. August 2019 - Wilcop Media

August 2019

Nottingham News, Notts Health & Care

Retailers across West Bridgford are being encouraged to sign up to Nottinghamshire County Council’s take-a-seat campaign to help more older and disabled shoppers be ensured of a resting place when out and about. More than 300 businesses and other organisations across the county have already made a commitment to make their shops and buildings more age-friendly, with shops and organisations in West Bridgford now joining the scheme including Timpson, Co-op Funeral Care, Create! West Bridgford and Renew 37, a community hub based on Abbey Road.

By displaying the ‘We are Age Friendly’ sticker, businesses are providing reassurance to older people and people with a disability or chronic illness that they will be offered a seat when they go inside – should they need to rest. Many shops will also offer a drink and, if accessible, use of their toilet facilities. Councillor John Handley, Vice-Chairman of Communities and Place Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, “We are passionate about helping older people stay independent and connected to their communities and we encourage more shops and businesses to sign up to promote their great service for older customers.”

Local resident, Jenny Letts, welcomed the initiative. She said, “It’s a brilliant idea. When you’re out and about in West Bridgford is nice to know you have somewhere to sit for a rest without having to think about whether you need to buy something or not. “It may be warm now, but in the winter months it will be good to have somewhere to come in from the cold.

“I’m passionate about spreading the word about this idea as it helps people like myself to stay active and get out and about. “Eventually I’m sure more and more local shops and cafes will have the ‘We are Age Friendly’ sign in their shop window.” Timpson Store manager Chris Riley added. “We are very happy to support the scheme as it is our company ethos to play a part in helping the community where we can.” A third of older people are identified as lonely, with many losing independence because they find it increasingly difficult to walk from their home to local shops and community venues without the reassurance that there will be somewhere warm and comfortable for them to rest. Being an age friendly business makes commercial sense for retailers. Studies have shown that:

• 60% of older people are concerned by the lack of seating in shopping areas
• 33% of older people would feel ashamed to ask for a seat in a public place
• Annual high street losses of £4.5bn are predicted by 2030 if retailers fail to attract and retain older customers

Lancashire News

Ruffords Country Store is part of Clarke and Pulman, an independent family company est. in 2003. Ged Clarke the Managing Director joined an agricultural tractor and machinery business, as an apprentice sales person. Progressing his way up the ladder resulted in Massey Ferguson recognising Ged’s potential and keen enthusiasm. This resulted in Ged being offered the Massey Ferguson Franchise for the Ormskirk region. Ged readily accepted the challenge in 2003, establishing Clarke and Pulman, further franchises followed; Fendt, JCB, Kverneland and Valtra. All of this situated at his site in Burscough near Ormskirk. Ged’s vision and dedication to the business brought about further inspiration; he had the desire to venture into the Country Clothing sector, complementing his now successful agricultural dealership. In 2017 the acquisition of the Claughton-on-Brock, Garstang branch allowed Ged to make his vision into a reality.

Rufford’s was born and opened in November of 2018 and has been fantastically received, going from strength to strength in just a few short months. The desire and aim are to provide a friendly, first class service together with an enjoyable shopping experience for the community for years to come. The store is run by his daughter Becky Clarke at the Claughton-on-Brock, Garstang branch and is the go-to place in the area for country lifestyle wear. Attached onto Clarke and Pulman and Rufford’s Country Store is also Garstang Tyre Services.

The garage offers tyre services and MOT’s and the trio of business’s work very well together to give waiting customers a place to go, get a tea or coffee and browse the retail stores.

Rufford’s Country Store offers clothing and footwear ranges for Men, Ladies and Children plus has a wide range of giftware and homeware. Being situated on Garstang Road in Claughton-on-Brock gives the store a great advantage for passing custom plus the benefit of having its own free car park for easy access. Plus with development in the immediate area both residential and commercial the region is only going to become busier. The country lifestyle section is one that has been long standing in the retail industry. Being from a country and equine background the whole Clarke family and many of their employees understand customers and what they want from the store. The store boasts some amazing brands such as Dubarry of Ireland, Fairfax and Favor, R.M Williams, Musto and many more. One of the latest brands to be introduced is Hicks and Hides. 17 year old Bridie Hicks founded Hicks and Hides in 2010. Now manufacturing, designing and supplying unique belts, dog collars and leads, purses, wallets, travel-wear and other shooting accessories, Hicks and Hides has developed into a country wear icon.

