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The Kensington & Fairfield Voice CIC Issue No. 15 April 2012

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BBC Cuts Good News For LCR

In a shock cost saving move Salford

based BBC bosses announced radical

changes to local radio output in

Liverpool from this April.

BBC Bosses already under fire for making

swinging cuts of over 20% to Radio

Merseyside’s budget have decided that rather

than “death by a thousand cuts” the trimmed

budget would be handed over to a local

Kensington and Fairfield based Community

Radio Station LCR.

Originally known as KVFM Online, the radio

station was set up by social enterprise

KensingtonVision CIC. But as a consequence

of the BBC decision, from 1st April 2012 KVFM

Online will be re-launching and calling

itself Liverpool Community Radio or LCR. From

Noon onwards BBC Radio Merseyside’s output

will be ceasing and the wavelength 95.8fm and

DAB channel will be handed over to LRC.

It is hoped the handover to the Holt Road LCR

studio will run smoothly and listeners will not be

too alarmed by some of the new programming.

The full schedule has not been announced yet,

but some old Radio Merseyside favourites will

remain, for example Roger Phillips Lunchtime

Phone In will still be broadcast but will be co-

presented by local Green Activist, cyclist and

Phillips phone in regular Michael Ryan. The new

topical programme will be called Mick the Cat

and Roger talk about Newsham Park and

Legalising Drugs. They will have a string of

regular guests, ex Lord Mayor, ex Councillor and

part time Army intelligence Officer Frank Doran

plus Kenny the Dog will be making a regular

appearance. Some of the new BBC/LCR

programmes planned include Old Dick’s Tales

of Haunted Merseyside, The Mystery Scoffer-

All About Eating Out Everywhere Cheaply, The

Radio Capers of Kenny and Max, based on the

award winning cartoon series Kicking the Krap

Out of Kenny, and finally, a new Soap Opera will

be launched in the Summer The Streats of

Kenny, an everyday tale of Kensington and

Fairfield Folk.

Old KVFM favourites the Reading Room, Tales

of the Unexplained, The Liverpool Jazz

Programme and The Orange Show will all

remain in their regular slots. Although the

rescheduled “Big Lunch” will go out two hours

earlier and will be renamed The Big Brunch.

No one from the BBC was available for comment

although one now ex-BBC Presenter who has

been asked by LCR executives to “Come on

Board LCR” was quoted off the record as saying

“One day I was happily presenting a

successful afternoon programme and had

been for forty years, just me, the Bradshaws

and Fascinating Steve, and the next thing

they’re asking me to do a Sunday Phone in

Quiz called “Hold Your Cumquats”, I’ve had

enough I’m gutted, Wally!”.

LCR Station Manager Wendy Miller, in an

exclusive to the Voice said “When the phone

call came from Lord Patten of Barnes (Chair

of the BBC Trust) I thought it was a wind up or

some sort of April Fool Prank, the sort of

thing a mate would do to you, but it all turned

out to be true. Of course the extra money will

come in handy too”.

If you require more information on the switch over

from BBC to LCR then call the Switchover

Hotline 0151

345 1290, where

a member of

staff will be able

to answer all

your questions.

We hope the wait is worth it, your beloved

Kensington and Fairfield Voice has been away

for the longest time, no we haven’t gone the way

of the News of the World, but without making

excuses, the reasons for our absence are many

fold, Alien Abduction, Rare Tropical Illness or

being sent on a “Slave Labour” stacking shelves

on a job creation scheme by The Dole. Of course

it was none of these, it was the unforgivable

crime of not having a enough time. So what’s in

your Soar Away Voice.

Well you’ll be happy to know that as we enter into

the second year of the Conservative/Lib Dem

Coalition MashUp, the start of April heralds a

plethora of earth shattering events in the area.

The area is often maligned and denigrated by

other more affluent areas of the City but it’s nice

to know that at least in the Government’s 20/20

Vision Kensington and Fairfield is more affluent

that the leafy but crime sodden ward of

Cressington. I’ve discovered this “factoid” after

finding out about The Government’s

Community First Fund, which is aimed at

pumping £30 million into the most disadvantaged

and poorest wards in the country. Surprisingly

when you put a K&F postcode in the website

(http://www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/neighbourhood-

matched-fund) your’e informed that the area is

not eligible.

