Search for older people to be part of postal workers welfare scheme in North Liverpool

A renewed appeal is being made for older people living in parts of North Liverpool to come forward for a new scheme which will see postal workers check on their welfare. The L4 and L5 postcode areas have been announced by the Government as 1 of the test bed areas for the:- 'Safe and Connected' scheme, in partnership with Royal Mail, as part of the Loneliness Strategy. It is based on the successful Jersey based project:- 'Call&Check' and will see postal workers calling on over 65's who sign up to participate, as part of their usual delivery rounds. They will ask a standard set of questions to assess individual need, with the Council analysing the results and directing the individual as necessary to friends, family, neighbours or local voluntary sector services. The aim is to reduce the risk of loneliness, as well as addressing other needs and issues; and will initially be limited to 100 people. Liverpool Safe and Connected is operated by Age Concern Liverpool and Sefton who have 90 years' experience of supporting older people with their issues and challenges. Anyone wishing to refer themselves can contact the Safe and Connected Team on:- 0151 256 2550.

Councillor Paul Brant, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, said:- "We are pleased to be part of this pilot scheme, which is not just aimed at tackling loneliness, but also about identifying when people may need more support and help. Postal staff are a trusted part of the local community, particularly for older people, which makes them ideal for this scheme. We have an increasingly older population and many do not have family living locally who are able to visit as often as they would like. We will work to carefully identify those who will benefit most from this project and feedback to Government in monitoring its success."

Mark Kempster, Royal Mail Liverpool North Delivery Office Manager said:- "Our postmen and women develop a lot of knowledge about the local area and the people who live there.  At Royal Mail, we're always happy to pitch in in an emergency, but it can be more difficult to know how to help when you feel that people are lonely or isolated. We are really pleased to be doing our bit to help look out for our customers' well being and help put them in touch with local support services if they need it."

Joe Dickinson, Head of Innovation at Call&Check, added:- "At Call&Check our goal is to make a real difference to people's lives, enabling them to continue to live at home, with their families and friends, living well and safely for as long as they possibly can. Our team is delighted to be working with our project partners; the Local Authority team and Age Concern, together with Royal Mail, to enable the delivery of the Safe and Connected Trial. Based upon our successful Call&Check service in Jersey we have provided expertise, support and the IT system for the Safe and Connected Trial in Liverpool and look forward to continuing to work with our project partners as the scheme develops."

Phil Redmond to receive Freedom of Liverpool

TV producer and cultural entrepreneur Professor Phil Redmond CBE is to be awarded the Freedom of Liverpool. The City's highest civic honour will be bestowed on him by Lord Mayor, Councillor Christine Banks, at a special ceremony at Merseyside Maritime Museum, on Friday, 2 November 2018.  Born in Huyton, Phil Redmond set up Mersey Television in the early 1980's and created 3 of Britain's longest running drama programmes; Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks. He was Deputy Chair and Creative Director of the City's Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008, and latterly served as Chair of National Museums Liverpool. He devised, and is Chair of, the UK City of Culture programme which was set up to capitalise on Liverpool's success as European Capital of Culture, and is also Chair of the Liverpool City Region Cultural Partnership, charged with developing a 30 year cultural strategy.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- "There has been no better advocate of Liverpool than Phil Redmond over the last 40 years. He has been a passionate and powerful voice for the City, helping tell our story. The success we enjoy now as a leading location for TV and film productions contributed hugely to his brave decision to set up Mersey Television in the early 1980's. It is fitting that we are awarding him the Freedom of Liverpool 10 years on since we were European Capital of Culture, a year in which he played a key role."

Lord Mayor, Councillor Christine Banks, said:- "Phil Redmond has made a phenomenal contribution to Liverpool during his lifetime and it is right and proper that we reward his work by awarding him the Freedom of the City. His devotion and dedication to his home City, along with his charity work, deserves the highest recognition."

Alongside his personal career, he and his wife Alexis have supported many charitable and public sector causes becoming major benefactors across Merseyside, including:- Liverpool John Moores University, National Museums Liverpool and Alder Hey Hospital. Since selling Mersey Television in 2005, they have devoted almost all of their time to public service. 

