INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE...NEWS PAGE 5 LIFEextra PAGE 11 SPORT PAGE 15

We celebrate British Pie Week with Liverpool’s best pie shop

Liverpool student to represent GB in the European athletics in Prague

Protests over Goodison stadium being built on Walton Hall Park

AND THE AWARD GOESTO...Merseyrail has been given the green light by com-muters a� er it was crowned ‘Operator of the Year’ at the prestigious national rail business awards in Lon-don last night for its high customer satisfaction and performance.

� e win does not come as a surprise considering its success as a high performer in the biannual National

Rail Passenger Survey, where 90 per cent of passen-gers were satis� ed with the current service.

Alan Chaplin, interim managing director at Mer-seyrail, said: “Merseyrail has an enviable track record for winning awards, and it’s great to be recognised yet again. But, we remain determined to working hard and providing an excellence service for customers.

“� is means constantly appraising and challenging the way we do things, innovating and applying the practice.”

Continued on page 5

By JAMES BUSBY and DANIEL WRIGHT

Triumph forMerseyside’s rail service as it is commended for outstanding customer satisfaction

03 - 03 - 2015

© Josie O’Sullivan

BLOOMIN’ LOVELY

SPRING: It may be cold outside but the sun was shining on St Luke’s Church today, proving spring is in full swing

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Life TeamBringing you the news every Tuesday

EditorJosh Kelsall

News EditorMegan Hill

NewsMatthew JudgeEmma MarsdenSamuel PeersAmy Nicholson

Features EditorStevie Pickering

FeaturesKieran Etoria-KingLaura SchumannRebecca CooksonHannah Anderson

Sports EditorOlivia Swayne-Atherton

SportsAmy HoldsworthLauren Pulford

Mayoralbursarybenefi tsstudentsBy ALICE KERSHAW

More than 1800 students have been helped by a £900k “Mayoral Bursary” scheme o� ered by the City of Liverpool College and Liverpool City Council.

� e bursary is designed to support 16 to 18-year-olds in their studies and has been running for the last three years, helping more than 1,800 stu-dents fund their education.

� e bursary was set up a� er the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowances as city and education leaders in Liverpool were concerned that students from less a� uent backgrounds would be unable to a� ord higher education.

Students eligible for the scheme have to be under 19, study for at least 15 hours a week and come from a family that receives � nancial support.

Applicants receive £20 a week through the scheme, which is payable every week subject to students demonstrating their commitment to studies and required level of attendance.

Wirral fire stations consultation under wayBy DANIEL WRIGHT

A public consultation is under-way regarding the potential clo-sure of two Wirral � re stations as a result of government cuts.

� e proposal from the Mersey-side Fire and Rescue Authority (MFRA) is to build a new station in Saughall Massey as a result of closing down the West Kirby and Upton stations.

� e MFRA o� cial consultation report states: “Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is respon-sible for providing � re and rescue

services for Merseyside’s 1.4 mil-lion people at 26 stations across the � ve districts.

“Over the last four years, MFRA has had to make savings of £20 million as a result of Gov-ernment spending cuts and now the Authority is required to make a further £6.3 million savings in 2015/16.

It is also possible that future savings will be required, possi-bly up to £9.1 million in 2016/17 and potentially up to £20 million in total by 2020.”� e consulta-tion will last 12 weeks and three

public meetings will be held on Monday 20th April, Tuesday 28th April, and Tuesday 5th May. � e process will also involve a joint forum as well as three focus groups. � e MFRA have also re-cently con� rmed the closure of Allerton � re station.

Chief Fire O� cer Dan Stephen added: “We have to make struc-tural changes to emergency re-sponse cover across Merseyside in order to deliver the savings required following the con� r-mation of further Government Grant cuts.”

Overcrowded jails leads to prison crisis

Merseyside’s overcrowded jails show the prison service in ‘cri-sis’, with three in four men’s jails holding more people than they are designed for across the UK.

According to the Howard League, the prison charity who obtained the statistics, revealed more than 1,000 prisoners are being ‘doubled up’ in overcrowd-ed cells across Greater Liverpool.

Due to jails closing and the ris-ing amount of o� enders, pris-ons have been forced to crunch numbers concerning prisoners in their cells.

Around 85% of category B/C men’s prisons in England in Wales exceed their population levels, compared to the Certi� ed Normal Accommodation (CAN) levels, which is the prison ser-vice’s own measure of safety for prison numbers.

Category B/C adult men’s prison, HM Prison Liverpool, is holding prisoners more than the ‘safe and decent’ level deter-mined by the prison service.

HM Prison Liverpool is one of the city’s longest serving jails, having been open since the 19th century, and is located in Walton.

� is comes a� er a turbulent start to the year for Hornby Road-based HM Prison Liver-pool, as sta� shortages and the prevalence of drugs has seen the jail put on lock-down on a regu-lar basis.

A violent prison attack le� three guards injured including a suspected broken eye socket, which was soon followed by an o� cer being stabbed in the chest by an inmate armed with a homemade knife.

Frances Crook, Howard League chief executive, said the prison service is currently in ‘crisis’.

“Caging men in squalor with nothing to do all day is never going to help them become law-abiding citizens on release.

“Far too many people are being sent into already overcrowded jails and the need to stem the � ow is now urgent.

“Government must get a grip

on a prison system in crisis that is feeding the crime problem and creating more victims.”

� e population of prisoners rose by over 600 within a two-year period across the UK.

However, within this same time scale, 12 prisons were either closed or re-roled and the number of places were cut from 78,935 to 75,374.

Prisons Minister Andrew Se-lous expressed that prison popu-lation levels were “safe” in an in-terview with the BBC.

He said: “We always have enough space within our prisons to accommodate all o� enders, and will never be in a position where we can’t imprison those sentenced by the courts.

“All prisons have safe popula-tion levels and published statis-tics show that crowding is at its lowest levels since 2007/08.

