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KNOWSLEY CHILDREN GET EXPERT SCRIPT ADVICE FROM PHIL REDMOND
A group of
young people from the NCH Knowsley Family Intervention Project (FIP)
had a memorable writing workshop recently when Phil Redmond,
Creative Director for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture and well known
TV and media guru, popped in to offer them advice.
The visit was organised as part of a new partnership between
children’s charity NCH and the BBC which will give some of the
Merseyside’s most vulnerable children the opportunity to become the
creative stars of the future. NCH is working with BBC Writersroom,
placing leading writers in NCH projects across the country.
As part of this initiative the young people are working with Lucia
Haynes, a former journalist who has written for Doctors (BBC1) and
is currently writing for Eastenders. Under Lucia’s guidance the
group is creating an online animated soap, an idea which has won
funding from North West Vision and Media. They have been working
closely with animators from Liverpool John Moores University and
have been involved with the whole process from writing the script to
deciding what the characters will look like.
Coinciding with Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture, Phil Redmond
- creator of some of Britain’s favourite programmes including
Brookside, Hollyoaks and Grange Hill – visited to see the group’s
work so far. Phil was accompanied by Mick Ord from the BBC to the
workshop and both were impressed by the group’s skills.
Jake, aged 14, who has been attending the workshops said:-
“When I was told about the workshops I thought they might be boring,
but they have actually been really fun. I enjoyed meeting Phil
Redmond and think it was good he came to see us.”
Karen Fletcher, Project Manager at NCH Knowsley FIP, said:-
“Phil Redmond’s visit was a brilliant experience for our young
people, and something they’ll never forget. We can’t thank him and
Mick Ord enough for taking time out of their busy days to come and
see us. I think the workshops at the project have given the young
people a wonderful opportunity to express themselves and let their
ideas be heard. This is something they wouldn’t normally have the
chance to get involved with."
The NCH Knowsley Family Intervention Project (FIP) works in
partnership with Knowsley Council with families at risk of eviction
and homelessness as a result of anti-social behaviour. |
River memorial for drowned internees
A MEMORIAL
plaque in memory of the victims of a sunken liner is to be unveiled
in Liverpool. More than 800 people were killed when a German
submarine torpedoed the Arandora Star off the Irish coast while she
was carrying Italian, German, Austrian internees and a few prisoners
of war from Liverpool to Newfoundland in July 1940. Also killed were
14 Liverpool sailors including the ship’s captain Egdar Wallace
Moulton and members of the Devonshire regiment.
In Britain there is still no official memorial to the dead. But in
this Capital of Culture year - which is the year of inter-cultural
dialogue - Liverpool in partnership with the Italian Honorary Consul
for the city is set to unveil an official memorial to those killed.
The memorial service will take place at Our Lady and St Nicholas’
Church in Chapel Street. The plaque will be located at Pier Head
when all regeneration work is complete. Relatives of those
killed have also been invited to take part in a civic service and
wreath-laying ceremony which will take place on a Ferry on the River
Mersey. Merseytravel have laid on a special service for this
ceremony and people are expected to travel from across Europe to
attend.
Liverpool City Council’s deputy leader Councillor Flo Clucas said:-
“It is very appropriate that in Liverpool’s year as European
Capital of Culture we remember the peace that Europe has enjoyed
through the founding of the European Union. We should acknowledge
the past; commemorate those who have had no commemoration, while
seeking reconciliation and promoting greater understanding.
Some of the
people killed actually held British nationality. Others were
internees many of whom had been born and settled in Britain but had
Italian, German or Austrian surnames or ancestry and were being sent
to be interned in Canada after war broke out.”
Honorary Consul Nunzia Bertalli said:- “Because the incident
involved people of different nationalities, some of whom were at
war, there has never been an official memorial.
Now, as members of
the European Union we all worked together to commemorate all the
victims in the most appropriate way.
It could help the families with
their grief and is a good example of the difference us being
European has made to the peace in the world.”
The memorial plaque is to be displayed at the Pier Head and will
also provide a focal point for families to remember their lost loved
ones. The city hopes to welcome the last survivor of the sinking,
Rando Bertoia, to the event.
The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Steve Rotheram, said:-
“This shows the positive contribution the European Union can play
in improving people’s lives. We are the first generation of
European’s that have lived without having experiencing a major war.
The torpedoing of the Arandora Star was a tragedy between people who
very nearly shared the same nationality; I hope this memorial will
make sure that we learn from the mistakes of the past.” |
