Local Schools raise thousands for Hospice

PUPILS and teachers from 4 local Schools have joined forces and taken on some incredible fundraising challenges to raise money for St. Joseph's Hospice. Sacred Heart Catholic College, St. Edmund's and St. Thomas', Great Crosby and Ursuline Primary Schools all set their pupils the challenge of coming up with exciting ways to support the Hospice and fund patient care throughout the Coronavirus crisis. Donations are still flooding in but, so far, they have raised over ₤5,300, which will be split between St. Joseph's Hospice in Thornton and Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Schools started by launching a competition to see who could come up with the best rainbow design using whatever medium they wanted. The winner was Nate, a reception pupil, at Great Crosby, and his younger sister Trixie, who put their heads together and came up with a brilliant face paint design. Charlotte Gee, the after School manager at Ursuline Catholic Primary School and former pupil of St Edmunds and Sacred Heart College, has completed a 10 mile bike ride from Sacred Heart College to Ursuline wearing a rainbow costume made by her pupils. The Schools then took on the national 2.6 fundraising challenge and set their pupils and teachers the task of coming up with a way of fundraising involving the number 2.6. 6 speedy children; siblings Millie (9), Harry (7) and Poppy Strange (4), along with siblings Izzy (9), Jess (8) and Max Faraday (5); from St. Edmund's and St. Thomas' ran 26 miles between them, an impressive 7km each, and raised over ₤1,700. Some pupils even built '2.6 sky scrapers' using any combinations of the number 2.6; such as containing 26 blocks or being 26cm high. Other impressive fundraising feats have included 9 year old Maisie Edwards, from St. Edmunds and St. Thomas,' who took on an incredible 30 mile cycle ride, from Waterloo to Southport, on Sunday, 10 May 2020. She set herself the goal of raising ₤500, but she smashed it and raised over ₤1,000! Casandra Samuel, a year 7 pupil, at Sacred Heart College, and her sister Rhiannon, from Ursuline Primary, camped out in a den for 24hrs and raised ₤250. Sacred Heart staff and families are also completing the 5k or 5,662 step challenge. On top of all of this, there have been quizzes and bonus balls and even a Virtual Grand National Day.

Ian Walker, head teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic College, said:- "We are delighted to be able to help at these moments of great need. We are all acutely conscious of the conditions the brilliant Hospice team have to work in and our group of Schools wants to play its part in doing everything possible to help. Staff, parents and pupils, at Ursuline, Gt Crosby, St Edmund and St Thomas,' and Sacred Heart are all used to working together and this really feels like the right way to play our part at the moment. Supported by their families, pupils have been raising funds in lots of different ways and parents and staff have also rallied round by taking part in quizzes and online activities. We all wish St. Joseph's Hospice well in its inspiring mission and we will stay with them on the journey."

Maxine Armstrong, head of fundraising at St. Joseph's Hospice, said:- "These are truly inspiring young people who have completed some incredible challenges for which they should all be extremely proud. They are a real credit to our local community. We'd like to say a great big thank you to every 1 of them, on behalf of our staff, patients and their families, for supporting the Hospice, at what is a really challenging time for small, but very important local charities."

There are lots of ways to support the Hospice at this challenging time. Please visit:- Jospice.Org.UK and look at the fundraising page for more details. Alternatively, call the fundraising team on:- 0151 932 6044 or email:- Fundraising@Jospice.Org.UK.

Woman jailed for threatening to bottle security staff member during lockdown

A woman who threatened a member of Station Security Staff with a broken bottle, after assaulting him, has been jailed following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation. Donna Marie Williams, aged 52, from Oxton, Wirral, was 1 of a drunken group travelling on a train, at West Kirby, on Sunday, 5 April 2020.  At Wirral Magistrates' Court, on Wednesday, 6 May 2020, we are told that she pleaded guilty to threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place and assault by beating. The Court has since jailed her for a total of 13 months and ordered her to pay a victim surcharge of ₤149, which incorporated other offences, that happened within Merseyside Police's jurisdiction. The Court heard from the prosecution that at around 1.30pm, Officers from BTP were called to West Kirby Station, following a report of a group of people on board a train, who had been drinking and where without tickets. The Officers where also told that the group was being verbally abusive to staff, with 1 member of security staff being threatened with a weapon. BTP Officers immediately responded, where the Court was told that the victim had been punched repeatedly by Williams before threatening him with the neck of a broken wine bottle.  The victim had been afraid for his safety and believed that Williams had intended to cause him serious injury. Williams was identified by the victim as she walked away from the Station. When the Officer approached her she became abusive and threatening. Upon arrest Williams was found to have the neck of a broken glass bottle in her pocket and dried blood on her hands. Merseyside Police also arrested Williams, at the scene, on suspicion of theft, in relation to an incident that had occurred earlier on in the day, at a newsagents. Investigating officer PC Paul Quest said:- "Not content with physically assaulting her victim, Williams wielded a potentially lethal weapon at him while he was simply doing his job. Behaviour like this toward station and security staff is just not acceptable and will not be tolerated. To cause alarm and distress like this at any time is appalling but to do so at a time when key workers continue to work on the frontline, is completely reprehensible. Hopefully the sentence handed down to Williams by magistrates' will cause to her give serious consideration to her behaviour."

Bulky Bob's collection service is back

LIVERPOOL'S large item household waste collection service will re-start, on Tuesday, 26 May 2020, after being suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Liverpool City Council backed scheme will recommence on a limited basis with the number of collections being restricted each day. The City Council will 'screen' all requests and will not be able to collect from any household which currently has COVID symptoms or has had them during the past 14 days. Bulky Bob's is a free service which collects up to 5 bulky items per property; alongside up to 5 electrical items or 5 bags of unwanted clothing. The service was suspended at the end of March as the country went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collections can be booked online or over the phone if you do not have online access, but will take longer than usual due to potential high demand and because of extra precautions that have had to be put in place to prevent the spread of the infection. Bulky Bob's will collect all its usual items, but service operators insist they will only pick up items from inside properties under exceptional circumstances. The Council and Bulky Bob's urge everyone who is considering using the service when it re-starts to expect delays and to opt for an outside collection wherever possible. Bulky Bob's provides items for the Furniture World outlet which, under normal circumstances, offers refurbished items of furniture from the collection service to residents who need them. This outlet will remain closed for now and residents are asked to refer to the website for updates about the store.  Residents can find out more and book a collection via the website or by calling:- 0151 233 3001.

Bulky Bob's Chief Executive Shaun Doran, said:- "Bulky Bob's is back to work and ready to start collecting people's redundant furniture. We know there is a huge demand for things to be collected; and also a real need for the great quality reused furniture that we refurbish. We are back to work with a few changes to the way we do things so we can protect our staff, our customers and the general public. The message from us is:- Stay Safe and Reuse and Recycle with Bulky Bob's."

Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Highways, Cllr Sharon Connor said:- "We are really pleased to announce that Bulky Bob's will be re-starting its collection service, however, we must stress this is a restricted return and the same level of service as previously offered will not be available for some time. The safety of both the members of staff and residents using the service remains our paramount concern and we have been forced to take extra precautions to minimise the potential for spreading the Coronavirus. The Council has also recently re-started its green waste collection service and the Household Waste Recycling Centres are now also offering restricted services. We are doing all we can to ensure that the services people rely on can return as soon as possible, but must ask members of the public to continue to be patient and bear with us."