“� is Government has consid-erably increased the adult male prison capacity from the level inherited at the end of the last Parliament.”

CRISIS: Overcrowded jails © MK Feeney/Flickr

By STEPHANIE BEWLEY

School wants to make Walton a top city attraction by 2020By MATTHEW JUDGE

CUTS: Allerton Fire Station © Flickr/Colin Gould

Twitter © @mhoc12

Trees to hit streetsfor book schemeBy STEPHANIE BEWLEY

Liverpool ONE is hosting Words on the Street with four wooden Reading Trees pop-ping up around the shopping district.

As part of the City’s In Other Words literary festival, the 2.6m high trees will give shop-pers the opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle and lose themselves in a book, which runs from April 23rd to June 2nd 2015.

Taking inspiration from the joy found in reading a book under the shade of a tree on a sunny day, artists Laurie Crombie and Mike Lill have designed the Reading Trees.

Located on streets around Liverpool ONE, they will be constructed of wood with one Children’s Tree decorated in carvings of forest animals. Donna Howitt, Marketing Director, Liverpool ONE said: “Liverpool ONE prides itself on o� ering our visitors more than a shopping experience � e Reading Trees that have been created are beautiful and provide the perfect area to take a moment out of a busy day and indulge in a good read.”

An operational plan to put Wal-ton on the map as one of the best thriving areas in Liverpool by 2020 has been launched by a host of community representatives.

Alsop High School and Walton Youth Project have outlined a de-tailed strategy to ensure Walton will be ‘visibly cleaner and safer’ in � ve years time and to see a va-riety of jobs made available due to inward investment, increased tourism and entrepreneurship.

� e operational plan, which has been labelled as “2020 Vision”, has come o� the back of Alsop and Walton Youth Project’s ‘L4 - Walton A Better Place Iniative’, which is aimed at getting young-sters aged seven to 19 more in-volved in their community.

Peter Bull, a teacher at Alsop and chair for the Walton Youth Project, said: “� e Operational Plan demonstrates the commit-ment of the school to use educa-tion as a tool to regenerate North Liverpool.

“Young people, older residents and community partners have

made a real commitment to change and improve their local community.”

� e plan � rst started in March 2014 when a group of concerned residents, organisations and charities met together with the shared desire to see Walton be-come a better place to live, learn and work and has since gone from strength to strength.

By reducing duplication, Alsop and Walton Youth Project aim to have more resources at their col-lective disposal for the bene� t of

the Walton community and, in doing so, help relieve the causes of poverty and social exclusion, plus promote personal well-be-ing in Walton.

Walton MP Steve Rotheram (above) has previously hailed the work being done on the project telling Liverpool Life:

“It’s really good in respect that it’s them wanting to do some-thing for their community and not another organisation tell-ing them what would be best for their community.”

MP: Steve Rotheram with students © Alsop High School

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© Queen Mary High School Long Lane Liverpool / Facebook

Work on Queen Mary school site begins

Hair and Beauty students at Liv-erpool Community College ran a pampering day for asylum seek-ers living in poverty in the city.

A� er hearing that people who have come to Liverpool in search of safety o� en experience pover-ty and homelessness, students at Liverpool Community College, Duke Street, decided there was something they could do to help.

On Tuesday 24 February, they opened the doors to their train-ing salon to o� er free haircuts and relaxation treatments for those seeking asylum.

Alhagi, a refugee from Gam-bia, who chairs Liverpool Asy-lum and Refugee Association (LARA). “It’s very important the students of Liverpool are show-ing how much they welcome us”

“� is gives us courage and hope in life. On behalf of LARA and all the asylum seekers and refugees in Liverpool, we would like to thank the students of Duke Street for what they are o� ering us.”

� e students said the turnout on the day was excellent and they hope to do similar events in the future.

Cuts for asylum seekersBy ALICE KERSHAW

By ALICE KERSHAW

Clothes confi dencefor ex-offenders

Women across Merseyside are joining together to provide work clothes for ex-o� enders as part of a new campaign.

� e ‘Dress It Forward’ initia-tive, to be launched by Council-lor Erica Kemp at the Northern Power Women Conference on 12th March, aims to help female ex-o� enders get back into em-ployment.

� e scheme was set up by Di-rector of Se� on & Liverpool Women in Business, Stephanie Wright, who works closely with women at the ISIS Centre Mer-seyside and Tomorrow’s Women Wirral.

� e women at the centres are

mainly ex-o� enders who o� en have very little or no previous work experience and conse-quently no suitable clothes for interview, business meetings etc.

Speaking of the scheme, Steph-anie Wright said: “It is tough for ex-o� enders to get their lives back on track and it is simple things that we take for granted, such as owning appropriate work wear, that makes the struggle even harder.

“By setting up the Dress It Forward scheme we are hoping to encourage local women to donate their unwanted clothes, which ex-o� enders can then keep and wear to interviews and business meetings. � is will give these women a real con� dence boost and help them realise their

own aspirations by knowing that other people care about them.”

Steph also hopes to � nd a suita-ble venue from which the women can run their own ‘Dress It For-ward’ vintage boutique, provid-ing a source of work experience for those looking for employ-ment and a live business mod-el for those looking to go into self-employment.

� e campaign will be start-ed with donations from female MP’s, councillors and local busi-ness leaders, though contribu-tions from any women across the region are very welcome. MSB Solicitors, Business Room 52, and Merseyside Police are among those backing the campaign.

Lord Mayor, Cllr Erica Kemp, said: “I am thrilled to be launch-

ing the Dress It Forward cam-paign as it is an initiative that should boost employment rates and change the stigma that is of-ten attached to employing ex-of-fenders. Liverpool is a charitable city, and one person donating one unused out� t can make a real di� erence to the community.”

� e campaign will be o� cially launched at the Northern Power Women’s conference at Liver-pool’s Hilton Hotel. � e con-ference is designed to recognise the North of England as a force for good in achieving gender balance and harness ministeri-al support to promote positive change for women in business.

