News reports located on this page = 2.

PCC's office moves to permanent base in Mather Avenue

ON Friday, 3 January 2019, Merseyside's Police Commissioner has move her office into a permanent new base, located within Mather Avenue Training Centre. Up to now Jane Kennedy's team has been temporarily housed within a vacant space, in Wavertree Road Police Station, following the sale of Allerton Police Station, back in August 2018. The sale enabled the Commissioner to raise more than ₤1m for Merseyside Police, following substantial interest in the prime site, on Rose Lane, Liverpool.  The Commissioner was unable to move directly into her new office, in Mather Avenue, due to major work being undertaken to modernise and update the building in preparation for it becoming the Force's Primary Training Centre. The refurbishment has include creating:- a new lecture theatre, conference space and training classrooms for new recruits and to meet the on going training demands of the force.  Now that the 12 month refurbishment project is complete, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has been able to move into its permanent base, ahead of new recruits beginning their training on site later this month.

Jane said:- "Allerton Police Station was a beautiful old building in a prime location, however it was more than half empty and no longer used by the force. I took the decision to move my office out of the building so that it could be put on the market to generate much needed capital for Merseyside Police. I'm pleased that decision, not only raised more than ₤1m for the force, it also saved approximately ₤56,000 in running costs; money which year on year can go straight into frontline Policing. Since then, my team have been based in temporary offices in vacant space in Wavertree Road Police Station as a stop gap while the refurbishment of Mather Avenue was carried out. I'm delighted that work is now complete and we can finally move into our permanent new base. The completion of this project means that Mather Avenue is now ready to be used to train Merseyside Police's new recruits and existing Officers and staff in facilities which are modern and fit for purpose. As we prepare to welcome 210 new recruits into the force over the next 3 months, this facility will help to ensure those joining are ready to serve the public and fight crime now and in the future."

The sale of Allerton Police Station, which had been closed to the public since 2011, was part of the PCC's 10 year plan to update and modernise the Force's ageing buildings, with the aim of saving ₤2.5million every year on the cost of running the Police estate; protecting 65 Police Officer posts each year.  More than 200 expressions of interest were received about the Police Station, after it was put on the market alongside the old fire Station on Mather Avenue in a joint plot of 0.96 acres in October 2017. Following a detailed evaluation of the final 24 bids submitted by both Merseyside Police's estates team and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (MFRA), the joint site was sold to housing association Liverpool Mutual Homes who submitted the highest unconditional offer.

Speech and language therapy boost for Down Syndrome Liverpool

6 months of speech and language therapy will be delivered by Down Syndrome Liverpool, with help from Redrow. The volunteer run charity received ₤1,300 from the homebuilder's Allerton Community Fund. This money will be used to cover the cost of a therapist at monthly speech and language sessions, to be held at Wigwam, on Rose Lane, Allerton. The support follows an application from DSL trustee Ann Kenwright. Ann, whose son Jamie has DS and severe language delay, explained:- "We pay our fabulous Speech and Language therapist, Carol Oakes to work with our families and give children the additional speech and language support they need to help them develop to their full potential. Most of our children start talking much later than average and desperately need support. Several of the children involved, including some of the older ones, are still non verbal. Currently, 20 children aged from 3 to 14 are given monthly support, plus we provide strategies and resources for families to take away and practice with. This empowers parents to support their children on a daily basis and help them to develop to their full potential."

The Mum of 5, Ann, says her son Jamie, who is aged 9, is now making great progress and his language is starting to emerge. Ann recalls:- "Before Jamie was born we didn't know he had DS, it was confirmed at 2 days old. At the same time, we found out that he needed emergency bowel surgery that night and would later need open heart surgery at 3½ months. The 1st few months were very tough and he was in and out of the Hospital a lot in his 1st 18 months. Since then, thank goodness, Jamie has gone from strength to strength and is now a very active and healthy little boy. Jamie currently goes to a mainstream school and is supported by a fabulous one to one, who, amongst other things, is teaching him sign language to help him communicate. At home he loves to watch his favourite cartoons, copying the actions and 'singing' along to all the songs, he may not be able to say the words but he is certainly very vocal!"

DSL supports parents, carers, and families who are affected by Down Syndrome and aims to enhance the lives of people with Down Syndrome living in Liverpool and the surrounding area. The charity was recognized in the Echo Awards 2018, winning the Charity Organisation Award. It is run by a small group of unpaid parent / carer trustees and relies completely on donations and fundraising to support it's vital to work. The trustees were overjoyed to hear that they'd been selected by Redrow for a donation.

Redrow's donation to DSL was via a ₤10,000 community fund shared between local groups and good causes. The voluntary fund is in addition to Redrow's statutory obligations linked to the 100 home Allerton Gardens development, off Woolton Road, in Allerton.

Elaine Mounsey, Area Sales Manager for Redrow Homes (NW), said:- "Through our Allerton Community Fund we've been able to discover lots of worthy causes in the local area. The speech and language therapy sessions hosted by Down Syndrome Liverpool was an obvious choice for us to support. It's great to know that we're able to help make a difference to children's lives."

For more information about Down Syndrome Liverpool see:- DownSyndromeLiverpool.Org.UK.