North West residents lead the #FixFirst charge!

A survey by the UK's leading online spare parts retailer, eSpares, has found that residents in the North West are saving money and protecting the environment by taking the time to fix broken household appliances. 50% of local residents would prefer to repair than needlessly throw away; with more than ˝ of those who are savvy savers doing so in order to:- 'save the cost of buying new.'  On a national scale, the survey conversely found that 75% of the UK population don't bother to fix appliances themselves, instead, preferring to buy new models. Statistics from Europe show that if the UK fixed just 10% more of repairable appliances, the nation could save an estimated 100,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from being thrown away.

"We feel a change is needed in our behaviour towards fixing appliances. However, that step can only be made if the support is there to give customers the confidence and knowledge to fix repairable appliances. That's why we've launched our #FixFirst campaign; a national initiative that provides householders with all the information needed to fix appliances themselves. It also helps consumers to protect the environment, save money and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from fixing things yourself."  commented Ad Casey, head of brand at eSpares.

The eSpares advice centre has more than 500 'how to' tutorial videos, 700 repair articles and 9,000 manufacturer appliance manuals, all supported by an inventory of more than a million spare parts ready for next day delivery.  For more information on eSpares and its #FixFirst campaign, visit:-  Espares.Co.UK/FixFirst.

Mersey musicians shine on Seeds album

SEVERAL Music Production students from Merseyside feature on a CD released by Edge Hill University. Ormskirk singer and guitarist David Hughes, working under the guise Charity Shop Pop, is 1 of the featured artists to appear on the Seeds compilation album, with his self penned track Charlotte amongst the original compositions from a host of vocalists and musicians undertaking the 3 year programme. The project realises the vision of Gary Westhead, Senior Lecturer in Music Sound and Audio Production and Programme Leader for Music Production, to provide a showcase for students while also offering valuable studio and recording experience. The tracks were recorded at Edge Hill University's own state of the art studios and at the world renowned Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, famous for hosting an eclectic range of artists including:- Coldplay, the Spice Girls, Justin Bieber and Rihanna. Also available to stream via Soundcloud, the 24 year old's indie influenced '80s synth pop has featured on local radio including on Janice Long's BBC Radio Wales show, has seen singles released on the University's own record label, Label Recordings, and has played Liverpool Sound City. Others from the area to feature include singer and guitarist Anthony Madden (Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port), Sam D'Auvin (Crosby – piano and keyboards) and Patrick Ball (Southport – bass) playing on the track Every Part of Me; guitarist Paul Griffiths (West Derby) contributing to Gamma Ray by Bethan Childs – currently No.1 on the playlist – and pianist Sam Davidson (Southport) and drummer Adam Trevor (West Derby) on Ashleigh Williams' track Runaway.

Lift off with Liverpool libraries' Summer Reading Challenge

THROUGHOUT the 6 week School summer holiday, the service will be urging children to keep their brains active by picking up a plethora of page turners from their local library. The Summer Reading Challenge is an annual national event organised by charity The Reading Agency. Last year, around 700,000 children took part nationally. The event's aim is to help children and young people build confidence in their reading skills, which can be directly linked to their achievement levels. The theme of this year's challenge is The Space Chase in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the 1st moon landings. All children have to do to take part is head down to their nearest library, where they will be given a special mission folder to keep track of the 6 books they will be reading over the summer as part of the challenge.

In Liverpool, almost 900 children and young people took up the 2018 Summer Reading Challenge and the team is hoping even more will take part this year. Liverpool's challenge will be launched in fine style at Central Library on Saturday, 20 July 219. The library will be hosting a Mission to the Moon event, between 10am and 5pm, which will celebrate 50 years to the day since the:- '1 giant leap for mankind.' Hosted by the Liverpool Astronomical Society, the free event will see a host of activities including memorabilia from the actual Apollo missions, virtual reality experiences and actual moon rock and meteorites.  There will also be a series of talks throughout the day all about the Apollo 11 landings.

Liverpool City Council's Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Wendy Simon, said:- "Reading for pleasure is 1 of the easiest yet most rewarding hobbies that anyone could ever take up. Books are lifelong companions that really can give us knowledge, inspiration and endless hours of joy. The Reading Challenge is a great way to find the fun in reading and what better way to launch it than with our own celebration of 1 of the most significant events in our history. Last year we had a fantastic response to our reading challenge and we would like to see even more young people taking part this year. The challenge is free and it could take you all the way to the stars."

Sue Wilkinson, who is head of The Reading Agency, added:- "At The Reading Agency, we tackle life's big challenges through the proven power of reading. We know from our research that families and children love taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge and we are proud to have been running it for 20 years. We hope the challenge will inspire all children to use their local library and to read lots of great books throughout the summer and beyond."

For more information about The Summer Reading Challenge, including how to get involved and resources for Schools, visit:- ReadingAgency.Org.UK.