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City turns blue
to highlight autism
LIVERPOOL is to become the
first English City to light up its buildings blue to raise awareness
of autism. The Town Hall and St George's Hall will be bathed
in blue light on Wednesday, 2 April 2014, to mark United Nations World
Autism Awareness Day.
They will join other iconic locations around the world, including
the Empire State Building in New York, Sydney Opera House, the World
Trade Centre in Toronto and Niagara Falls for 'Light It Up Blue'
to highlight the condition, which affects around 1 in 100 people.
The idea has come from Julie Simpson, a mum from Speke who is a
member of Liverpool Autistic Children's Alliance which supports
parents, carers and young people with the condition. Her 10 year old
son Joe has autism and Julie is a passionate campaigner for greater
understanding of the condition.
Julie and Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP wrote to Mayor Joe
Anderson asking if the City could turn its buildings blue. Now the
Mayor is now writing to the owners of other prominent buildings in
the City asking them to do the same.
Mayor Joe Anderson said:- "I am absolutely delighted that we
are able to help raise awareness of Autism by lighting up our
buildings in blue and I am asking other buildings to do the same.
It is really important that we do all we can to highlight autism and
its symptoms to overcome ignorance around it, and also to support
parent and carers."
There are around 700,000 people in the UK with autism - more than 1
in 100 of the population.
Julie Simpson said:- "I feel very strongly about raising
awareness of autism to try and make people understand how it affects
children. As it is not a physical condition, people just assume
young people with autism are being naughty. It is only by
explaining to people about the condition that my child and others
like him stand any chance of living a life like any other person
rather than being judged or ridiculed by others."
John Sorenson from Liverpool Autistic Children's Alliance said:-
"It's absolutely fantastic that the City Council is supporting
world autism awareness day and the Light It Up Blue campaign.
Raising awareness of autism enables campaigners and supporters to
obtain the best interventions for autistic children during their
crucial early childhood development years; many children never
obtain this essential help, support and understanding.
Consequently, this has a huge and often devastating impact upon
these children and their families and denies the child the
opportunity to reach their full potential. We hope as many people as
possible will support this wonderful event and help our City to
shine a light on autism and become a beacon of hope, support,
inspiration and understanding for autistic children and their
families."
The National Autistic Society - the UK's leading charity for people
affected by autism - is backing the initiative.
Mark Lever, Chief Executive of The National Autistic Society, said:-
"We are really pleased to see Liverpool City Council marking
World Autism Awareness Day so spectacularly and helping to raise
public awareness about this lifelong developmental disability.
Autism affects how a person communicates with, and relates to other
people. Although some people with autism are able to live relatively
independent lives, others may need a lifetime of specialist support.
Autism is much more common than many people think, affecting around
700,000 people in the UK - more than 1 in 100. If you include their
families, autism touches the lives of over 2.7 million people.
Despite this prevalence, a lot of misconceptions persist and we need
to take every opportunity to increase understanding and awareness."
Everton Football Club will be raising awareness of autism at their
match at Goodison Park against Arsenal on 6 April 2014, including the
distribution of flyers and collection buckets to raise money for the
National Autistic Society in the fan zone.
In recent years, there has been a 25% increase in pupils
diagnosed with autism in Liverpool due to improved assessment at an
early age. In response, the City Council is expanding the number of
special school places. A new £6 million home for Millstead Primary
School is being built in Everton, Abbot's Lea Special School which
specialises in educating young people with autism is getting an
extra 6 classrooms and Palmerston Special School is also being
extended.
More information about Light It Up Blue can be found
online.
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This is Actual
Liverpool project video is well received by Liverpool
THIS Is Actual Liverpool (#TIAL),
headed by film maker Megan Walker, launched their trailer for the
project #TIAL live at The Baltic Fleet which was well received by
Liverpudlians and non-Scousers who attended.
The project, an alternate view of Liverpool in light of the trailer
for 'This Is Liverpool', began filming various iconic Liverpool
locations only 10 days ago and has so far reached heights of over
5,000 likes on Facebook with a wealth of individuals and businesses
offering their services and building space for the project.
TIAL hope that their video is received well and gives Liverpudlians
something positive they can connect to. Depending on the response
Walker says:- "We definitely want to continue making longer
and more theme specific videos. We just need a little help in
creating them."
With a fast-growing fan base, 'This Is Actual Liverpool'
calls for any individual, group, business or collective wishing to
promote a positive look of Liverpool to get in touch via social
media @realliverpool #TIAL or by
email.
The video can be viewed
online.
Inspector gives
'Outstanding' for St Mark's of Scarisbrick
ST Mark's Church of England Primary School are
delighted to announce that they have recently been awarded 'OUTSTANDING'
by SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools).
On the 14 February 2014 the school opened its doors to welcome the
children as they do every morning, but a special visitor arrived
too. No, it wasn't a delivery driver with a dozen red roses to
celebrate St Valentine 's Day …………It was the SIAM's Inspector!
After having various meetings with the Children, Parents, Teachers,
St. Mark's Vicar, School Governors, Tours of the school and its
excellent facilities, lessons observed and pupil participation, he
had no option but to award this fast growing school with:- 'OUTSTANDING'.
The Inspector stated in his report that:- "Daily worship is excellent
and vibrant and is central to the life of the school. Relationships
based on Christian love and care for individuals is outstanding. The
distinctive Christian values of love, peace, trust, responsibility,
equality, generosity and forgiveness are made explicit and are
deeply embedded in the daily life of the school." He went on to say:-
"Parents feel that the school listens to their views and that
problems are dealt with quickly and sensitively."
The report goes on to praise the leadership and management of the
school saying they are both excellent and St Mark's pupils and
parents speak highly of the school.
Head teacher, Mrs Freeman stated that she is extremely happy with
the report; she is and always has been proud of the school and its
pupils. Her main goal as Head teacher is to provide all the tools
for children to learn and achieve in a happy and safe environment.
By promoting Christian values and educating all pupils the meaning
of 'faith' they are all encouraged to develop their own
spiritual awareness. These values show children what is morally
correct as they progress in life.
St Mark's school looks not only at Christianity and its traditions,
other religions and cultures are explored. Mrs Freeman also
commented that she has a great team of staff, pupils and a strong
relationship with St Marks Vicar, who have all contributed to the
fantastic outcome of this report. She is delighted to have been able
to show the amazing work that St Marks do and has to offer our
future generation. She commented:- 'Our mission statement is
that we encourage each child to achieve their full potential and
develop a love of life and learning, within our caring Christian
community. That is what St Mark's School stands for and that is what
we strive to achieve.'
If you would like to find out more, see the full report or book a
taster session for your child, St Marks is always there to welcome
you. For more informationas you can get more you can get it via
clicking on to their
website.
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