You will be further surprised that the good people

of Cressington are eligible to apply for some

money from the fund. The Voice have made

enquiries and it seems the level of JSA claimants

is one of the main factors for eligibility and using

this yardstick Cressington has got poorer but

Kensington and Fairfield hasn’t. It makes you

wonder how poor we have to get doesn’t it. No

this is NOT an April Fools Prank, and no I’m not

laughing much either, maybe the people in

Cressington are though, all the way to the bank.

Cressington Park Poorer than here it’s official!

As a lover of good food, I do like to keep my

options open and try as a many local hostelries

as possible, you know the adage “variety is the

spice of life”

But if it happens you have a work colleague

visiting the city and have decided that you need

to take him somewhere you know would deliver

the goods, from an epicurean viewpoint, so the

sole course of action was to go somewhere tried

and trusted. The only place to take my Mossad

Handler Abe (if you didn’t already know I often

do freelance work for the Israeli Secret

Service), would have to be Kensington and

Fairfield’s own Jimmy’s Grill.

Abe and I entered “The Grill” and we were

warmly welcomed by Mohammed (“Don’t call me

Jimmy”) and his crack curry crew and we took a

seat at the rear, my companion insisting on being

able to keep an eye on the exit and the entrance

and his hand close to his Jericho Polymer

Framed Pistol. As a regular, Abe let me order for

both of us. I plumped for a sheesh kebab, lamb

madras, and a chicken bhuna, two freshly made

naans, plate of plain rice, a fresh salad and a

variety of sauces and chutneys all appeared as if

in a flash. The thing to say about the fayre at

Jimmy’s, it is spicey (so not for the feint hearted)

but not aggressively hot but the other USP about

the place is the price, this whole banquet came to

well under £20.

We ploughed through the meal, pausing only to

quaff on the beverages we had brought with us

(Jimmy’s doesn’t have an alcohol licence but they

are not averse to you brining your own, the word

corkage is not in their vocabulary).

Everything was so fresh, and oh so tasty, the

venue is visited by a wide and ethnically diverse

bunch of locals,

eating fine

Pakistani

cuisine, idly

watching

Bollywood pop

videos on the

enormous wall

mounted

plasma TV.

Jimmy’s Grill

in my humble

opinion

epitomises what a lovely culturally rich and

interesting place Kensington and Fairfield is.

You can find Jimmy’s Grill is at Prescot Road

Telephone 0151 260 6122

They take telephone orders but don’t deliver and

they close relatively early for a “takeaway”

10.30pm, so don’t leave it too late.

The Mystery Scoffer scores Jimmy’s Grill

5 Poppadoms out of 5

Maximum marks for Mohammed and his crew.

The World Famous Jimmy’s Grill

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Your Local Taxi 15 Years Servicing

Kensington and Fairfield

It’s now nearly two years since the late

lamented Kensington Regeneration New Deal

for Communities was wound up.

The question often asked is “Where did the

money go?” as apart from a Tesco Express,

Iceland, a row of new shops and large amount of

demolition, there isn’t a legacy of large numbers

of jobs and a gut feeling that real sustainable

regeneration had been achieved. Here at the

VOICE we’ve been able to find where over £2

million of the New Deal Money ended up and who

benefited from this huge sum.

It seems that a few local organisations were in

receipt of disproportional amounts and seem to

have been considered more favourable for grants

than other similar organisations in the new deal

area.

One example is Prospects 2000+ (a local

children’s holiday charity based in Marmaduke

Street - Charity number 1084535- received

between 2005 and 2010 a total of £422,606 in

direct grants from Kensington Regeneration.

Another local organisation, Parks Options

Charity number 1078076, owns the Job Bank

Building on Tunnel Road, which it rented out to

Kensington Regeneration from 2002 until 2010.

We haven’t been able to find out the amount of

the rent but it is likely to be in the hundreds of

thousands of £’s over the whole period of rental.

Finally, local charity HEAT (Heat Energy Advice

team charity number 1100705) based on Durning

Road, was given £1,975,842 in direct grants from

New Deal in its last five years.

HEAT Parks Options and Prospects 2000+

received grants and income before 2005 so these

figures are lower than what they actually

received.

With the help of the Charity Commission website

we were also able to find out who are the trustees

and Directors of HEAT, Parks Options and

Prospects 2000+, and two names in particular

appear quite regularly.

