1st Council Care Home for more than 25 years to open in Liverpool

THE 1st Liverpool City Council commissioned Care Home to be built in more than 25 years is now opened on Friday, 25 October 2019, they had performances from St Ambrose Primary School choir and a local band featuring 2 members who are living with dementia.  The ₤8 million Brushwood on South Parade in Speke is part of a commitment by the City Council to meet the rising demand for dementia care services.  It is the 1st local Authority built Care Home to open in the City since the early 1990's, and will be the 1st of 2; with the other, Millvina House, in Everton, opening in November 2019. There are 60 beds, 48 of them for long term care including nursing and general residential care, and the remaining dozen for assessment.

Anthony Dillon, managing director in the North for construction firm Willmott Dixon, said:- "Working alongside Liverpool County Council and Shaw healthcare, we are proud to play our part in delivering these important purpose built facilities which will provide outstanding levels of care for those with dementia and other long term care needs. This is a pioneering investment in community healthcare for the people of Liverpool. Healthcare buildings that are truly fit for purpose such as this, are designed, planned, constructed and managed with the needs of the people who live and work within them, at their heart."

Care at the centres is being delivered by Shaw healthcare; the majority employee owned company signed up to the Liverpool Social Value Charter and is paying its workforce in the City above the national living wage, and has provided specialist training in safeguarding and dementia awareness to all staff.  Partnerships with local colleges and training organisations have enabled the firm to recruit around 80% of the staff from the local area:- Speke, Garston and Hunts Cross; while almost a quarter were unemployed prior to joining the team.

Geraint Evans, Commercial and Development Director for Shaw healthcare commented:- "We are extremely proud to be working with Liverpool County Council and its contractors Willmott Dixon, and look forward to delivering high quality, specialist and sustainable care services to the residents of Brushwood. The facility provides state of the art accommodation and our team has been through an industry leading training programme, all of which will help us to ensure that residents enjoy the best possible quality of life. The partnerships we have been able to develop have been invaluable in helping us to shape the team that will deliver care services at Brushwood. We've been blown away by the support from local organisations, as well as from Liverpool City Council, and are committed to maintaining positive, ongoing relationships to support the continued development of the team and our services. As a company, our values are Wellness, Happiness and Kindness and we believe that this should be present in all we do. The team at Brushwood will take a person centred approach to care to achieve the best outcomes for residents. Our goal is to deliver the type of care that we would want for our own loved ones."

The name Brushwood was chosen following a competition with local people; it was the original name for Speke, in the Domesday Book. Each wing is named after a poet, with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri among those featured, and selected poems they have written on the walls.  Poet Roger McGough said:- "To have a wing of a dementia hub named after oneself is a real honour and I am also pleased that my old friend Adrian Henri is also included. I have written several poems about dementia over the years and it is a subject that is close to my heart."

The Council has borrowed the money to build the 2 centres, with the repayments covered by income from the leases on each site. It is the latest stage in a comprehensive investment programme for adult Social Care facilities in Liverpool. In June, the ₤5 million Council owned and run Townsend Hub in Tuebrook opened, providing care to help stroke patients back on their feet before they return home. And Besford House in Belle Vale, which provides accommodation for adults with learning disabilities, has recently undergone a ₤900,000 makeover.

The City Council spends almost ₤50 million a year on residential and nursing care, plus a further ₤11 million on dementia and memory loss services. It has shielded Social Care as much as it can from the cuts in its funding from Central Government since 2010, despite a ₤436 million reduction in the Council's budget from 2010 to 2020.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "We have already invested heavily in creating new Social Care hubs across the City in recent years, but our increasing elderly population means that we are facing a significant challenge in ensuring that there is sufficient capacity within our Social Care system to meet the needs of people with dementia and other long term care needs. This is against a backdrop of rising demand, significant cuts to our budget from Central Government of ₤436 million between 2010 and 2020 and increasing pressure on wider healthcare services. The decision to invest in these 2 new purpose built Care Homes that will offer residential and nursing dementia beds and carer respite is part of our invest to save strategy and will help ease pressure on other, more costly parts of the health service such as Hospital beds, and save the public purse money."

Huge projections to light up the Dock for Winter

ROYAL Albert Dock Liverpool has announced plans for a new Winter attraction offering a series of large scale projections to light up the inner quay side of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, launching on 31 October 2019 and running through to February 2020. Promising an original and unique visual experience, the 6 different projections will be created by Double Take Projections Ltd, who have experience in designing some of the UK's biggest light shows, including a Christmas Projections Show, for Norwich Castle.

Double Take will be using:- 'projection mapping' to transform the inner quay side of the Mersey Maritime Museum into breathtaking works of art to light up the Dock for Winter. Spanning over 85 metres in width and 17 metres in height, the giant projections are destined to be 1 of Liverpool's most unique Winter spectacles, and are also part of the City's incredible River of Light Festival. The 1st projection will launch on Halloween with additional projections planned from November 2019 to February 2020, promising to be a must see display for both locals and visitors.

Highlights of the projections include:-

► 31 October 2019 - Halloween.

► 1 November to 9 November 2019 - Portal by Sam Wiehl, which forms part of the City's River of Light Festival.

► 10 November to 11 November 2019 - Remembrance tribute.

► 12 November to 15 November 2019 - Dock Gallery.

► 15 November 2019 to 6 January 2020 - A Magical Christmas Story.

► 6 January to 21 February 2020 - Dock gallery including Valentine's, and more to be announced.

Clare Rawlinson, Head of Marketing for Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, comments:- "We wanted to go the extra mile with our Winter campaign this year and do something we've never done at the Dock before, with the added support from National Museums Liverpool. The projections demonstrate the creative potential of the Dock as part of the new reshaped events programme, and we're excited for visitors to see what we've got planned."

Deputy Mayor and Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Events, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:- "The projections will be a welcome addition to the waterfront this Winter, and are sure to be hugely popular with residents and visitors alike. We're delighted that Portal will feature as part of our new look River of Light festival which is the must visit event for families across the Region. I look forward to seeing the Royal Albert Dock Liverpool in a whole new light over the next few months."

The impressive projections will be available to see from all around the Dock, with the restaurants on the Britannia Pavillion, including:- Maray, Rosa's Thai Cafe and Lunyalita, providing the perfect spot for a spectacular dining backdrop.