Simone Roche, Founder of Northern Power Women, said: “When Steph told me her ini-

By GEORGIE WHITWORTH

tiative, I didn’t have any hesita-tion in o� ering Northern Power Women as a platform to engage with business women and lead-ers to support other women to get into work. � is is a great example of women working col-laboratively to make a positive impact.”

� e campaign is looking for clothes, coats accessories and shoes and you can drop o� do-nations at the following places:

Liverpool Town Hall: High Street, Liverpool L2 3SW

Agent Marketing: 43 Jordan St, Liverpool, L1 0BW

Mersey Youth Support Trust: Old St Lawrence School, West-minster Road, Kirkdale L4 3TQ

Social Enterprise Network: 4th Floor, 151 Dale Street, Liverpool L2 2AH

A local dog rescue charity has issued a warning regarding the sale of pets on websites such as Gumtree that may end up being purchased for illegal dog � ghts.

Lisa Rhodes, the founder of Liverpool Dog Rescue has sug-gested that such websites should be prohibited from selling live animals to ensure they do not end up in the hands of cruel owners looking to make money illegally.

She said: “It simply shouldn’t happen, and one of the � rst steps would be to not sell live

animals on Gumtree, but at least target the people endorsing this blood sport which has somehow become a big business. I’ve been personally doing dog rescue for 25 years, but we’re only a small place and this is what we are up against.

“We actually rescued a Sta� e pup we saw online and took a screenshot of a conversation be-tween certain individuals who were plotting to take him for all the wrong reasons.”

� e charity also recently took in another dog with severe injuries named Henry, who was rescued from a place in Leeds. � e two-year-old cross bull masti� is covered in scars from the top of his head to the tip of his tail which may even have to be amputated if it doesn’t heal.

� e Gumtree website states that it keeps a “close eye” on the pets category and removes ads that may be incriminating or indicating signs of animal

By DANIEL WRIGHT

Fears for online dogs bought to fi ght

Work has started on the build-ing of 200 new homes at the former Queen Mary School site on Long Lane, Fazakerley.

� e brown� eld development, Queen Mary Place, will see an investment of £26m, con-tributing to the Mayor’s 2012 commitment to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2016.

� e new development is being built by Countryside Sigma, Regeneration Liverpool’s housing a� liate. 136 of the new homes will be available for sale through the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, with the remaining 64 available for private rent.

Graeme Hogg, Chief Oper-ating O� cer at Sigma Capital, said: “We are very excited that this project is � nally under construction. � e mixture of rental and for sale is new for the area – and allows us to sat-isfy real market need. Custom-ers will have a genuine choice whether to buy or rent these high quality family homes. � e pace of delivery at 10 per

month is unprecedented and will transform a site that has lain derelict for so long.”

Countryside is due to open the Queen Mary Place Show Village this summer, which will comprise four interior-decorated show homes to showcase the

range of three-bedroom house types available for sale.

Ian Kelley, Managing Director of Countryside’s Partnerships North division, said: “� ere is a real demand for high quali-ty and a� ordable new homes across Liverpool and the Mayor’s

ambitious housing strategy for the city is going a long way in catering for this appetite.

“� e success of NGV Liver-pool and the transformation of Norris Green since 2011 is a powerful testament to what can be achieved through collabora-

tive working. We are very proud to be taking our partnership with Sigma and Liverpool City Council forward with the crea-tion of Queen Mary Place and to further improving the quality and variety of homes across the city.”

Green party set to go� e Green Party’s Spring Con-ference will be kicking o� this weekend at ACC Liverpool.

� e waterfront venue will see 1,500 delegates arriving on Fri-day ahead of the May General Election with 50% of attendees being new party members.

Martin Dobson, Green Party candidate for Liverpool River-side constituency told Liverpool Life: “� e numbers of young people getting involved is very hopeful. � e Green party’s long term vision for the country and the planet has a deep resonance with the people who are going to be around to deal with the prob-lems le� by the previous genera-tions. People are aware that the short term � xes put forward by the other parties, like fracking and nuclear power, will only leave a long term legacy of pollu-tion and harm to the planet.”

� e conference is set to be the biggest in the party’s history and was initially planned to be held at St George’s Hall, which hosted last year’s Spring Conference but a surge in demand for attend-ance meant the Green Party had to switch from the city centre venue.

Cllr Dobson also added: “Liv-erpool has for decades been the most deprived city in Britain. � e government has a measure of deprivation and consistently Liverpool has had the most areas of most severe deprivation of any local authority area in the coun-try. On top of that Liverpool has su� ered just about the deepest cuts to council funding of any local authority. � e Green Party would restore funding to local authorities so that they in turn can restore public services. We would protect public services, spend on investment in the new green economy and create great-er equality.”

Friday’s opening day will in-clude speeches by Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett, and Eng-land’s � rst Green MP, Caroline Lucas.

By JOSH HANDSCOMB

Henry the rescue dog © Lisa Rhodes

� e public of Liverpool is being given the chance to have their faces emblazoned on to Liver-pool’s iconic � ree Graces.

With the arrival of the Cunard Queens set for May, arts organi-sation Hope Street Ltd will team up with technical experts � e Colour Project to present Amaz-ing Graces – a state-of-the-art projection exploring the spirit of Liverpool throughout the May Bank Holiday weekend (24, 25 and 26 May).

Part of the display will include a ‘Sea of Faces’ projected onto the buildings – and organisers are on the hunt for anyone who wants their face to be part of this unique project.

� e team behind the event want as many people as possible

to be involved in the artwork and have organised three special photo shoots where people can come and explain why they think Liverpool is a magni� cent city and then pose for a picture.

� e sessions will take place on:• � ursday 5 March, 3pm

to 6.30pm, Met Quarter, 35 Whitechapel, Liverpool L1 6DA

•Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March, midday to 4pm, Mu-seum of Liverpool, Pier Head, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool L3 1DG

Alternatively, people can take a head and shoulders picture of themselves and simply upload it to http://www.onemagni� cent-city.co.uk/. � e picture must be good quality and taken against a plain white background, and once again, in 100 words or less, the team wants to know why

Liverpool is magni� cent. � e deadline for online uploads is Friday 10 April.

