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Lancashire News

Lancashire News

The Council is pleased to welcome brand new business Home Sweet Home to Darwen Market.


The stall sells quality bed covers, pillows, duvets, cushions, bathroom mats, towels, throws and more and is already proving a hit with customers after just a week. After hearing too many times that there was nowhere in Darwen town centre to get bedding, towels and other items for the home, Lee Hughes decided to set up stall at Darwen Market.

Husband to Melanie, popular owner of Making Memories Haberdashery, Lee is a plasterer by trade but saw an opportunity to bring this high quality stall to the market and we’re certainly glad he did!

For now, Lee will continue plastering part-time and the stall will be run by Lee and local employee Mikki. She is certainly knowledgeable and can vouch for the quality of the products, as she admits to spending her first week’s wages on goods from the stall.

She said: The ‘Hug and Snug’ throws are so soft; I’ve bought four so far – one in every colour! They are great as I can fit my entire family under one throw.” The stall is well laid out and looks really good in the Market. We have had lots of comments saying that this is just what we needed in Darwen and I think that they are right”. Darwen Market has become a family affair for Melanie and Lee with their two stalls now and both daughters working on Saturday’s for Crabtree’s Indulge and Rushton’s the Bacon Stall.

Why not pop down and say hello, browse the products and maybe even treat yourself to something new for your home. The throws and cushions would make fantastic Mother’s Day Gifts too!

The addition of new stalls is good news for the market and its customers. If these stories have given you the motivation to open your own pop up or stall, there are currently a number of opportunities for pop ups, short and long term leases at Darwen Market.

For more information please contact our friendly team on 01254 585151 or contact us via our website http://www.darwenmarket.com/ and click on ‘rent a stall’.

Lancashire News

Ewood Park hosted Blackburn with Darwen’s first summit on healthy weight on Wednesday 13 March. The ‘Making Healthy Weight Everyone’s Business’ event saw Local Government partners, including Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool Councils, join forces with Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Public Health England and the Food Active partnership – a collaborative programme made up of Public Health Directors across the North West.

Chaired by Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Brian Taylor, the morning of the summit saw speakers from the various organisations talking on a range of issues including the national perspective on healthy weight, healthy weight in Blackburn with Darwen and ways to make healthy weight everyone’s responsibility. The afternoon session saw workshops taking place to develop the vision for the recently announced Childhood Obesity Trailblazer Programme.

That programme is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and managed by the Local Government Association. It seeks innovative action to tackle childhood obesity at local level. The Council and its partners in the Together a Healthier Future programme will use an initial £10,000 funding to develop innovative plans to reduce childhood obesity that can also be shared across the country.

The healthy weight summit was another achievement of a three-year strategy by Blackburn with Darwen Council and NHS health partners to encourage residents to move more, eat well and maintain a healthy weight.
The Eat Well, Shape Up, Move More Strategy aims to encourage positive lifestyle changes that enable local people to improve their health and wellbeing by supporting an environment where physical activity and healthy eating is the easy choice for everyone throughout their lives. This has included a commitment to signing a joint healthy weight declaration.

The Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight – signed in 2017 – contains fourteen common commitments that all Local Authorities that sign up to it agree to pursue, along with a set of themes specific to the local area.
The local commitments have included promoting active travel with the launch of the Weavers Wheel; supporting the Daily Mile scheme and food policies for Primary Schools; food and physical activity policies and support for early years settings; creation of a Food Alliance for BwD to address food poverty and food sustainability and working towards the borough’s designation as a Breastfeeding Friendly Borough and a Sugar Smart Borough. Councillor Brian Taylor said: A healthy weight is an essential foundation for physical, emotional and social wellbeing. Along with partners from across the borough and beyond, we have made various commitments to support residents to eat well, shape up, move more and live healthier lives and this healthy weight summit – which I was delighted to chair – was all part of our ongoing focus in that area.

