Borough Of Culture

Young budding poets across the Liverpool City Region with time to spare due to the unfortunate Coronavirus outbreak are being asked to get creative and tell us what they are missing through the art of poetry.

Aintree Racecourse has teamed up with Sefton’s Borough of Culture year to launch the Grand Poetry Competition with some fantastic prizes on offer for the winners.

As the Randox Health Grand National meeting has been cancelled, along with most other sporting events, Sefton as a borough will miss the world-famous racecourse being in the global spotlight.

Aintree Racecourse had already commissioned local poet Amina Atiq to write “A Love Letter to My City” linking the event to the city region for Liverpool’s Day. To watch this please CLICK HERE

Gaining inspiration from this, children at home or still in school are being asked to write their own poems and enter the Grand Poetry Competition.

The poems’ subject should be something or someone they love, miss, find amazing or even just help out with. Children should handwrite and decorate a poem (max 200 words) then email Aintree Racecourse a photo or scan of their work to GrandPoetry@thejockeyclub.co.uk. They are also encouraged to post or email what they have written to the subject of the poem as well.

Aintree Racecourse has created a page on their website for the project and will display some of the work in an online gallery – www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/aintree/

Entries will be in the 4-8 years-old, 9-12 years-old and 13 years and above categories and winners will win family tickets to Aintree Raceourse’s Family Day in October and Liverpool’s Day or Grand National Day in 2021.

Mayor of Sefton, Cllr June Burns, said: “Due to the unfortunate outbreak of Covid-19, most of our Borough of Culture events have rightly been suspended and many school children are now based at home.

“While we want everyone to remain safe at home or at school, we also want school children of all ages to use the time creatively and write a short poem about what they miss or love during this difficult period.

“While the borough will miss the Randox Health Grand National taking place, writing a poem can act as a way for young people to get creative, become positive and express how they feel during our Borough of Culture year. We appreciate this is a very difficult time, but we are all in this together as one big community.”

Rose Paterson, Aintree Racecourse Chairman, said: “We were deeply saddened to cancel the Randox Health Grand National Festival for 2020 because of the battle against coronavirus. We are proud to be part of the community ourselves and know first-hand of its unique spirit and strength – it helps to make the Grand National one of the world’s great sporting events.

“Therefore, we’re committed to do our bit to support people in the community and one of the ways is to work with Sefton Borough Council to launch the Grand Poetry Competition in their Borough of Culture Year, to provide some light relief for the children at a difficult time.”

Judges for the competition include Aintree Chairman Rose Paterson, poet Amina Atiq and Cllr June Burns, Mayor of Sefton.

Poet Amina Atiq added: “I am delighted to be judging The Grand Poetry Competition 2020. In these difficult times, encouraging our children to be creative, to think and challenge is needed more than ever.”

Poems need to be submitted to GrandPoetry@thejockeyclub.co.uk

Follow @Sefton2020 and @AintreeRaces on both Twitter and Facebook.

A huge mural of legendary race horse Red Rum by acclaimed street artist Paul Curtis has been unveiled in Southport.

The mural covers more than 270 square metres and has been commissioned as part of Sefton’s Borough of Culture celebrations for 2020.

It depicts Red Rum training on Southport beach and highlights how the horse, trained by Southport’s Ginger McCain, went on to win the Aintree Grand National three times – 1973, 1974 and 1977. A feat that has never been equalled in the history of the illustrious race.

Artist Paul Curtis, who painted the iconic Liverbird wings in the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool, took just over a week to complete the amazing piece of artwork located on a gable wall at the top of Scarisbrick Avenue by the Promenade.

Liverpool based Paul Curtis said: “This is by far the biggest mural I have completed and one of the most enjoyable to do.

“A lot of planning went into the design of the artwork and I was able to capture Red Rum galloping is the sea with the Southport sands in the background.

“Red Rum is part of Southport’s and the Grand National’s heritage and it was a privilege to paint such an iconic horse as part of Sefton’s Borough of Culture celebrations in such a prime location.

“Such is the size and scale of the mural you can see it from a great distance away, and I hope it will form part of a continuing legacy of Red Rum remembering what he achieved as a race horse and his training on Southport beach.”

Mayor of Sefton, Cllr June Burns, added: “This really is a remarkable piece of artwork.

“Considering the current national situation, I hope the mural really paints a positive image for everyone as part of our Borough of Culture year.

“Thanks to Paul Curtis for creating something amazing that will form a legacy of our Borough of Culture year.”

The Borough of Culture (BoC) title is awarded by the Liverpool City Region’s Combined Authority to one of its six local authorities (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) on a rotating, annual basis. Sefton has the prestigious honour for 2020.

Follow Sefton’s Borough of Culture year on Twitter and Facebook @sefton2020 and please tag us in to any photos taken of this iconic mural.

Three civic buildings in Sefton were sensationally lit up as the Nightingale’s Song dazzled residents and visitors as part of our Borough of Culture year.

Waterloo Town Hall was the setting for the first instalment of the light show brought by Illuminos on March 13 followed by Bootle Town Hall the following day (March 14). The Atkinson, Southport hosted the final show of a trilogy on Sunday (March 15) that portrayed the history of the borough through a spectacular light display on the civic buildings.

Before the main shows, crowds witnessed the buildings being lit up through the ‘Words of Wisdom’ project by Formby based Windmills Foundation.

Their ‘Words of Wisdom’ project is all about engaging with primary schools in the borough in cultural and social activities while linking them to isolated elderly residents in Sefton and has received Borough of Culture funding. Waterloo Primary School, Bedford Road Primary School in Bootle and Linaker Primary School in Southport all took part in the project early this year.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s main Borough of Culture sponsor, said: “The three displays were certainly wow moments and every civic building used looked sensational.

“Hundreds upon hundreds of people turned out each night to witness an amazing trilogy of light shows that depicted Sefton’s rich and cultural history.

“Considering the current national circumstances, a big thanks goes to everyone who made the effort to attend any of the shows, they were not let down.

“We will aim to bring this event back to Sefton in the future to enable more of our residents to enjoy this spectacular show – however, we will do this at the right time.

“We are also reviewing the Borough of Culture programme and the proposals of our communities and partners given current circumstances and will provide updates in due course.”

The Borough of Culture (BoC) title is awarded by the Liverpool City Region’s Combined Authority to one of its six local authorities (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) on a rotating, annual basis. Sefton has the prestigious honour for 2020.

Follow Sefton’s Borough of Culture year on Twitter and Facebook @sefton2020