Pontins Holiday Village Will Rock In November!

DEBBIE Adams, 40, from Southport, has first-hand experience of a life with kidney failure. She has suffered with excruciating kidney problems for most of her life and as a result she reached a point, where she felt that giving up on the relentless struggle of survival, was better than living on dialysis.

Since receiving her third kidney transplant in 2006, Debbie has realized how little knowledge of kidney failure there is in the public domain. Now after months of hard work Rock 4 Renal Failure is about to begin the ball rolling to change public perception about kidney failure and what it’s really like to be a kidney patient.

The event takes place at Pontins Holiday Village in Southport between 19 November and 21 November 2010 running 2 Arenas over 2 Days with over 25 acts taking part.

Bands like New Device who recently supported Bon Jovi at the O2 Arena have a connection with the condition whereas others such as Voodoo Johnson and Falling Red are taking part because they understand the importance that this event has in reaching out to the general public. The bonus is that if the target ticket sales are reached, the event will be able to hand over approximately £50,000 of vital funds to Kidney Research UK to enable them to continue their life saving research into new treatments and possible cures. The acts may not be very well known to the general public but they certainly have what it takes to make it on the big stage.

3 of the Acts have given the event an International flavour. Hungry Heart, signed to Tanzan Records in Italy are flying themselves in and are making the event their UK stop on their European Tour. Shellcase have offered to drive themselves over from Belgium whilst Common Fates have organised a ‘Rock Bus’ on which 40 lucky fans have been given the opportunity to travel from Belgium together with the band to the event. All the acts concerned can be heard by clicking on:- reverbnation.com/venue/rock4renalfialure or by checking out their myspace sites.

Grizz Chapman, one of the leading characters in Grammy and Emmy winning US Comedy Series 30 Rock is a kidney patient himself.  He recently received a kidney transplant and was all too pleased to send a good luck video message for the event. Robin Beck, female Rock Icon also got in touch to offer the services of the Welsh Female Rock Band Kane’d that she is promoting. Robin is all too aware of the heartache related to kidney failure and has personal experience of dealing with it. The scene is now set, the stage is ready and tickets can be purchased directly from the Pontins Website:- pontins.com  or by clicking on the buy tickets link at ReverbNation or www.r4rf.org The one thing that is missing from this event is support from across the UK. You can help to secure this fantastic event which will help over 3 million people across the UK alone by buying your tickets now while there’s a special reduction of £20 per person making the cheapest weekend ticket including 2 nights accommodation now £59. Sponsors are also needed to ensure that the event’s superstructure is sound. There are many opportunities from sponsoring a room or stage, right down to a banner. Sponsorship packages can be tailor made to suit. Debbie says that:- "if we could get 500 businesses across the UK sponsoring the event for £100 each, it would mean that the event was secured for another year and a number of vital research projects could continue to reach their goal."

If you think you could help make a real difference for a constantly increasing number of people across the UK, please contact either Carol Bonham from Kidney Research UK at:- carolbonham@kidneyresearchuk.org or Debbie Adams, the Event Organiser at:- debbski@lineone.net.  Kenny the Kidney needs YOU!

Liverpool City Region submits bid for Local Enterprise Partnership

LIVERPOOL City Region has submitted its proposals for a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to the government.

It commits to establishing the region as a top international and national investment location based upon global trade, science based innovation, manufacturing and tourism.

The proposed LEP would cover the boroughs of Halton, Sefton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens and Wirral – an area with a population of 1.5 million and 49,000 businesses.

It includes major projects such as Liverpool SuperPort, the Atlantic Gateway, Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters.

There would also be an emphasis on support for small firms and accelerating business development.

It proposes an impressive shadow board including:-

► Liverpool born Sir Terry Leahy - Chief Executive of Tesco

► Rod Holmes – Chair of The Mersey Partnership

► Peter Nears – Peel Holdings and Chair of SuperPort

► Michael Straughan - Jaguar Land Rover

► Representatives from Liverpool University and other major companies in the city region

Councillor Joe Anderson, Chair of Liverpool City Region Cabinet and Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:- “Over the last
decade, the fortunes of the Liverpool City Region have ben transformed, but our economy still lags behind the national average. We are committed to developing our status as a thriving international City Region, and we want to create a Local Enterprise Partnership which gives us the power and the freedom to drive forward economic growth and create new businesses and jobs. Together with our private sector partners, we believe we have put together a compelling argument which will see us working hand in glove with the government to transform the local economy. We will bring together the business acumen of some of the country’s top performing companies linked with strong political leadership and backed by our excellent universities and colleges. Our priority is to move from an economy dominated by the public sector to one where the majority of jobs are in the private sector, created by entrepreneurs and businesses. We firmly believe we have the assets, capacity, skills and commitment to close the economic and skills gap between our region and the rest of the UK.”

The 27 page document submitted to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles calls for extensive freedom to be given to the LEP over the deployment of public sector resources, including enterprise and business development, skills, housing and transport as well as tourism and culture.  And it is requesting that the government make inward investment a key responsibility of the LEP so it can help UK Trade and Industry identify and inform development opportunities for the City Region.  It follows a major consultation - led by Rod Holmes, Chair of The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool City Region’s Economy Board - with private sector partners including business leaders and Chambers of Commerce.

Rod Holmes said:- “LEPs offer a real opportunity for significant change and what we have proposed will determine how we go about building our economy here. This submission sets out the case for city regional delivery of tourism, inward investment, employment and skills, enterprise support and innovation together with asset management. The City Region’s submission builds on the work of the existing Economy Board with continuing focus on the four areas of activity where we have identified potential for transformational change in economic performance led by the private sector – our Low Carbon, Knowledge and Visitor Economies and SuperPort.”