Massive public response to NSPCC appeal to help teenagers living in care

AN online appeal by the NSPCC for toiletries to help teenagers in care across the North smashed its target. The charity has been overwhelmed with support and donations for the appeal, after it was launched on Facebook at the end of June. Originally, the NSPCC's North West Volunteer Engagement Officer, Rachel Walker, hoped to create 100 bags which would be donated to teenagers living in care or shared accommodation during lockdown.

Rachel said:- "We have been absolutely blown away by peoples' kindness. We know there are young people living in care across the North who might have difficulty accessing toiletries during lockdown, and we wanted to support them during what was already a distressing time, so appealed for 100 bags and items to fill them through social media."

From a simple Facebook post, the appeal quickly gained momentum and saw businesses including L'Oreal and Maison Meunier, as well as individuals around the Region offer bags, toiletries and more to the charity's centres in Liverpool and Warrington. Further help came from former Childline Ball chairman Michael Josephson, as well as members of the NSPCC's Childline team in Salford, who coordinated the collection and sorting of the products. Vickie Butcher, North West Community Fundraising Manager, said the flood of donations meant they were soon able to offer the completed washbags more widely than intended.

Vickie said:- "The response to the appeal was so successful we were able to give washbags to children who need them through our centres in Warrington, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and York. There are too many people to thank individually but want to thank everyone who supported the appeal for ensuring 160 teenagers across the North will be able to keep clean and comfortable in care. We cannot thank everyone enough for their enormous generosity."

To find out more about how you can help the NSPCC and Childline during these difficult times, please go to:- NSPCC.Org.UK.

Liverpool's Roads Programme tops ₤100m for the 1st time!

THE roadworks are the latest phase of Liverpool City Council's Better Roads programme and takes the value of on-site highways construction past ₤100m for the 1st time in the City's history. Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said:- "To have ₤100m of highways investment on site for the 1st time in the City's history is a landmark moment - and an amazing achievement considering its being delivered during a pandemic lockdown. This level of investment speaks volumes for how much the City's roads network needed to be improved and updated. It also underlines our ambition to grow Liverpool's economy from the North docks to our connections to the motorway system, by creating better traffic flow, better cycle provision and a more pedestrian friendly City. Ultimately the long term benefits of these improvements, both economically and environmentally, will be felt for a very long time creating a Liverpool that is more attractive to live in, work in, invest in and visit."

This work will include a new ₤9m phase of roadworks in Liverpool will take current on site investment past ₤100m on the City's highways network plus a ₤9 million highways maintenance programme is to begin in Liverpool on Monday, 13 July 2020. Also, essential repairs will begin on a number of key routes across the City, including Edge Lane, in Old Swan, which connects the City Centre to the M62.  The Edge Lane scheme is a ₤3m investment involving new road surfacing, footways repairs and drainage improvement. The works are scheduled to end in May 2021. This follows on the from the ₤10m investment to Edge Lane to accommodate the new Liverpool Shopping Park, which opened in 2018. The works will be carried out by Liverpool based contractor Huyton Asphalt who are also beginning a ₤1.5m upgrade to Green Lane, in Tuebrook. This scheme, running from Bolan Street to Santon Ave, will complete in April 2021 and involves drainage repairs, footway improvements and road surfacing.

Councillor Sharon Connor, Cabinet Member for Highways and Regeneration, said:- "Our Better Roads programme is a balancing act. On the one hand we need to catch up with long overdue repairs, whilst on the other we need to deliver new and ambitious schemes that will futureproof our economy and environment for decades to come. The current volume of roadworks is unprecedented, so unfortunately disruption has been unavoidable but our highways team and contractors have done all they canto programme these schemes in a way that minimises the inconvenience.  To plan and deliver this volume of works, much of it complex, has been a massive challenge and the fact that more than 250 workers carried on improving our network during the Covid lockdown is a staggering achievement, for which we all owe them a huge thanks. As well as a better highways network for all users, much of this investment is going to Liverpool contractors, supporting the local supply chain and hundreds of jobs - which has never been more important given the current economic crisis."

As part of this new ₤9m programme, which includes a ₤3m City wide investment to improve footpaths, Liverpool City Council has also scheduled upgrades to:-

► Walton Lane - from Cherry Lane to Everton Valley - beginning Monday, 20 July 2020. This is a ₤3.9m scheme delivered by Liverpool company Kings Construction. Ending April 2021.

► Kingsley Road, Toxteth - from Upper Parliament Street to Princes Ave - beginning Monday, 20 July 2020. This a ₤1.3m scheme also delivered by Kings Construction. Ending March 2021

► Beaconsfield Road, Woolton - from Menlove Avenue to Church Road - beginning August 2020. This is a ₤325,000 scheme to be delivered by Liverpool company Dowhigh. Ending February 2021.

As these schemes begin, all of which will involve lane closures, but no full road closures, a number of other key highways projects are about to end.

A ₤3m upgrade to Upper Parliament Street and ₤4m investment in Princes Ave/Road, which includes a new 1km cycle lane, new event space and tree planting, are both to complete by the first week of August. The Princes Ave scheme is being delivered by contractor MNCN Plc whilst Kings Construction have delivered the Upper Parliament Street scheme.

In Liverpool City Centre the ₤3.5m redesign of Victoria Street ends next week. This upgrade includes the relocation of bus stops as part of the wider ₤47m Liverpool City Centre Connectivity (LCCC) programme.

A key element of the LCCC programme is the ₤22m radical overhaul of The Strand which began 2 weeks ago. This scheme also includes a new cycle lane connecting the South of the City to the North, new tree planting and new public realm. A number of junctions cutting across the The Strand to the Pier Head will be removed to improve traffic flow. And with wider pavements the scheme has been designed to also improve road safety for pedestrians after four fatalities in the past 2 years. The 1st phase will complete in Spring 2021.

Another element of the LCCC scheme, which is part funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through the Local Growth Fund, is a new expanded coach park on Riverside Drive which is just a 5 minute drive South from the City Centre. This ₤1.5m project, which will treble capacity, will end in August 2020.

A new Northern link road to connect traffic to the forthcoming Isle of Man Ferry terminal, which forms phase 2 of part of the LCCC programme, is also on schedule to finish in this September. This ₤7m project has been part funded by the Department of Transport.

Contractors GRAHAM construction have so far delivered all the elements of the LCCC programme, including the successful removal of the Churchill Way Flyovers.

To the North of the City Centre, 2 other major schemes are coming to their final phase. The ₤22m upgrade of the A565 (Great Howard Street) and the City's historic "dock road" (Waterloo/Regent Road), which has included the creation of a new dual carriageway on the A565 as well as a new cycle lane on the dock road, is set to complete in September 2020.