Are you 16-25, live in Padiham, and want to travel abroad to learn more about the world, but are stuck for cash? You could be eligible for a scholarship established by the late Mr Arthur Edmondson Quinn, who bequeathed a share of his estate, upon a Trust, to Lancashire County Council for the purpose of establishing a travel scholarship. This scholarship is designed to provide an opportunity for 16-25 year olds, in full time education whose parents live in Padiham, to travel abroad to expand their education.
For more information on how to appy, please see below. The closing date for applications is Friday 26th July 2019.
PEOPLE flocked to Chorley town centre at the weekend to enjoy some delicious treats at A Taste of Chorley, the town’s annual food and drink showcase. Organised by Chorley Council and local traders, over 50 stalls lined the town centre streets offering everything from local grub and desserts to homemade cakes to food from around the world. Visitors also got the chance to enjoy a whole array of drinks, including a cocktail masterclass from Cosmopolitan, Proseccos from Copa Fizz and the locally made Cuckoo Gin from Brindle Distillery.
There was also the chance to pick up some top cooking tips with everyone from The Bees Country Kitchen to Gobins Family Butchers to Brinscall Baker taking a turn in the demonstration kitchen to cook up a range of dishes that delighted the crowds.
The Great Chorley Bake Off also saw some fantastic entries with prizes awarded in all three categories and The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, talked about his new book and offered advice later in the evening at St Michael’s Academy. Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council said:
“This weekend showed off the brilliant range of food and drink businesses we have here in Chorley, and it was fantastic to see so many people enjoying everything on offer, despite the wet weather on the Saturday. “The quality of food and drink was outstanding, and people got to learn how to make some delicious dishes with local businesses sharing their knowledge and giving advice in the demonstration kitchen.
“Extending A Taste of Chorley to two days worked really well, giving us a platform to continue building on the event and making it even bigger next year. We’ve had lots of great feedback and we’re hoping everyone will come back next year with even more varieties of food and drink added to the line-up.” The event was free to attend with people getting some top tips from local chefs, bakers and butchers who gave cooking demonstrations, alongside local artisan producers.
There was also some great family fun, including face painting, a climbing wall and small children’s rides. The trails around the town centre also proved popular, including the taste trail where participants sampled local foods and a children’s ‘fiver fest’ trail where the younger ones searched for the hidden Totally locally Chorley £5 notes. To find out more about events happening in the Chorley area, visit checkoutchorley.com
Animals, birds, and all things natural are being carved into new entrance features for Woodnook Vale Local Nature Reserve, inspired by the ideas of local school children.
Working alongside local residents, children and young people from the local schools, Fern Gore Residents Association and Hyndburn Council – Community Interest Company Proffitts – Investing in Communities are leading a project to improve three of the main entrances at Woodnook Vale Local Nature Reserve.
The project gives local families the opportunity to get involved in planting trees, shrubs and bulbs and produce environment themed artwork which will define the entrances and make them more welcoming. Year 5 children from Woodnook Primary School worked alongside local artist Rick Goodwin from Stump Art to design a new, carved seat for one of the entrances close to their school. The children were given an exciting carving demonstration and have designed a seat that has a fox and a deer at either end, with other creatures being included such as hedgehogs, squirrels, butterflies and bees. It was a fantastic workshop that gave the children the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors and get back to nature.
Joanne Fisher, of Woodnook Primary School, said; “The children were amazed at the skill. strength and imagination needed to create animals out of wood. They were thrilled as they saw a fox being created before their very eyes. Rick’s talent and enthusiasm sparked their interest and created a new appreciation for the work of artists and their local area. They can’t wait to see their ideas actually take shape. “
Cllr Miles Parkinson, Leader of Hyndburn Council, said; “I’m so pleased to see the involvement of children from Woodnook Primary School and see their interest in the nature reserve grow. It’s a great outdoor learning space for all the schools in the surrounding area”.
Martin from Proffitts – Investing in Communities said; “The children are really excited to see their design ideas come to life. Rick from Stump Art gave a fantastic demonstration and it’s great to see outdoor projects like this inspiring the next generation of woodland workers and nature lovers.’’ The pupils will return to the nature reserve later in the year to see the seat in place and plant some bulbs there. And in the coming months, improvements will have been completed at 3 entrances from Perth St, Miller Fold and Royds St, Accrington. For more information about the scheme visit: http://www.proffittscic.com/community-projects/woodnook-local-nature-reserve-entrances/ https://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/woodnook-vale/ or contact Martin Proffitt at Proffitts (CIC) on 07989928038 or martin.proffitt@proffittscic.com.
“There are 57 varieties of guided walks for the 2019 Pendle Walking Festival, announced Tom Partridge, Pendle Council’s Countryside Access Officer. “And this year we are delighted to see more women volunteering to lead walks than ever before.”