Montserrat Gili, Creative Director at Hope Street: “� is promises to be a once in a life-time event that will show o� the city in a magni� cent light!

“We want as many people as possible to come forward and get involved and be in with the opportunity of gracing one of the � ree Graces!”

Taking place each evening from 10pm, the � ree Graces is one of the new commissions created especially for One Mag-ni� cent City which is the seven week programme of events celebrating Liverpool and its maritime links. Read more about the line-up for One Magni� cent City on page 13.

By GEORGIEWHITWORTH

‘Sea of Faces’ to be projected onto Liverpool’s Three Graces

Life|News|4

A group campaigning for Pales-tinian freedom have taken their protest to the steps of Liver-pool’s iconic bombed out church. � e Rise 4 Palestine group claim they are defending the right of the Palestinian people in Israel, to allow them to be rulers of their own independent free state against Zionist domination. However, local police have claimed that these protests are of anti-Semitic nature which are naturally illegal in the UK. � e weekend’s march was campaign-ing for the right to protest in Liv-erpool and across the country, One 15 year-old college stu-dent, Alex, who joined the pro-test for the second time this year on Saturday told Liverpool Life: “We just want to free the Pales-tine people who are innocent victims in a corrupt nation. As long as their � ght goes on, we will � ght for their freedom.”

Campaigns like these have been held across the country over the past two years, In Janu-ary several protesters united in Trafalgar Square, but the crowd was soon dispersed by the po-lice who have started labelling these protests by Rise 4 Palestine as anti-social behaviour crimes and have said that as a result of members of the public have been ‘harassed, alarmed or dis-tressed’ during these marches. � e new dispersal power is to be agreed with Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and other members of the local author-ity including Merseyside Po-lice commissioner, Jane Ken-nedy, who is also a former char of Labour Friends of Israel. � e group also held a pro-test last September out-side Joe Anderson’s home. A spokesperson from Rise 4 Palestine said: “With these new powers � rst outlined against us in November when police tried to exclude protestors from their

right to protest in Liverpool, they haven’t deterred us they have just made us want to come back stronger. Resistance is ex-istence.” “� e local authorities have called up on us to pay for a traf-� c management plan and pri-vate security - in order to pro-test. We can see that the right to protest faces serious threat.” Rise 4 Palestine is determined to defend its right to protest. � ey added: “We reject any accusation of anti-Semitism being used in any orchestrated attempt to criminalise those who defend the right of the Palestine people to a sovereign, independent state free and we will continue to � ght for their freedom and democracy.” Kelly Transard of Huyton told Liverpool Life: “It is ridiculous that the police are trying to stop our right to protest and are accusing us of anti-Semitism. “We are � ghting for the Pales-tine people.”

Demonstration: Pro-Palestinian activists march to St. Luke’s church. © Melissa McFarlane

by MELISSA MCFARLANE

Palestine activists in freedom march

Citybike have provided 13 new stations across North Liverpool to help reduce the city’s carbon footprint. � e expansion is designed to connect North Liverpool to the existing Citybike network, providing a convenient, cheap, low carbon transport link across Liverpool for commuters, students, visitors and residents. � e cycle hire scheme is part-funded by £1.5 million from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. � at money has been used to help make Liverpool’s transport more environmen-tally friendly. Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Regenera-tion, Transport and Climate Change said: “By extending the Citybike network people will now be able to cycle to work or their place of study more easily. “It is cheap to use and there are stations across the city so wherever you are heading, be it for a job interview, to hand in some college work or simply to enjoy a leisurely ride to some of our city’s visitor attractions, you can get there by Citybike. Stations have been installed at Lifestyles gyms in Walton, Ellergreen, Alsop, Everton Park and Lifestyles Peter Lloyd. � ere are also new stations at Gardner’s Drive, Prescott Road in Kensington, Stanley Park An� eld Road, Mere Lane Neigh-bourhood Health Centre, Everton Road Hostel, Tesco Old Swan, Edge Lane Old Swan and � e Rotunda.

by ALICE KERSHAW

Citybike scheme in local expansion

ECO-FRIENDLY: Citybike expansion aims to reduce Liverpool’s carbon footprint. © JMU Jour-nalism

Liverpool community allot-ments are to be created for the � rst time in decades. � e new allotment site will be created out of part of the Park Hill Recreation Ground in Dingle and will consist of 30 plots on raised planters with additional tree planting and a central hub with storage space and car parking. � e city council met with the Association of Liverpool Allot-ments who recommended that the allotments be moved to an area of the city where there is a higher demand and the site in the Dingle met these needs. � e cabinet will be asked at its meeting on March 6 to con� rm the funding for the allotments with £75,000 being made avail-able from the School Investment Programme and £33,000 contri-butions from planning obliga-tions for development in Duke Street and Henry Street. Councilor Steve Munby, said: “� is is a site which is poorly used and has su� ered from anti-social behavior. Converting part of the site into allotments will improve this area. “We’ll be carrying out a consultation exercise with local children and parents on what they’d like to see on the adjacent Cockburn St. playground.” � e � rst phase of work is ex-pected to be � nished by the mid-dle of April with the � rst portion of allotment plots allocated at the founding meeting of allot-ment holders on March 8.