Based in the idyllic village of Broadway in the Cotswolds, their rustic workshop and showroom promote the heart of our business where they create their bespoke designs. All of their Belts, Dog Collars and Leads are started and finished by hand in England, using the very finest leather. All of their fittings are crafted to the highest standard using solid brass and steel (nickel plated), to complement their signature addition of recycled shotgun cartridges or rifle brass casings.

They really are a go to brand for giftware or even something to treat yourself with. As a whole Rufford’s Country Store has been greatly received, with many customers proclaiming that ‘we have needed something like this in the area for too long’. The positivity has been great to hear and hopefully in the years to come the name Rufford’s Country Store will only grow.

Nottingham News, Notts Leisure

With children about to start their summer holidays and hopefully temperatures rising throughout August, being safe around water is vital. The Partnership’s members which includes Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire Police, The Royal Life Saving Society and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, wants to stress that being water aware whether in or adjacent to water is essential. Also attending the event will be Nicola Jenkins, who tragically lost her 12-year-old son Owen in July 2017 when he valiantly rescued two girls who got into difficulties at Beeston Weir.

He managed to get them to safety, but he lost his footing and was sucked under the water. In his memory, Nicola set up OWEN – the Open Water Education Network – to educate people about being safe around water and to prevent further tragic loss of lives. Coun Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, will welcome partners to the 3 hour event, along with the Canal and River Trust, the county council’s schools swimming team and flood risk management team, Via East Midlands Flood Management team and Year 6 pupils from schools around Rushcliffe.

Coun Cutts said: “It is so important that we get water safety messages across to children and young people especially at this time of the year.
“Being aware of what to do if you see someone in trouble in the water can save a life so surely there’s no better incentive.

“Water safety awareness also needs to be promoted to adults and being able to swim must be a key message for everyone, regardless of how old you are.” The Underwater Search Team from Nottinghamshire Police will conduct a training dive to show people how they rescue someone in trouble and the RNLI will discuss cold water shock and ways to respect the water.
Speedo, a member of the Water Safety Partnership, will provide prizes for competitions taking place during the 3-hour event.

Lancashire News, Lancs What's On

PAW Patrol fans will be able to meet their favourite characters this summer – as Blackburn hosts the world’s first PAW Patrol brick trail, built and presented by BRICKLIVE.

The stunning spectacle, featuring 21 of your favourite characters and buildings from the hit Nick Jr show, will be built by BRICKLIVE from brightly coloured toy bricks and placed around the town centre between 23 August and 1 September. Are you all ears? Characters Chase, Marshall, Skye and the gang will be hosted by venues around the town – which will be rebranded ‘Brickburn’ to celebrate the trail. Blackburn will be the first place in the world to host the official PAW Patrol brick models, with the pups ranging in size from 75cm to 120cm high. Model builders are on a roll ahead of this summer’s trail, and the mighty models will be unveiled on 23 August.

The trail, organised by Blackburn Business Improvement District (BID), will also feature a 2m tall Lookout Tower using over 65,000 bricks; and a selfie-zone of Marshall’s Fire Truck using a whopping 160,000 bricks. Competitions related to the trail will be running during the 10-day installation. Families will be able to explore the town and find all the models using the Brickburn trail map and children will also be able to take part in a number of free workshops and interactive building activities. Across the town, a programme of Brickburn fringe events will also be developed by Blackburn BID businesses, including interactive brick and PAW Patrol themed activities. Details to be announced soon.

Catherine Price, Blackburn BID Manager, said: “The Brickburn PAW Patrol brick trail is an opportunity for Blackburn to come together and celebrate everyone’s favourite childhood bricks. From little ones to big kids, Brickburn will have something for all fans of these iconic building bricks. “We hope families take advantage of this free event and explore Blackburn town centre as they visit each PAW Patrol character on the trail. The fringe events will keep the whole family busy and with workshops free for all, we hope to ignite imaginations across Blackburn.” Brickburn’s PAW Patrol BRICKLIVE trail will take place from 23 August – 1 September across Blackburn centre. More details on the trail, interactive zone and fringe programme will be released in due course.

