Councillor Mark Dowd is to seek meeting with transport minister Justine Greening

MERSEYTRAVEL transport chief, Councillor Mark Dowd, is to seek a meeting with the newly appointed transport minister Justine Greening MP.  Councillor Dowd, who leads the Integrated Transport Authorities Special Interest Group for the Local Government Association (ITA SIG) wants to push the case for High Speed Rail and increased investment in the ITA metropolitan areas.   The ITA SIG is regarded as one of the most influential public transport groups, bringing together all 6 Integrated Transport Authorities (ITAs) in England.  Between them the ITAs have a combined budget of over £700 million a year and serve more than 11 million people using public transport.  Councillor Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, said:- "It is a great honour to lead the ITA SIG, especially at such a critical time in the struggle for economic recovery, and I will make it a priority to meet with the new Secretary of State for Transport.  I am writing to her immediately to express my support for HS2 which I believe can bring enormous benefits to the vast majority of people who live outside the South East.  In the current climate it is even more important that we continue to invest in a first class public transport system which is vital to our economic recovery."

Bootle Councillor Mark Dowd has worked in transport since 1960 and been a member of Sefton Council for 29 years.  Councillor Dowd became a member of Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority at its inception in 1986. He was elected as Vice-Chairman in 1987 and Chair in 1992.  Merseytravel’s Passenger Transport Authority is made up of 18 councillors from the five districts of Merseyside.

Amadudu awarded domestic violence contract

LIVERPOOL City Council has awarded a contract to support people from the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) community who suffer domestic violence to Amadudu.  It follows the withdrawal of the winning bidder, Refuge, who have decided it is not viable for them to proceed because their bid was based on securing additional contracts which they did not win.   Councillor Roz Gladden, Cabinet member for adult social care, said:- "While we respect the decision by Refuge not to proceed because they do not feel it is financially viable, we are fortunate and delighted to have another extremely experienced locally based provider able to take on the contract. We are now looking forward to working with Amadudu on delivering an improved service for vulnerable women and their children.  We are absolutely committed to giving more help to people who suffer domestic violence and are spending an additional £600,000 over the next 3 years.  Our investment in domestic violence services also includes new apartments for women and children from the BME community which will provide top quality individual units to replace the existing outdated shared accommodation."  Beverley Williams, Chair of Amadudu, said:- "We are pleased to be awarded the contract, and determined to continue our support to our community.   We are overjoyed that the council decided to continue their support and have shown their confidence in us delivering the service within Liverpool."  The 3 year contract forms part of housing related support commissioned by the city council for vulnerable people.

Shopping for a Healthier and Heartier Lifestyle in Southport

TAKE note... Residents in Southport will be able to have a free lifestyle check while they do their shopping thanks to a scheme by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).  The Heart Health Roadshow (HHR) will visit town and city centres and supermarket car parks across Merseyside to offer lifestyle checks to shoppers in a bid to help them understand how they can lead a healthier lifestyle.  It will be at Tesco, in Town Street, on Friday, 28 October and Saturday, 29 October 2011, between 11am to 3pm.  The team includes a cardiac nurse and a dietician, who are on hand to offer support and guidance, on a range of topics from healthy eating to weight management. Visitors to the HHR vehicle will use touch screens to do a simple lifestyle questionnaire and then chat to an friendly member of staff about their results. They will be encouraged to come up with three health goals.

Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the BHF, said that:- "The roadshow is the perfect chance for people interested in their health to come along to a really friendly, informal setting, and find out more about how they can improve their lifestyle to lower their risk of developing heart disease in the future. While fewer people may be dying from heart disease, more people are living with it. Small changes really can make a huge difference to the risk of getting heart disease and we have lots of free support and guidance to offer."   For more information visit:- bhf.org.uk/roadshow.

MORE TO COME AT THE LIVERPOOL MUSEUM

THE new Museum of Liverpool will open even more galleries and an entire new floor before the end of the year.  The news comes as it is announced that it has received a record half a million visitors in the first 3 months since opening in July 2011. 

Galleries including The Great Port and much awaited Liverpool Overhead Railway will open on Friday, 2 December 2011, along with a 38 metre time traveller’s timeline, and a gallery dedicated to Liverpool’s King’s Regiment.

Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool said:- "Having already had 500,000 visitors through our doors to see the first galleries opened, we’re so excited to be opening even more, which will reveal some much-loved and anticipated objects that we know will be taken into the hearts of our visitors.   People may have spotted our first object - the Liverpool Overhead Railway carriage - move into the Museum last year, and have been looking forward to seeing it on display along with another firm favourite, the famous 1838 steam locomotive ‘Lion’. These objects have been carefully restored by our conservation team, and we can’t wait to show them off."

From December, visitors to the Museum of Liverpool will be able to witness the brilliance of the Liverpool Overhead Railway for themselves, 55 years after it was demolished. Displayed on rails at its original working height above The Great Port gallery, ‘motor coach No. 3’ is the last surviving carriage of its type from what was once known as ‘The Dockers’ Umbrella’.  The carriage will be displayed as part of a reconstruction of Pier Head Station, and accompanied by the Lumière Brothers’ archive footage filmed from the railway in 1897, showing the impact of Liverpool’s port at the time.

Beneath it, The Great Port gallery charts the history of Liverpool’s relationship with the River Mersey, and the people who dedicated their lives to it. Pioneering the world’s first commercial wet dock in 1715, Liverpool’s port continued to thrive. At the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, it led the way with new technological developments including canals, the first timetabled passenger railway, and the world’s first elevated electrified railway line.

The gallery uses exhibits from National Museums Liverpool’s land transport collection to bring the story of Liverpool as a great port to life. Its centrepiece is the steam locomotive Lion (1838), along with a Sentinel 10-12 ton Super Steam Tractor (1927) used widely on the dockside, and the only known surviving Liver 3 ½ h.p. Phaeton automobile (1900) manufactured by the William Lea Motor Co Ltd of Birkenhead and Liverpool.

Janet Dugdale continues:- "Aside from The Great Port on the ground floor, we are also opening up the entire first floor of the Museum which includes the Liverpool Overhead Railway gallery and two more special galleries. History Detectives will focus on the history of the area from the Ice Age to the present day, and the second will explore Liverpool’s special relationship with one of Britain’s oldest regiments, the King’s Regiment."

History Detectives will feature a 38 metre time traveller’s timeline packed with objects, which forms the backbone of this gallery. It spreads far back before the granting of Liverpool’s letters patent (charter) in 1207 and panning forward into the future.

The timeline gives a context to every visit to the Museum, accompanied by a unique interactive map where visitors can explore how places have changed and reveal key events that have shaped local history.

City Soldiers focuses on the long history of the King’s Regiment. Created in 1685, it has been Liverpool’s regiment since 1881, and is now amalgamated into the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

The gallery utilises the King’s Regiment collection, which includes film, video, memoirs, uniforms, trophies and weaponry to tell the Regiment’s story, and visitors will be inspired to research their own family history, using the collection and archive information as a starting point.

The Museum of Liverpool has been made possible with generous support from major funders, including the:-

North West Development Agency (NWDA).
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).