Walks being led by women include an easy three miler exploring Nelson’s industrial heritage along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with Andrea Smith from Barrowford. And a tough 13 mile stage of The Pendle Way under Kelbrook Moor will be led by local rambler Kath Edmundson, from Earby. An eight mile Colne Water walk led by Hungarian Marianna Borbely who lives in Wigan will climb Knarrs Hill and descend to Wycoller.
Walkers will get the chance to explore Wycoller’s atmospheric ruined hall, the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. A gentle-paced five mile walk with Helen Thompson will explore Water Meetings.
This Iron Age site is the place where Pendle Water gathered from Pendle Hill meets Blacko Water, with views of intriguing Blacko Tower. Jennifer Little from Colne, a walk leader for the last eight festivals, said: “It’s an opportunity to meet people from further affield including walkers from abroad.”
Helen Thompson, who lives in Clitheroe and works for The Ribble Rivers Trust, will be leading a walk for the first time. She said: “I’ve enjoyed getting to know Pendle better and I’ve been really inspired by the views on my walk.”
Tom, who organises the annual walking event said: “Our festival is one of the largest free walking festivals in the UK and takes the strain out of map reading and route- finding. “Enjoy breath taking views around every corner as you follow our friendly and experienced guides. “Many of our walk leaders have taken part in our Pendle Walking Festival for years and are keen to share their knowledge of the area, including Pendle’s fascinating history,” he added.
“And 53 out of the 57 walks are completely free of charge. “Take a look at our programme at www.visitpendle.com/walks or pick up a copy from the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford or from the Visit Pendle info point at Boundary Mill in Colne,” he said.
Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, leader of Pendle Council said: “We’re so proud of Pendle and this year’s Walking Festival focuses on the people and places which make our area unique. “We are grateful to our walks leaders for offering a warm welcome and a special insight into our history. Mike Williams, Pendle’s Tourism Officer said: “Pendle is a fantastic place to explore and enjoy some of the most stunning countryside views in the north of England including Pendle Hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“Our wild and wonderful landscape has inspired generations of free thinkers over hundreds of years. “And this year we have a number of walks which introduce our area’s radical thinkers,” he said. They include 17th century mathematician Sir Jonas Moore – the father of time – who established Greenwich Mean Time.
The classic climb up Pendle Hill with Tom Partridge will follow in the footsteps of George Fox whose famous vision on Pendle Hill in 1652 led him to found the Quaker movement. “Not forgetting the Sabden Chartists and walks which explore the dramatic landscape of the Pendle Witches of 1612,” added, Mike.
Council Leader, Councillor Iqbal added: “As well as being good for the health and wellbeing of our local residents and visitors, walking is also serious business in Pendle. “Over 2.7 million day and overnight visitors bring over £119 million into Pendle’s economy each year and our network of 100s of miles of footpaths are a big attraction.
“Latest figures from Visit Lancashire show that overnight visitors brought nearly £32 million into Pendle in 2017. This shows that our visitor economy is healthy and growing,” he said.
Owners of a new 65-apartment residential development in Chorley are looking for a business to take on a new café let on its site in the heart of the town centre.
Chorley Council, which owns the Primrose Gardens extra care scheme, is looking for a local business to operate the café, which will serve the residents and the wider community. It comes with a fully-fitted kitchen, space to seat around 50 people and the potential to expand outdoors. Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said: “It’s an exciting time as we see another of our major town centre developments near completion and we are now looking to get a local business to occupy the café.
“There is lots of potential with a dance hall and bookable conference room on site, which means there will be a lot of natural footfall, not withstanding its excellent location in the town centre. “It’d be great to see a borough-based business take on this opportunity and make a success of it as this will become part off the community, not just an ordinary café.”
The £9 million development, off Fleet Street, has been built by Chorley Council with support from Lancashire County Council and Homes England. The café is ready for someone to move in straight away and the council is looking for a first-class business to take it on. “If people want to know a bit more about what’s available then the can get in touch with us and we’ll show them around,” said Councillor Bradley. “The facilities inside are top quality and we think this could be a very profitable business for the right business.”
The first residents will be moving into the development in the summer and anyone wanting more information about the café let should visit primrose-gardens.com or call 01257 515151.
Most have experienced it. A doctor says you need some blood tests and a half a dozen stabs and prods later – sometimes more – the doctor has your blood sample and the patient has a sore arm that resembles a pincushion. Many healthcare institutions such as GP surgeries and hospitals now employ phlebotomists to perform the role of collecting blood from their in-patients and out-patients.