by ALICE KERSHAW

Girl Geeks inspire women to go for tech sector jobsWith the number of females working in the technology sector down 16% from 2014, a Liverpool group is pushing for women to get involved. By 2040, it is estimated the sector will be made up of as little as 1% of women, according to Liverpool Girl Geeks (LGG) who are getting involved with International Women’s Day on March 8th. Rebecca Jones from LGG told Liverpool Life: “In a recent government report Liverpool has been named as one of the fastest growing hubs for digital companies and we want to make sure that women have the skills

and con� dence to go for jobs in these companies, or even, and this would be fantastic, start their own companies in this industry.” � e city- based company aims to inspire a community of all generations with technology, gaming, design, and all things digital. Recognised as a national holiday in some countries, the company hope to use the hype of International Women’s Day to celebrate achievements of women. � e o� cial theme for 2015 is “Make it Happen” and many are wearing purple in recognition. Rebecca spoke of the over-whelming support for the company, from both men and women. “It depends which companies you look at, I’m absolutely certain that internationally there are some companies or departments in tech companies where it can be a bit of a Boys Club. Men and women have di� erent skill sets and strengths - I’d argue its bad business not to be recruiting more women because of what they also bring to the table.” Liverpool Girl Geeks are sup-

porting the mission to get more women involved in the technol-ogy industry and collaborate with organisations across the world on International Women’s Day. Located at Gostin Building on Hanover Street, DoES Liver-pool will host a tech event to celebrate, including 3D printing and laser cutting demonstra-tions, all day networking, and collaborations with local digital/tech companies. Looking to the future, she said: “We want to promote oppor-tunities and provide guidance, support, mentorship and train-ing to women who either work in these industries already and would like to progress , are look-ing to enter these industries or simply would like to know more to help support and grow their own skills or business, if not directly in the tech world. We also want to highlight and pro-mote the amazing work women are already doing - creating role models for the next generation of Geek Girls.” Read more about International Women’s Day in Liverpool Life Extra, where Melissa McFarlane explores the facts and more events in the city - Page 10.

by STEPHANIE BEWLEY

Localprojectseedsplanted

Walton is getting a fresh lease of life thanks to local residents, businesses and councillors beginning a spring clean to help transform the area. Locals took to the streets clad in high visibility clothing with brushes and bin bags in a scheme which is funded by broadcaster and retail consult-ant Mary Portas. Portas launched a charity to help save inner city areas af-fected by urban decay in a series

about the e� ect large supermar-kets have on local businesses. Skips have been placed along the street for residents to � ll as well as fundraising events in the local Tesco car park this weekend. Scheme organisers, � e County High Street Innovation Group, said: “We are working with will-ing partners to demonstrate that we will do all we can to demon-strate that County Road is open for business and that we support businesses.”and others that want to open in the area.”

Clean-up beginsby ADRIAN SPEED

Allotment: Park Hill site confi rmed © Groundwork

Life |News|5

NEWS IN BRIEF

by STEPHANIE BEWLEY

Liverpool-born conductor Sir Simon Rattle (pictured) is to join the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), it has been con� rmed.

Educated at Liverpool College, Sir Simon studied piano and violin, but his early work with orchestras was as a percussion-ist. He entered the Royal Acade-my of Music at the University of London in 1971.

Sir Simon, 60, said it was “a very obvious step - and the idea of coming home and having a position in this fantastic city is also a thrill for me”.

He is currently director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has been since 2002 and has three years le� on his contract. He will take up the position at the LSO from Sep-tember 2017.

Homegrowntalent joins orchestra

Gas repairs causes city centre road chaos

by ALICE KERSHAW

A local Church café is hosting an event to help the people of Liverpool keep their homes safe.

� e Friday café at St Da-vid’s Church, which has run successfully for more than two years, has introduced a monthly community event which will be held on the � rst Friday of

each month, excluding Good Friday. � e � rst of these events gave out around 70 information packs on keeping warm during winter time and getting the best value out of the fuel used. � e session held this Friday will be o� ering advice on how to keep your home secure. It will feature advice from Trading Standards, Police, the � re service and

housing o� cers. � e Reverend Robert Williams, Vicar of St David’s, said, “We intended the Friday café at St. David’s to be a place where people could meet socially, as well as a place that could be used as a meeting point where information could be accessed. “� e � rst event was very successful and we want to build on that with future HOST: St David’s Childwall © SteHLiverpool / Wiki-

pedia / Creative Commons

Staying safe with a coffee

Outrage at Walton Hall proposals by KIERAN ETORIA-KING

A campaign group staged a pro-test at the Bombed Out Church on Saturday in an on going at-tempt to derail Everton’s new sta-dium ambitions.

� e football club suggested the idea of building a 50,000-seat sta-dium in the Walton Hall Park last year, along with 1000 new homes and 30,000 square metres of lei-sure, retail and restaurant space. No o� cial planning application has been submitted to the city council, but the local residents have been vocal in their opposi-tion to the suggestion.

Chrise Byrne, of the Friends of Walton Hall Park, said: “� e ar-ea’s very built-up, the houses are all terraced so they don’t have any gardens, so Walton Hall Park is their garden for a lot of the res-idents.

“We’re not getting listened to. Walton Hall Park is covered by three wards, and those wards all have three councillors, so that’s nine Labour councillors and not

one of them is speaking up for us. � ey’re siding with the party and not with the residents. To be a ward councillor you are sup-posed to represent the views of the constituents, but they aren’t.”

� e demonstration included campaign groups from other public parks threatened by de-velopment, including Se� on Meadows, Woolton Woods and Calderstones Park, and some of those in attendance expressed a broader opposition to the city’s leadership.

Patrick Duggan, of the Green Spaces Initiative, brought a bill-board van bearing the words ‘Mayor Joe Must Go’. He said: “He’s selling parks, and person-ally I think he’s undemocratic, I think there’s a conspiracy, a collusion, a clique, a club in the mayor’s o� ce there, they do any-thing they want. � ere’s no trans-parency, and there’s thousands of questions and zero answers of any quality. For me, it just doesn’t smell right, it doesn’t look right, it’s wide open to abuse in there,

and in my opinion there is wide-spread abuse commercially and otherwise.

“Parks are precious, and they’re for the public. � ey can’t be asso-ciated with property developers and commercial interests – once money comes into it, dirty tricks come into it. It’s just something that should never happen. � ey should be protected, full stop.”