Richard Keenan is listed as a Trustee of Parks

Options, Norma Williams, on the other hand

appears as a trustee of all three and a Director of

Prospects 2000+. If these two names have a

familiar ring they should do as Richard Keenan

was the Chair of Kensington Regeneration Board

until 2006 and then becoming the Vice Chair until

2010. Norma Williams on the other hand took

over from Richard as Chair.

One of the mazin duties of the Board was to

decide which projects the New Deal money was

spent. We are sure that all the decision making

was above board

and people

declared their

interests at the

appropriate time,

but there does

seem to be a

disproportionate

amount spent on

projects Board

members were

directly

connected to.

Norma Williams

crowned her

reign as Chair of

New Deal by

being

unexpectedly

given the

“Champion of

Champions”

Award along with

Norma Lee at the

lavish final

Kensington

Regeneration

awards

ceremony at the Anglican Cathedral. This event

was rumoured to have cost over £45,000 too, so

we’ll just add this to our “Where Did All the Kenny

Regen Money Go?” spreadsheet we are

compiling.

If have any information about who got the rest of

the money or even if you know of a young person

who has been on a Prospects 2000+ holiday we’d

love to hear from you.

Email info@l-c-r.co.uk or call

07792954307

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It’s 7.30 on a cold Sunday morning, and I’m eating toast and drinking coffee in preparation for my visit to Botanic Park to watch this morning’s junior football matches in the Edge Hill Junior Football League.

The League was founded nearly thirty years ago and continues to nurture young football talent in the area. There are four separate leagues to cater for different age groups amongst the boys and girls living in the Kensington, Fairfield and Edge Hill areas of the city. There are under 8’s, 9’s, 10’s and u/11 leagues, with at least seven teams in each particular division. For those of you who are good at mathematics, you do the sums in terms of the number of children who descend on Botanic Park every Sunday morning. Add on a sizeable number of proud and passionate parents and officials, including referees, volunteers and the odd scout from Liverpool and Everton, and you begin to appreciate the popularity of the Edge Hill Junior League. The League itself was formed in 1982, and can claim to have nurtured the early careers of great footballers such as Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Ross Barkley and John Welsh…all four players having initially plied their trade in the Edge Hill Junior League. Jack Webster is a name that is well known in local football circles too, and the main changing room building, situated close to the Tunnel Road entrance to Botanic Park, stands as a tribute to his long standing dedication to the league. It was officially opened by then Lord Mayor, Steve Rotheram, on 20th September 2008, and is testament to the man’s hard work behind the scenes in promoting and supporting the league over the years. The legion of youngsters, managers and spectators who stride in Jack Webster’s footsteps at Botanic Park every Sunday would probably agree that a love of football is a pre-requisite for success. Greg Hoey, manager of Derby Saints, who travel from the Rocky Lane area of West Derby Road, is a case in point. ‘I’ve been up since 7 o’clock this morning,’ he reveals. ‘It’s

what I love doing, and it’s worth it when you see the boys and girls getting involved in the game.’ That last comment rings true as the enthusiasm of the children, not merely in turning up to play, but also in the way they apply their skills on the pitch is heartening and definitely contagious. ‘The kids all love playing football, and at this age that is a good thing because it gives the youngsters an opportunity of getting fit, developing their skills and making new friends,’ states Greg. ‘There’s a lot of behind the scenes work going on too, such as washing the kits and organizing training sessions in midweek. Luckily, we have a great set of parents who are happy to wash their child’s kit individually, rather than washing them in bulk! But the children love playing football, and it’s a pleasure to be involved.’ Kensington and Fairfield are represented by New Kenny FC, whose kit is sponsored by KVFM, our local community radio station, recently Robert J Harper, manager of the team, states: ‘I love football, and it’s great to get local kids from the area involved in the game,’ before adding, ‘I’ve been managing the team since earlier this year, when I took the reins for New Kenny’s Summer league matches, and it’s gone on from there. We have three teams in the Edge Hill Junior League, and even though it’s hard work, I do get lots of help from the parents and from my family.’ Unlike Derby Saints’ washing arrangements, the

New Kenny kits are washed by Robert’s wife, Marie, and fair play to her, because the colour of the kit, yellow tops, black shorts and yellow socks easily attract mud and grass stains, but according to Robert, she copes admirably. ‘It’s a real team effort, both on match days and during the week when preparations are made,’ he says. ‘My wife Marie is brilliant, as she always ensures that the team are turned out looking smart.’ Having watched lots of matches since the season commenced back in early September, I can testify that the kits are clean and the standard of football second to none. Robert agrees: ‘We sometimes have scouts from Liverpool and Everton coming down to Botanic Park to watch the matches. The standard of

football is excellent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of the players get picked up by one of our local clubs. In fact, one of our players is currently training at Liverpool’s Youth Academy as a goalkeeper. He’s only seven years of age, and I wouldn’t mind but he’s managed to score twenty three goals in five games playing outfield for us this season.’

