A party that's right up your street!

LIVERPOOL City Council is making it as easy as possible for residents to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee with their neighbours. The special bank holiday weekend runs from:- Thursday, 2 June, to Sunday, 5 June 2022, and it is expected that local communities will be eager to organise an outdoor get-together to mark the celebrations.

To help communities get their street party planning under way, the City Council is asking organisers to fill in a special online form which can then start the process of getting all the relevant permissions in place. And to give people an added incentive, the City Council is waiving road closure fees, which can usually cost anywhere in the Region of ₤2,000. The City Council will also organise for road closure signage and any traffic management cones to be located in and around the area.

► Any resident who is considering hosting a street party just needs to meet some simple criteria:-

► The event itself is organised and funded by the applicant.

► The organiser must take out Public Liability Insurance.

► Most of the residents in the area must be happy with the event taking place.

► If they plan to sell alcohol they will need to apply for a Temporary Events Notice.

► Major roads or key bus routes cannot be closed, so please bear that in mind when submitting requests.

To express an interest in hosting a party, the online form found on the Council's street party page must be submitted. The deadline for submissions is midday, on Friday, 6 May 2022. Full information can be found at:- Liverpool.Gov.UK/StreetParties.

There are also plans for online consultation activities which will give residents the opportunity to ask questions or raise any concerns around staging a street party with the relevant City Council teams. More details will be announced soon.

There is a limited number of small grants available from the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund (Merseyside) which can be used to contribute to the purchase of party decorations. Organisers can find out more by contacting the Lord Lieutenants Office (Lieutenant Colonel Sean McEvoy) on:- 01513639528 or email:- msl.clerk@lieutenancy.info.

Other Queen's Jubilee celebration events taking place in the City across the bank holiday weekend include the food and drink festival Taste Liverpool. Drink Bordeaux which will be taking over 3 areas of the City Centre:- Hope Street, Bold Street and Castle Street. For the latest information head to:- VisitLiverpool.com/TasteLiverpool.

Liverpool's Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Councillor Abdul Qadir, said:- "I have had a number of residents approach me and ask whether they can hold their own street gatherings so I'm delighted we can not only encourage people to have a party, but we can help alleviate some of the financial concerns by waiving the road closure charges. Community spirt has come to the fore during the Pandemic and there were so many stories of people going above and beyond to help out their neighbours and keep people safe. Now, we want people to come together again, have fun and get to know 1 another as you should never underestimate the power of community spirit."

Liverpool's Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Councillor Harry Doyle, said:- "Whether you want to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee or, after the challenges of the past couple of years, it feels like the right time to bring your community together; a street party is a great option! As a City we love an event, so we wanted people to have the option to stage their own activities right on their doorsteps. There is of course a major event taking place in the City Centre with the brand new food and drink festival, but it's a 4day weekend so why not do both! I hope as many residents as possible take up the opportunity for their very own party and so we can have that festive feel-good factor right across Liverpool."

Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mark Blundell, said:- "As Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant I am delighted to hear that so many communities across Merseyside are organising 'street parties' to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years of service to the Nation and the Commonwealth. Street parties have been very much a part of our culture to mark special occasions, and the weekend of 2 June to 5 June 2022, will hopefully be packed with sunshine and will be a time to enjoy what is to be a truly international event. It is my intent to visit with the Lord Mayor as many events as possible over the Bank Holiday weekend, meet people and enjoy the community celebrations. I wish to thank Liverpool City Council for the generous gesture of waving the cost of road closures. This waiver will hopefully pave the way for communities to organise events that might otherwise not have been affordable."

Over 50% of smokers say being judged by non smokers only makes it harder to quit

NEW research shows how negatively smokers are judged by non smokers; although most non smokers think more should be done to help adult smokers find less harmful alternatives if they don't quit...

► 30% of smokers say they have been unfairly treated because they smoke.

► 57% say people's judgement about their smoking makes it harder to give up.

► But 82% of non smokers agree more should be done to help smokers find less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.

► 30% of adult smokers say they have been treated unfairly because they smoke; according to new research.

An independently conducted survey by Lake Research, commissioned by Philip Morris Limited (PML), which questioned 2,000 non smokers and 1,800 smokers, highlights the extent of the negative feeling that non smokers have towards smokers. 41% non smokers admit they may be hesitant to hire a smoker and 61% say they would not rent a room to someone who smoked. 44% say they could never date someone who smoked, while 54% say they wouldn't like to kiss someone who'd just had a cigarette. However, the judgement may be counterproductive; 47% of smokers say they want to quit but feel unable to do so and 57% claim that this judgement and lack of understanding about their smoking doesn't help them give up and even makes it harder to stop. Encouragingly though, although non smokers have a negative view of smokers, the vast majority still want to support those who don't quit in their efforts to give up cigarettes; 82% of non smokers agree that more should be done to help smokers find less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. 55% of the smokers polled are conscious of negative sentiments and say they feel there's a stigma against them and others that smoke, and 55% say people don't understand what it's like to be a smoker. The survey also exposes some strong feelings towards smokers in their everyday life, particularly around money and health. Most non smokers believe that smokers waste money (80%) and smell bad (73%). 54% believe they have a negative impact on NHS resources. Christian Woolfenden, Managing Director of Philip Morris Limited in the UK and Ireland, said:- "The best thing any smoker can do is quit tobacco and nicotine completely. Many smokers want to quit but feel that being frowned upon by non-smokers across many areas of their lives only makes it harder to do so.

With more support and understanding from friends, family and work colleagues, plus more information from Government, regulators and public health experts about smoke free alternatives, many more smokers could be encouraged to stop completely, and for those who don't quit, to switch to less harmful options such has heat not burn products, e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches. The study also found that women are more averse to smoking than men, with 56% believing it should be banned compared to 51% of men; and 46% of females saying they would never date a smoker, compared to 42% of males. Regionally, Leicester was the UK City where most people were against smoking; 66% of residents of the East Midlands City believed smoking should be banned, compared to a national average of 54%.   Christian Woolfenden added:- "As the only tobacco manufacturer committed to delivering a smoke free future, we believe that we can all play our part in helping to accelerate the decline in smoking. We believe cigarette sales can end within 10 to 15 years in many countries if the right measures and support are put in place."