Lancashire News

The riverside play area in Towneley Park was has been re-opened by local youngster eight-year-old Kenzie Lumsden following a major refurbishment undertaken by Burnley Council’s greenspaces team.

Kenzie is disabled and wasn’t able to use the previous equipment but the refurbished play area featured equipment that is accessible and open for Kenzie, and others like him, to use. He was put forward to officially re-open the playground and the council was pleased to allow him the honour.
The play area has always been a firm favourite with local families but needed some improvements and so the council worked with the Friends of Towneley on the consultation and design of the play area and the Friends secured grant funding of £30,000 from the Lancashire Environmental Fund towards the cost of the scheme. Burnley Rotary Club also helped support the project.

Chair of the Friends of Towneley, Maureen Frankland, said: “Towneley is part of our lives, we played here as children and now we enjoy taking our children and grandchildren to the park and seeing them having fun. We wanted the play area to provide opportunities for children of all ages and abilities and we are very grateful to the Lancashire Environmental Fund and Burnley Council for providing the funding to refurbish the play area.”
The council’s head of greenspaces and amenities, Simon Goff, said:

“We have opened the play area for the Easter holidays so that youngsters could enjoy it during the school break. It’s not quite complete, and we have a couple of large items of equipment, including an interactive sonic arch and a 3m high tube slide with rope bridge still to put in. These will be installed after the holidays are over.”

Lancashire News

Young people from different parts of the borough spent the weekend together on a residential aimed at exploring what they have in common and making plans to work together. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Young People’s Services organised and delivered the weekend residential which took 18 young men and women to Coldwell Activity Centre near Burnley for a variety of outdoor team-building activities and workshops. Representing the Council’s Young People’s Service, BRFC Trust, Blackburn Youthzone, IMO and One Voice Blackburn, the young people also took part in youth work curriculum sessions on democracy and workshops exploring identity.

The young people were nominated by their organisations to represent them at the two night residential which had a focus on social integration.
Blackburn with Darwen is one of only five areas nationally that are working closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to explore innovative ways of building stronger communities.
Jayne Ivory, Director of Children’s Services at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: Blackburn with Darwen has one of the youngest populations in Europe, with one in four people under the age of 15. This presents us with a fantastic opportunity in terms of how we approach the borough’s integration challenges. Coming together as a group and working together, as these young people have begun to do, is a great way to change perceptions and attitudes to people from different backgrounds to our own.
It’s heartening to hear these young people say that they started the weekend as strangers, but ended it as friends. I hope they’ll enjoy continuing to work together.

Shannon represented Blackburn Rovers FC Community Trust at the residential weekend. She said: I enjoyed the weekend because it was really good to meet other people that have similar interests, and to also meet people from other organisations and get to know their opinions on what’s going on in Blackburn with Darwen. Blackburn with Darwen Youth MP Uday Akram took part in the residential. He said: The weekend really brought us together, different people from different backgrounds, giving their opinions. And we can really see that everyone does want integration to happen. During the residential weekend, young people were tasked with putting forward suggestions for a Great Get Together event for others in their age group. The Great Get Together, a national campaign in memory of murdered Batley & Spen MP Jo Cox, aims to bring people together to celebrate what they have in common. Events this year will be held on the third weekend in June. Working in four groups, the young people came up with a wide variety of ideas. They will now work together to develop their ideas and film a video pitch.

The group with the winning pitch will receive funding from the Our Community, Our Future social integration programme to stage their Great Get Together in the summer.

For more information about Blackburn with Darwen’s Our Community, Our Future social integration programme, watch this short video.
https://vimeo.com/ 304607951/2cbb52c07b

Lancashire News

The organisers behind the Blackburn Festival of Light are in the running to win £50,000 to launch a brand new project in the town. They’ve been chosen as part of ‘The People’s Projects’ scheme, a partnership between ITV and the National Lottery, and are competing against groups from across the North West. The cash would help to fund the new ‘Let it Shine’ The People’s Parade initiative which would run throughout the summer holidays and work with families – ending in a celebratory carnival.

