NOMINATIONS FOR ‘BEST AWAY GROUND’ CATEGORY

FANS given chance to nominate their Football League Best Away Ground.  The Football League Awards incorporating FourFourTwo’s Top 50 Football League Players are looking for fans to nominate the 2007 Football League Best Away Ground. The Award is being run in conjunction with BBC Radio Five Live.

BBC Radio Five Live’s Sport programme will launch the Award on Monday 8 January 07 between 7pm to 10pm. Supporters will be encouraged to nominate a ground they have visited, and can put their nomination forward on the Five Live webpage.

The category was a great success in the inaugural Football League Awards which took place in March 2006 with the KC Stadium, home of Championship club Hull City, winning the accolade. The stadium, which opened on 18 December 2002, comprises a state-of-the-art all-seater spectator arena with a capacity of 25,404.  This Award will once again recognise the contribution that a good football ground can make to the great experience of an away day Football League match.

Stewart Thomson, Commercial Director of The Football League, said:- “The Best Away Ground category provides fans with a chance to nominate a ground they have visited as part of an ‘away match’ fixture. It will help provide clubs with the recognition they deserve for contributing to a great atmosphere at the games, and performing well against a wide range of criteria such as the refreshments available, safety provisions and the accessibility of the ground.”

The closing date for nominations is 22 January and a shortlist of grounds in contention for the Award will be announced on air after this date.  The winners of The Football League Awards and FourFourTwo’s Top 50 Football League players will be announced at a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House on Sunday 4 March 2007. In total there will be 18 awards made on the night, including a range of football awards and industry specific honours.

DISABLED CHILDREN DENIED THEIR VOICE

THE Children's Society is urging the Government to grant all disabled children placed away from home in the North West unconditional access to an independent advocate. In support of The Children's Society new campaign, an Ipsos MORI survey commissioned by the charity reveals overwhelming public support for improving existing services for disabled children.  

According to the new survey, Disabled Children & Advocacy, by The Children's Society, 9 out of 10 adults in the North West agree that disabled children and young people placed away from home should have access to an independent advocate. The survey also reveals that:

· 86% of adults believe that all disabled children should be entitled to support to give them a say in the decisions made about their lives

· 76% of adults say that more needs to be done to improve support given to disabled children.

There are more than 13,000 disabled children placed away from home across the country, yet alarming research reveals that only 5% of them have had access to an independent advocate. The absence of an advocate leaves them open to bullying, intimidation, and demeaning treatment.  An advocate can help disabled children get their views across and take part in decisions that affect their lives. For these children (many who have serious communication difficulties) making choices and decisions depends on being able to communicate preferences and having someone who is willing to take the time to listen and understand.

Independent advocacy is an important source of protection giving disabled children a voice within an otherwise closed system. Earlier research has shown disabled children are more likely to be abused than other children. Children and young people have said they are often intimidated when involved in meetings about their care and not given enough time to get their views across. 

The Government is currently reviewing its support for children placed away from home in the Care Matters Green Paper. The Children's Society is lobbying the Minister for Children, Beverley Hughes MP for a statutory right for disabled children placed away from home to access independent advocacy.

Mark Lee, Regional Director at The Children's Society, said:- "There are simple things in life most of us take for granted such as choosing the food we eat, when we go to the toilet and speaking out when we feel threatened. Disabled children placed away from home are often denied these very basic rights and are more at risk of harm than other children. Every child deserves a good childhood and disabled children placed away from home should have access to an independent advocate to safeguard this entitlement."

Paralympic medal winner and disability campaigner Ade Adepitan pledged his support for the campaign:- "Sometimes it's hard enough to be heard when you are disabled, but it's even worse if you have difficulty communicating. I am supporting The Children's Society's campaign to ensure disabled children placed away from home have the opportunity to reach their potential and realise their ambitions."

