100th Birthday De-light for Liver Building

LIVERPOOL is to celebrate the 100th birthday of its world-famous Liver Building and the opening of the new Liverpool Museum with an awe-inspiring and unmissable audio-visual spectacular.

The 3D Son et Lumiere projection will use images and sound to bring the buildings to life in a cutting-edge digital chronicle of 800 years of history - from civil war and industrial revolution to WWII and the Beatles. As the city’s newest building, the Museum will be a major part of the celebrations with its own 3D projection which will create a new waterfront dimension, changing the perception of seemingly ordinary objects, and at the same time shattering the viewer’s perception and perspective.

This very special FREE ‘On The Waterfront’ weekend at the Pier Head on 22 July to 24 July 2011, sees the UK debut for the internationally acclaimed The Macula architectural projection company who left crowds in Prague awe-struck with their 600th Anniversary show projected onto the city’s Astronomical Clock (video link below)

The Macula, who are based in the Czech Republic, have never worked in the UK before but their debut is set to be something generations will talk of for years to come. Martin Posta of The Macula, said:- "The Liverpool challenge is one of the most important events for The Macula team in 2011.  The On The Waterfront event will be the place where modern architectural mapping meets Liverpool's history and its contemporaneousness. The creative approach to the projection will come from the historical differences of the buildings.”

Each evening the celebrations will start around 8.30pm with a special musical performance. Blues favourite Connie Lush be whipping up audiences into a frenzy on the Friday before Saturday’s revellers will enjoy a one-off concert by the internationally renowned Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on the Saturday. Liverpool sensations 6ix Toys will entertain the crowds on the Sunday.  And if that wasn’t enough, throughout each evening, giant, beautifully illuminated lanterns representing key points in Liverpool’s history will be on display at the Pier Head complete with illuminated fish swimming in the canal.

Wendy Simon, Liverpool City Council Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism said:- "The Macula extravaganza will showcase the finest in international artistry to mark the anniversary of one of the UK’s most significant buildings and herald the birth of the next generation of architectural excellence.  The Liver Building was controversial from the start - it was the first to use reinforced concrete which was revolutionary at the time, but because of the modern look of the building, people didn’t take to it at first. And now we can safely say it’s one of the most loved buildings in the world.  It’s wonderful we can mark the special birthday of one of the city’s most influential buildings and at the same time usher in a new era with the opening of our new world-class museum which I’m sure will prove to be a hugely popular attraction."

This year’s series of events were kicked off in April by the hugely successful Spring on the Waterfront which attracted around 60,000 visitors to the Pier Head during the ten day maritime extravaganza. Historic Tall Ships, regattas, a sea shanty festival and historic canal boats all took part in the festival.

The final On the Waterfront event will take place from 8 September 2011 to 15 September 2011 and will see a new-look Mersey River Festival return for the first time since 2005.  A royal naval visit along with Cunard Cruise Liners, including the new Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary 2, will all be part of the much-anticipated activities.

Last year’s On The Waterfront series of events brought in more than £1.2 million to the city’s economy and this year’s events are funded by Liverpool City Council in partnership with European Regional Development Funding.

See liverpoolonthewaterfront.co.uk for more details.  For a taste of what treats are in store in July, visit to themacula.com.  To see The Macula’s incredible projection onto Prague’s Astronomical Clock or youtube.com and see what The Macula recently produced in Dubai for Fanta.

Blast off for an out of this world weekend

THERE is lot going on at Spaceport over 23 July to 24 July 201, with 2 days of space super hero activity, including storytelling & animation workshops to help children understand cartoons and unlock their own creative talents.

Visitors to the Seacombe based attraction will be greeted by our Imagination Station Commander, receive a superhero spot check and can be measured with a multi-planetary measuring tape to gauge their ‘superhero status’.

There’ll be storytelling sessions and cosmic comic storyboard workshops, where children will see storyboarding frames from comic strips and be encouraged to write and draw their own frame. Plus, our extraterrestrial cartoonist will be on hand to produce on-the-spot caricatures and give hints on how to draw cosmic characters - with all this and face painting too, it should be astrotastic!

Workshops will be lead by professional author and talented animator Daisy Dawes, who said:- “We are planning some great space themed activities and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the children come up with when they produce their own animations.”

Story Telling sessions each hour between 11am and 3pm. Work Shop Sessions each half hour between 11.30am to 3.30pm. Face Painting throughout the day from 11.00am to close.

Usual admission prices apply with no extra charge for storytelling and workshops. Face painting extra charge. See:- spaceport.org.uk or call:- 0151 330 1566 for full details.

One FREE child ticket is available with each full paying adult on combined Spaceport & Mersey Ferries River Explorer Cruise tickets - Visit:- merseyferries.co.uk for terms and conditions and to download your FREE child voucher.

New citizen panel launched for social care

LIVERPOOL City Council are setting up an adult care citizen panel to enable local people to have their say on services. People who sign up will be given the opportunity to become involved in monitoring current adult care services and have their say in the shaping of future services. They will be consulted on proposals and ideas which would impact on users or carers in day services and home care. It could involve commenting on a document, becoming part of a focus group or just being sent information about what is going on. Councillor Roz Gladden, cabinet member for adult health and social care, said:- "This new panel aims to be a simple and effective way of communicating with people. We appreciate people lead busy lives so we are not expecting them to come to endless meetings or seminars. Anyone can be involved as long as they are over the age of 18 – you don’t have to be receiving services or a carer. We really want to make this open to absolutely everyone with an interest in adult social care. With the current pressure on our budget, we are having to make some tough and difficult choices about social care, and that is why we are keen to use the citizen panel as a way of consulting with people." Getting involved couldn’t be easier - simply complete the online form or call:- 0151 233 4640 / 4644 / 2819 if you would like to be sent a copy to fill in.

Students in Merseyside reminded about tax

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are reminding 54,600 students across Merseyside that they may not have to pay tax on the money they make from summer jobs. To earn extra cash, many undergraduates take summer jobs. But large numbers are unaware that, provided their total earnings for the tax year are less than the personal allowance of £7,475, they will not have to pay any tax on the money they make. To ensure their employers don’t deduct tax they don’t owe, students need to fill in a form P38(S), which they can download from the HMRC website. Students who fail to fill in the form will not lose out, however, as they can reclaim any tax paid by sending HMRC a form P50, available online. Stephen Banyard, Director General of Personal Tax at HMRC said:- "We don’t want students to pay tax when they don’t owe any, so we’re encouraging them to fill in a P38(S) and send it back to us. That way they can keep all the money they’re earning for student life’s essentials."