Thousands of lights installed outside Queenscourt Hospice in Southport by local lighting firm

TREES at Queenscourt Hospice in Southport are sparkling away thanks to the generosity of a local lighting firm. Thousands of new lights have been installed in trees in front of the facility, on Town Lane in Kew. 3 new colour changing uplighters have also been provided. The work was carried out by Southport based lighting firm IllumiDex UK Ltd, which last year lit up the entire length of the Lord Street boulevard in Southport Town Centre. The project at Queenscourt Hospice was completed ahead of the charity launching this year's Lights Of Love Appeal. It was an emotional time for IllumiDex Director Jan Clayton, whose Mum, Angela Houghton, was cared for in the Hospice before she died.

Jan Clayton said:- "We were delighted to support Queenscourt when we heard they needed their old lights replaced. We took down old lighting that had ceased working and then installed brand new LED lights in trees to the front of the Hospice. None of the lights there worked, and hadn't worked for a long time. We also provided some coloured uplighters in front of trees. Staff there can use a remote control to change the colours as they see fit. We provided the lights at cost and then provided our own labour and time to carry out the work."

Creating the new lighting brought a particular sense of satisfaction for Jan, whose Mum died in Queenscourt 22 years ago. She said:- "When we went for our 1st meeting with the team at the Hospice, it took place on the Anniversary of my Mum dying there 22 years ago. My husband Steve and I said we would do whatever we could to support Queenscourt as it holds a very special place in our hearts. It was our way of saying thank you for what they did for Mum. She was only 55 years old when she died. She had suffered from oesophageal cancer or throat cancer and spent her final days there. The care Mum received at the Hospice was amazing. When my family heard we were installing new lights at Queenscourt they were very emotional, in a good way. The trees look really lovely with the new lights in there. The feedback from Queenscourt, and from the people who have seen them, has been brilliant. They are so appreciative of the work we have done. I'm glad we have completed this scheme before this year's Lights Of Love Appeal, which is a brilliant way for people to support the work of the Hospice."

Liz Hartley, Fundraising Manager, at Queenscourt, said:- "We are absolutely delighted with the new lights, we can't thank IllumiDex and their team enough. Everyone at Queenscourt is hugely appreciative of their hard work and the fabulous new lights will make our popular Lights of Love Appeal even more special this year. By dedicating a light, you are not only celebrating a loved one, you are also enabling Queenscourt Hospice to continue providing exceptional compassionate care for over 2000 patients and their loved ones each year, when it is needed the most."

For more details about Illumidex UK Ltd please visit:- Illumidex.Co.UK or email:- Info@Illumidex.Co.UK or call:- 01704220829 (landline) or 07979158404 (mobile).

Queenscourt's Lights of Love Service is on:- Thursday, 8 December 2022, at 7pm, at Holy Trinity Church, Hoghton Street, Southport. Call the friendly fundraising team on:- 01704517420 or visit:- QueensCourt.Org.UK/Lights.

To add your dedication or create your own virtual tree, please visit:- VisuFund.Com.
 

Liverpool City Region leads £56.8m energy saving project to improve 5,000 homes across the North West

THE Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) has led a North West-wide project to add energy efficient measures to more than 5,000 households at risk of fuel poverty. Strong early performance saw the Combined Authority retrofit 1,336 homes across the City Region; boosting the original £11.3m allocation up to £15.3m. The money is the North West's share of a national funding pot to enable Local Authorities to directly deliver home energy retrofits to more than 5,000 disadvantaged households. More than 2,000 individual improvements, ranging from solar panels to external wall insulation, were made to City Region homes as part of an ambitious plan by Mayor Steve Rotheram to reach net zero carbon by 2040.

Councillor David Baines, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Climate Emergency and Renewable Energy, said:- "If we are to reach our ambitious target of becoming net zero carbon by 2040, we need to half our energy use across the City Region. The situation in our homes is even more challenging, as we will have to cut energy use by 60%. That's why retrofitting our homes with energy efficient measures is so important. This will be a challenge but as we have demonstrated by successfully delivering this scheme; with support from Government we are capable to achieving this, while creating good quality jobs in the process."

The national Local Authority Delivery Scheme 2 programme (known as LAD2) finished delivery in September 2022. The purpose was to retrofit as many homes as possible across the North West, saving householders money, cutting carbon and creating green jobs. Local Authorities targeted households most likely to be in fuel poverty and benefit most from energy efficiency upgrades such as:- insulation, heat pumps, energy efficient doors and windows, and solar panels.

5 local programmes operated across:- Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Liverpool City Region, with Regional funding administration coordinated by the North West Net Zero Hub, at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

The Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy provided funding via the North West Net Zero Hub as part of a national economic stimulus package and covid recovery response.

Councillor Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Housing and Spatial Framework, said:- "As this scheme shows, we are continuing to work with our local authorities to retrofit energy saving measures to as many houses as possible, to help people deal with the cost of living crisis and meet our environmental targets, but there is a limit to how much we can do on our own. There are 720,000 homes in the City Region and more than 60% of them are at EPC band D and below, which means they are wasteful and expensive to keep warm. We need Government to pick up the pace so we can roll these programmes out even more quickly."