Liverpool Life 5:8 November 30 2016

30 - November - 2016

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE...

NEWS

PAGE 2

Appeal for young girl battling cancer a second time

LIFEextra

PAGE 6

Liverpool turns Orange against domestic abuse

SPORT

PAGE 11

LJMU to next stage of Northern Conference Cup

QUINN’S LITTLE MIRACLE

By ANDREW NUTTALL

A Facebook appeal has made dreams come true for one little boy from Liverpool.

Quinn Jones lives with very severe learning disabilities and epilepsy. The comfort of Mr Squirrel allows sevenyear-old Quinn to get through day-to-day life with ease. The pair have been inseparable since the family first acquired the toy.

His mother Kerry Jones told Liverpool Life: “His brother was given the squirrel toy by his uncle for Christmas, just before Quinn’s third birthday.

“However, Quinn pinched it and it’s been his comfort toy ever since. Everyone who knows Quinn, knows Mr Squirrel. He will carry it everywhere, sleeps with it and sits it on the dinner table when we eat.”

More of the plush toys, which were brought out to raise money for the Woodland Trust, have not been produced in years. This has made finding a replacement

next to impossible. Kerry has been “squirrel hunting” for many years now, hoping to come across a matching toy before the current one is lost or worn out.

The recent appeal was posted on the popular ‘Lost and Found Liverpool’ Facebook page and received almost 100 shares, reaching far and wide across the UK. When all hope seemed lost, Toni Gray, from Surrey, came across Kerry’s Facebook plea and solve her dilemma.

Upon finding a match, she said: “Toni was so lovely she wouldn’t take money for the squirrel or postage, we really can’t thank her enough!

Quinn has sent her flowers, but her gift to him was absolutely priceless.”

In a touching conclusion to this heart-warming story, Kerry posted a short video of her son online as he opened up the parcel which unbeknown to him contained his new Mr Squirrel.

Toni was a complete stranger to the family until now, but this act of kind-

ness has clearly given Quinn something to be happy about.

He had recently undergone a tough time with his health.

Kerry added: “Even though he was really unwell when the new squirrel arrived, he was so delighted with his new friend and hasn’t stopped smiling since.”

Mr Squirrel: Quinn Jones spending time with his best friends © Kerry Jones

Life|News|2

Delight as Kirkby gets its sparkle back

By ANDREW NUTTALL The atmosphere was one of a kind at the Kirkby lights switch-on as crowds of people filled the town’s main square In the build-up to flicking the switch, local residents of Kirkby secured their place as close to the stage as possible to watch their hometown shopping streets illuminated for the festive season.

John Smith, 39, said: “It’s great to come along and bring the whole family to Kirkby. I’ve been coming to the switch-on since Kirkby got its lights!”

A host of famous faces took to the stage in Newtown Gardens and entertained the crowds, with Reggie N’ Bollie as the main performers.

It’s the time to be KIND

By AMY SHIRTCLIFFE A children’s charity is appealing for £75,000 in donations this Christmas.

KIND works with thousands of disadvantaged families and children to bring them a Christmas to remember each year.

Last year they hit their target of the same amount, helping thousands The charity is entirely self-funded, relying on the generosity of donations and volunteers.

The financial strain on deprived families at Christmas also adds pressure to KIND, who don’t want to see a single person miss out.

Stephen Yip, founder and Chief Executive said: “We want to make a difference at Christmas.”

KIND hopes to deliver hampers to over 1000 families.

Life

Mum Sarah McConner, 30, and her family were lucky to secure a front row spot for the upcoming show. She said: “We’ve been here since 3 o’clock with our little girls who absolutely loved Reggie N’ Bollie when they were on TV. They’re absolutely buzzing.”

The X Factor finalists performed a variety of upbeat songs that brought them to national fame on the ITV talent show before pulling the switch, lighting up the shopping centre and showering the audience in confetti.

The show, organised by site-owner St. Modwen, brought people together to celebrate not only the arrival of the Christmas season, but the exciting times that are on the horizon for Kirkby.

By MOLLY COPOC

Festive: Shoppers enjoy the annual Christmas bustle

© Andrew Nuttall / JMU Journalism

Charities claim Cyber Tuesday

By AMY SHIRTCLIFFE

After splurging on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, shoppers are expected to be just as generous for this year’s Giving Tuesday.

The first Tuesday after the popular shopping days has been adopted by charities worldwide to encourage people to donate.

Charities Aid Foundation, who head the cause in the UK hope yesterday’s turn out was as successful as last year.

Hannah Terrey, Head of Policy and Campaigns at CAF, said: “Whether we are rallying behind charities or being nice to strangers, the UK has a proud tradition of being one of the most

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Gas repairs close roads

©Charities Aid Foundation generous places in the world.

“Up and down the country people will be getting out to raise money, give their time, or do something nice for someone else.

“It has been fantastic to see how much people have taken Giving Tuesday to their hearts since CAF first brought it over here two years ago.

“For some people it’s a chance to do something unusual and new, for others it’s about using this day to shout about the brilliant stuff they do all year round, encouraging more people to get involved.

“Giving Tuesday is, at its very simplest, a great opportunity to focus on the good stuff that we can do together.”

In 2015, people broke the world record for the most money donated online in 24 hours.

There were donations of over £6,000 every minute.

The cause was also popular on social media. In the UK, #GivingTuesday was the number one trend on Twitter

in both 2015 and 2016.

Many big companies and celebrities get behind the event each year through donating and supporting on social media with the hashtag.

Some endorse charities they believe in, while others encourage people just to give.

The idea of giving is the most vital part of the day, encouraging charities as well as community and creative projects.

Olympian Tom Daley encouraged his 2.6 million followers to donate to The Brain Tumour Charity, while comedian Sarah Millican asked her 1.9 million followers to support Wildscreen, which creates stories about the natural world.

Traffic built yesterday as a major northbound route out of the city centre closed until further notice due to emergency gas repairs.

Liverpool City Council have been asked by national Grid to shut the northbound carriageway of Waterloo Road/Regent Road between Bath Street and Paisley Street. The gas emergency is said to be a suspected leak.

National Grid will be working rapidly 24 hours a day and seven days a week to repair the leak with immediate effect.

The closure will lead to significant delays around that area, particularly at peak times, so drivers have been warned to allow extra time for their usual journey and consider alternative routes.

A number of alternative routes will be sign posted and available via Leeds Street, Vauxhall Road, Commercial Road and Sandhill’s Lane or Paisley Street, Waterloo Road and Regent Road for non HGV traffic.

Vegan alert over new fivers The Bank of England has revealed this week that the new £5 notes are created with a small trace of animal fat.

The national bank tweeted, that “there is a trace of tallow in the polymer pellets used in the base substrate of the polymer £5 notes.”

A petition has already been launched across the UK to remove the polymer note from circulation in favour of a vegan-friendly alternative.

Appeal launched for brave teen Katie

BY JAMES HARRISON

An appeal has been launched for a teenage girl from Liverpool to raise money for treatment as she faces cancer for a second time.

Katie Wright, 14, from Wavertree, has Downs Syndrome and was diagnosed with leukaemia back in 2013.

After three years’ worth of operations to battle the cancer the treatment came to an end seven months ago.

Last week the news was delivered that the Katie had relapsed and her leukaemia was back.

Mother Rena Wright, said: ““We are desperate to raise

the money and give her the best chance we can.

“This may be just the treatment that will make it go away and that will be it and it’ll be gone for good.

