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Mersey
Maritime's 'On the Road' forum hits Hugh Baird College in
Sefton
MERSEY Maritime's business
development forum 'On the Road' is heading to Sefton for the
first time when it visits Hugh Baird College later this month.
Among the panel of speakers, at the event on 28 January 2014, is Julie Ehlen, project manager for this summer's International Festival for
Business (IFB) with economic development body Liverpool Vision.
She will provide an insight into preparations for the 2 month
festival in June and July and will be joined by Mersey Maritime
chief executive Jim Teasdale, Sefton Council deputy chief executive
Peter Morgan and Yana Williams, principal of Hugh Baird College,
which is also a member of Mersey Maritime.
Mr Teasdale said it is great news that On the Road is being held in
a college for the first time as Mersey Maritime continues its
mission to promote education, training and investment in the next
generation of skilled workforces.
The Birkenhead-based trade group represents the interests of more
than 1,700 maritime companies on Merseyside with business support,
communications and events.
He said:- "We're delighted that Hugh Baird College is
welcoming Mersey Maritime and businesses from across the area to our
latest On the Road forum. It is also great to have Julie on our
panel, who will be able to explain the wealth of opportunities on
offer at IFB.
With 250,000 delegates expected to attend IFB from all over the
world, now is the time for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
in the City region to get involved in events such as On the Road and
our monthly Face-2-Face meetings.
The event will also inform local businesses and delegates how they
can get involved in other key transformational projects such as the
£1.8bn SuperPort infrastructure initiative.
2014 is expected to be another buoyant year for the maritime sector
which employs 28,000 people and is worth £2.6bn to the Merseyside
economy every year. It is furthermore set to double over the next
decade. Engaging with local SMEs is a key part of our goal to make
Merseyside a vibrant and prosperous place to do business."
The upcoming event is the latest in Mersey Maritime's travelling
business forum, which strives to help Merseyside-based SMEs win more
work as part of the local supply chains as well as nationally and
globally. The forums are being delivered as part of Mersey
Maritime's Sector Development Programme which is being part funding
by the European Regional Development Fund (see notes to editors).
The programme offers a broad range of support to the SMEs in the
Liverpool City Region with maritime links.
The trade group, which has been charged with co-ordinating a
schedule of Maritime, Logistics and Energy (MLE) events as part of
IFB 2014, recently announced a preview of its outline programme.
More than 30 separate events have been confirmed across 2 weeks
commencing 9 June, including a Maritime and Logistics Conference, a
seminar aboard the Kathleen & May tall ship in Albert Dock, a black
tie dinner in the Rum Warehouse and the annual debate of the Women’s
International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) in conjunction
with Hugh Baird College.
These events are designed to complement a number of headline
conferences and exhibitions taking place in and around the City at
the same time, including the Undersea Defence Technology
International exhibition and conference and a UK Warehousing
Association (UKWA) conference.
Hugh Baird College principal Yana Williams said:- "We are
delighted to be hosting the latest instalment of Mersey Maritime’s
travelling business forum. It is vitally important that education
bodies engage and interact with the business community to create
pathways for students to complete the transition from study to
employment. We are acutely aware of the Liverpool City Region's key
growth priorities including the SuperPort, low carbon, knowledge and
visitor economies.
We are focused on delivering training and education in line with
these growth sectors. It is therefore our mission to continue
building relationships with trade organisations such as Mersey
Maritime and local businesses which will provide work experience,
apprenticeships and employment opportunities to our thousands of
students."
On the Road will run from 11am to 12.30pm on 28 January 2014 at Hugh
Baird College, Balliol Road, Bootle. Maritime (and related) sector
businesses wishing to reserve a place, please contact Sarah King at:-
sarah.king@merseymaritime.co.uk
or call:- 0151 647 4747.
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Local charity
offers financial lifeline to people with disabilities and carers in
North West
DISABILITY charity Vitalise; which runs the Sandpipers respite break
Centre in Southport; is
reaching out to people with disabilities and carers in desperate
need of respite with an offer of 80% off its breaks and free
transport this February.