The participants will get to do everything from helping to make costumes to learning performance and musical skills and they even could even feature in the parade itself. Kerris Casey-St.Pierre, who’s helping lead the bid, said: “We have been running the community lantern parade now for seven years. “In the winter we run workshops making lanterns, teaching dance and performance and we make the costumes – it brings the community together to create something fantastic.

“What we really want to do is extend our programme throughout the year.
“A lot of our families struggle, particularly during the summer holidays, and we want to arrange a series of workshops throughout that time.” Kerris added: “We want a big carnival-style procession at the end of August right throughout the town centre.

“We want the streets to be full of people and there be dancing, singing and drumming, people on stilts – people generally coming together as a community to have a big celebration.” The group appeared on ITV on Thursday evening with their appeal for votes.

You can watch their video and vote now. https://www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/view/let-it-shine-the-peoples-parade?fbclid=IwAR00K-c6MRV6-kXpowywFEpheUuqwkLM_n806aUmleltwF6QzfUVt4q0kzI
Please help spread the message by sharing the Council’s Facebook and Twitter posts supporting the bid.

Lancashire News, Lancs Health & Care

People in East Lancashire who are at risk of diabetes, or who have been diagnosed with diabetes are now receiving more support than ever before, says the GP lead for diabetes, Dr Rahul Thakur. 

Patients who are at risk of diabetes can sign up to “The Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme” to help manage their weight and steer clear of a diabetes diagnosis.

Dr Rahul Thakur a local GP and clinical lead at East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group said:

“Most people would be shocked to know that around 22,000 people with diabetes die early every year across the country. Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of preventable sight loss in people of working age and is a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke. There are currently five million people in England at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If these trends persist, one in three people will be obese by 2034 and one in 10 will develop type 2 diabetes.

There is strong international evidence which demonstrates how behavioural interventions, which support people to maintain a healthy weight and be more active, can significantly reduce the risk of developing the condition.

The Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) identifies those at high risk and refers them onto a behaviour change programme”.

A lack of exercise, poor diet and being overweight are all risk factors for developing the disease. The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme is designed to stop or delay the onset of diabetes through a range of personalised lifestyle interventions, including:

•             Education on lifestyle choices

•             Advice on how to reduce weight through healthier eating

•             Bespoke physical activity programmes

Those referred by their GP, following a GP consultation, will receive tailored, personalised help to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes including education on healthy eating and lifestyle, help with weight loss (for overweight participants), and bespoke physical exercise programmes, all of which together have been proven to reduce the risk of developing the disease. Over a minimum of nine months patients will be offered at least 13 education and exercise sessions of one to two hours; at least 16 hours face to face or one-to-one in total.

Recent projections show that the growing number of people with diabetes could result in nearly 39,000 people living with diabetes suffering a heart attack in 2035 and over 50,000 people suffering a stroke.

Nationally, over 17,000 have now completed the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme nationally and have achieved a combined weight loss of over 50,000 kg – equivalent to the weight of four double decker buses.

The NHS Long Term Plan announced that the programme which sees people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes given help to lose weight, will double in size over the next few years to treat around 200,000 people a year.

2,526 people in East Lancashire and 1,535 people in Blackburn with Darwen have already signed up to the free programme with the vast majority benefiting from the support that it is giving to people. The combined sign up for Pennine Lancashire of 4, 061 over the last year has put Pennine Lancashire as the most successful area for people joining the programme.

From July this year, online versions of the programme, which involve wearable technologies and apps to help those at risk of type 2 diabetes, will be provided for patients who find it difficult to attend sessions because of work or family commitments.

Professor Jonathan Valabhji, national clinical director of diabetes and obesity said:

“Around two thirds of adults and one third of children are now overweight or obese; driving higher and higher rates of type 2 diabetes, that we are now focusing huge efforts to address, as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan.