“She is such a bubbly little character and a remarkable child so if anyone can beat this she can.”

Katie’s family are hoping that stem cell therapy available in the US could help treat her once and for all.

Doctors have said that immunotherapy treatment in Seattle is Katie’s best chance because her body is too weak to cope with a bone marrow transplant,

but the six-week course only sees only one child per month from the UK accepted for the lifesaving treatment.

The family were informed that the funds would need to be gathered in case they were not chosen for the treatment.

Katie is described on her gofundme page as: “Batman -loving, pink-wearing, true modern day girl, with four brothers who know their place! She’s adored by everyone, so gentle and caring.

If you’re seen at a party with your hands free, she will bring over a cake.”

Brave: Katie is all smiles © Rena Wright

Life|News|3

Blogger gives back to people in crisis

By MOLLY COPOC A former LJMU student has set out to give back at Christmas, encouraging people to donate food boxes across the four food banks in Liverpool.

Antonia Morgan, owner of lifestyle blog – Allure La Vie, launched her appeal in a bid to help the large number of people who are still dependent on food banks each day.

The Trussel Trust is an organisation who help local people in crisis. Central Liverpool food bank, which is seeded by The Trussel Trust, distributed 80,000 kgs of food last year with 9,333 three-day emergency food supplies given to people in crisis.

Antonia told Liverpool

Life what inspired her to set up this appeal: “I have done a similar appeal (to this one) last year, lots of beauty boxes were donated to Local Solutions and Whitechapel by the lovely people of Liverpool. It was a huge success and with the amount of people dependent on food banks, this year I couldn’t think of a worthier cause to support.”

Anyone willing to take part can put any foods they wish to into the box, just no perishable, refrigerated or frozen foods and items also need to be in-date. The food should be sealed into a cardboard box with film around it to keep the items intact.

Antonia announced on her blog that she is happy to collect the food boxes from willing participants

Calendar goal

By ANDREW NUTALL A calendar has been released by the current Miss Liverpool for 2017, and all proceeds will be donated to a charity which is close to her heart.

Featuring a variety of local locations such as Goodison Park and Anfield Stadium, the charity photo shoot for Zoë’s Place was the first time Molly McEntee-Morris had posed for a calendar.

She said: “The experience of shooting the calendar was really fun. The photographer, Kathy Lawrence from Boudoir Book, ensured I was put at ease and it was a good laugh. My favourite photo has to be the one at St. George’s Hall. It’s an amazing building, really well known to Liverpool, and was a necessity for the final picture.”

The calendars will be sold for £5 each and all the money raised will be donated to the local baby hospice.

The Wirral teenager said: “Zoë’s Place is the Miss Liverpool charity who all

and distribute them to the four foodbanks in Liverpool located in: Kensington, Wavertree, Toxteth and Dingle.

Those who feel comfortable enough to drop the food boxes off themselves are also encouraged to do so.

Last year, over 130 boxes were donated to Antonia’s Christmas beauty box appeal and this year she is hoping to top that figure with the help of her following online.

She said: “Over all my social media sites I have around 11,000 followers, so I aim to promote the appeal through these avenues.

Also friends and family are spreading the word across their social media platforms.”

The deadline for the collections of food boxes is

Appeal: Some foods that are welcome © Antonia Morgan the December 12. This will foodbanks just in time for give Antonia plenty of time them to give the food out to to distribute the boxes to the those in need at Christmas.

Frosty mornings arrive

Central Liverpool Credit Union has received a record number of loan applications this year, with just 1700 in the past seven weeks.

Central Liverpool Credit Union is an organisation dedicated to being a leading, in-

BY CAI GRIFFITHS-STURGE Liverpool and Everton football clubs have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to those affected by the plane disaster in Medellin, Colombia yesterday.

The aircraft crashed killing 76 of the 81 people aboard, including multiple members of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense.

Everton Football Club tweeted: “The thoughts and prayers of everyone at #EFC are with @ChapecoenseReal and those affected by the tragedy in Colombia.”

Liverpool Football Club tweeted: “Our thoughts are with everyone at @ ChapecoenseReal and all those affected by the tragedy in Colombia.”

The team, likened to Leicester due to their unexpected rise to success in Brazilian football, were due to play in the final of the Sudamericana cup against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday, but the fixture has now been suspended.

Adelphi strike threat

By CAI GRIFFITHS-STURGE

Fundraiser: Miss Liverpool Mollly McEntree Morris the girls raise money for, as selected by Pat Hughes. I decided that, after the competition, I wanted to become more involved with Zoë’s Place.”

Carol Kirkham, Fundraising Manager for Zoë’s Place, said: “The calendars were the idea of one of our volunteers who also organises the Miss Liverpool competition each year.

“I understand there have been 50 calendars printed so far. Such fundraising initiatives are vital to the work of our hospice, as they not only raise much-needed funds.”

The sun breaks through on a cold and frosty morning in Liverpool’s Ambercromby Square yesterday. Today is looking largely cloudy with limited bright and sunny breaks. No need to prepare for anymore icy mornings just yet, as the temperature is set to stay above 0 degrees for the rest of the week. However, looking to next week, prepare for plenty of frosty starts as temperatures are set to drop to below freezing in the night – meaning cold and icy mornings!

Words and picture: Cheyenne Hansen

Liverpool loans rocket ahead of Christmas rush

By MOLLY COPOC

Clubs in Brazil crash tributes

novative provider of financial services for its members.

They aim to help members of the community who are not well served by other financial organisations.

This year, the union has taken action over the vast number of applications received by imposing a deadline for accept-

ing loans for Christmas 2016.

This means those who were due to apply for a loan on or before December 20 2016 would have needed to submit their application by October 28 2016.

Spokesperson for Central Liverpool Credit Union, Joss Mackey, told Liverpool Life

about the number of applications received this year: “It’s massive. We’ve turned away quite a lot of demands because of the time of year, we get really busy so we restrict the amount of applications we take in, imposing a deadline.

“We’ve had a number of

people trying to get a loan after the deadline so we’ve had to turn them away so it’s definitely on the increase.”

This year, the most common need of a loan is for household goods, meaning people are buying televisions, furniture and white goods for their kitchen.

Staff from Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel are threatening Christmas strike action over an ongoing pay dispute.

Staff warn they could strike over Christmas and New Year unless their demand of pay rises and an end to zero hour contracts are met.

Trade union RMT says it wants the hotel to pay staff the National Living Wage Foundation’s minimum rate of £8.45 an hour as well as minimum hour guarantees for staff. The trade union claims that the hotel’s owners Britannia Hotels have refused to negotiate the demands.

The RMT claim staff are being spied on and room cleaning times have been cut by 25%.

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Life|News|4

LJMU scraps £100m plans

Scouse santas prepare for December dash

By CHEYENNE HANSEN

The countdown is now on for the UK’s biggest festive fun run: The Radio City Liverpool Santa Dash.

The Santa Dash is a 5KM charity run, where everyone taking part dresses up in a Santa suit. The race takes place on December 4 and the public have until December 3 to sign up and take part.

There is also a mini dash which is a 1K fun run for children aged 12 and under. The Dash sets off at 9.30am at Pier Head on Canada Boulevard in front of the Liver Buildings. The route will takes runners through the city centre and finishes in front of the Town Hall on Castle Street.

Photo: © JMU Journalism

By CAI GRIFFITHS-STURGE Liverpool John Moores University have scrapped plans for a £100m development of the Copperas Hill site due to rising costs.

