- NORTH WEST MUSLIMS BEGIN BIGGEST EVER HAJJ PILGRIMAGE
- Report and photo, with thanks to Manchester Airport.
WHILE millions of people across the North West spend this Christmas day at home in front of the television, a group of passengers at Manchester Airport will begin a once-in-a-lifetime journey.
540 British Muslims will take-off on the first of 20 special flights heading for the holy cities of Makkah and Madina in Saudi Arabia, for the religious Hajj festival.
More than 6,000 people are expected to begin the Hajj from Manchester Airport this year, something every Muslim must do at least once in their lifetime.
John Spooner, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said:-
"The programme of special flights allows the Muslim community to make this important journey direct from the North West, rather than having to make flight connections in London or at other airports across Europe."
The programme of special flights are operated by Yemenia, AMC, Royal Jordanian and Eritrean Airlines.
NEW
YEARS EVE 2004/2005
JUST
A WARNING to all you pub and club goers. It is that
time of year when we go out and about and take loads of photographs
in the pubs and clubs. So if you want to be in the picture, go
out on New Years night and you could be photographed by one of our
photographers!
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Local Girl Guides put neonatal unit in the picture
MEMBERS
of the 5 Ormskirk St Anne's Guide Unit have recently donated a Kodak Easy Share digital camera and printer to the neonatal unit at Ormskirk & District General Hospital. The money for the camera was raised through a
"Bring & Buy" sale on 23rd November at St Anne's Youth Centre.
Alison Shacklady, Sister on the neonatal unit said:- "We are very grateful to the guides and everyone who contributed. We like to be able to take pictures of the babies for the parents to take home while the babies remain in our care. This new camera and printer will enable us to do so a lot easier and quicker."
Jackie McDermott, Guide leader added:- "The girls came up with the idea of donating the money to the unit, and when asked, the nurses suggested the camera and printer."
Liverpool's Economy Booms
FURTHER
evidence of Liverpool's dramatic economic recovery has been provided by a new government survey. The Gross Value Added survey, a measure of wealth of the economy for the population, shows Liverpool's economy grew by 7.2% between 2001and 2002. The gross value per head grew from £12,846 to £13,776.
The overall wealth of the city grew from £5.7billion to £6.1billion.
This was the highest percentage increase of the major UK cities and exceeded the national increase of 4.7%.
Between 1998 and 2002 the Liverpool economy grew by 21.3%, outperforming the national economic growth. (19.9%)
Councillor Mike Storey, Leader of the City Council,
said:-"This survey follows closely on a number of others which clearly demonstrate that Liverpool is a city on the up. Recently we have seen statistical evidence that there are more business start-ups in Liverpool than any other major city and the number of VAT registrations is also rising. In the last few years our economic renaissance has been stunning. We are now outperforming all major cities in the country and with major projects on track we will get stronger and stronger."
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