People can keep up with the latest Brickburn news by searching #Brickburn on Twitter and Instagram, or join the Blackburn BID Facebook page for event details and updates.

© 2019 Spin Master. Viacom International Inc. Copyright © Brick Live Group Limited. All rights reserved. Brick Live Group Limited is an independent producer of BRICKLIVE and is not associated with The LEGO Group. LEGO® is a trademark of LEGO Juris A/S.

Nottingham News, Notts Health & Care

Nottinghamshire has been selected as one of only five councils in the country to deliver an ambitious programme to put healthy food on the menu for young children. The Department of Health and Social Care made the announcement today that Nottinghamshire County Council will be a Childhood Obesity Trailblazer to test out new and innovative ideas. The Council will receive £100,000 a year for three years to target families of pre-school children (six months – five years) and their childcare providers. Statistics show that almost a quarter (22.5%) of Nottinghamshire children are already overweight or obese by the time they reach reception age, showing that many of the current school age initiatives are too late to make a difference.

The Council’s plans include:
• Testing the creation of low-cost healthy food recipe boxes. These will contain recipe cards and ingredients for at least two family meals a week and will be priced at £3 – 4.
• Promoting Healthy Start vouchers and testing out innovative uses such as purchasing recipe boxes.
• Trialling the extension of the Council’s school meals to early years childcare providers.
• Offering nutritionist and development chef support to early years staff and child minders who cook and serve their own food.
• Developing grow-your-own schemes and small businesses in the community.
• Supporting parents to develop good eating habits with their children by offering them learning, peer support and the opportunity to cook, grow, eat and learn about food together at children’s centres.
• Promoting consistent messages on healthy food for pre-school children.

Councillor Tony Harper, Chair of Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee, said: “I am delighted that we’ve been successful in our bid for this scheme, as there were initially 102 local authorities who applied for the funding. “Research shows that eating habits formed at an early age can last a lifetime, so we want to target families of young children and their childcare providers to try and make a positive difference.
This isn’t about telling families what they should or shouldn’t be eating, but it aims to remove some of the existing barriers that are currently in their way.

We will put a range of options in place to help people learn about growing, preparing, cooking and eating healthy food in a way that is available for everyone.” Public Health Minister Seema Kennedy said: “Every child deserves the best start in life – communities need to come together to play their part in helping the next generation to be healthy and active. Prevention is at heart of our NHS Long Term Plan, but a one-size-fits-all approach does not work in public health.

These pilots are rightly rooted in the needs of the communities they serve and I look forward to seeing what benefits this grassroots approach has on our nation’s obesity problem.”

Ann Crawford, Deputy Director – Health, Wellbeing and Workforce Development at Public Health England East Midlands, said: “While obesity has no quick fix, this trailblazer project at Nottinghamshire Count Council is an innovative solution that clearly prioritises children and their long-term health. From expert local knowledge, to local authority intervention, community support and government action, we all have crucial roles to play in combatting obesity.” The programme will target areas where obesity in reception age children is currently higher, including parts of Bassetlaw, Ashfield, Mansfield and Newark and Sherwood. Additional support will be available to early years and childcare workers across the county to provide chef time and nutritionist support and promote consistent messages. The Department of Health and Social Care will share learning from these programmes with local authorities across the country to inspire wider innovation. It is hoped that more local authorities will follow suit and use their powers to do similar work in their areas.

The work is part of the government’s Trailblazer programme and is part of the second chapter of the Government’s childhood obesity plan

Lancashire News, Lancs What's On

It’s blast-off time for an out-of-this-world adventure at Manchester libraries as this year’s Summer Reading Challenge ‘Space Chase’ gets underway.
All children aged 4-11 years can take part in the fun and join in for free by asking about it at their local library. All those taking part get a special pack to launch them off on their reading challenge, as well as a few free gifts along the way – including the chance to enter prize draws to win some fantastic prizes.

The summer reading challenge is simple to do – children just have to read any six library books of their own choice or from the Space Chase collection of books and pick up a special sticker each time they finish one. When they’ve completed the challenge they get rewarded with a fabulous medal and entered into the grand prize draw.