LJMU had purchased the former Royal Mail sorting office for £3m five years ago to use as a lecture base and to house admission and student support departments.

The university is still committed to developing the site, but due to spiralling costs and delays they have backed away from the original scheme.

Any work on the site has been delayed by 12 months, which means the site will open in the summer of 2019.

A statement issued by LJMU said: “The university has taken the decision to consider new design proposals for the site after deciding that the additional funds needed for the major refurbishment of the Royal Mail building would have a significant impact on the student experience, and would affect plans for redevelopment elsewhere on the LJMU estate.

“The university remains committed to the Copperas Hill site being a major catalyst development for students and the city of Liverpool and will propose new plans for the site early in the New Year.

“LJMU also reaffirms the university’s intention to move away from the IM Marsh site in Aigburth and bring all students into the centre of Liverpool.”

Countdown: Ice skating in costume Photo: © Cheyenne Hansen

The mini Santa dash takes place after the main run at 11am and is located part way along Castle Street. Famous faces including Liverpool FC’s Alan Kennedy and boxing brothers Paul, Stephen and Liam Smith will be taking part in the race. Alan Kennedy told Liverpool Life: “I’ve done the Santa Dash for the last six years. The race is Reds and Blues coming together and we have a great laugh along the way for a fantastic cause.”

Eagle eye training for local cabbies

By SACHI KONDO

Liverpool taxi drivers are set to undergo training to teach them how to identify signs of child sexual exploitation, in hopes to tackle the on-going issue in the city.

The scheme is backed by The Licensing Committee, who has agreed that all current cabbies should be trained be-

fore renewing their licence.

Councillor Christine Banks, chair of the Licensing Committee, claimed that taxi drivers have a key role in protecting young people as they can act as the ‘eyes and ears’ in spotting such activity.

She said: “Child sexual exploitation is an extremely important issue and one which we want to make every effort to prevent. Taxi drivers

can be the “eyes and ears” in spotting such activity.”

The councillor said: “They can, for example notice young people being taken to different locations around the city and, while we are not asking them to eavesdrop on passengers, they could hear conversations which may indicate that a child is being exploited.

Liverpool is following the steps of Birmingham in deal-

ing with grooming gangs scandals by educating cabbies in the matter.

All of Liverpool’s 4,700 licensed hackney and private hire drivers will have received this training within a year, with a threat of licence refusal if they fail to co-operate.

The first training sessions are due to start as early as next month and they will be

issued with a certificate upon completion of the course.

The course will be a free two-hour course, which will be given by a licensing enforcement officer, in addition to the safeguarding module that new drivers are required to undertake during training.

It has been developed by the Safeguarding Board in conjunction with Merseyside Police.

Radical �ilm festival puts spotlight on social issues

By CAI GRIFFITHS-STURGE

Liverpool held the 2016 Radical Film Festival this weekend, displaying a series of short films to highlight lesser known local and global issues affecting people’s lives.

The festival’s aim was to bring radical films, not constrained by professional filming and editing standards which would not be

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published by traditional media to previously uninformed audiences.

The event was divided into two programmes: Saturday saw the ‘indigenous struggles, international resistance’ section, which featured films which highlighted the local struggles of indigenous populations and global issues.

The programme that took place on Sunday displayed a number of films about acts of resistance,

highlighting activism at home and abroad. The headline for the evening, “Money Puzzles”, focussed on the global economy, austerity, debt, and how people across the planet are responding to adversity.

Anthony Killick, a Radical Film Festival organiser, told Liverpool Life: “Due to the fact the mainstream media is more or less dominated by corporate interests.

“There is no real anti-austerity,

anti-neoliberal voice within the mainstream.

“For that reason, it’s important to create independent, non-profit media outlets such as our own that promote discussion and debate.”

The Radical Film Festival, started in Liverpool in 2012 and is a nonprofit organisation, which offers free entry to every film/event, and relies on the donations of individuals and organisations to function.

City hospitals up for awards

By CHEYENNE HANSEN Four teams from Liverpool Hospitals have been nominated for the NHS North West Leadership Academy Awards.

Teams at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Broadgreen University Hospital have been shortlisted across four separate categories in the awards.

The NHS North West Leadership Academy is a members-led NHS organisation that provides leadership development for senior leaders working in the NHS in

Hospital: Liverpool Royal. the North West.

The awards celebrate the work that is going on across the region and showcase its leaders’ and teams’ work.

Deborah Murphy, end of life lead, was nominated and shortlisted in the category of ‘Excellence in Patient Experi-

Photo: ©WikiMedia Commons ence’.

She said: “Being shortlisted for this award is a reflection of the high priority our Trust places on palliative and end of life care and the hard work and dedication of everyone in our team.

“It’s also a reflection of the

people who matter most to us – our patients and their families who helped us to design, shape and deliver our service.”

Consultant haematologist, Professor Cheng Toh and his team at the Roald Dahl Centre were also shortlisted for an award.

Professor Cheng Toh said: “We are delighted. We have developed a very comprehensive care service for patients with blood disorders.

“Roald Dahl was a muchloved character; it’s important for us that our service is much-loved by our patients.”

Life|News|5

Wirral travel chaos looms

By LAUREN WALKER

Commuters have expressed their anger over the announcement of the six-month closure of the Wirral line.

The closure will be part of a £340m investment in the Liverpool City Region which will support a new Merseyrail fleet on the network from the early 2020s.

The line is undergoing a major revamp for the first time since 1977 and the underground section of Merseyrail’s Wirral Line will be replaced in 2017 leading to six-months of major disruption.

Liverpool Life spoke to local commuters about their thoughts on the closure: Mica Marsden, 20, from Ellesmere Port said: “I didn’t even know it was closing and if it is then that’s annoying, because how am I supposed to easily get to the Wirral? I wouldn’t want to get the bus.

“My mum takes her disabled clients from the Wirral to Liverpool for day trips by train because it’s easier than by bus and some of them don’t feel comfortable on the bus, so how is she going to take them out?”

Speaking about the frequent disruptions to her journey already, Rebecca Cleverley, 20, from Moreton, added: “I’m pretty used to the trains being disrupted now, they’ve quite often missed out stops on the Wirral line because they’re doing work on it but stopping the whole train completely will be inconvenient.

“I don’t like to drive because I have to pay tunnel and parking money but it will take even longer to wait for the replacement buses” David Roberts, 60, from Heswall had a contrasting view: “Well I’d much rather it wasn’t closing, but on the other hand they have got to improve it haven’t they, I got the bus today so it’s going to be frustrating, but it’s inevitable they’ve had the stuff for what? 40 years? so it needs updating.”

Throughout the major works, Merseyrail are offering commuters rail replacement buses, which are said to be high quality ‘express’ buses and with returns every 15 minutes, to reduce disruption.

The work will be done in three phases starting in January 2017.

Liverpool named UK’s 3rd most inspiring city

By SACHI KONDO

Liverpool is officially the third most inspiring city in the UK, according to a recent report.

The report - published by online travel company TravelBird - showed that Liverpool was ranked 24th in the world, beating big cities like New York, Venice, and England’s capital city London.

Being the home of the Fab Four, two world-class football clubs and award-winning museums, many have dubbed Liverpool as a city of culture, heritage and people.

The city managed to grab the title of Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2008 and its waterfront

INSPIRING: Liverpool’s waterfront was recently voted as RTPI’s Greatest Place in England.

