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LIVERPOOL HOUSING CHARITY MAKES THE GRADE FOR INNOVATION AWARD
A GROUNDBREAKING
Liverpool housing charity that helps low-income families to build
their own homes is celebrating after being short listed for a
national award. Liverpool Habitat for Humanity (LHFH), which
assists people who may otherwise be unable to get onto the property
ladder, has reached the final stages of judging for the
Housebuilding Innovation Awards in the category of "Best
initiative to aid 1st time buyers/key workers".
If successful it will build on the success of winning the People
and Jobs title at the 2007 North West Regional Construction
awards. The project has also been granted Constructing Excellence
Demonstration Project status for its innovative and positive
influence on the construction industry; as well as being voted best
Social housing development of the year at the 2008 Daily Post
Regional Property Awards.
The LHFH scheme in Kingsley Road, Granby/Toxteth, differs from usual
social housing projects in that it allows prospective home owners to
invest 500 hours of "sweat equity" in the physical construction
of their new home instead of paying a costly cash deposit. This
labour then counts as a £10,000 down payment on the property.
The Liverpool project is a self-funded affiliate of Habitat for
Humanity International, which is dedicated to eliminating global
housing poverty, and relies on donations of money and materials, as
well as the labour of volunteers and future homeowners alike to
build homes. The Granby/Toxteth project is one of only a handful of
HFH builds in the UK and the 1st in the north west
The home buyers work closely with other volunteers - many of whom
travel from all over the world to take part - under the supervision
of a qualified construction manager and other experienced site
staff. Many businesses from across Liverpool and the north west have
also been on site to volunteer in team building sessions.
Chair of Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, Rev. Dr Shannon Ledbetter
said:- “It’s fantastic to be shortlisted for yet another
national award, but the real winners here are our home owners who,
through their own hard work and the charity’s truly innovative
approach, are getting onto the property ladder when otherwise they
would have little hope. As well as making home ownership
possible for low income families, we are helping local people to
develop new skills and are creating good quality housing in an area
in need of regeneration.”
The Housebuilding Innovation Awards, run by Housebuilder magazine
and the Home Builders Federation (HBF), aim to recognise companies
which are demonstrating a commitment to innovation in the
housebuilding industry. They are supported by Government, which
views them as an aid to raising standards. Winners will be announced
at an awards ceremony in London in October 2008.
For further information about applying for a property or
volunteering with Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, phone:- 0151 280
6232,
email, or
go
online. |
Tune in to Watch Your Own Heart Attack
BILLBOARDS
going up across Merseyside today (Monday 28 July) herald a TV 1st as
the British Heart Foundation (BHF) invites the nation to "watch
their own heart attack" through a television event that could
help save lives. Backed by Merseyside heart patients, this
compelling viewing experience will air on ITV1 on August 10 at
9.17pm during the Midsomer Murders break to raise awareness of heart
attack symptoms, and could be the single most important 2 minutes of
television people will ever see, says the nation’s heart charity.
Every year in the UK almost a quarter of a million people suffer
heart attacks, a 3rd of whom die before reaching hospital. The BHF
campaign will show people how important it is to recognise heart
attack symptoms and urge people to call 999 immediately when they
experience them.
Head teacher Mike Collins, 52, of Wirral, was driving home from work
when he started to get chest pain and put it down to indigestion.
He drove past Arrowe Park Hospital but didn’t have any change to pay
for the car park so carried on home. By the time he arrived
home, he crawled through the door on his hands and knees and his
wife immediately called 999.
Mike said:- “My
father died of a heart attack at the age of 42 so I have always been
very conscious of it. When I had a heart attack, I felt very
hot and clammy and it was like an elephant was standing on my chest. I was
told it was a ‘big’ heart attack and if I hadn’t got to hospital
when I did, it could have been a very different outcome.”
Jean Johnson, 63, of Southport, was at a friend’s house when she
started to feel unwell. She was cold and clammy, light-headed and
had a pain in her jaw and chest. She thought it was food
poisoning and her daughter took her home and she went in to cardiac
arrest.
She said:- “I
survived because I acted quite quickly. Make sure you watch the
advert so you can recognise the signs, these 2 minutes could save
your life.”
The billboards inviting people to watch their own heart attack
will be positioned in Liverpool Lime Street Station and train
stations in Sefton and Wirral.
Betty McBride, Director of Policy and Communications at the BHF,
says:- “We’re bringing heart attacks to life in living rooms
across the UK because understanding how one could feel could mean
the difference between life and death.”
Supporting the campaign is well-known television presenter Angela
Rippon, 64, who lost her father from a heart attack 3 years ago. She
said;- “I know exactly how heart breaking it can be to lose a
loved one from a heart attack.
My message to
people is that you owe it to yourselves and your loved ones to tune
into ITV1 on August 10.
This could be the most important two minutes of television you ever
see - I know I’ll be watching.” |