“I’m delighted that our work so far in this area has been producing really positive results. This weight loss and glucose reduction is promising – we hope to help many more of those who are at risk of Type 2 diabetes to not get it in the first place.” 

For people who have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes NHS East Lancashire and NHS Blackburn with Darwen CCGs offer patient self-care diabetes education courses which are freely available and easy to join.

Diabetes education has been shown to reduce longer term complications of diabetes and make people feel more confident in day to day self-management.

In East Lancashire, patients can sign up to EMPOWER, and in Blackburn with Darwen, patients can sign up to DESMOND. Both of these are national, structured diabetes education programmes designed to help people with type 2 diabetes understand what diabetes is, the effect it has on their body and how to make small, achievable changes to the food they eat and their everyday life.

Both EMPOWER in East Lancashire and DESMOND in Blackburn with Darwen are run as a self-referral course which means that people who have type 2 diabetes can sign up without having to see their GP or nurse.  To find out more information East Lancashire patients can go to https://east-lancs.empower-booking.co.uk/ and Blackburn with Darwen patients can go to https://www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk/desmond-blackburn-with-darwen

Lancashire News, Lancs Leisure, Lancs Sport, Lancs What's On

Barrow BID has teamed up with The Super Soapbox Challenge Company Ltd, a professional event organiser, to host a major soapbox race in Barrow-in-Furness town centre later this year. The event takes place on Barrow’s high street on Saturday 29th June and will become an annual event, attracting crowds that have topped 20,000 people in other locations.
The races will take place throughout the day, with the wild and whacky soapbox carts hurtling down a huge ramp to launch themselves down the course. Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards will be starting the event and launching himself down the ramp to set the first time of the day. Prizes will be for the fastest times of the day, but there will also be a number of other prizes including; ‘most innovative cart design’, ‘best turned-out soapbox crew’ and ‘joker of the day’.

Given Barrow’s engineering heritage, it is hoped that the event will attract plenty of well-built carts although entries so far have come from as far away as Manchester. There are two prices for team entry, the first is £400 inc VAT for businesses and companies who will gain significant promotion as part of the event. The second price is £200 inc VAT for; individuals, charities, not-for-profit organisations, emergency services and armed forces, which is an affordable price to provide access to this prestige event. As well as the racing itself, culminating in the cork-popping, prize-giving ceremony, there will be a large funfair, live music and lots of food and drink concessions.

If you would like to enter a team in the event visit: www.supersoapboxchallenge.co.uk/barrow Follow this event and other events in Barrow on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/visitbarrow

Lancashire News

Pendle’s plans to expand Lomeshaye Industrial Estate have got the go ahead from the Government’s Planning Inspector. Pendle Council can now buy land adjoining the existing 40 hectare employment site through a Compulsory Purchase Order to create a new phase of development.
Lomeshaye Industrial estate alongside the M65 near junction 12 is one of East Lancashire’s largest employment sites and part of a new strategic corridor for economic growth.

There are around 100 businesses on the site employing approximately 4,000 people. Councillor Paul White, Leader of Pendle Council, said: “This is huge news for Pendle. “We shouldn’t underestimate how transformational this could be for our borough. “Lomeshaye has been operating at virtually full capacity and this land is key to bringing inward investment which will lead to more jobs in our area.

“We made a commitment to ensure that we open up additional employment land and this will do exactly that. “It could mean up to 500 more jobs in our local area”. “With this extension, we will be able to create the space to allow Pendle businesses to expand and to attract new businesses to our Borough, both of which will mean extra jobs for local people.”

Pendle Council has been working for a number of years to extend the successful business park and create jobs, support businesses and encourage growth. Jobs for around 500 people will be safeguarded or created thanks to the Phase 1 extension and work will start in summer 2019.

Dean Langton, Pendle Council’s Chief Executive said: “By working in partnership, we have secured £1.5 m of funding from Lancashire County Council to support the delivery of the proposed Phase 1 Extension to the existing Lomeshaye Industrial Estate. “And their funding will be matched with £1.5m of investment from Pendle Council.”