TravelBird said: “The criteria include measurements of creativity by looking at the number of performing arts companies

and art schools in each location, as well as measuring culture by factoring in the number of art galleries and museums present.”

The Museum of Liverpool,

© Rachael Fearn which opened in 2011, isn’t a stranger to awards, recently winning UK’s Best Window with a View award this year and the prestigious Museum of Europe prize in 2013.

Liverpool was beaten by Bristol, sitting comfortably at 4th in the world, and Edinburgh, which was ranked 16th.

The city is followed by London at 53rd and Manchester at 58th.

The report also measured the availability of music production and film industry facilities in the city, as well as taking ‘inspired romance’ into consideration to indicate how frequently the population, including visitors, feel romantically inspired by the city offers.

This criterion was ranked by the number of Google searches for romance-focused keywords.

Liverpool scored 47.42 out of 100 in total.

Pupils aim for the festive number 1

By LAUREN REECE

The pupils of Redbridge High School in Liverpool are all wishing for a special something this winter, a Christmas number one slot in the charts.

The specialist school on Long Lane, which caters for 120 pupils with a wide range of disabilities, has recently undergone financial cuts and is releasing its festive single titled “Message of Christmas” in a bid to help raise funds for the school and, of course, some Christmas cheer.

A selection of students and staff have worked together on the Christmas ballad with the help of musical friends.

It is being officially released tomorrow and will be available to download from all of the popular platforms including iTunes,

Amazon and Spotify.

Pete Chadwick, the assistant head teacher of Redbridge school, who wrote the song, said: “At a time of reductions in public sector funding, schools are beginning to struggle to provide the same level of resources as they have in the past, particularly so for schools that provide for pupils with complex special educational needs.

“We wanted to look at a new and different way of raising funds and support for the school and our shared love for music took us down this route.

“We’ve had so much support for our musical venture and would like to thank everyone involved, particularly Tim at Elevator, talented MA Film, Media & Society student Charlotte Hall who made and produced the video to accompany the track and Katy Johnston a music student at BIMM Institute put down great lead vocals.

“M i n i m i s i n g any expenditure means that we have more chance of raising more essential funds for the

Hopeful: Top - Redbridge pupils pose by Christmas tree. Below - a joyful pupil holds a card © Redbridge High School. school.”

Pete has a background of playing music and came up with the idea of writing an original Christmas song to help raise school funds when meeting an old friend.

The two of them worked together on writing it which he said only took them a couple of hours.

The song was recorded in Elevator Studios in Liverpool where they offered use of the facilities and resources free of charge.

Tim Speed, the studio’s Director, said: “This is a fantastic and ambitious project by everyone at Redbridge.

“We’re happy to get involved and support them – here’s to

hoping they get the number one spot!”

Kadi Browne, a Year 7 pupil who sang on the record, added: “I loved singing in a real studio and I want everyone to buy the song”.

Activities outside of school hours alone cost the school £16,000 last year and due to lack of funding these have now been cut.

Redbridge are hoping that with the money raised they can get these up and running again.

They are also aiming to improve the ground of the school to help meet the needs of the pupils, especially those with physical disabilities and autism.

Paul Cronin, the head teacher

of Redbridge High School, said: “The whole school community is excited about this project, pupils in particular!

“We have to be as creative as we can be in order to maintain the rich range of activities and opportunities that we know benefit our pupils so much.”

Although the track is officially released tomorrow, the school is encouraging people to start downloading the song from December 2, the day after the official release as the chart downloads are counted from Friday.

A Just Giving page has been set up to allow people to make additional donations and can be found at www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/Cormac-Burke.

Life|Focus|6

Sixteen days to make a difference

By ISABEL EATON

The city of Liverpool lit up orange to show its support for victims of domestic violence.

Last Friday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and also the start of the United Nations 16-day UNiTE campaign Orange the World.

Venues such as the Cunard building, Radio City tower and Merseyside Police HQ lit up orange to show their support as part of the campaign.

Radio adverts will be aired as part of Liverpool’s effort to promote www.womensaid. org, which offers support and advice for anyone suffering domestic violence.

There will also be a series of ‘invisible pavement messages’ across the city to highlight the problem of victims not wanting to speak out about their abusers.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy said: “By wearing orange and lighting up some of Merseyside’s most iconic buildings in this vibrant colour, we are sending out a clear, visible message that we are supporting the UNiTE campaign for a brighter future for women and girls, free from violence and abuse.”

The UN has called for international support

for its UNiTE campaign, and during the campaign they will hold a series of events worldwide including marches in Uganda, Serbia and Timor-Leste.

They are also urging people to use the hashtags #orangetheworld and #endvaw to say no to domestic violence.

The campaign will end on December 10, which is Human Rights Day. Last year, as part of the same initiative, hundreds of activities took place across 90 countries and 117,000 tweets and Instagram posts with #orangetheworld were made from Twitter and Instagram accounts across the world.

According to the United Nations, one in nine women in the UK suffer from domestic violence.

In Liverpool alone there are thousands of cases of domestic abuse happening every day.

A report earlier in the year revealed that there were more than 30,000 cases of abuse in the city, averaging out at one case happening almost every 17 minutes.

If you are suffering from any form of domestic abuse, you can recieve help by calling the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit the Merseyside Police website for information on the ways in which the force can help you.

Orange: From the top - Liverpool Cunard Building, Radio City, Town Hall and Merseyside Police HQ united © Liverpool City Council

One Woman’s Story...

Speaking to Liverpool Life, a sufferer of domestic abuse described what it was like to be stuck in an abusive relationship. She said: “I was in a violent relationship three years ago. Throughout the year-long relationship I was subjected to physical and verbal abuse on a daily basis. Although I received a lot of support from my friends and family, at the time I didn’t believe the relationship was abusive until I started reading up on domestic abuse for myself.

“It’s hard coming to terms with the fact that someone you love and trust could hurt you, but the websites and forums set up for victims offered me a lot of support. For me, the physical abuse wasn’t the major issue, the cuts and bruises would fade eventually, it was the verbal abuse that stayed with me for years after. My abuser made me feel isolated from my friends and family, I felt as though I couldn’t confide in anyone. I think that campaigns like this are extremely important as they empower victims to speak out against their abusers and seek help.”

United: Belgium Parliament Building (above left), China’s Hangzhou (above right) and NYC City Hall also turned orange © UN

Life|Arts|7

LIFE EXTRA My mum rang me in floods of tears...

F

rom the UK to New Zealand, who says dreams can’t come true?

For many people, leaving the UK forever would not be given a second thought. The prospect of enjoying the world safely from their own home may appeal to the majority, but this certainly does not ring true for Ben Aulakh.

The former LJMU journalism student went for his dream and travelled to the other side of the world in 2012 to fulfill his ambitions to work as a news reporter and does not have any regrets.

Comparing life in New Zealand to the UK, he said: “I’ve found it a lot easier to find work as a reporter here and to advance my career more quickly. I worked for two years as a junior reporter and then my next job was two

Aaliyah Rugg talks to graduate Ben Aulakh about life after university and why he made the move from the UK to become a reporter in New Zealand years as a senior reporter.

“I think people are just generally a bit friendlier and a bit more open, it’s a smaller country and it’s just an easier place to live I suppose.”

The recent earthquake in Kaikoura caused panic world-wide. Although living in Christchurch, which was a two-hour drive from the earthquake, the journalist was staying in Timaru, just under 300km away and he slept through, not feeling a thing.

