directly impacted by crime from an early age.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “I’m pleased that we’ve been given this grant. This much-needed vital funding will allow us to continue to help families in need to resolve problems that affect them and their community.

“We recognise that investing in people at an early stage, before problems become too serious, will help our families across the borough so they can make positive changes to their lives that will keep them safe and healthy and away from youth or gang crime. This funding will help us support initiatives that focus on early intervention and scaling up whole family working before problems escalate into something much more serious that could have consequences later in life.”

“However, the funding is only short-term and doesn’t substitute for a much needed sustainable approach to local government funding to tackle issues like this in our community.”

The grant is the latest recognition for Sefton Council’s Localities team after their partnership work around gang awareness was praised as an example of best practice by the government’s Victim’s Commissioner, Baroness Newlove.

For more information about Sefton Council’s Localities team and their work around early intervention and prevention, where they offer support at Family Wellbeing Centres, Libraries, Leisure Centres or community bases, please visit www.sefton.gov.uk/localities

Merseyside Police General Enquiry Office opening hours

21 February 2019
Ollie Cowan
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News

Merseyside Police is currently looking at the general enquiry office (GEO) service the force provides to its local communities and how to provide the best service possible based on community needs, customer and resource demands and the changing use of technology.

An extensive review of the current GEO service found that the number of people visiting GEOs across Merseyside has reduced drastically. On average, just 1.2 customers per hour attend GEOs in the force.

Some have higher visitor numbers than others and some have very low footfall.

Sefton’s opening hours are currently unaffected by the changes.

Southport police station will be open between 8am and 10pm Monday to Saturday and 8am-5pm on Sundays.

Marsh Lane police station will be open Monday-Saturday between 8am and 10pm and closed on a Sunday.

The review found that because of staff shortages, frontline officers have often had to provide cover at the enquiry counters, preventing them from responding to emergency incidents.

As a result of the review a decision has been made to change some GEO opening times to prevent the force from having to backfill the general enquiry service with police officers who should be out on the streets, responding to emergency incidents and protecting our communities.

The force is currently looking to employ additional temporary staff to provide the GEO service
The force is currently looking to employ additional temporary staff to change the GEO opening hours (current opening hours can be found in Editors Notes below).

The public will also have access to the Community Police Stations, which provide an additional service in our local communities.

Merseyside police will communicate other updated hours when we have recruited the additional staff required to provide a further amended service across the force.

Deputy Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, said: “It’s really important to us to get the right offer for our communities and that needs to balance their needs with the demand we see for services, so we can put our resources in the right places. Year on year we have seen attendance at our general enquiry offices falling and often, because of staff shortages, frontline officers have had to provide cover at the enquiry offices, when they should have been out on the streets.

“Quite often there is a misconception when a general enquiry office is closed and people think the station is no longer operational. This is not the case.”

“In the last decade there have been many changes in technology resulting in significant changes to the way people are contacting the police.

“Now with the advent of social media, and the internet, more and more people are using social media as a contact mechanism. At the beginning of 2018 we introduced a dedicated social media desk, allowing the public the ability to contact us online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to report non-emergency incidents online, or to ask for advice. In the last 14 months the desk has dealt with an average of 2500 contacts per month and demand has increased by 170 per cent.

“We do appreciate though that not everyone will want to talk to us on social media, so we are looking at the different ways that our communities contact us in their totality to ensure that we come up with a sustainable solution to enable the public to contact us when they need us. We will listen to feedback from our communities before we make future decisions.

“Any decisions we make will not be made lightly, but it must be remembered that since 2010 the force has lost £103m and more than 1,100 officers and staff due to funding cuts. We have already made a lot of hard decisions, but the impact of these cuts is continuing and the decisions we are having to make are getting harder. But I can assure the public of St Helens and Merseyside that our duty to protect the public remains our primary aim and we will continue to deliver the best possible service we physically can with the budget and the resources we have.”

Alternative ways to contact Merseyside Police include the force website, or @MerPolCC. Alternatively, you can call 101 for non-emergency calls, or 999 in an emergency.

 

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner not seeking re-election

20 February 2019
Ollie Cowan
No comments
Categories: Essential Sefton, Front Page, Latest News, Police

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner has today announced she will not be seeking re-election in May 2020.

Jane Kennedy informed the Labour Party this weekend that she would not be putting herself forward for re-selection after they asked incumbent Commissioners to make clear their intentions in time for selections to take place for the next election for Police and Crime Commissioners in May 2010.

Jane became Merseyside’s first Police and Crime Commissioner on November 22nd 2012 and was re-elected to serve a second term on May 6th 2015 with 61.7% of the vote.

During her six years as Commissioner, Jane has been a vocal opponent of cuts to policing and successfully campaigned against proposed budget cuts of up to 40% threatened by the then coalition government. She has also been instrumental in transforming Merseyside Police’s stations and buildings to ensure they are fit for purpose and for fighting crime. This has included overseeing the opening of the Force’s new Operational Command Centre in Speke, which is now the region’s major centre for tackling serious and organised crime.

She has also delivered support for thousands of victims of crime, through the Victim Care Merseyside service, which provides specialist support and care for victims of some of the most serious crimes, including rape and sexual assault, domestic abuse and child exploitation.

Jane said: “I have been immensely privileged and honoured to serve the people of Merseyside as their first Police and Crime Commissioner. Merseyside Police are the most effective and efficient urban police Force in the country, so say the inspectors of HMICFRS. I have been so very proud to work alongside them as their Commissioner.

“After considering it very carefully with my family, I have come to the decision that I will not stand for re-election next May. By that point, I will have served more than seven years as PCC, and I will be ready to step back from public life and hand over the responsibilities of this hugely important job to the next commissioner.

“I have made improving efficiency and driving vital funds to frontline policing a hallmark of my time as Commissioner. I’m pleased to say that – if nothing else – compared to my predecessors, I have reduced the cost of the scrutiny of the police on Merseyside by 43%. This has saved more than ÂŁ1m each and every year. Money which has gone straight to Merseyside Police.”

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