It’s Not All Jumpers For Goalposts, Eddie Cotton Lifts The Lid On Junior Football In Kensington

New Kenny FC Under 11’s

The Edge Hill Junior League is also well represented for officials, and John Waters is one of the Senior referees. He says: ‘You get some great football matches down here, though sometimes you need a strong referee, especially when it’s a local derby. I generally have a word with both captains before the game to ask them to get to their players before I do in case there are any arguments, but, you usually get a good, honest game.” The nurturing of young players is another positive aspect of Junior Football in the Edge Hill League, as John confirms: ‘You might give a bit of leeway on throw-ins because the players are learning the game, and you might have a word with a player when they’ve made a mistake in terms of the rules as the game is going on, but that’s all part of the learning process for them.’

John is also full of praise for the younger

referees, saying: ‘I can learn from the young

officials myself. They have a great attitude,

and though they receive a nominal fee for

refereeing matches (7.50), it’s not for the love

of money that they do it, but love for the

game.’

The games themselves are twenty minutes each half for under 8 & 9’s, and 30 minutes each way for under 10’s & under 11’s. As for the organizational aspect of the league, John Worthington is the man to speak to, as he is a key component of the backroom staff who help things run smoothly every Sunday. He says: ‘It’s a long day, having arrived here at 7.45 this morning to set up the cooking facilities and pitches. We do it for the love of the game, and for the kids, as it gives them a real opportunity of expressing their skills, making friends and getting fit.’ The changing facilities are second to none, based as they are in a purpose built building that contains changing rooms, a café selling subsidized food and drink, and toilets. Long queues were forming as I hovered in the background waiting for a lull in the queue for some nourishing food, attracted I presume, by the sweet smell of onions and hot dogs or hot buttered toast being served to the hungry children and parents. ‘All the money we take is ploughed back into the league,’ states John, ‘and it’s also a nice meeting place for people

to have a chat and get something hot to eat or drink.’ I can testify to that last statement, as those hot dogs especially, tasted delicious, especially on a cold and frosty morning. So, for all you football fans in the area, why not get yourself down to Botanic Park one Sunday morning and sample the football on offer. You won’t regret setting that alarm clock once you’re standing on the touchline witnessing some great football matches. It even makes you want to don a pair of Stylo Matchmakers and join the action yourself. New Kenny FC are currently looking for players, both boys and girls, and so if you fancy joining the team then contact Robert J Harper on 075446 34277.

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Under 9’s with Manager Rob Harper and Coach Ste Harper

Given the front page of this edition of the

VOICE, and the imminent take over of BBC

Radio Merseyside by LCR, I too have some

recollections and supernatural tales to add to

this current news.

In the early decades of the twentieth century

when even the idea of radio was new, Liverpool

was chosen as one of the first BBC locations for

this new fangled medium. So in 1924 John Reith

(later to become Lord Reith the first chairman of

the BBC) oversaw the setting up of 6LV the call

sign for the new Liverpool station by travelling to

up north to our fair City. 6LV finally closed on the

16th May 1931 when the BBC became a national

station.

No one knows the exact location of this early

example of local community radio, but some

suspect in may have been in the Kensington and

Fairfield area. Further credence was given to this

tale when I was told on the QT that the Crawfords

Biscuit factory chimneys on Edge Lane were the

location of a “Secret” BBC Radio Transmitters, it

stands to reason that the early radio station may

not have been too far from Crawfords.

A further tale was told to me by one of the

Directors of Liverpool Community Radio (who

wishes to remain anonymous but we will call

Steve), the tale occurred when the refurbishment

of the new studios in Holt Road took place over

the Christmas period 2009, one late night working

alone, the work had reached the stage where the

studio equipment needed to be

installed. He duly set about the

task, attaching plugs to

sockets, adjusting

faders, ensuring jingles played

out OK, the last job was to set

up the webcam which would

allow the world wide web to view the studio

goings at KVFM (as LCR was called then).