He said: “The first I knew of it was an hour later when my mum rang me in floods of tears wanting to know I was

alright.

“But a friend of mine, Leanne Wilson, who was a former John Moores student with me, was in Kaikoura when it happened. She said it was absolutely terrifying, she was in a back-packers hostel and the whole room was shaking and everything was falling about, beds were falling over, mattresses were falling off and they had to rush outside and lie down on the floor and she said the whole ground was moving.

“She was stuck there for four days until she was air-lifted out by a helicopter.”

This has not put Ben off his

Adventurous: Ben Aulakh graduated in 2004 before leaving for New Zealand in 2012. are stressed out and busy, narrowed it down to three there’s calls coming in all the points, the first being printime, you’ve got deadlines ciples and always sticking and you might be having to to what you believe in. The juggle a number of different others are always to build stories at the same time. relationships and finally, “That’s quite tough. No shorthand. amount of training can He said: “I didn’t work career in New Zealand howprepare you for that. But as hard at shorthand as I ever, as at the moment he obviously once you build up should’ve done and honestly wants to do some freelance that experience it becomes it is the most important skill work while waiting for his much easier.” you could have, it’s a pain residency to come through. having to learn it but it’s so The 34-year-old graduated en thoroughly so useful, if you’ve got good in 2004 and has always been shorthand it makes your life enjoyed his time as a a lover of English and current so much easier. journalism student, affairs, so journalism was the loving the chance to “And enjoy it, man, enjoy path he found himself going do work experience and the the job, it’s one hell of a buzz. down and enjoyed. news-days, allowing him to “If you do a good story He said the hardest thing well, to a tight deadline and advance his training. about leaving university was you see it on the front page News-days allow student the experience. of a newspaper and you journalists the chance to “There’s a big difference work on a magazine or a know that story is going to between learning about being website and publish stories go out there and be read by a journalist and actually thousands of people and it in a replica environment to working as a journalist and gives you one hell of a buzz. the industry. going to a newspaper.

It’s a feeling you can never When asked about advice “You have got people who get used to.” for trainee journalists, he

B

Record Fair@ The Bluecoat 29 Oct

WHAT’S ON

MUSIC: The Auditorium at Liverpool Echo: Starman - The David Bowie Story.

(December 3) Songs from all eras of David Bowie’s celebrated career are performed to perfection in this highly-charged show.

Liverpool O2 Academy 2: Endorphinmachine - Celebrating the music of Prince.

(December 3) Celebrating the life and music of Prince, Endorphinmachine are one of the leading Prince tribute acts performing today. A must-see for fans of the legend.

ARTS:

THEATRE:

Museum of Liverpool: Spotlight on Blackler’s.

(December 7)

International Slavery Museum: International Human Rights Day. (December 10)

Join a Visitor Host for a Blackler’s inspired reminiscence talk. Come along and find out more about one of the most memorable department stores in Liverpool.

No booking required.

Celebrate with crafts, handling sessions looking at key objects from the Museum’s collection, and music from the inspirational MAMA choir.

Liverpool Empire Theatre: Nutcracker.

(November 29December 3)

the Mouse King and meets a handsome stranger.

Tickets available at Empire Box Office.

On a sparkling Christmas Eve in a frostdusted Edwardian London, Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker doll discover a magical world, battles with

Everyman Theatre: Beauty and the Beast. (November 26-January 21) Adaptation of the traditional fairy tale that will be ‘Simply the Beast’ panto around.

Life| Reviews |8

Capturing the essence of being a Scouser invites the Prime Minister to ‘mind Following a more recent calamity, it was evident that Liverpool his own business’, as he says: “Here has once again disagreed with the in Liverpool, we’re nearer to space UK for its ill-fated divorce with than we are to London. People here the European Union. The script pay as much heed to the Prime exquisitely puts a funny Minister as we do to edge on the anger and the man in the disappointment that moon.” the city directs toHowever, wards the nation the witty and its Governbanter that defines ment, possibly a this city resentment that so promimany people nently serves in Liverpool can ud ur merely as a :C largely relate to.

P as t vid rec Da smokescreen for Speaking on behalf of eive © n o standing ovati the fury that underpins the people of Liverpool and the movement’s direction of travel. the Liverpool’s People Party, Tom Pr

o

f you’re thinking about going to watch SCOUSE: A Comedy of Terrors in Dome, Grand Central during this festive season, you’re in for a good night. But, expect the unexpected.

In what is a wonderfully crafted assortment of comedic material and bold personalities, the story of Liverpool fighting for independence from the United Kingdom is more gripping than you could possibly imagine.

This performance walks and talks you through the great history of Liverpool using the voices of a typically Scouse family – made up of Tom, Kath and their kids Susan and Ben.

ce ll

I

DAVID PURCELL and SACHI KONDO give their verdict on SCOUSE: A Comedy of Terrors In the midst of the singing, laughter, the clapping and beaming smiles from those in attendance, the characters are slowly perplexed and confused by their very own intentions. As the lines blur between their collective beliefs and reality, the Liverpool People’s Party becomes something much more than a political faction – but an army.

One line epitomised the arc that unfolded throughout this short tale, and it came towards the latter stages as Tom stood in front of the audience, a broken man, and muttered the words: “Evil triumphs when good people join in.”

That quote, above all else, made it clear to the audience the type of

lesson that this performance seemingly aims to teach – not to follow the crowd.

There is no doubt that Peter Washington’s wit and spirit on stage effortlessly steals the show as he delivers a character that is a determined member of society who seeks justice, yet is protective and caring at heart, and the execution of his work alone makes this a mustsee production.

Cult classic returns T

PAIGE FRESHWATER gives us the bottom's up on the return of Rita, Sue and Bob Too

he hilariously raunchy play, Rita, Sue and Bob Too delighted its St Helens audience when Darren Day’s bare bottom made its debut on stage.

Based on the 1987 British film, the comedy play by Andrea Dunbar has returned to St Helens Theatre Royal for the fourth time in five years.

Back by popular demand, the cult classic showcases the talents of an all-star cast and headlines Darren Day (West End star) as Bob, Stephanie Dooley (Emmerdale) as Michelle, Olivia Sloyan (Blood Brothers) as Sue, Emily Fleeshman (Still Open All Hours) as Rita, Crissy Rock (Benidorm) as Mum and Duggie Brown (Coronation Street) as Dad. Producer and St Helens Theatre Manager, Chantelle Nolan, told Liverpool Life: “It is the fifth time we

****

THE VERDICT: SCOUSE: A Comedy of Terrors is a hillarious, feel-good hit that definitely captures the essence of born and bred Liverpudlians.

have my wife and produced I first got Rita, Sue together I and Bob remember Too and the us having audience dinner and absolutely talking love it. about our “It is really favourite quite rude, films and but the ausongs, as dience of St you do Helens love when you it and they are getting come back to know time after each other. time. It is “One of one of those her favourplays that ite films was Fun: Cast members Stephanie Dooley and Darren Day (bottom left), and the set © Paige Freshwater you can see Rita, Sue five or six times and Bob Too and the story of Rita and Sue, two She then takes the children, and come back and think it is working class girls from a I had never seen it before so claims the house and leaves still really funny. we watched it. It was brilrundown council estate who Bob. “With Darren Day being are about to finished their Bob soon develops a prefer- liant. such a big name we are hav“It has been a film that finial year at school. ence for Rita and the two ing people travelling from as we have sat and watched While babysitting for margirls fall out, but the trio are far afield as Newcastle and together, so it is quite surreal ried couple Bob and Mireunited after Sue ends up in we have people who are for us to be in it together. We chelle, the two girls embark an abusive relationship. coming up from down don’t work a lot together, but on an affair with Bob and Darren Day told Liverpool south to see it. They we are playing husband and take it in turns to have sex Life: “There is a lot of comjust can’t believe it is on wife in this.” with him in his car in the edy in it and a lot of swearbecause everybody loved countryside. ing. There is even a cheeky the film. It is great to THE VERDICT: When Michelle finds out little bit of my bum on show bring it to life on the about the affair she confronts at one point.

