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SPOTTERS GO
POTTY FOR MO TRAINS!
NORTHERN Rail now has 50 Mo
Trains running across its network, whipping trainspotters into a
frenzy! Northern launched the World's First Mo Train on 1 November
to pledge its support to men's health charity, Movember, by
featuring uniquely designed moustaches on the front of trains.
The Mo Trains run right across Northern's network throughout
November, raising awareness of men's health along the way. But as
trains operate different routes every day, it's leaving the spotters
searching for where they will see the next Mo Train appear.
Joselyn Rankin, PR Manager for Northern comments:- "We have
lots of enthusiasts getting in touch asking for timetables as to
where the Mo Trains are going to be, but with last minute changes to
train plans it can be difficult to predict where they will see them
but we are trying to help as much as possible. We seem to have
created a new army of train spotters, with hundreds of customers
posting pictures of the Mo Trains on Twitter."
Jon Sim, Movember Community Manager commented:- "Northern Rail
is a shining example of the passionate, highly engaged communities
across the UK that make Movember a special campaign. The
moustachioed trains look incredible, and everyone, from the
boardroom to the train driver and all in between, have been doing
some amazing things to raise funds, spread the word and increase
awareness about men's health issues. We are proud to have them as a
part of our community network.'
Watch Northern's launch video starring its employees:-
northernrail.org/movember.
New Petition for Referendum on
Mayoral Model IN
2012 Liverpool City Council decided to change its governance
arrangements from the leader and cabinet model to a mayor and
cabinet model. This decision was taken by the Council without a
referendum for the people of Liverpool.
An e-petition has been created, and paper versions will be used
across the City. The petition has been started by Putting Liverpool
First, led by Cllr Jake Morrison. Liverpool's youngest Councillor,
also an Independent, has setup a network called:- "Putting
Liverpool First", which will launch in January, it aims to
support and encourage "normal people" to step up in
politics and put themselves forward for election. The network will
then help support, manage and/or direct the campaign.
Councillor Jake Morrison, said:- "I am not convinced that the
people of Liverpool are satisfied with having a mayor. The issue of
not having a referendum is still raised with me even today, people
are annoyed that they haven't had the opportunity to vote on an
important change that directs power and hands a lot of
responsibility to 1 person. The role of a Councillor is changing as
time moves on, but with all authority falling with the Mayor, I fail
to see why we need to have 90 City Councillors. I want to see more
independent voices in local politics, and we aim to support normal
people to step up the plate. A Mayor takes independence to the
extreme; 1 person with all the power."
Use this
link to the e-petition . and
for information about Putting Liverpool First click
here.
Letters to the Editor:- "Liverpool
University Boat Club are holding a 20 hour Rowathon"
"THE Liverpool University Boat Club are holding
a 20 hour Rowathon over 16 November and 17 November 2013, on Bold
Street to raise money. The Rowathon consists of members of the club
taking it in turns to row on a rowing machine for a grand total of
20 hours across the weekend; it helpfully combines fundraising and
training into one session. It is hard work, but we believe the end
result will be worth it. We're hoping to raise over £3000 to split
between the club and Zoe's Place Baby Hospice which is based in West
Derby. Zoe's Place provides end of life care to babies and infants
up to aged 5. The club believes this really is a worthwhile charity,
we've raised funds for it before in September 2013, when a Women's
Quad (Emma Harris, Beth Rolt, Ashling Baggaley and Claire Oastler)
and a Men's Single (George O'Neill) for the club rowed 31 miles from
Lincoln to Boston in the Boston Marathon. I've spent over a month
organising the Rowathon I hopes it will inspire people to come down
and donate money to our cause." Jessica, Sponsorship and
Fundraising Officer for LUBC. |
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Marvel and DC
comic book writers team up with UCLan in the name of science
2 comic book writers who
have created some of Marvel and DC Comics' world famous characters
have teamed up with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) for
a superhero inspired science project.
Andy Lanning and Anthony Williams have over the last 25 years
illustrated and written The Avengers, Batman, Captain America,
Superman, Iron Man and X-Men comics to name a few.
Now they've used
their talents to give UCLan a Gotham City style make-over and turned
engineering lecturer Matt Dickinson into a superhero character as
part of a national schools' science competition.
Matt is the main character in the Hero Lab comic who is turned into
2 characters; superhero Mecha-man and super villain Doktor Darkness,
after being struck by lightning while working in his lab. Primary
school age children are being encouraged to create 10 new characters
for the final story that will help the nemeses fight each other. The
only requirement is that any super powers must be based in real-life
science.
Computer aided engineering lecturer Matt commented:- "We want
to demonstrate the power of science and the impact it can have on
everyday life; the sea cucumber for instance when completely severed
will re-stitch itself like Wolverine's healing capabilities.
Relating science to magical super powers will allow us to share some
really detailed information on a level that primary school children
will not only understand but be inspired by."
A team of engineers will also work on the project providing online
materials that children can access as part of their research into
what science fact rather than science fiction can be applied to the
characters' super powers.
Dr Jo Heaton-Marriott, Public Engagement Manager at UCLan, is
co-ordinating the Hero Lab project and will also be included as a
character in the comic book. She said:- "UCLan has a
long history of community engagement. Through this latest project we
hope to debunk stereotypes about engineering and show the breadth
and depth of engineering research in the UK. The comic book will
allow primary school children to explore cutting-edge research and
fuel their imagination."
Writer Andy Lanning said:- "It's an exciting concept to
develop new characters grounded in real life engineering. Working
with Matt and the team has been really insightful and has given us
some fantastic ideas for Herolab; we are looking forward to seeing
what the children come up with."
To enter the competition children can visit:-
herolab.co.uk, for an entry form and choose
whether they want to join Mecha-Man in creating the next generation
of superheroes or join Doktor Darkness in his Vault of Villains.
The ten winners will see their characters developed by the 2 comic
book artists to play a starring role in the Hero Lab comic. They
will also receive signed artwork of their characters.
The Hero Lab project has been funded by the Royal Academy of
Engineering as a follow-up to the successful Science of Superheroes
show run by Matt Dickinson over the last three years where the
lecturer shared the science fact behind the science fiction of many
well-known characters such as Spiderman, Wolverine and Iron Man.
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