Range Rover Evoque goes off road in Merseyside and raises over £8,500for the NSPCC

THE hotly anticipated Range Rover Evoque was launched at Liverpool’s Albert Dock last month, offering people an off road track experience which has raised over £8,500 for the NSPCC. Visitors to the Albert Dock between 21 July and 21 August 2011 had the opportunity to experience a specially designed floating off-road test track course and be amongst the first to sit inside the new Range Rover Evoque. Experienced Land Rover drivers took passengers on a very wet journey to show how the vehicle handled the slippery conditions with donations being made to the NSPCC.   The event was organised by Albert Dock Liverpool, Land Rover, and British Waterways, and gave the public a unique opportunity to take part in this very special experience, whilst helping to support the Albert Dock’s chosen charity the NSPCC.

Alex Hanson, NSPCC corporate fundraising manager, said:- “Many thanks to Land Rover and theAlbert Dock for supporting the NSPCC. The money raised will help save precious young lives and protect children from pain and distress. As a volunteer-led charity we rely on the generosity of the public and this is a fantastic donation that really will make a difference to children’s lives and help ensure we can answer even more cries for help from children across the region.”

Sue Grindrod, Chair Albert Dock Liverpool added:- “We were delighted to host this event. It’s so gratifying to be able to provide something really special for our visitors whilst helping a worthy cause too. It was suggested that people gave £1 so it’s obvious that many of our visitors not only enjoyed the experience but wanted to support the NSPCC too.”

Liverpool has a ChildLine base at the Hargreaves Centre in Everton and the NSPCC Helpline for adults concerned about a child is based at Salford Quays in Manchester.  For more information about supporting the NSPCC locally please contact the NSPCC fundraising team via email.

Network Rail Issues Statement About Merseyrail Power Loss

ON Friday, 23 September 2011, all power was lost in the integrated Electrical Control Centre (IECC). The IECC is the Network Rail signalling centre for the entire Merseyrail system and is jointly staffed by Network Rail and Merseyrail personnel. On 27 September NetworkRail said that:- "Network Rail contractors GallifordTry were working in the IECC upgrading security. This was an upgrade to the overall security of the IECC and not specifically to deter cable thefts. Whilst carrying out this work, they disturbed a cable that had been installed separately within the past 18 months. As a result, there was a short circuit and subsequent power loss. In common with industry practice, Network Rail will compensate the train operators affected by the power loss. The level of compensation is regarded as commercially sensitive, but the figure of £6,500 as reported in some media outlets, is inaccurate. A joint investigation between Network Rail, Merseyrail and Galliford Try is on going to establish precisely the circumstances surrounding the power loss. Network Rail would like to apologies to everyone affected by the disruption to services and assure them that everything will be done to minimize the possibility of a similar occurrence in the future."

If this outage affected you please let us know your views about this statement by emailing our newsroom via:- news24@southportreporter.com.

JURY ANNOUNCED FOR UK’S BIGGEST PAINTING PRIZE

THE 2012 prize promises to be more dynamic than ever with a judging panel that consists of practicing artists, critics, curators and cultural commentators.

Judges for this year’s competition are ‘Young British Artist’ Fiona Banner who was born on Merseyside, director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery Iwona Blazwick, Spanish born Angela de la Cruz, a former Turner Prize 2010 nominee, Turner Prize 2011 nominee George Shaw and creative director of the BBC, Alan Yentob.

The John Moores Painting Prize is an open submission competition available to all UK based artists working with paint. Previous winners have included David Hockney, Peter Doig and Lisa Milroy. The 2010 First Prize was won by Keith Coventry.

Reyahn King, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool says:- “Not only does the John Moores Painting Prize give contemporary artists the chance to win £25,000 but it also offers the opportunity to display their work at a national gallery, like the Walker Art Gallery. Uniquely it is the only art prize with a sole focus on painting, and has remained the UK's most prestigious painting award for the last 55 years. ”

The final deadline for artists to enter is 20 January 2012.   Registration can be made online and the winners will be announced on 13 September 2012.

First held in 1957, the John Moores Painting Prize is the UK's best-known painting competition and is named after Sir John Moores (1896 - 1993), the founder of the prize. The competition culminates in an exhibition held at the Walker Art Gallery every two years, which forms a key strand of the Liverpool Biennial.

The John Moores Painting Prize is a partnership between the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust, who continue the philanthropic work of Sir John Moores and the Walker Art Gallery. The prize remains true to its founding principles: to support artists and to bring to Liverpool the best of contemporary painting practice from across the UK.

The prize is open to all painters working in the UK. Works are judged anonymously from an open submission by the jury, who also award the main prizes. It is a democratic selection based entirely on the merits of the work.

The John Moores Painting Prize is organised in partnership with the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust and remains true to its founding principles, to support artists and to bring to Liverpool the best contemporary painting from across the UK.

The prize attracts a broad spectrum of artists. Works are selected anonymously from an open submission by the jury, who also award the main prizes. No preference is given to levels of experience or particular practices of painting.

A first prize of £25,000 will be awarded along with four further prizes, each of £2,500. In addition, the winner of the popular Visitors' Choice prize of £2,012, will be announced towards the close of the exhibition.

Entries have to be original, new or recent paintings within a set size, designed to hang on walls, by the artist who lives, or is based, in the United Kingdom. Full conditions of entry are available on the website. Artists can also register by post, registration forms are available at the Walker Art Gallery or can be requested by post. Last year Keith Coventry won the £25,000 prize with his painting Spectrum Jesus. The four runners up were Philip Diggle - For Your Pleasure, Nick Fox – Metatopia, Nicholas Middleton – Protest, 1 April 2009 and Daniel Sturgis - Still Squallings, each won £2,500. As well as being a runner up, Nicolas Middleton also won the Visitor’s Choice award winning £2,010.

Last year, for the first time, the competition was ran internationally in Shanghai. John Moores Painting Prize China 2010 formed part of the Biennial Festival of Contemporary Art of Painting in China and the 5 prizewinners from the Chinese competition were exhibited in the Walker Art Gallery, alongside the UK prizewinners.