Sure to have you achstage.” ing with laughter. This Bob, Rita, Sue and Sue’s par“It is great and it is such an The play tells week's must-see. ents in a street scream out. iconic film and role. When

*****

What Katie did best

A

kind rest from the gaudy Christmas tunes that have begun to fill the streets of Liverpool, Katie Melua started off her concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic with traditional songs inspired by the festive season in her hometown, Georgia.

Melua, accompanied by the Gori Choir conducted

by Teona Tsiram, performed all the songs from her new top ten album, ‘In Winter’.

She explained that the set of songs was designed ‘to be listened to at winter time’. This included original songs, covers and a choral piece by Rachmaninoff.

During short interludes she spoke fondly between articulated umms of her family’s move from Georgia to Belfast, a transition made easier due to her love of music. During the encore, Melua impressed the audience through going back to her roots and singing with the choir in their native language.

by Poppy Backshall

THE VERDICT:

*****

An artist unafraid of trying something new

CHRISTMAS CHILLS AT ST. GEORGE'S HALL

L

ALISTAIR BAKER spills the chills on Liverpool Loves Hauntings

ovehistory Theatre Company was at St George’s Hall this weekend for their performance of ‘Liverpool Loves Hauntings,’ featuring Victorian tales of ghostly occurrences.

The company brought to life some of the spookiest tales from the city’s past, such as the Tobacco Dock haunting and the mysterious ‘Bride of Mulgrave Street,’ in a per-

formance in the Concert Hall of one of Liverpool’s oldest and most iconic landmarks.

A particular highlight of the night’s ghostly encounters was the tale of Devil Visitations in Bootle. The story told of schoolmistress Teresa Higginson who was said to have encountered the devil in her terraced house in Bootle.

This part of the performance fully utilised the grand Concert Hall, with the devil

himself appearing on the balconies and main stage to torment Teresa.

Also performed on the night was the tale of Annie Smith, lowly street singer who was brutally murdered near St Patrick’s church. It is said her voice can still be heard on the streets of Liverpool today. The tale of Annie is the favourite of Lovehistory Creative Director Judy McLean. She told Liverpool

Life: “It’s a true story, Annie’s death is still a mystery and I think it’s probably the most historically accurate story from the night.”

She added: “Our previous shows in the series have been strictly historical, although I think this one is more about the tales and folklore of the city.”

Judy, who writes and directs the performance, hailed the scenic setting of St George’s

Hall as part of the success of the production. She said: “It’s the third in the series of Love History here at St George’s Hall.

"We do a lot in the hall and it’s a gorgeous venue.

The sound and lighting is perfect.”

****

THE VERDICT: Don't go alone, as you could be in for a fright!

Spooky: Audiences settle down as play begins

Life|Appeal|9

CHRISTMAS CRISIS Helping the homeless this winter

‘We don’t give up on someone until we’ve helped them come indoors’

Vunerable: Rough sleeping is a stark reality.

© The Whitechapel Centre

GARETH McCULLOUGH looks at shocking facts on the number of people who will be sleeping rough this year, and how THE WHITECHAPEL CENTRE urges us to help

T

he issue of homelessness is something which all of us are witness to, on a day to day basis.

It’s at this cold winter season that many of us sympathise with those who face the harsh reality of living on the streets.

Many of us try to do our bit, but in most cases this goes only as far as what change we have left in our pockets. According to recent statistics published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, The number of those sleeping rough within the UK has steadily in-

HOW YOU CAN HELP FUNDRAISE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL CENTRE

creased since 2010. The number has steadily increased over the past five years, which includes a 30%rise between 2014 and 2015.

Councillor Frank Hont, cabinet member for housing on Liverpool City Council said: “We know there is a lot of concern about homelessness, especially about rough sleeping as winter approaches and people are keen to help.

“We want to prevent the situation where rough sleeping becomes an entrenched way of life and the sooner people can be encouraged to come off the streets the better it is for them.

“There is a misconception among some people that those who are sleeping rough are doing so because there is nowhere for them to go.

“In fact, we fund 750 temporary accommodation places and the outreach workers have been successful in persuading many to come off the streets- up to 27 in one calendar month this year.”

It’s clear that the issue is not going to resolve itself and as an ever-present within the city of Liverpool, a number of initiatives have been taken in the hope of even making a small difference. The Whitechapel is

seen by many as a safe haven for those without a home and they will be continuing their No Second Night Out initiative this year.

The campaign says that while there may be many reasons why somebody sleeps rough for one night, there is no reason why they need to spend a second night on the streets.

The charity urges the people of Liverpool to contact their helpline if they become aware of someone that has become homeless.

David Carter, Chief Executive of the Whitechapel Centre,

said: “Sleeping on the streets is dangerous and can be lifethreatening, particularly as the weather turns colder.

“We would encourage people to save the number into their phone and give us a call, anytime, when they see someone sleeping rough in Liverpool.

“Everyone’s situation is different and we work with each person to offer the best support and appropriate accommodation available to them.”

For most people coming indoors into accommodation happens on the day they become homeless, but for some people it

can take time – time to find the right solution that the person feels able to accept.

“We don’t give up on people until we have helped someone come indoors. Our outreach team is out every day and calls to No Second Night Out help us find people quickly, before they become entrenched on the streets.

“We can only do this with the help of the public and we really appreciate their calls.”

You can contact No Second Night Out, By ringing 0300 123 2041 or emailing info@ whitechapelcentre.co.uk

Charity Santa Dash 2016

Everest Base Camp Trek

On the crest of an Emotion Wave

Socks for the homeless

Here’s how you can donate online

A team from DLA Piper’s Liverpool office (Jonathan Caldwell, Andy Gray, Sam Butler, Ben Wilson, Lauren Poole) and friend Peter Fletcher are taking part in the 2016 Santa Dash to raise money for the Whitechapel Centre and support them in their mission to prevent and resolve homelessness, social exclusion and housing poverty.

Jenny Killen is working towards a 12-day trek to the Everest base camp for The Whitechapel Centre due to “the amazing work they do”. While Jenny has already reached her target of £3300 there’s no reason as to why her efforts should not be rewarded. Make a donation at https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/Jenny-Killen?utm_ id=121

The Underground electronica night are set to release their first compilation in aid of the Whitechapel Centre, Blankets is an album featuring a range of experimental electronic music from Liverpool and further afield. The aim of the album is to raise funds for the White chapel Centre. The album will be released the same day as the launch event, at Frederiks bar on December 18.

University of Liverpool and The Whitechapel Centre are working together to provide the homeless of Liverpool with some much needed underwear this winter. The scheme works in conjunction with Socks for the Homeless. For every pair of socks you buy, another will be donated towards The Whitechapel Centre. Visit the site for more information https:// socks4homeless.org.uk/

You can donate as much or as little as you want directly on The Whitechapel Centre website at http://www.whitechapelcentre.co.uk/donate.html

Life|Christmas|10

Guys’ festive gift guide With Christmas fewer than four weeks away, Liverpool Life has decided to ease the burden of present buying for you by scouring the net to find the top picks for the men in your life this holiday season.