Skilled phlebotomists – the healthcare professionals who take your blood – are the experts who have been gradually replacing nurses and doctors and who specialise in just collecting blood samples. Phlebotomy posts are usually very flexible and can vary from full and part-time hospital posts to part time work in surgeries and clinics. Geopace Training has built a nationwide reputation for teaching phlebotomy the right way and Geopace tutors travel from across country and even internationally to be train phlebotomy students.
Each Geopace class lasts two full days and at the end of the course students will have attained an accredited certificate in phlebotomy. Students need no prior experience in healthcare and come from all walks of life and all ages. The Introduction to Phlebotomy Course provides a very thorough grounding in both theory and practical elements and prepares students up to the point of ‘live blood draws’.
“It’s also a lot of fun” says Amy, admin manager at Geopace Training. “Many students email us after completing the course to say how enjoyable it was whilst others email us to let us know that they have been accepted for phlebotomy jobs”.
Geopace instructors are some of the most elite in the industry and the training programme is constantly updated to keep up with new developments and changes, so students receive the most current information and training available. Students attending the course are very hands-on, practicing on artificial arms which pump fake blood, with a choice of veins to perform and practise on.
There is also a theory element to complete although there are no exams at the end. Students complete modules as they process through the course and it’s almost impossible for anyone to fail. Once completed the course awards a nationally recognised and accredited certificate in phlebotomy (accredited at Level 5 in Ireland). If you like the idea of working in the healthcare profession then why not visit the Geopace Training website for more information at: www.geopace.net
Places are very limited. Courses are scheduled for Lancaster in October and both Preston and Manchester in December.
The Council has launched a campaign to build a statue of Baroness Castle to celebrate the contribution she made to the borough, which she served as MP for 34 years, and the country as a whole. The statue will be made in high quality bronze and stand proudly in Jubilee Square, where Barbara would have often passed on her constituency business.
The aim is to have a celebratory unveiling on 6 October 2020, on what would have been her 110th birthday. Councillor Andy Kay, Executive Member for Finance and Governance, said: “Blackburn is the natural place for this statue; it will be a fitting tribute.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing it standing proudly in our town centre. I’m sure it will be enjoyed by local people of all ages and also tourists with an interest in high quality statues of exceptional people. Members of the public are invited to contribute to the cost of the statue via gofundme.com/BarbaraCastle where you can leave a donation. The creation is expected to become a national tourist attraction and a valuable addition to the borough’s collection of art.
If you would like to leave a larger donation or want to share details of memorabilia or special memories, contact Julia Simpson at julia.simpson@blackburn.gov.uk or call 01254 588598.
Aughton Wood Park, a brand-new development of 30 homes on Hornby Road, Caton, is unveiling its beautiful show home at an open house event this weekend.
Taking place on Saturday 22 June, from 10am-4pm, the event will give prospective buyers the opportunity to look around the new development and inspect the beautifully appointed and spacious properties.
Aughton Wood Park has been built by Mulbury on behalf of Redwing Living. The properties are a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes and come in five different styles.
The development offers customers a prime location in Caton, with views across the Lune Valley benefiting from picturesque surroundings whilst being within easy reach of Lancaster town centre. Aughton Wood Park perfectly combines the tranquillity of countryside living with the convivence of being close to towns and cities.
Properties are available for sale and prices start from £165,000. There are also a number of homes available for shared ownership.
Redwing Living is urging interested prospective buyers to register their interest by calling 0344 7360062. For more information visit awp-caton.co.uk/
Download Festival
returned to Donington Park for 3 days of pure rock music. This
mammoth extravaganza now in its 17th year is a highlight
in the festival calendar, boasting a line-up that included Slipknot,
Def Leppard and Tool as headliners, you would be hard pushed to find
any other festival with such established names.
Unlike other festivals
where they rely on just the headliners to pull in the punters,
Download Festival also ensure that the non headliners are just as
appealing. Acts such as legendary guitarist Slash playing with Myles
Kennedy and the Conspirators, Smashing Pumpkins, Trivium, and
Whitesnake all worthy of catching live on their own, let alone
together at one event.
As always Download try
to put on little gems just to add that extra sparkle to their rock
music crown. These are bands that are formed by individuals from
other famous bands and if you don’t do your research you might miss
them.
One band that could be
considered a gem, were the main stage opening act Last in
Line. Created from the
former members of Dio, surprisingly even Vivian Campbell (guitarist)
managed to be awake early enough to ensure that the band was ready to
go on time, despite also performing as part of the headline act Def
Leppard later in the evening.
One other such band on
Friday was Deadland Ritual. Comprising of Geezer Butler (Black
Sabbath) Matt Sorum (ex-Guns N Roses) Steve Stevens (Billy Idol
guitarist) and vocalist Franky Perez (Apocalyptica) they impressed
the crowd with their brand of rock on the Zippo Encore stage.
