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Helping City Region and
Merseyside businesses plan ahead for Wirral loop line track renewal works
BREAKFAST clubs to flexible working
hours… Businesses and organisations have started to share what measures they're
putting in place during the Wirral loop line track renewal works, that will
start on 3 January 2016.
The case studies by Merseytravel and Liverpool and Sefton Chambers of Commerce
aim to give other employers ideas so they can play their part in keeping the
City Region and Merseyside moving, while continuing to operate effectively and minimising the
impact for their staff.
They have been developed alongside a 'checklist' that employers can use
to facilitate discussions about the impacts of the work on staff, contractors
and service users and whether opportunities exist to support them further.
The key advice to businesses is to encourage their staff to stick to public
transport, recognising that an increase in car journeys, particularly
cross-river and at peak times, will cause significant congestion in the Mersey
Tunnels and surrounding routes, significantly increasing journey times for
everyone.
Other hints and tips in the checklist include:- establishing how many staff will
be affected, considering ways to reduce cross river travel, such as
opportunities for home working or hot desking at other sites, flexible working
patterns, giving consideration to the start and finish times of meetings,
ensuring staff know all the travel options available to them and seeing if
suppliers may be able to make deliveries outside of peak times.
Employers are encouraged to use the checklist and case studies in conjunction
with the other materials available via an online toolkit which includes web
banners, posters, FAQs and the customer information booklet. These can also be
accessed in electronic format, or be requested in hard copy
online.
Said Wayne Menzies, Chair of the Liverpool City Region and Merseyside Major Events Transport
Board and Head of Rail for Merseytravel:- "We want to work with businesses
and organisations to reduce travel during peak periods, particularly
cross river, to help people get to work and to keep the City Region and
Merseyside moving. This
guidance assists with that.
We completely appreciate the inconvenience caused by the changes to people's
travel arrangements and that many of the tips may not help those with set hours,
a location based job or who have specific caring responsibilities. However, if
we can help businesses mitigate the impact and reduce the flow of passengers
during the peaks we make the journey easier for all; those who can be more
flexible and those who can't."
Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, Merseyrail's managing director, added:- "We
appreciate that the work taking place will inconvenience our passengers in the
short term, but the renewal of the track in the tunnels is essential and will
give us a more reliable infrastructure for decades to come. We have worked hard
to ensure that the alternative travel arrangements put in place enable people to
continue getting around and cause as little disruption as possible. This goes
not just for our own passengers, but also the travelling public throughout the City
Region."
Details of the transport options that will keep the Liverpool City Region and
Merseyside moving
during 6 months of work on Merseyrail's Wirral line, including 6 weeks of full
cross river closure from 3 January 2016, are available
online.
Network Rail will be replacing the most challenging sections of concrete based
track in the 'loop' originally laid in the 1970's, while making the most
of the opportunity to carry out other work, including replacing the conventional
track under the riverbed.
Network Rail, Merseyrail and Merseytravel, have been working over many months,
with local authorities, operators and other partners, to come up with a plan
that balances the need to get essential and complex work done with the need to
keep people moving and the City Region and Merseyside 'open for business.'
The work, which would also support a new Merseyrail fleet on the network from
the early 2020's, is part of a £340m investment in the Liverpool City Region and
Merseyside (LCR)‘s rail network over the next 3 years.
We're encouraging businesses and organisations to share what they're doing to
prepare themselves and their staff for the track renewal work
via following Twitter, with the hashtag #trackrenewal. |
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Aughton
fundraisers hit 50 year milestone of support for cancer research
A group of local fundraisers is
celebrating more than 5 decades of fundraising activities, helping secure
thousands of pounds for cancer research projects in the region.
The Aughton based fundraising committee of North West Cancer Research was formed
50 years ago by founder Amy Armitage, who, along with a group of friends,
wanted to help those with cancer and their families by funding research in the
region.
With just a handful of volunteers the group started by organising regular coffee
mornings and grew steadily over the years. Today, there are 10 volunteers who
work tirelessly to organise regular events and activities including coffee
mornings, quiz nights, stamp selling, race nights, local concerts and even a
fashion show.
Since 2012 the group has raised £30,733 for North West Cancer Research, which
funds lifesaving cancer research projects at the University of Liverpool,
Lancaster University and Bangor University.
Longest serving member Pauline Welsh has been fundraising with the committee for
the last 35 years. She was motivated to join after her mother sadly died of
breast cancer. Pauline believes advances in cancer research are vital if we are
able to overcome this killer disease. She said:- "What we know about
cancer and cancer treatment has developed so much since my mother had cancer all
those years ago, but there is still much more research to be done to save more
lives.
That's why raising money for North West Cancer Research is so important to me.
There are people out there who want to do the research to one day eliminate the
disease, they just need funding to do so and that's where we come in.
By organising regular fundraising events, we are helping to raise funds and
increase awareness of the importance of research in the fight against cancer.
Thanks to fundraising, cancer research has improved so much, which is why every
penny we raise is so important."
All money raised by the Aughton fundraisers has supported lifesaving research,
including projects looking at skin cancer and head and neck cancers at the
University of Liverpool. It has also helped to fund the next generation of
research scientists, as North West Cancer Research currently funds 16 PhD
studentships as well as 7 intercalating students.
Current chair of the Aughton committee, Anne Holland, became a member by way of
accident, after she volunteered to help with a tin collection in her local pub.
She said:- "After 50 years of fundraising and raising awareness of cancer
research, it's inspiring to see the work that is being done on our doorstep to
tackle one of the region's biggest health problems and makes us more determined
to carry on contributing to the fight against cancer."
North West Cancer Research is the regions' biggest cancer research charity and
raises money to fund projects to develop a better understanding of cancer. It
has committed to funding more than £13 million of research over the next five
years across the North West and North Wales.
Bobby Magee, fundraising manager at North West Cancer Research said:- "The
Aughton committee has done an incredible job over the past 50 years. Its success
is testament to the hard work, time and energy its volunteers devote to support
us year after year.
The money raised has made a huge difference to North West Cancer Research,
allowing us to fund scientists working locally to help in the fight against
cancer.
Thanks to research, half of all people diagnosed with cancer will now survive.
We want to ensure a constant flow of research to further improve our
understanding of cancer and to ensure that in the future everyone diagnosed with
cancer will have a chance to survive."
The next Aughton committee event will be a quiz night hosted at the Aughton
Institute, 27 September 2016.
Reminder - Southport Cruisers are inviting bikers to join them for annual
Christmas Charity Run
A group of local bikers, known as the
Southport Cruisers will be setting off from Leo's Bar on Nevill Street, on
Sunday, 11 December 2016, at 11am. The bikers club will be taking some
festive cheer to Clumber Lodge, in Freshfield. To donate cash for the charity
who run Clumber Lodge, or to take part in the ride, please contact Pete on:-
07843669912 or email them via:-
andyrob9@live.co.uk. Riles will apply to
any taking part, so you must register if you want to take part in advance. |