Everton are expected to unveil o� cial plans for the park within six months, and a report pub-lished in November claimed they would use 40-50% of the park’s green space while creating 1250 permanent jobs.

Asked how dedicated the Friends of Walton Park were to preventing the development, Ms Byrne added: “We’re really en-couraged every single day by peo-ple that come forward with help and advice and support, the love for the park has been absolutely overwhelming and unbelievable. We will � ght it all the way to the end - we’re even willing to chain ourselves to the diggers.”

ANGRY: Protester’s fronted their campaign with a large bilboard. © Liverpool Life

by ALICE KERSHAW

Hanover Street will be closed for eight weeks for essential gas main replacement works.

� is project, which started on March 1, will see the Victorian cast-iron gas mains replaced with plastic mains to resolve a number of leaks on the main road and an ongoing leak at the junction with Seel Street.

� e project aims to replace all cast-iron gas mains between Bold Street and Duke Street. � e project will be divided into two phases to lessen the impact on gas supply to Liverpool One, Al-bert Dock and the Echo Arena.

Phase one, which will go from Bold Street to Gradwell Street, started on Sunday 1st March and estimated to � nish on Sunday 26th April. Phase two which will go from Gradwell Street to Duke Street will start in September 2015 and is expected to last approximately � ve weeks.

Hanover Street will be closed during these works with access maintained along the closed section for businesses in the Liverpool One and Ropewalks area, where no other routes are available.

Merseytravel have been work-ing with bus operators to divert buses around the closure utilis-ing Liverpool One, Great Char-lotte Street and Queen Square Bus Station for the majority of the diverted services.

Top industry honour for Merseyrail Continued from Page 1

Merseyrail carries 110,000 pas-sengers every week day and has averaged 95 per cent for reliabili-ty and punctuality during the last 12 months. � e network currently runs one

of the most intensively used net-works in the UK with more than 800 trains per weekday. It oper-ates a � eet of 59 trains, 67 stations and 75 miles of track which is all maintained and manned by its 1,200 employees. Mersey Railway, was one of the

world’s � rst underwater railway tunnels in 1886 and ran from James Street to Green Lane, Birk-enhead. � is route was later ex-tended to Liverpool Central in 1890. Councillor Mal Sharp, Mer-

seytravel’s lead member for rail, added: “We’re really pleased that Merseyrail continues to receive national recognition for the qual-ity of service it provides, which is testament to the locally managed arrangements in place.”

Joan Robinson, 65, said:

“� e service is really great, it’s always on time, we use it a lot and it’s very clean, we both come from St Helens and have had no problems with the service what so ever.”

Graeme Byrne, 24, said:

“I use it to get into town every weekday, as I live 15 minutes away, it’s just really convenient and a brilliant service”

Derick Stanton, 38, said:

“I � nd the service great, if you want to get anywhere the guards on duty will help you and will genuinely help anyone if you need it, the service is just brilliant.”

Sean La� erty, 67, said:

“It’s a good service, I live in Shropshire so I come to Liv-erpool once a week, and I like to go down to the waterfront and see Hilbre Island. It’s really easy to do this trip due to Merseyrail so it’s a good service in that way. “

Liverpool Life took to the streets to get the reaction from the public... © Reinhard Kraasch

Life|Focus|6

By DANIEL WRIGHT

“Although rare, this is a particularly nasty disease for which

there is currently no cure.”

Liverpool world leader in research for rare genetic condition

� e cancer threat that one in eight men will face in their life

Throughout March, Liverpool will be raising awareness for Prostate Cancer via the Liverpool Community Health

(LCH) while the NHS Trust will be supporting the awareness month by providing health talks.

Currently Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with over 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. � e campaign aims to raise greater understanding of how to spot the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer amongst men.

Maureen Sayer, Health Promotion Specialist for Cancer in Liverpool will be on hand at Cycle for Health and Walk for Health sessions to give advice about how to check for signs and symptoms.

She told Liverpool Life: “I will be targeting Cycle for Health and Walk for Health groups with information about the signs and symptoms of Prostate cancer and the PSA test.

� e reason these groups were chosen are because they are activists they are more likely to take the message back to their

� e month of March is dedicatied to raising awareness of Prostate Cancer which is currently the most common cancer in men in the UK with over 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year, James Busby explores

families and communities.Men are more reluctant to seek help but sometimes

they just don’t know what symptoms should take them to the GP.”

If you have any of the above you are urged to see your local GP.

Men can also request a Prostate Speci� c Antigen (PSA) test from their GP, this is an annual blood test and suitable for men aged 50 and over.

� e health specialist added: “Currently no screening exists for men so the only things that are available are the PSA blood test which men, 50 and over can request from their GP which is a blood test that they can have yearly.

“If they present to their GP with symptoms he can do a digital rectal examination.

“It is important to highlight the issue as one in eight men will develop Prostate Cancer in their lifetime.”

The main symptoms to look out for:• Needing to pee more frequently, espe-cially at night• Diffi culty in starting to pee or taking a longer time to fi nish peeing • Speed of pee becomes weaker or slower• Bladder still feels full even when you have just been to the toilet • Pain during sex• Pain in back, hips or pelvis• Blood in the urine or semen

THE DATES: Cycle for Health sessions take place at the following locations:• Monday 9th March at 10.00am, Liverpool Cricket Club• Tuesday 17th March at 10.00am and 11.00am, Croxteth Park• Tuesday 17th March at 1.00pm, Bellevale Park• � ursday 19th March at 10.00am, Se� on ParkWALK FOR HEALTH SESSIONS TAKE PLACE AT THE FOLLOW-ING LOCATIONS:• Wednesday 18th March at 12.00pm Albert Dock• Friday 20th March at 1.30pm Walton Park• � ursday 26th March at 10:30am, Calderstones ParkTHE FACTS FROM CANCER RESEARCH•41,736 men in the UK were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011.•� ere were 10,837 deaths from prostate cancer in the UK in 2012.•84% of adult prostate cancer patients diagnosed in 2010-2011 in England and Wales are predicted to survive ten or more years.•Prostate cancer is not clearly linked to any preventable risk factors

84% survive more than 10 years

13% of all cancer

cases

Liverpool is the world leader in research into black bone disease according to renowned public health

adviser, Dr Edmund Jessop.� e disease, also known as Alkaptonuria (AKU), is a

rare genetic condition which damages the bones and cartilage and a� ects one in every 250,000 people world-wide - eventually con� ning patients to a wheelchair.