Over the weekend there
were numerous issues with the merchandise stalls accepting card
payments, some punters waiting over an hour to get to the front of
the queue just to be told that the card machines weren’t working.
Better communication would have been appreciated. A hoodie would have
set you back £45. Drinks such as Pepsi were £3.50 for their version
of a large size. Alcohol prices started at £4.50 all the way to over
£16 for a bottle of wine. Tea and coffee were around £2. There was
a whole variety of food stalls, ranging from £5 for doughnuts up to
£9.50 for Filled Yorkshire puddings.
Unfortunately, despite
Download having a stellar line up, the weather was not playing ball.
Biblical downpours and endless mud were the conditions for this
festival. Occasionally, the sun would make appearance to tease the
rock fans to remind them of what could have been. As the saying goes
“Julia Cesar and the Roman Empire couldn’t conquer the blue
skies” neither could the organisers of Download.
Whitesnake managed to
create one of the biggest responses from the crowd, with their blend
of tongue in cheek sing-along anthems. Although it was hard to tell
if it was Whitesnake material or the fleeting appearance of sunshine
that sparked the audience into life. Vocalist David Coverdale tried
to get the audience to sing a long and at times it fell flat. However
musically the band are still a tour de force when it comes to playing
live, although it did feel like most people watching were just
waiting for the classic hit “Here I Go Again” rather than
all of the other material that they did back in the 80’s such as
“Still of the Night”.
There were plenty of
highlights throughout the weekend, with so many bands it would be
hard not to find something to like, in summary some of my personal
highlights were Slash with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators
performing a setlist that wasn’t heavily reliant on Guns N Roses
tracks. (Ok so they did slip in ‘Night Train’, but they
can be forgiven for that one).
Seeing Def Leppard
perform the album “Hysteria” in its entirety brought back lots
of memories and appeared to be well received by the rain-soaked
crowd.
Bad Wolves performing
their version of “Zombie” was probably one of the more poignant
highlights of the weekend. Dedicating it to Delores O’ Riordan.
Slipknot were another
phenomenal highlight, a performance that was high octane from the
opening notes of “People=S##t” to the dying notes of their
final song “Surfacing”. It was a masterclass in taking the
music to the fans.
Also, Slayer performing
what has been widely publicised as their last ever UK appearance was
a set list designed to please the fans one last time. Songs such as
“Raining Blood” and “South of Heaven” sent the
crowd into a frenzy. Fingers crossed that it isn’t the last time
Slayer play live in the UK.
Another amazing
Download Festival, albeit a muddy one. The only issue the organisers
have now, is how do they make 2020 even more rocktastic!!
A Blackburn schoolgirl has reached audiences across the world with her passionate speech ‘If I could change the world’. Sara Hussain, a pupil at Wensley Fold C of E Primary Academy, Blackburn, wrote the speech for the borough’s annual Public Speaking Cluster Competition for schools. In her heartfelt address, 11 year old Sara considers what she would say to Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, if she could travel back in time to the night of the attack in May 2017.
Shared on the academy’s social media channels, Sara’s speech went on to attract the attention of both local and national media. This week she has appeared on BBC Radio Lancashire and on BBC North West Tonight regional news. The story of Sara’s inspiration for the speech, from her friend who was at the Arianna Grande concert on the night of the Manchester Arena attack, has also featured in national news media, including The Guardian, i News and Huffington Post.
Sara Hussain said: “The reaction was a bit overwhelming at first – I didn’t expect it. I felt a bit nervous about being filmed for television but it was a good experience and I’m proud of myself.” The video of Sara delivering her message of peace and love has been shared widely on social media and attracted comments from as far afield as Australia.
Sara added: “It’s a bit weird to know that my message has gone that far! I hope it changes people’s views and attitudes. So many people have watched the video and it’s good to know that people are listening and have heard my message. Some people might think that because it is coming from an 11 year old girl I can’t make a difference but I can. I hope I change people’s views and attitudes. Words are powerful.”
The Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Councillor Mohammed Khan, congratulated Sara Hussain on her achievement. He said: “In her speech, Sara talks about having a good heart and a voice that deserves to be heard as she considers how she can make a difference in the world. She has clearly put her good heart to excellent use in this speech by challenging the negative view of Islam that those Muslims who commit acts of terror perpetuate.
“She’s used her talents for writing and public speaking to speak out with a message of peace and love. The world needs more people like Sara. Well done to her.” Donna Simpson, head teacher at Wensley Fold C of E Primary School, said the whole academy is “incredibly proud” of Sara. Donna added: “Sara is an amazing citizen. How I wish that there were more people in the world like Sara – what a wonderful world it would be.”
