Two projects make final shortlist of 38

LIVERPOOL'S education service has been shortlisted for two prestigious national awards. 

The two projects are among 38 across the country to make the final shortlist from 308 nominations for the Sure Start Partners in Excellence Awards.

The city's Neighbourhood Early Years Service has been nominated in the category of 'Smarter Children's Services', with the Mystery Day Nursery listed in the 'Promoting Children's Well-being' section.

The Neighbourhood Early Years service brings together professionals from education, health and social services to provide improved services and more support for children with special educational needs and their families.

The Mystery Day Nursery provides an environment to stimulate the senses of children from some of the city's most disadvantaged areas.

The awards are designed to reward services which help children to remain healthy and safe, to enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in London next month, hosted by the Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge.

Helen Winrow, from Liverpool city council's Early Years service, said:- "We are delighted to be on the final shortlist. 

We are very proud of our achievements in Early Years and proud of the fact that our innovative and creative work is being recognised at a national level."

Liverpool city council's assistant executive member for education, Councillor Jan Clein, said:- "It is a great achievement to be shortlisted from a field of over 300 and is a tribute to the hard work of everybody involved.

Our Early Years service really helps to enhance the lives of children and families across Liverpool." 

Help For Older Job Seekers

DESPITE what you think, getting a job is hard, but help is at hand for over-50s. In a bid to tackle the growing problem of over-50s unemployment and age discrimination in the workplace, 50 Connect, the UK's largest website for the over 50s, has announced the creation of a free-for-all jobs board to help older job seekers back into paid employment. The website can be see by clicking here www.50connect.co.uk 

"Many over-50s want to work but through no fault of their own have being made redundant on reaching fifty," comments Dale Lovell of 50 Connect. "Age discrimination in the workplace means that many over-50s find it increasingly difficult to find employment. We want to help people back into work by providing easy access to a range of jobs opportunities online."

50 Connect's decision to launch a Jobs Board comes in the wake of damning new research from Age Concern England, claiming that the majority of people in the UK believe age discrimination is getting worse, not better.

Unlike other online Job Forums, 50 Connect will not be charging recruiters for advertising jobs on the site and welcome postings from individuals looking for work also.

"This is not a commercial venture for us at 50 Connect, our main concern in launching is to aid the very many over-50s who are currently out of work get back into employment," concluded Mr. Lovell.

Recruiters and those looking for work are invited to list their requirements online at www.50connect.co.uk/forums

NORTH WEST TAKES TO STREETS TO RE-LIVE WWII VICTORY IN EUROPE

CAPTURING the joyous atmosphere of victory over fascism in Europe sixty years ago is the aim of a range of events being funded in the
North West with lottery grants announced today under the Home Front Recall scheme.

Those for whom May 8, 1945 still feels like yesterday will be passing on their memories to younger generations as the region gets in the mood to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the war with concerts, street parties, motorcades, tea dances and other events.

The £7.3 million Home Front Recall scheme is a joint funding initiative from lottery good cause distributors the Big Lottery Fund. The Heritage Lottery Fund to provide grants for activities across the UK to commemorate the part played by those on the home front during the war years. Among them will be veteran fire fighters, auxiliary services, nurses, Bevin Boys, dock workers, ex-service clubs and people in many other roles.

An old-fashioned fun day out for everyone is promised by the organisers of the 60th Anniversary March through Standish in Wigan next May to commemorate the part played by people on the Home Front to secure victory over fascism in the Second World War.

The skirl of bagpipes and the crystal notes of a full brass band will help to lead people through the streets of Standish to the fields of St Wilfrid's School for a day of sack races, Punch and Judy and all the events and entertainment that recall the atmosphere in the area when the war ended.

"Youngsters from local schools will be dressing in 1940s style, and we're organising special storytelling and reminiscence sessions so that older people from Standish can pass on their recollections of wartime," explains Patricia Grimshaw, of Standish Community Forum. "We hope to evoke the atmosphere of celebration that marked the end of the war, and also encourage young people to learn what it was all about."

The Standish celebrations are being backed with an award of £4,425 in lottery good causes money under the Big Lottery Fund's Home Front Recall Scheme. "We're really delighted with this grant," says Patricia Grimshaw. "We were hoping to organise some sort of event anyway, but the support of the Big Lottery Fund will help to make it really special for everyone taking part. It's a really good use of lottery money, and means a great day out for everybody, young and old alike."

A primary school on Merseyside will be bringing the wartime years to life with a calendar for 2005 which features extracts from classroom logs describing air raids and other events 60 years ago. In addition to the calendar, Eccleston Mere Primary School in St Helens will be using its £1,700 award under the Home Front Recall scheme to hold a 1940s-style street party for pupils, and to stage a musical performance of 'Dad's Army'.

Awards to help mark the Home Front effort have also been made to an Over 60s club in Stalybridge, Cheshire, a social club in Rochdale, Lancashire, and a group of elderly people in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive, Stephen Dunmore said:- "There are valuable lessons for today's generations from the experience of the war effort in the North West and across the UK which helped bring about victory and peace in Europe. Through this scheme, we want to help a special generation participate in the 60th anniversary of those days. Home Front Recall recognises the importance of the sacrifices and contribution made by millions of people who may not have been fighting in the strict sense but were, nonetheless, indispensable. Whether they were, for instance, building planes, putting out fires, breaking codes, or looking after evacuees and children away from the centres of bombing, they played a part in the success of the war effort."

Liz Forgan, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:- "The debt we owe to those who participated in the Second World War effort from all walks of life is immense and one that must never be forgotten. I can think of no better way of using Heritage Lottery Fund cash than to help support this tremendous programme. It will preserve and honour the memories and bravery of countless men and women ensuring that their sacrifice is remembered by future generations."

The Home Front Recall scheme is the final strand of the Big Lottery Fund's Veterans Reunited programme aimed at marking the events leading to the end of the war 60 years ago.

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