Everything seemed fine, he locked up pulled

down the shutter and set off into the cold snowy

evening.

Arriving home he turned his computer on and

decided he should check the webcam connection

before turning in for bed, all seemed well except

instead of an empty studio, sitting in the “driving

seat” was a man, a large thick set balding man,

with a very distinctive scar on his left cheek.

Steve was in a complete state of shock, how

could this? He then gingerly turned up the sound

to hear what was being said by the spectral

guest Announcer, only to hear a broad Scottish

voice announcing “Hello good evening Ladies

and Gentlemen and welcome to 6LV, the British

Broadcasting Companies Radio Station in

Liverpool, the real voice of the city and here is the

news for Tuesday 11th June 1924”.... shockingly

the same date as broadcasting started at 6LV.

Shaking with fear Steve drove recklessly through

the snow covered streets from his Fairfield home

covering the distance in record time. He burst into

the studio expecting this to be an elaborate prank

by his colleagues, only to find the studio as

empty as it was when he left earlier.

Empty that is except for a hand written note left

on the mixing desk, completed in a fine

copperplate hand, which had upon it a short

message, “Inform, Educate, Entertain, carry on

Reith”.

Steve closed up once more and went home to a

night of restless sleep, although he always felt

that the incident was a positive experience which

in some way was Lord Reith giving his approval

to the new radio station venture.

It is often thought that ghost and apparitions can

use radio waves to travel between the “Then” and

the “Now”, and who is to say that beings from the

spectral world have not found ways to utilise the

power of the internet to travel inter dimensionally

and through space and time.

Steve is adamant that the man he saw clearly on

the webcam reading the news was none other

than John Reith; the bald head, the double

breasted suit, the Scottish accent, the scar on the

cheek from being shot in the face while fighting

for King and Country in the Great War all seem to

back up his claims that the late great Lord Reith

visited LCR as a foretelling of things to come!

If you’ve had anything strange coming in your

ear, then please get in touch with me at LCR on

Holt Road, all in strictest confidence of course,

and remember you can’t beat a bit of Old Dick,

and watch out for my new radio programme “Old

Dick’s Tales of Haunted” Merseyside only on

LCR.

CONTACT:

info@l-c-r.co.uk

0151 345 1290

Carry On Says Lord Reith

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

In a shock inter-species move the

VOICE’s own Kenny the Dog has

decided to stand as the elected Mayor

of Liverpool when the elections take

place on May 3rd.

In an exclusive interview to the Voice

Kenny stated that the idea came quite

out of the blue “I was out with Max in

Newsham Park and I’d just gone and

done one, I looked down and for some

reason looking down at the errr...stool,

I thought of all the politicians I’d ever

met and it occurred to me that there

was nowhere in the rules that said a

dog couldn’t stand for Mayor, after all

Hartlepool voted in a man in monkey

suit”. He paused wistfully and contin-

ued “I mean if me and Max can kick all

the krap out of Kensington then sort-

ing the Town Hall out shouldn’t be that

difficult”.

Max D’Poo Kenny’s campaign man-

ager then went on to outline what

there strategy would be to get Kenny

in power “Well er, l

like ye know, if we let Kenny off the

leash who knows what the future of

the city will be, he’s a clever lad, ah

mean two years ago I was a 19 stone

slob who let his dog crap all over the

streets and look at me now I’m only 17

stone and I don’t mind picking up

Max’s business”.

For more information about the may-

oral elections then visit http://

Liverpool.gov.uk/council/voting-and-

elections/eleted-mayor

And remember

VOTE FOR KENNY!

CUT OUT AND STICK IT IN YOUR WINDOW SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR KENNY

CUT OUT AND STICK IT IN YOUR WINDOW SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR KENNY

The views expressed in the Kensington and Fairfield VOiCE and the information contained therein are not necessarily those of The Kensington and Fairfield Voice CIC or our funders and we do not vouch for or necessarily endorse the views or guarantee accuracy, so if you feel like suing us don't bother as we’re skint and if something in this issue has so indisposed or irritated you then you need to grow up , get a life or even write us a letter or an article! If you would like to write to us, write for us, tell us about an event which is going to happen in the area, or become part of the K&F VOiCE production team then contact us in one or all of the following ways

Contact details: Email STEVE@l-c-r.CO.UK Tel: 0151 345 1290 Blog/online version: WWW.KFVOICE.WORDPRESS.COM

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