Clinical trials of the drug Nitisinone have been carried out at � e Royal Liverpool Hospital aiming to reduce homogentisic acid levels by almost 99 per cent, resulting in patients reporting signi� cantly reduced joint and back pain.

Researchers believe that if Nitisinone is administered early enough it could prevent the toxic acid from build-ing up, allowing su� erers to lead a normal, pain-free life.

Dr Jessop, who is a national lead for the NHS in moni-toring rare diseases, was full of praise for the unit at � e Royal and the pioneering clinical trials which have indicated a major breakthrough may be made in future.

He said: “Although rare, this is a particularly nasty disease for which there is currently no cure. � e set-up here in Liverpool is excellent - it’s an expert centre with the advantage of having dif-ferent specialist metabolic support services, for example, ophthal-mic, cardiology and orthopaedic surgery are all available in close proximity.

“� is all really helps as the doctors are able to identify simi-laritieswith AKU patients - capture the information and knowl-edge - then understand the best way to treat or operate on future patients.”

BONES: Genetic condition that affects thousands ©Flickr

Life|Arts|7

Pursuing a career in journalism was always the dream for former journalism student

Sheena McStravick. She said: “I’ve always wanted

to be a journalist! I know that sounds cliché but I genuinely knew from when I was in my early teens that I wanted to work in the media.

“I have always had a passion for news and always loved to know what was going on around the world.

“It has de� nitely lived up to what I expected, although honestly I never expected to have so much fun whilst work-ing! Journalism is really is what you make it and if you have the passion for it, you won’t mind what hours you work!” added the 25-year-old.

Sheena has recently le� multimedia company Johnston Press to take up a new role with Trinity Mirror where she is a ‘Live News Journalist’ for Belfast Live, a brand new website which launched just last week.

She said: “It’s been a very excit-ing few weeks and I have been out covering events live across the city, including being ringside for the Carl Frampton vs Chris

Avalos � ght last weekend which was an unforgettable experi-ence.”

Whilst in Liverpool, Sheena specialised in Online Journalism and eventually graduated with a 2:1 for her BA Hons Degree.

“It has equipped me so well with so many skills that I am now using on a daily basis as I am mostly writing for the web, which I love.

“Working on the Liverpool Life website whilst at University also helped me immensely to really know what you need to be doing to get the most hits out of a story online, for example SEO tips, social media and such” she added.

Lifelong Liverpool FC fan Sheena speci� cally remem-bers her night at An� eld

in the press box as a particular highlight.

She said: “As a huge Liverpool fan, this was a dream come true experience and one that I will never forget. I am so grateful to JMU Journalism for giving me that opportunity.”

Speaking about her success-ful career, she said: “My most memorable achievement so far is probably progressing in my ca-

reer and taking a huge step from working for a weekly newspa-per and website to working for Trinity Mirror, a huge organisa-tion which I have always admired.”

Since leaving JMU though, it’s not just Sheena’s career that has been a highlight.

On New Year’s Eve this year, Sheena’s long-term boyfriend popped the question and they are set to marry in Septem-ber next year.

Sheena, from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, also has some excellent advice for future journalists as well.

“Simply, try and gain as much experience as you possibly can!” she said.

“Work for free, volunteer, write articles and send them to news-papers, just be persistent! It’s not fun working for free, but in such a competitive industry you need

HAPPY: Sheena (above) on the day of her graduation

Sheena’s passion leads to dream job

ANGHARAD MILLINGTON talks to

LJMU journalismgraduate Sheena

McStravick

ALL SMILES: Sheena (left) and fellow student Angie Brooks

CRITICS’ CHOICETHEATRETwopence to cross the Mersey – Epstein � e-atre, starting a three-week run on Tuesday 10th March as part of a six week tour across four Merseyside theatre. Helen Forrester’s Twopence to Cross the Mersey tells the true story of a young girl and her formerly wealthy family as they are suddenly thrown into poverty during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Leaving behind the nannies, serv-ants and comfortable middle-class life in the South West of England, they uproot their shattered lives and choose Liverpool as the place to start again to rebuild their dreams and fortune. Unbeknown to them however, a terrible shock awaits them. Booking Hotline 0151 666 0000.

FILMMUSICENTERTAINMENT

In conversation with Ricky Tomlinson – St. Georges Hall, Wednesday March 4th, 7.30pm, doors open at 7pm. � e acting and entertain-ment legend Ricky Tomlinson will be the twel� h guest in the special series and interviewed by Mike Neary. Joining country legend Charlie Landsborough to perform Ricky’s � ve favour-ite pieces of music will be Bootle-born soprano Rachael Russell, female ukulele duo � e Mersey Belles, singer songwriter Sam Westhead and the twenty-strong Formby Brass Band. As always with the successful and well-loved In Conversa-tion format the special guest is asked in advance of the event to choose their � ve pieces of music.

X-Factor Live tour – Liverpool Echo Arena Sunday 8th March. You’ve taken the journey with them from the room to the arena, sat on the edge of your sofa during the dramatic six-seat challenge at boot camp, travelled to judges’ houses and will be tuning in to the studio shows; now is your chance to see � e X Factor live. Attended by over three million people, � e X Factor Live Tour has been one of the most successful annual arena tours in the UK for the past ten years- so don’t miss the opportunity to catch this year’s stars live at Echo Arena on 8 March 2015. For book-ing information Tel: 0844 8000 400.