There will be lots of other fun things to do during the challenge at libraries across the city with over 160 free family craft and activity sessions planned. Tiny tots will also be able to get involved through a separate mini-challenge of their very own. The Summer Reading Challenge is delivered in association with The Reading Agency and is the UK’s biggest annual reading promotion for children.

Between 2016 and 2018 over 26,000 children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge in Manchester libraries, and it’s hoped that a record-breaking number of children will take part this year. The challenge comes hot on the heels of the citywide Readathon held in June that saw 36,000 local children sign up to take part in the mammoth fortnight-long charity reading session to raise money for books to go in the library at Manchester Children’s Hospital. Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure, said:

“We know that children in Manchester love reading and we’re determined to get even more children involved than before in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. Get down to your local library, grab some books, and get involved – it’s going to be out of this world!”

For more details on the Summer Reading Challenge and a full list of activities taking place in Manchester libraries over the summer visit: manchester.gov.uk/summerreadingchallenge

Lancashire News

St Helens Chamber is launching a brand new Study Programme in September, IT Systems and Coding, aimed at creating talented candidates for local businesses and filling the gap in training for young people aspiring to have a career in the digital industry. Liverpool City Region is one of the UKs fastest growing digital and creative hubs, but many vacancies are left unfilled due to a shortage of experienced candidates. This Study Programme aims to address this by training talented, local young Apprentices to fill these vacancies.

In the Liverpool City Region, 22,000 people are already employed in the digital and creative sector. As an industry worth £1.8bn to the region, investment in the next generation of digital talent is key to building on our region’s strong position. John Westhead, Director of Training Services at St Helens Chamber, explains:

“Many young people have come to the Chamber showing an interest in starting a career in development and coding, but there has been a lack of training available for them locally to do so. “We’ve created this Study Programme to fill this training gap so they can pursue their career aspirations, right here in St Helens. It’s important to us to invest in developing the next generation of digital professionals, as the statistics show the digital sector is growing and local businesses are crying out for great candidates.”

The IT Systems and Coding Study Programme will be delivered at Clickworks, St Helens Chamber’s digital skills centre in St Helens town centre, and will train students aged 16-18 in the basics of coding; with modules including Principles of ICT systems and data security, Creating computer programmes, Java script and SQL.

Alongside building their coding and IT skills, students will complete an extended work experience placement and also will benefit from an all-expenses-paid study trip to Germany, a range of field trips, free driving lessons and more to broaden their industry knowledge.
The study programme will give local businesses access to a pool of talented developers ready to recruit into their businesses – bringing fresh ideas and plenty of energy.

John added: “This new Study Programme will create brand new candidates with the right training to be able to fill the vacancies of local businesses, boosting employment in our area. “Plenty of local businesses are in need of candidates and are more than happy to offer Apprenticeships after seeing how valuable they can be to a business. The Study Programme will help us to meet this demand and continue our work to support both young people and the local economy.”

To find out more about St Helens Chamber’s new study programmes contact Laura Brogden at laura.brogden@sthelenschamber.com or 01744 742011.

Nottingham News, Notts Health & Care

School pupils in Mansfield and Ashfield are set to benefit from additional mental health support following an announcement by Education Secretary Damian Hinds.

Nottinghamshire County Council and NHS commissioners have successfully been granted extra funding by the government to extend a Trailblazer pilot to Mansfield and Ashfield to transform children’s mental health in the school setting. The original pilot was agreed for the Rushcliffe and Gedling areas last year and mental health teams in schools will roll out in these areas in December 2019. The extra funding is for two years and it will enable a mental health support team to be set up which will cover 20 schools across the Mansfield and Ashfield areas, offering increased access to emotional and wellbeing support. The teams, which will be staffed by mental health professionals, from Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, will work with children and young people with mild to moderate emotional, mental health and well-being problems.

More schools across Nottinghamshire will also have the opportunity to attend free Mental Health in Schools Link Workshops. These workshops bring together education and mental health staff to discuss and plan how they can support children and young people’s mental health in schools. 109 schools attended these workshops last year. Nationally, one in eight young people aged five to 19 had a diagnosable mental health condition in 2017 and teenagers with a mental health disorder are more than twice as likely to have a mental disorder in adulthood. Mansfield and Ashfield has the highest number of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) contacts in the County.