The offer comes in the wake of the charity’s shock survey of carers,
which found that an astonishing half of all the estimated three
quarters of a million carers in the North West have not taken a
single day off from caring in the last year; greater than the UK
average of 39%.
Funding for the offer was made possible thanks to a grant from
healthcare provider Simplyhealth and has enabled Vitalise to provide
a much- needed financial lifeline for people with disabilities and
carers in the North West and across the UK.
The subsidised break offer is open throughout February to any adults
with physical disabilities in need of accessible breaks with care
and who have not taken a break with Vitalise in the past 12 months.
The week long breaks are available at Vitalise’s three accessible UK
Centres. Carers are also welcome to accompany their loved ones on
the charity’s breaks.
Vitalise is urging any people who think they might be eligible to
come forward and claim their discounted break.
The themed weeks offered by Vitalise at Sandpipers in February are
Murder Mystery, Everybody Dance, Cathedrals & Market Towns and Viva
Las Vegas.
As part of the offer Vitalise is offering free return transport to
Sandpipers for those eligible, subject to individual circumstances.
Vitalise Chief Executive Chris Simmonds said:- “We are so
grateful to Simplyhealth, who with this grant have enabled us to
offer a respite lifeline to some of the people in most desperate
need of our support this February.
It is very timely that we are able to make this offer only a couple
of weeks after our survey found that half of the North West’s carers
have not had any time off from caring in the past year and two
thirds did not get a single day off this Christmas.
I urge anyone who thinks they might be eligible for this offer to
get in touch as soon as possible, so as not to lose out on their
chance of a much-needed break.”
Vitalise is a national charity providing essential breaks in a
holiday environment for people with disabilities and carers at
Sandpipers and two other accessible Centres in Chigwell and
Southampton. Each Centre provides 24 hour nursing care on-call,
personal support and a range of accessible excursions, activities
and entertainment.
People with disabilities and carers wanting more information about
the offer are requested to call:- 0303 303 0145, email:-
bookings@vitalise.org.uk or visit:-
vitalise.org.uk.
WARMTH SCHEME
REACHES MAJOR MILESTONE
THE npower Health Through Warmth scheme, which helps
homeowners in Southport, is celebrating after installing over £4
million worth of heating and insulation measures across England and
Wales during 2013.
npower Health Through Warmth works with local organisations to help
with the funding and installation of heating and insulation measures
for vulnerable people. The scheme received referrals for more than
3,500 vulnerable people in 2013, and levered £3 million to help fund
the work required, including over £300,000 from charitable
organisations. In addition almost £800,000 was contributed from the
unique npower Health Through Warmth Crisis Fund.
Elaine Midwinter, npower Health Through Warmth scheme manager,
comments:- “Delivering over £4million in measures is a
fantastic achievement and demonstrates the continued progress of the
scheme which is available across England and Wales. Living in a cold
home can have a severe impact on health, so we are delighted to have
helped so many people during 2013.
We’d like to remind everyone that help is still available from
Health Through Warmth. Working together with other organisations
such as home improvement agencies and charities, we are hoping to
help even more people in Southport with heating and insulation.”
Help from npower Health Through Warmth may be available to
vulnerable homeowners who have a long term, cold-related illness, a
low income with little or no savings and who are unable to fully
fund measures, such as a new boiler or heating system. You do not
have to be, or become, an npower customer to benefit from the
scheme.
Since the scheme was founded in 2000, more than 81,500 vulnerable
residents in England and Wales have been referred to npower Health
Through Warmth for aid with heating and insulation. More than
£65million has been levered to help fund the work required, which
includes £1.9million from charitable organisations. In addition,
over £8.8million has been contributed from the unique npower Health
Through Warmth Crisis Fund.
For more information about Health Through Warmth, or to find out if
you or someone you know could be eligible for help, visit:-
healththroughwarmth.com. |