Lancashire News, Lancs Health & Care

Volunteers from across Blackburn with Darwen who put the ‘community’ into community centres have been thanked for their efforts at a special event. More than 70 people from volunteer-run community centres across the borough were invited to attend the celebration at the Town Hall.
They were welcomed by Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, Cllr Pat McFall who presented them with certificates to acknowledge their hard work and efforts.

Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Councillor Mohammed Khan, joined Councillor Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Leisure and Culture, and the Council’s Chief Executive, Harry Catherall, as guest speakers. Cllr Khan said: In Blackburn with Darwen we are extremely proud of the success of our Your Call initiative – a drive to equip residents with the skills and resources they need to help make a real difference where they live.

The volunteers at this event are the very epitome of that success and they’re a fine example of Your Call working at its very best. They stepped in when the future of the community centres were uncertain and they’ve worked tirelessly to ensure they remain a key part of the community – providing the base for valued groups, events and functions.

From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to say a big thank-you to all of the volunteers on behalf of the Council and the residents of Blackburn with Darwen for their continued dedication and hard work. They really are amazing.

Volunteers at the event all give-up their own time, in some cases up to 40 hours a week, to help out with everything from the running of the community centres to organising fellow volunteers, facilitating groups, overseeing the finances and cleaning.

They manage the community centres at Accrington Road, Little Harwood, Darwen Valley, Greenfields, Ivy Street and Mill Hill.

Cllr Damian Talbot added:
These volunteers go above and beyond very single day to run the community centres and we can’t thank them enough. We’ve enjoyed opening the doors to the Town Hall for this special event to show our appreciation for what they’ve done and their ongoing commitment to the future of the centres. This is a really good example of partnership working and we’re looking forward to continuing to work closely with the groups to offer continued support and advice they need to continue to build on their success.

To find out more about how you can become a volunteer in Blackburn with Darwen and the different opportunities available, visit: www.lancsvp.org.uk

Lancashire News, Lancs Leisure

Chorley’s iconic Astley Hall will undergo a major transformation to secure the future of the historic building. ​Chorley Council, which owns the Grade I listed building, is investing £1.7million as part of the coming year’s budget to carry out urgent repairs to safeguard the historic hall for future generations.

The investment will also see major improvements to the visitor experience, as well as the creation of a museum shop, which will help to make the site more sustainable. A spokesperson for Chorley Council said: “We see Astley Hall and Coach House as a major part of the borough’s history but also a vital part of the future for the visitor economy and that’s why we are committing major investment to preserve and improve it for years to come.

“Buildings like this need major work every 60/70 years and we are at that time in the Hall’s life that it needs a major overhaul to set it up for the next generation. “Some of the work will be quite dramatic as we need to repair the front of the building and some will help us to make the site sustainable by ensuring it provides an offer for visitors that is fit for the modern age.” The council has submitted two bids to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which were knocked back, so the authority is going to fund the work itself to ensure the building has a long term future. The bids were supported by huge amounts of feedback from residents and visitors and all that information is being used to direct the improvements planned for the site, which sits in the beautiful grounds of Astley Park.

“One of the main reasons the HLF didn’t back our bid was the uncertainty around what condition the brick is in behind the render on the front of the Hall,” explained the spokesperson. “We know how important the Hall is to the people of Chorley so we’re going to fund the work and once the render has been removed and we know what lies beneath we hope the HLF will consider another bid as this is a building of historical significance.

“We’d also like to thank the thousands of people who took part in the consultation and gave us their thoughts on the future of the Hall and Coach House complex. “This won’t go to waste because it demonstrates how much people value the site and it will influence our plans going forward.”

The investment by the council will cover improvements to the Hall as well as work to bring Ackhurst Lodge back into use and look at the creation of an adventure golf course in the park. To learn more about Astley Hall and Park visit astleypark.co.uk.