Councillor Philip Owen, Chair of the County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, said: “We are delighted that we have been successful in getting this additional support, which will benefit young people from Mansfield and Ashfield and their carers. This puts us in an excellent position to develop and improve mental health support in our local schools, which play a vital role in identifying mental health needs and building resilience in young people.”

Dr Gavin Lunn, Clinical Chair, Mansfield and Ashfield CCG says: “This scheme is a great opportunity to focus on early intervention. We know young people and their parents and carers want to be able to access mental health services quickly and that the earlier mental health problems are identified the better the health outcomes. Having mental health support teams in schools will provide additional support for well-being and mental health directly to children and young people and offer an easier and more familiar setting for them to access care when they need it.”

Julie Attfield is Interim Director of Mental Health with Nottingham shire Healthcare: “We are delighted at this extra investment in the health and wellbeing of young people in Mansfield and Ashfield areas. The mental health of young people is of the utmost importance and if we can help and support young people in a timely manner then we can prevent them using mental health services in the future.

That’s good for the young people, their families and society in general.” Further funding was announced by the Government for the Nottingham City area, which will be used to develop mental health support teams across 40 schools in the area. The teams in the City, Mansfield and Ashfield areas will all be operational from September 2020.

Nottingham News, Notts Health & Care

A Newark & Bassetlaw service for people recovering from an illness, injury or operation has been rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission in a recent inspection. The County Council runs the ‘Short Term Assessment and Reablement Team (START)’ to help people regain the skills to live independently, often following a stay in hospital.

The free service, which is available for up to three weeks, supports people with daily living activities such as washing and dressing, food and drink preparation, medication and mobility. Staff help people to regain their independence by showing them new ways to do tasks, breaking down activities step by step and agreeing achievable goals. Equipment such as shower chairs, dressing aids and medication reminders can also be provided. Support is then gradually reduced as people are able to do more for themselves.

One lady who used the service regained her ability to care for herself, but she also wanted to be able to leave her house and visit her mule in the field next door. Staff showed her a safe technique for getting down her big kitchen step using her walking frame and she now enjoys seeing him every day without any further help.

Councillor Tony Harper, Chair of Adult Social Care and Health Committee, said: “It is heart-warming to hear the genuinely positive feedback from the people who use this service. I’d like to thank all the staff who work so hard to support people back to independent living.

“I’m particularly pleased to hear how much we are working with people to find out what it is they want to achieve and then doing everything we can to help them reach that goal.”

The START service, which also has teams in Mansfield & Ashfield and Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, worked with 1780 people in 2018/19. 75% of these service users who completed reablement did not need ongoing home care as a result.

The Care Quality Commission report is available at https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-160392550/reports

Lancashire News

Plans to bring an adventure golf course and tenpin bowling alley to Chorley town centre are taking shape as the people behind the business got a look around the Market Walk development. ​Ian and Lorraine Kearney, who will run the Escape Entertainment Venue, got a tour of the site with bosses from Chorley Council, which is building the extension to the Market Walk shopping centre. The new venture has also had plenty of offers of support from local businesses and Ian and Lorraine have been overwhelmed by the positive comments from people.

“It’s been full steam ahead getting all the plans in place and the support from members of the public has been phenomenal,” said Ian.
“It was great to get chance to have a look around inside the building and we can’t wait to show everyone the detail of what we will be hosting in Chorley as it will be up there with the best leisure offers in the region.
“We will be providing entertainment that will let people escape from their day-to-day lives and allow them to have plenty of fun with family and friends.”

The plans, which are subject to a contract being signed, are a significant step in attracting tenants to the £15 million extension, off Union Street, which will see a six-screen cinema and M&S Food hall coming to Chorley.
Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said:
“We knew that this type of offer would be really popular but the response has been fantastic.

“It was great to walk the site with Ian and Lorraine and it is brilliant that we have a local business looking to bring this new offer and I know they are keen to work with other Chorley businesses, which is great for the borough.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the final designs and concepts for the adventure golf and tenpin bowling and we’ll share them with everyone as soon as we can.” Alongside the shopping centre extension Chorley Council is undergoing multi-million-pound improvements to the wider town centre and has already created more than 100 new parking spaces to accommodate extra visitors.

The shopping centre extension is due to open in time for Christmas trading in 2019.