Hospice launches a 'Virtual Pet Show'

ST Joseph's Hospice has launched a:- 'Virtual Pet Show' and is inviting people from across Merseyside and Sefton to enter their pets and help to raise valuable funds. The 2020 Pet Show has been expanded for 2021 to include all pets, so that your cats, rabbits, hamsters and horses don't miss out. It costs ₤4 per entry and you have until Thursday, 18 February 2021 to enter.  This year's Pet Show categories include Most Handsome Male (Dogs), Prettiest Female (Dogs), Golden Oldie (Dogs), Cutest Puppy (Dogs), Best Rescue (Any), Feline Friends (Cat), Small Furries (Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits etc), Large Furries (Horses, Goats, Alpacas etc) and even Best Trick (any animal, but videos are encouraged).

All entries will also go to a public vote for our Best in Show award. Prizes will be awarded to each category winner and the Best in Show will win a Disney style portrait of their pet.  Zoe Furnivall, fundraiser at St. Joseph's Hospice, said:- "We can't wait to see photos and videos of all your fabulous pets so please get involved and help to support the Hospice. We're entering a 2nd year when we are unable to hold any of our usual fundraising events and so virtual events like this are playing a big part in keeping our service running throughout the Pandemic. It's all a bit of fun and we hope our Pet Show helps people to connect and have fun with their pets during this period of lockdown."

To enter, just email your pet's photo along with the name and age of your pet, and the category or categories you are entering to:- Fundraising@Jospice.Org.UK. Then send your donation (₤4 per entry) either online at:- JustGiving.com/Jospice (please state "Pet Show" in the comments), by text (text:- 'VIRTUALPETS 4' to '70085' for 1 entry. Texts cost ₤4, plus 1 standard message rate. For multiple entries change the amount, for example:- 'VIRTUALPETS 8' for 2 entries) or call:- 01519326044 to pay over the phone or by card.

The Pet Show will take place on the Hospice's Facebook events page so for all the latest updates, to see all the entries and to vote for Best in Show, visit:- Twitter or go to Facebook and click 'going' on the:- 'Virtual Pet Show event.'

Entries close on Thursday, 18 February 2021 with category winners announced on Monday, 22 February 2021. You will then be able to vote for 'Best in Show' until midday, on Friday, 26 February 2021.

For more information, please give the Hospice's fundraising team a call on:- 01519326044 or email:- FundRaising@Jospice.Org.UK.

Restoration of 2 historic rail routes gives renewed hope to reviving rail links between:- Southport, Preston and Ormskirk

MP Damien Moore believes the restoration of 2 historic rail routes in a ₤794million Government scheme gives renewed hopes to his ambition to renew rail links between:- Southport, Preston and Ormskirk. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced this week that ₤760 million will go towards reinstating services between:- Bicester, Oxfordshire, and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, for the next phase of East West Rail. It will be the 1st time trains have run between the 2 locations since 1968. The service in Oxfordshire; also known as the Varsity Line because it will connect the Oxbridge University Towns, at Oxford and Cambridge; will create:- "many more" jobs than the 1,500 it will require to be built. Meanwhile, a smaller fund of ₤34 million will be invested in reopening the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington. Services between the 2 stations were closed to passengers in 1964 as part of the infamous Beeching Cuts.

Grant Shapps and the Department for Transport are now encouraging Councils, MPs and community groups to submit bids for a share of the 3rd and final round of the DfT's Ideas Fund, which was created to help plans for new routes and reinstatements. 1 of those bids will be the desire to restore the Burscough Curves and reconnect North West Towns and Cities including:- Southport, Preston and Ormskirk, which were also axed during the Beeching Cuts of the 1960's.

The campaign is being led by a cross party group of MPs and Council leaders including:- Southport MP Damien Moore (Conservative), West Lancs Rosie Cooper (Labour), South Ribble MP Katherine Fletcher (Conservative), Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick (Labour), Lancashire County Council and local rail campaign group OPSTA (Ormskirk, Preston and Southport Travellers Association).

Southport MP Damien Moore said:- "This Government is investing many millions of pounds in railway infrastructure in the UK, targeting the reversal of some of the unpopular Beeching Cuts of the 1960's. It is very positive to see substantial funding committed to railway schemes in Oxfordshire and Northumberland. The Government is now inviting bids for the 3rd and final round of the DfT's Ideas Fund, which we will certainly be working towards. We believe we have a very strong case and I would like to thank the members of OPSTA for their tremendous work in helping to prepare the Business Case for this. We are not asking for a brand new railway; restoring and reopening the Burscough Curves would be a relatively low cost and quickly achievable way of reconnecting millions of people in the North West and giving our Region a substantial economic boost. As a busy tourist resort, it would open up Southport to visitors from Lancashire, the Lake District, Scotland, and elsewhere in the UK. We have a very strong team of Regional MPs, Council leaders and others backing this project, and we are working very hard to ensure the restoration of the Burscough Curves becomes a reality."