City ‘Pride’ in helping fund event

LIVERPOOL City Council has agreed to help support one of the city’s biggest summer events. Liverpool Pride 2011 will be held on Saturday August 6 and the city council is investing £10,000 and giving advice, support and staff time in the run up to, and during the festival.   The first ever official Pride event in the city took place last year and was a massive celebration of Liverpool’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. It attracted around 21,000 people and brought in more than £500,000 to the local economy.  The money the council is giving is from the 2010/11 community safety budget.  The city council’s cabinet member for community safety, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, said:- “Liverpool has been committed to bringing a Pride event to the city for many years, and the inaugural celebration in 2010 was an outstanding success and the positive feedback we received was marvellous. Previously we funded Pride through the Area Based Grant which has now been scrapped, but we’ve secured money from this year’s budget to continue our support in 2011. This is an important event in the city’s calendar and demonstrates our commitment to the LGBT community in Liverpool and the wider region. I’m confident we can build on last year’s success and attract even more people to celebrate LGBT culture. This not only supports our city’s bars, restaurants and hotels and boosts local businesses but it also sends out a clear message of solidarity and commitment to a community that sadly feel they are on the margins. This builds bridges between communities and enables us to be stronger together.”  Now, it’s hoped other organisations across Liverpool will follow the city council’s lead and make financial contributions towards this year’s event.  The Chair of Liverpool Pride, Tommy McIlravey, said:- “It is great news Liverpool City Council is continuing to support the city’s fledgling Pride festival. Last year we had a fantastic event and so many people from every walk of life, young and old, gay and straight, came together to celebrate the thriving LGBT culture in Merseyside, and I know even more people are itching to join in this year. It’s also good to know that we had a really positive impact on the local economy, with every penny spent by the council bringing in pounds for the city!”   Last year’s event saw more than 3,000 people take part in the Pride March which was led by Liverpool’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Williams. Around 70 acts entertained the crowds including singers Adam Rickitt, Natasha Hamilton and Rozalla.

Liverpool Named UK’s ‘Chattiest City’

NEW research from one of the UK’s leading mobile phone comparison websites has revealed the top ten most talkative cities in the country. The results found that people from Liverpool are the chattiest in the UK, spending the longest average amount of time talking on a single phone call. It would appear that Liverpool has earned itself a new reputation following the results of a new poll, this time as the UK’s ‘chattiest city.’  New research, conducted by GoodMobilePhones.co.uk, has revealed the top ten chattiest cities in the UK. The poll surveyed a total of 1,697 people in an effort to find out how people are using their mobile phone and how long they like to spend on a single conversation.  Liverpool came in first place, with the average Liverpudlian spending an average of 46 minutes on a single phone call to their friends and family. People living in Birmingham came in second, spending an average of 43 minutes on the phone; whilst those in Edinburgh were in third place, spending an average 39 minutes on the phone to their loved ones.  Based on the question “How long, on average, do you spend on the phone to your friends and family per phone call, when ringing to catch-up?” the top ten ‘chattiest’ cities were as follows:-

1. Liverpool – 46 minutes
2. Birmingham – 43 minutes
3. Edinburgh – 39 minutes
4. London – 31 minutes
5. Newcastle – 26 minutes
6. Manchester – 24 minutes
7. Glasgow – 21 minutes
8. Portsmouth – 19 minutes
9. Cardiff – 18 minutes
10. Leeds – 13 minutes

Plymouth came in as the least chatty city, with residents saying they spend an average of just 3 minutes on a phone call to their friends or family.  When asked how often they spoke to family members, those from Liverpool were also the most frequent callers, claiming to talk to family members every day. Londoners were the most infrequent callers when it came to chatting to their family on the phone, only talking to loved ones an average of once every two weeks.  Mark Owen, Managing Director of GoodMobilePhones.co.uk, commented on the findings:- “It’s fascinating to see the results of the most talkative city, although I don’t think I’m very surprised to find out the Liverpool has come in first place! 46 minutes is a long time to spend on the phone to someone, but it’s nice to hear that with the growing popularity of emails and social networking that the art of the phone call isn’t dead.”