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Ceilidh raises over £800
OVER 100 people danced the night away in Holy Trinity Parish
Hall, Formby, on Saturday for a fundraising ceilidh dance and supper
in aid of Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), the charity working to end
bear bile farming in China and Vietnam. The event, organised by the
Merseyside AAF Support Group with some very uplifting music from The
Old School Band from Preston, raised over £800.
As many as 20,000 Asiatic black bears (Known as moon bears because
of the golden crescent on their chest) across Asia are still farmed
for their bile, which is used in traditional Asian medicine despite
the availability of over 50 inexpensive herbal and synthetic
alternatives. In China, the bears can spend more than 30 years in
tiny cages so that farmers can regularly extract bile through crude
catheters or permanently open holes in the bears' abdomens.
Ending the barbaric practice of bear farming (through the Moon Bear
Rescue campaign) is one of the charity's key objectives. AAF has
signed agreements with both the Chinese and Vietnamese governments
to rescue 700 bears from some of the worst farms to enable them to
live out the remainder of their lives in the peace and safety of the
charity's sanctuaries.
In China, the charity is working with conservation leaders in
Beijing as well as forestry leaders in individual provinces to close
down farms and make whole provinces bear-farm free. So far, AAF has
closed down more than 40 Chinese farms and seen 20 of mainland
China's 31 provinces become bear farm-free. AAF also works to reduce
the demand for bile in Asia by promoting affordable, effective and
cruelty free alternatives.
Liverpool's
future finance wizards!
THE Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI)
is funding a teaching post to enable 6th Form students to study for
a Diploma in Finance, Risk and Investment. It is an industry and
university recognised qualification which gives young people a
competitive advantage when looking for work in the financial
services industry. It has been launched at a special event at
Liverpool Town Hall on Thursday, 28 February 2013, by respected
financial commentator Gillian Tett, an Assistant Editor at the
Financial Times, who predicted the financial crash in 2006. She will
be hosting a question and answer session with young people from
Liverpool Schools Parliament and representatives from the financial
services and wealth management sector. Councillor Jane
Corbett, Cabinet Member for education and children's services,
said:- "This is a really great new qualification which will be
offered to our young people, giving them a chance to develop a real
knowledge and understanding of the world of finance. It has been a
pleasure for Liverpool City Council to work in partnership with
Mayor Joe Anderson, CISI, the finance and wealth management sector
including Rathbones and the Liverpool Learning Partnership. The
professional and financial services industry was identified as a
real area of potential growth by Lord Heseltine and Terry Leahy in
their recent Rebalancing Britain report about the City Region. This
qualification will give our students a competitive advantage when
they are looking for job and training opportunities. It is also
really important that our young people understand the importance of
responsible finance, and how investment and wealth institutions
impact on our everyday lives." Pupils wanting to take
the qualification will be able to study it at Archbishop Beck School
in Walton from September 2013 via the Liverpool Learning
Partnership. Wider work will also take place to promote a greater
understanding of finance and money and the impact and role it has in
society. Gillian Tett's 2009 book, Fool's Gold - How Unrestrained
Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a
Catastrophe, won the Spear's Book Award for the financial book of
2009. In 2011, she was awarded a President's Medal by the British
Academy and was previously recognized as Journalist of the Year at
the British Press Awards. |
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International Festival of Business a 'golden opportunity'
JOHN Allan, Chairman of FSB
Merseyside, West Cheshire and Wigan, has called the International
Festival of Business, which will be held in Liverpool, in 2014, a
'golden opportunity' to showcase the UK's small firms to
the world.
Mr Allan attended yesterday's launch event at The Queen Elizabeth II
Conference Centre, Westminster, London, which was hosted by Lord
Green, the Minister for Trade and Investment.
Speakers included the Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson, former Tesco
Chief Executive Sir Terry Leahy, Lord Bilimoria CBE, the founder and
Chairman of Cobra Beer, Julie Meyer MBE, the founder and Chief
Executive of Ariadne Capital and founder of Entrepreneur Country and
First Tuesday, and the Managing Director of Morgan Motor Company,
Charles Morgan.
John Allan said:- "Export markets offer great potential for
the UK and the International Festival of Business will be a golden
opportunity for small firms to showcase the value, diversity and
innovation they bring to the economy. Relatively few small
businesses have embraced exporting in the past, despite the exciting
growth opportunities it can bring. Often, the difficulties are seen
as being cultural as much as financial so I hope this event can
guide small UK firms and foreign businesses and investors in the
right direction, break down the barriers that exist and help create
prosperity through international trade. While the festival will be a
multi-national event all eyes will be on Liverpool as the host city.
Now the focus is on delivery. Liverpool really is a world class
brand and the festival is a tremendous opportunity to remind the
world we are this and so much more."
The International Festival of Business, which has been endorsed by
the Prime Minister, is a key part of the UK government's strategy to
double UK export growth by 2020, is expected to attract 250,000
people from across the world, and £100 million in investment, to the
City.
HMRC
names tax cheats
NAMES of deliberate tax
defaulters have been published on the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
website for the 1st time. One of the names is Southport Leisure PLC,
which ran a bar in Coronation Walk in Southport. Another listed is a
Hairdressers in Liverpool, Joseph Tyrre along with Plus Mr S
Stewart, Pipework Specialist, from Liverpool. The HMRC told the
media that this is part of HMRC's new approach to combating tax
evasion and non-compliance, by ensuring everyone pays their fair
share, creating a level playing field for honest people and
businesses, and cracking down on the minority who seek to evade tax.
HMRC has been given the power to publish these names to deter UK
taxpayers from deliberately defaulting on their tax obligations. It
also encourages the non-compliant to make a full disclosure at the
outset of an investigation as doing so means their details will not
be published. David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury,
said:- "HMRC is dedicated to clamping down on the small
minority of people who break the law, and finding and taking action
against tax cheats who try to evade their responsibilities. The
publication of these names sends a clear signal that cheating on tax
is wrong and reassures people who pay their taxes; the vast
majority; that there are consequences for those who refuse to tell
HMRC about their full liability. It also encourages defaulters to
make a full and prompt disclosure and cooperate with HMRC to avoid
being named." Details of the first tranche of deliberate
defaulters can be found on the HMRC
website So do you, are
readers agree with this? Email us your views to:-
news24@southportreporter.com with your feelings
about this publication. Do you think we are now going to far on
small businesses, instead to focusing on large businesses, as small
businesses are softer targets?
NEXT OF KIN APPEAL - DAMIAN GARCIA MARTIN
THE Liverpool Coroner's Office are appealing
for help in tracing the next of kin of Damian Garcia Martin. Mr
Martin was found deceased at his home in Nelson Street, Southport on
Sunday, 17 February 2013. There are no suspicious circumstances
surrounding the 62 year old's death. Anyone who can help find Mr
Garcia's next of kin is asked to call the Coroner's Office on:- 0151
777 3481.
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