We’ve chosen items to appeal to all different men, so you will be sure to find at least one thing for the picky 21st century male , e art v o l ho en w an artist m e r m th For s of Ger on colou t f prin e’s work touch o ed g c a n Ru es add cor. Pri will r e sphe to any d 75 they e £ h class en £50- ift for t e g betw a great ale. m e mak proud e se hou hem her .uk o t Get .houzz.c www

Top quality headphones are always a win when it comes to presents. With music streaming on-the-go becoming more and more popular, and listening to music out-loud on your phone being popular with only a select few, headphones are a must.

These retro, stylish personal music amplifiers are priced at £64 and you can get them here www.tkmaxx.com

Plants ma coolest y not seem li ke gi hanger ft, but these p the sa la rope an re made of st nt rong d give a n a tough -nature y man-cave feel. Pr betwee ice n them h £40-£50 you c d er an buy www.li e festylee tc.co.uk

riste staple Ch Alcohol - th r most adults. t fo mas presen quite vodka isn’t A bottle of is ough as th as special th tion: molecvolu cocktail re it. Practice k y g lo o ix ular m tend gy and pre lo o ix m r u l yo Blumentha n to s e H e . you ar sual prezzie u n u is th h wit and een £34.99 Priced betw t it here n ge £49 you ca on.co.uk www.amaz

For a mor e lu try this cla xury gift, ssic mesh strap watc hf ry london rom hen. Priced a ta reasonable £115 you c purchase this specia an l it here www .amara.co em m

Learn the art of the chocolatier with Hotel Chocolat’s School Of Chocolate. Priced between £50-£65, this will be sure to please any chocolate lover. get it here www.hotelchocolat.com

For a smaller gift, but one which will be used all the time, try this smart phone projector. Just put the pieces together, strap in your smartphone and project any film or video onto a blank wall to get a private home cinema. Priced at £21.95 you can buy it here www.luckies.co.uk

To make sure you get these delivered in time for Christmas day, order them as soon as possible, check delivery dates, and if needed, purchase next day delivery

Life|Sport|11

Sky TV signs netball contract

By RHYS EDMONDSON

Sky has boosted its support of women’s netball by signing the biggest ever TV rights deal with England Netball, the sport’s governing body.

The four-year agreement will see Sky Sports broadcast games on Sky Sports Mix, beginning with the England series against Jamaica.

In a huge profile boost for the sport, Sky will also be showing international games including the Quad series between England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Previously, only domestic England games were shown.

Netball is the latest sport to join a schedule of programming on Sky Sports Mix that includes more womens sport.

Third year LJMU student Jemma Holden, who plays for the university netball team, welcomed the move: “In the past, netball matches have always been televised, but there was no advertisement or promotion around it so unless you knew the sport you wouldn’t know it was on! It’s about time that one of the most popular female sports in the country got better coverage, it’s a big step forward for women’s sport.”

Bellew set to take on Haye

By MATTHEW MAGUIRE Liverpool’s WBC Cruiserweight Champion Tony Bellew is set to fight David Haye in a showdown in March 2017.

‘Bomber’ Bellew has been engaged in a war of words over social media with his new opponent over the past 12 months.

This week it was officially confirmed that Bellew and Haye would be fighting.

However, the fight will be held at heavyweight, meaning a step-up in weight for the Liverpudlian boxer Bellew.

Gerrard’s retirement

By MATTHEW MAGUIRE Liverpool Football Club legend and local hero Steven Gerrard has officially called time on his decorated playing career.

‘Stevie G’ released an official statement last week in which he announced that he would hang up his boots, following a glittering 18-year career with Liverpool FC and LA Galaxy.

LJMU Women Rugby team into next round

By HOLLIE HAYES

Liverpool John Moores Women smashed their way to the next stage of the Northern Conference Cup with an away win against Keele University on Wednesday.

The 22-0 win means they continue to be undefeated this season, having now won all three games.

John Moores dominated territory in the first half by holding a strong defensive line against Keele’s relentless attack.

Liverpool’s outside centre Harriet Manning made a slick break at the 10-metre line, handing off a number of Keele’s challenges and stealing five points for Liverpool.

Keele’s scrummage proved difficult for the visitors. John Moores struggled to retain the ball in the scrum, allowing Keele to turnover and

Undefeated: Liverpool John Moores Women smash their way through to the next stage © Hollie Hayes initiate opportunistic attacks from the back line with some slick hands down the attacking line to the wing.

But yet again the Manning left Keele’s centres in her wake, extending L JMU’s lead early in the game.

Both teams dominated their respective line outs through-

out the game. However several knock-ons and offside errors from the Liverpoolbased team allowed Keele to gain momentum and territory, putting intense pressure on LJMU. Yet again Keele couldn’t convert this pressure into points, thanks mainly to LJMU’s impenetrable defen-

sive wall.

The second half brought increased territory for Keele as they fought back with resilience. They brought back the game by stealing vast amounts of ground on the visitors, aided by a strong tactical display with their number 10s boot and a powerful display of counter-rucking in almost every phase.

Liverpool’s captain Katie Jenkins extended the team’s lead with a break up from the opposition’s 10 metres line, before offloading to scrum half Hollie Hayes on the 20 metre mark, who took advantage of the broken defensive line to add another five points for the away team. Fly half Gabi Corby then scored a clean short range conversion through the middle of the posts.

Keele’s hopes of finding a

way back into the game began to fade when they had a try disallowed midway through the second half. A succession of fly hacks from the halfway line resulted in the Keele attack grounding the ball in the in-goal area, only for it to be deemed to have been grounded in touch.

Liverpool completed the scoring with a hat-trick try for Harriet Manning. Flanker Katie Jenkins’s strong run took the ball 10 metres away from the opposition line, before shipping a short ball to the scum half. The ball was then popped off to Harriet Manning, who found the space and momentum to crash over the line to take the score to 22-0.

The Rangers will progress to the quarter finals to take on their next hurdle of the Northern Conference Cup.

Tackling the Blues to help mental health of youth Everton in the Community, along with Edge Hill University and Parenting 2000, have set up a sports-based programme to try and target young people who are experiencing, or are at risk of, developing mental health problems, writes Cheyenne Hansen.

According to the charity Young Minds, one in ten young people aged five to 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder.

Mental Health affects all aspects of a child’s development including their cognitive abilities, their social skills and their emotional wellbeing.

The programme: Tackling the Blues, aims to help people aged between eight and 14 by offering them a range of interactive activities and weekly coaching sessions. The sessions are currently being delivered to around 300 young people in primary schools, secondary schools and community groups across Sefton, where increased mental illness is prevalent amongst

young people.

The young people partake in both competitive and non-competitive sporting activities which have been associated with positive behaviour change among those experiencing mental illness.

The sessions are run by student volunteers from Edge Hill university Volunteers and coaches provided by Everton in the Community. They deliver 14 sessions a week across all the groups.

So far, 24 young people have successfully gained a recognised qualification as part of a three-day event at Goodison Park, achieving a Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Level 2 qualification in Healthier Food and Special Diets.