1 IN 3 TURN A BLIND EYE TO FINANCES

AROUND 12.4 million people have refused to plan their finances at all, and those that do find the time to review them set aside a miserly 5 minutes a week, according to new research from AXA.  But all is not lost - the results of AXA’s unique financial social experiment have revealed that people need only increase the time they spend reviewing their money issues to 15 minutes a week in order to save thousands of pounds in reduced debt and to increase savings.  With professional advice the experiment found that you can reduce your personal debt by almost a quarter and increase your savings pot by over 40% and all in the space of 12 months. That amounts to a total saving of up to £6,000.  The research also found that the average UK adult has only saved £1,003 this year while some 61% have either saved nothing at all or have only managed to set aside less than £500.

“AXA Avenue”, which has been exploring issues of financial capability and attitudes to managing finances, involved 20 households, with half receiving financial advice for a year, whilst the other 10 households were left to their own devices to act as a control group. The results show that those 10 households that received financial advice are collectively £50,000 better off, with massive savings increases and encouraging levels of debt reduction. In contrast, the households left to their own devices got collectively poorer. They frittered away a quarter of their savings and the group saw a 3% reduction in their net wealth.

Saran Allott-Davey, the independent adviser involved in the experiment, has had a similar impact on the households involved as Super Nanny Jo Frost or Kim and Aggie have had for people with no control of their children or housework, providing individual motivation to help them attend to their problems. The experiment found it was the 1st couple of meetings that had the greatest impact for our participants, when changes were made and new habits were formed.

With learnings from AXA Avenue, Saran Allott-Davey recommends:-

1. You should spend 1 hour a month planning and reviewing your finances (currently the nation spends just 22 minutes a month doing this)

2. Simplify Me – make a list with only 2 columns: what goes out; what comes in and make sure the 1st column totals less than the 2nd

3. Find a buddy – discussing specific financial details with a friend can be tricky but having someone to encourage and motivate you to make changes can make a real difference

4. Consolidate debts - it is very important to understand the total extent of what you owe in outstanding debts; what are you paying in interest? When will the debts be cleared? Consider moving your balances to 0% interest offers or consolidating your debts to reduce your monthly payments.

5. Clear debts before saving – try to clear as much of your debts as possible before making short term savings. The amount you pay in interest on your debts is likely to outweigh any interest you gain on your savings so clear the debts first and then watch your money grow.

6. Think long-term – do not put off thinking about your long term financial future. Get a pension forecast and speak to an adviser if you are concerned your income in retirement is going to leave you short. Make sure you understand the benefits of joining your employer’s pension scheme and take advantage, providing you can meet the monthly payments.

7. Take control – don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by your finances but make the decision to take control; getting the right mindset is half the battle won. Use the sources available to you that will help you better understand and manage your money, from the Internet, Citizens Advice Bureau or an IFA

Whether the participants will be able to keep up the good work, making sure they regularly take time out to think about their finances, as of yet it has to be seen. Slipping back into old habits is the greatest concern for the participants and Saran Allott Davey now the experiment is over. Only 3 out of 10 participants would consider paying for financial advice in the future, with participants concerned that financial advice is too expensive when there are no guaranteed returns. This is after they have managed to collectively improve their financial situations by some £50,000.

Saran Allott-Davey commented:- “The single most useful lesson for the majority of the active group was to set up a detailed list of their income and expenditure. In most instances this was extremely revealing and allowed them to gain an understanding of their cash flow problems and financial situation. In many instances this was the catalyst for them to start to improve their situation, for such an easy task, it can be incredibly helpful.  The discipline of chasing the active group to consider their financial situation was very helpful in setting up some good habits for them for the future and in making some significant changes in the short term. I do have doubts about whether these habits will continue in the medium term.”

Steve Folkard of AXA said:- “There is a direct correlation between the amount of time people spend on their finances and how much they save. Our research shows that it’s not until people start to spend around an hour a month on planning and reviewing their money issues that they really see their savings pot grow – people who spend more than an hour saved an average £1,532 last year, compared to just £576 saved by people who don’t review their finances on a monthly basis at all.  This is supported by the findings of AXA Avenue, which showed that the participants who invested the most time looking at their finances as a whole reaped the greatest rewards. If we all spend just an hour a month reviewing our income and outgoings, or just 15 minutes a week, we’re convinced that the nation’s financial health would improve dramatically.”