City saves on insuring school assets

LIVERPOOL is saving cash by working with schools to limit potential damage to their buildings.  By encouraging schools to better manage risks, the city has managed to drive down their insurance costs by a whopping 10%.  It means nearly £1/2 million pounds is being saved every year which can be used to support other essential school services. And the way in which the city now manages its risk has been praised by the Public Risk Management Association who gave the city a National Award for saving money for schools.

Councillor Paul Brant, deputy leader of Liverpool City Council, said:- “This is very welcome news. In the current economic circumstances we have to drive down costs and create efficiency savings so we can continue to provide the essential services that people rely on.  I hope other council departments can learn from this example and drive through other efficiency savings so we can continue to provide the high quality services that residents deserve and avoid the harshest aspect of government cuts."

So far Liverpool has managed to save £300,000 each year in reduced insurance premiums and a further £100,000 annual saving on claim costs. The city’s risk management team has also managed to generate a 40% reduction in the number of claims received.  Efficiencies include reducing the likelihood of fire, theft and fraudulent claims, better estimating the effects of climate change and using substances such as Smartwater to protect school property.  Around 160 schools took part in the initiative which is likely to be rolled out citywide.

City’s homes ‘safe as houses’

NEW mums are being given free child safety packs to make sure their ‘little treasures’ remain accident free.  Liverpool City Council’s Healthy Homes team is giving away the handy packs to all new mothers at the Women’s Hospital in a bid to cut down on the staggering 20,000 children who are injured at home every year in Liverpool.

The city has joined up to the ‘Make a difference’ campaign by the Child Accident Prevention Trust to raise awareness of serious childhood accidents and explain how to reduce them. Hot drinks, candles, irons and electric sockets can all lead to accidents in the home.  Falls and slips also account for a high percentage of injuries in the home. Other main dangers include:

Burns and scalds:- even a cup of tea left for several minutes can cause a huge amount of tissue damage to a young person

Accidental poisoning:- often caused by medicines being left lying about

Fire:- matches, overloaded sockets or children playing with cooker knobs etc

Councillor Roz Gladden, Liverpool’s cabinet member for health, said:- “Accidental injury in the home is one of the biggest single causes of death for children over the age of one and is equally responsible for injuries to newborns, so giving away these child safety packs is a great way of making new parents aware of the dangers.  As a mother and grandmother, I am well aware of most parents’ concerns about their children’s well being. I would urge all parents to visit the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s website and take onboard as much as they can because many of these accidents are preventable.“

The city council is giving away hundreds of the home safety starter packs worth thousands of pounds.

Merseyside Church celebrating success following Environment Award nomination

A community parish church in Wirral, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award at the 2010 Biffaward Awards, a ceremony which celebrates the achievements of the many diverse projects that have benefited from Biffaward funding in the previous year.

Selected from over 60 hopeful applicants, St Mark’s Parish Church will now compete against four others for the chance to be named winner of their category, ‘Small Grants’, and receive prize money totalling £2,000.

The church received a £3,900 grant from Biffaward, to update their facilities, including new windows and door locks and the start of a full redecoration. The funding has provided a welcome boost to this essential community resource, whose facilities are used by groups supporting families referred by Health Visitors, Schools, Women's Aid and other local agencies, as well as youth and children's groups several times a week. The facilities also impact widely on the elderly and the most susceptible residents of the community, providing them with a fresh, healthy, well balanced meal on a weekly basis.

Biffaward is managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services. Since 1997, Biffaward has awarded over £100 million in funding to hundreds of environmental and community projects across the UK.

The Biffaward Awards, this year being held on 03 November at The Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, recognises the achievements of Biffaward-funded projects that have made a real difference to their community or the environment. Competition is fierce, with more than 150 projects eligible to enter the awards under four different categories:-

Natural Environment
Community Outdoor Recreation
Buildings for Community and Culture
Small Grants

Category Winners at the Awards receive a trophy and prize money totalling £2,000, which can be used to develop their project or fund other initiatives. Each winner then has the chance of becoming the Overall Winner for 2010, receiving a prize of a further £5,000.

Cath Hare, Assistant Programme Manager for Biffaward, commented:- “The Biffaward Awards is a celebration of the outstanding Biffaward-funded projects and the commitment and determination shown by their project co-ordinators. For a project to be shortlisted for the Awards is a tremendous achievement, demonstrating true innovation, sustainability and commitment. Our judges have a very difficult task ahead in choosing the winners.”

Liverpool Pride Weekend

THE first Official Liverpool Pride Weekend will be held on the 7 and 8 August 2010. It will offer a wide programme celebrating gay culture and aims to promote understanding and tolerance of the community. For more information, go to liverpoolpride.co.uk.