Tackling the Blues project manager, Jon Jones, told Liverpool Life: “We go into the schools and run a mixture of sports sessions and classroom based workshops. We use games and activities to try and make it as engaging as possible.

“We try to make the classroom sessions as different to a normal lesson as possible so that it encourages the children to engage in discussions around mental health. The sport sessions follow the same theme as what is talked about in the classrooms.”

The games encourage team work and the ability to cope with loss, winning and change. Everton in the Community and Edge Hill also run other projects designed to help people stay healthy, including Active Blues, which focuses on adult males’ health.

Jon added: “The Liverpool area has seen an increase in mental illness across all ages.

“The aim of the project is to intervene early and provide young people with an awareness of mental health to help them tackle any issues that may arise as they get older. Hopefully it will prevent people suffering or give them the confidence to be able to speak about it.”

Women’s footie pioneer Sylvia Gore is remembered

By SACHI KONDO

Some of football’s biggest female names gathered to celebrate the life of Merseyside-born football legend and pioneer, Sylvia Gore.

The Liverpool County FA hosted the memorial football match at Walton Hall Park to remember one of the city’s finest football servants, who died in September after battling cancer.

Sylvia Gore has been dubbed ‘the pioneer of the women’s game’ as her involvement in the sport spanned over six decades. She played in spite of the Football Association’s banning of women’s football in 1921.

She secured her place in football history when she netted the first official international goal for England women’s in 1972, just one year after the ban had been lifted.

Her side won 3-2 against

Scotland.

At the age of 12, the Prescotborn athlete joined Manchester Corinthians and spent her teenage years playing in charity matches for the club.

Widely known as the ‘Denis Law of women’s football’, she once scored 134 goals in one season.

Following her retirement as a player, Sylvia served as manager of the Wales’ women’s team throughout the 1980s, as well as balancing the responsibility of being a FA Women’s Committee member for 20 years and working as a football development officer for Knowsley Council.

Gore’s contribution to football didn’t go unnoticed by the President of the Football Association, the Duke of Cambridge, who presented her an award for her outstanding service as a grassroots hero.

In 2014, she made it into the

Sylvia Gore (centre): Training with England’s first women’s international team © The Guardian National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame before being named the first female director at the Liverpool County FA. She was made an MBE in the 2000 new year honours for her services to women’s football and was named Man-

chester City Women’s FC Club ambassador in March.

A number of professional footballers, including Sunderland’s Kelly McDougall took part in the memorial match. The former Everton and England midfielder first

met Sylvia at school when she was five and told of how Sylvia immediately took her under her wing.

Sylvia’s apprentice read from a heartfelt letter at the event.

She said: “She had a massive impact on me and got me involved in school football and the Merseyside School games. She would even let me watch the Knowsley Ladies train and join in.

“She has been pivotal in the women’s game and drove it forward, never stopping in her determination to push for equality, recognition and the highest of standards.”

Girls playing football was not as commonplace back then, and it was Sylvia’s support and guidance that was the main reason for her success, Kelly wrote.

“She was a fiercely determined woman with a heart of gold.”

Liverpool

LifeSPORT 30 November 2016

FOURTH WIN FOR MOLLY

By MATTHEW MAGUIRE

Local fighting sensation Molly McCann improved her professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) record to 4-1 with a first round stoppage against step-in opponent Angela Pink in front of a raucous Liverpool crowd at the Olympia on Saturday night.

Hundreds gathered primarily to see ‘Meatball’ co-headline the card for Shinobi MMA Fighting Championships as she aimed to claim another exciting win, following her previous knockout of Macicilia Benkhettache, which took her just over a minute.

Stepping out in her blue Everton colours, McCann looked to make quick work of her stand-in opponent Pink, who had flown in from America following the withdrawal of Helen Copus from SGB. The two women touched gloves as a mark of respect, before the Liverpool-born fighter began to demonstrate her remarkable boxing ability, looking to strike quick in combinations and dominate early on.

It was immediately evident that McCann was in a different class to her opponent, who began to shrink against the powerful punches af-

Sensation: Proud Evertonian Molly McCann delights a home crowd with a first round knockout

© Picture Exclusive

he said: “Molly is a beast. She totally dominated the fight.

“Her stand-up game and her boxing were unbelievable. I’ve seen her boxing in the gym and it is quality.

“The fight itself was rather easy for her, she started aggressive, forced the stoppage and you could tell that she thrived off fighting in front of her home crowd.”

McCann has previously ex-

pressed her desires to fight in the same promotion as teammate Paddy Pimblett in Cage Warriors, before moving on to join the UFC, citing former Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey as her inspiration.

And Jordan believes all of this is possible.

He said: “She’s a really nice girl, who has trained in the gym before.”

ter being backed against the cage, prompting the referee to intervene and award ‘Meatball’ the TKO victory, much to the delight of the home crowd who cheered her from the first bell to the last.

The victory marked another impressive chapter in the Scouser’s blossoming MMA career, which is being nurtured in the well-established Next Generation MMA Gym

in Liverpool.

The gym is also a training ground to Cage Warriors Featherweight Champion Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett, a fellow Liverpudlian.

Arran Jordan, who trains at the same gym as McCann and attended the event over the weekend, believes that the fight was never going to be a two-way contest.

Speaking to Liverpool Life,

Reds ease way to final four

By MATTHEW MAGUIRE Liverpool rested a number of key players during their 2-0 victory against Leeds United in the EFL Cup quarter final tie last night, with one eye on their away trip to Bournemouth this weekend.

Captain Jordan Henderson was left out of the starting XI as manager Jurgen Klopp looked to experiment with his side in their midweek quarter final tie at Anfield, fielding first team regulars such as Sadio Mane with youngsters like Ovie Ejaria and Arnold Trent-Alexander.

Liverpool currently sit second in the Premier League behind Chelsea, and having gone unbeaten in the league since an away defeat to Burnley back in August, Klopp wanted some of his star men such as Roberto Firmino and impressive stand-in left back James Milner rested for their trip to the Cherries on the weekend.

During last night’s game against Garry Monk’s side, Liverpool had to fight hard for their victory, finally breaking down a tight defence in the 76th minute through Divock Origi, before newly-promoted Ben Woodburn added a second late on to ensure the Reds reach the semi final of the EFL Cup.

Inside Sport

Boxing novices spar it out for charity at bootcamp

By JOSH DOHERTY A group of novice boxers from Liverpool have raised over £1,000 for charity ahead of their charity fight night in Liverpool’s Fusion Night Club next month.

The event is raising money for Autism Initiatives, which facilitates services such as supported housing, education and days out for

children and adults with autism to help them enjoy a better quality of life.

Fundraising participants undertake a six-week training camp out of the Fitness Hanger at Aintree ABC to prepare for the big night on the December 17th, where one boxer will face off against another member of the training group.

All bouts are under white collar rules, which means wearing 16oz gloves and

head guards.

This is the third night of its kind organised by the sports, fitness and fundraising group Dedicated Boxing.

One of Dedicated Boxing’s organisers, Frankie Power, told Liverpool Life: “We’ve done events for Alder Hey before but this time we’re working together with Autism Initiatives to see if we could help raise some money with an event for them

Hard-hitting: Fighting fundraisers too. Eight members of this camp are actually workers from Autism Initiatives too.

© Dedicated Boxing

“They’re all coming along really well, from a fitness point of view, and with their boxing

© Hollie Hayes

Turn to p11 to find out whether LJMU’s women’s rugby team qualified for the fourth round of the Northern Conference Cup