Phil Redmond, who has recently turned to writing novels, said:- "I'm extremely honoured. There is no greater accolade than to be granted an award such as this. I have always been extremely proud to be from and of Liverpool because the 1 thing it teaches you is that life is, really, what you want to make of it; but it can be so much greater if you have a strong, sometimes challenging but always overwhelmingly supportive community around you. I have been very lucky to have experienced that."

People seeking help to stop looking at sexual images of children has more than doubled!

THE number of people in the North West seeking help to stop looking at sexual images of children online has more than doubled between July 2017 and January 2018.  We have been told that 1,747 people, from the North West, have contacted:- 'Stop it Now!' a help website that was set up by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, to seek help for either their own online sexual behaviour, or for that of someone they knew. In the following 6 month period that figure had leapt to 3,549, a rise of 103%.

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation is a charity that works to prevent people from viewing such illegal material in the 1st place; and to get them to stop if they have already started. It directs offenders to the charity's:- 'Stop it Now! Get Help' website that hosts online self help resources, as well as the confidential helpline, on:- 0808 1000 900, where they can get help to address their online behaviour and stop looking at these harmful and illegal images.

Merseyside saw an increase of 86% in the number of people seeking help from 'Stop it Now!' over the 6 month period. The rise in the number of people seeking help from the website follows a major public awareness raising campaign launched by 'Stop it Now!' in January this year.

The campaign was supported by:- the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NW ROCU) and Merseyside Police along with Police forces in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Cumbria and North Wales.

The campaign used:- traditional media, social media, posters and other public relations activities to...

►  Raise public awareness of the growing problem of people viewing and sharing sexually explicit images of under 18's online.

►  Educate those offending about the harm caused to children in the images who are re-victimised each time their image is viewed online.

►  Highlight the increase in Police activity across the North West to tackle the issue.

►  Drive home the consequences of their behaviour to offenders; including:- arrest, possible imprisonment, break up of family and being put on the Sex Offenders Register.

►  Make people aware that there is help available to stop such behaviour via the:- 'Stop it Now! Helpline' and the 'Stop it Now! Get Help' website.

The NW ROCU and the 6 Police forces communicated these key campaign messages via their social media channels to large numbers of people in the North West. And Police forces also worked to engage local partners such as local authorities to further amplify the campaign and its messages via their own social media channels. A major conference, co-ordinated by the NW ROCU, was also held in Leigh near Wigan in April. The conference brought together:- Police, social workers, Local Authorities and other frontline child safeguarding professionals, to discuss strategies for further deterrence and prevention work within the North West.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Barr, North West Regional Lead for Serious and Organised Crime, said:- "The problem of viewing indecent images of children online has grown exponentially in recent years. Technological advancements, increased accessibility, and the presumption of anonymity have all led to more and more people viewing and sharing illegal images. Every time a sexual image of a child is viewed, that child is re-victimised and further demand is created. It is vital, therefore, that we work closely with partners and use all available resources to protect children and, wherever possible, prevent offending. We have a duty to protect children from harm and to deter individuals from committing these types of horrific offences and we continue to seek to identify and convict those who engage in this behaviour. But as the results of this campaign show, we can also educate and stop individuals from continuing to offend; or from offending in the 1st place. Enforcement activity remains a high priority for Police locally, regionally and nationally. And being arrested comes with life changing consequences for offenders and their families. To those engaged in this behaviour, I would say consider your actions now and seek help to stop. If not, you should expect to face serious consequences."

Reflecting on the success of Police co-operation with Stop it Now! in the North West so far, Director of the Stop it Now! Helpline, Donald Findlater, said:- "We are delighted with the success of the campaign so far, with nearly 600 people from the North West seeking help with online sexual behaviour towards children every month. Mostly these will be men seeking help to manage their own behaviour in viewing sexual images of children. But a growing number of other adults; wives, partners and parents; are getting in contact because of concerns about the online sexual behaviour of someone they love. But there are thousands more people in the North West continuing to view sexual images of children online. Just as there are thousands more wives, partners and parents who are, or who should be worried about the online behaviour of someone they love. Some of these those engaged in this behaviour will be reading these words now. All of them need to be clear that sexual images of children are illegal, that children are harmed when they are made, and also each time they are viewed. Those who come to the attention of the Police for such online offending put at risk everything they take for granted or have worked hard to achieve; family, friends, work, their liberty. The Stop it Now! Helpline offers them a confidential place to get help so their illegal online behaviour stops and stays stopped. Getting help takes just a phone call."