Newly released blockbuster follows Nicky, played by Will Smith, an accomplished con artist who tries to teach Jess, played by ‘Wolf of Wallstreet star Margot Robbie, the tricks of the trade. � ings get complicated when they become romantically involved. It’s not long before they’re trying to pull o� the big con that will allow them to retire. But in their con� dence, they’ve picked the wrong mark this time. Playing at all major Liverpool Cinemas.

‘I have always had a passion for news

and always loved to know what was going on around

the world’

Michael Glynn

‘Work for free, volunteer, write

articles and send them to

newspapers, just be persistent!’

to be able to showcase skills that set you aside from your competitors!”

In the next few weeks, Liv-erpool SU will be holding their Student O� cer Elec-tions.

From Monday 16th to Friday 20th March, students will be able to vote for who they want to represent them in their Stu-dent Union. � is year, the voting process will be faster and easier and students are encouraged to use their vote wisely as whoever is chosen will represent students’ views, needs, expectations and wishes at LJMU over the coming year.

Lorraine Sebastian-Francois is currently Vice President Aca-demic Quality and is running for President in this year’s elections. She graduated at LJMU with a

2:1 in Media, Culture and Com-munications last year.

� e 24-year-old said: “I want-ed to become President because I can see how much the SU can change students’ lives. If I had known how much work the SU does when I was a student, I de� -nitely would’ve enjoyed my expe-rience more at LJMU. � is is why I want to run, so I can make sure we support even more students next year.”

Following the closure of the student union o� ces, mini SU’s were setup in the main university buildings and the SU represent-atives can be seen on campus regularly.

Lorraine added: “I believe we could go even further in terms

of the activity that can be done to help students feel part of Liv-erpool SU and what it stands for.”

If Lorraine‘s campaign is suc-cessful, she has high hopes for the Student Union.

She said: “I want to continue the work on equality and diver-sity I have been doing this year. Making sure that everybody is represented, heard and under-stood as well as making sure there are policies and events in place to help celebrate diversity at LJMU and the Union.

“I would love more support for post-graduate students in terms of them feeling a sense of iden-tity with LJMU and not feeling invisible as well as more on o� er for students to stay here or come to LJMU.”

Lorraine is a � rm believ-er that Liverpool SU can hugely impact students’

lives and urges everyone to get involved.

She said: “Anybody involved in the SU whether that be a club or a society, one of our sta� members or a course rep, Liverpool SU changes lives. I’ve actually seen

it happen. People should want to be part of such a great organisation for themselves and for the greater good of LJMU students - future candidates, give it a go and give it your all.”

Candidates for each of the roles will be campaigning vigorously for the coming elections so ex-pect to see campaigners popping into lectures and around the campus asking for your vote She

2015:Election Fever

With LiverpoolSU’s student officer elections weeks away, Angharad Millington speaks to presidential candidate Lorraine Sebastian-Francois about her ambitions...

What makes pro� t a dirty word? In the case of the NHS, it is the

risk of privatising and pro� ting from what is essentially one of Britain’s biggest and most vital of institutions.

Last weekend campaigning group 38 Degrees came togeth-er for a ‘Save Our NHS’ day of action across Liverpool and the country.

Its members took to the streets with a petition for the public to sign to prevent cuts and to raise awareness of the threats the health service faces.

38 Degrees is an independent activism organisation that aims to put the “power into people’s hands”.

It is a not-for-pro� t group that is run by its 2.5m members and receives donations from them as well as charities. � e organisa-tion leads campaigns for a variety of issues such as zero-hour con-tracts and the recent revelations

of HSBC tax dodging scandal. � e 38 Degree group members

based themselves in di� erent parts of the city on Saturday in a bid to remind people the NHS is precious as a free life saving ser-vice and asked members of the public to join them in ensuring it remains as it is.

Member of the group and Liverpool-born Anne Moore, 59, described the personal con-nection she has with the health service.

She told Liverpool Life: “I feel very strongly about saving the NHS from being privatised be-cause the NHS has saved my life and I don’t want to see it disap-pear and I think it would under privatisation.

“I think if we don’t do some-thing to stop it (privatisation) it’s going to bit by bit be dissolved and privatised and I just don’t want to see that happen.”

In the lead-up to this year’s general election, the two main parties - Labour and the Con-servatives - have both been ac-

cused of playing politics with the NHS and using it as a weapon during the election campaign. Although 38 Degrees is non-political, the talk of parties was present during the day of action on Saturday.

38 Degrees member Kali Pragita, 47, who is original-ly from Liverpool but now

lives in Hudders� eld, has no faith in the current system of politics but believes there is one party that has the best interest of the NHS at heart.

She said: “I do hope that there is a future for the NHS because as I say it is massively valuable and the only party I think that maybe it would be secure with, would be the Green Party.

“I won’t be voting in the next election myself because I have no faith whatsoever in the system.

“I was quite radical - well, I still am - I voted in every single election I possibly could, it was a matter of people dying to get me to vote as far as I was concerned

and the way I see it now is that the vote is actually now worth-less, it’s valueless, it counts for nothing.”

Another 38 Degrees mem-ber, Gladys Williams, 62, spoke about the importance of sav-ing and having the National Health Service secured for future generations.

She told Liverpool Life: “I think it’s very important to save the NHS, my parents and their parents grew up with no NHS, I grew up with an NHS and a wel-fare state and it’s so important, it has made all the di� erence.

“Why shouldn’t wealth be shared, why should it be kept in the hands of a few people.

“I think the NHS is vital, it is one of the most excellent services in this country, it is of the most excellent organisations in the world and it should not be in pri-vate hands and it should not be run for pro� t – absolutely not.”

� e campaign came just days before a new report revealed that Merseyside hospitals are strug-

gling to cope with the high de-mands of patients.

� e new � gures shows that some of the regions hospitals are coming close to breaking point, as they surpass the NHS guide-lines occupancy rates not to ex-ceed 85 per cent - approaching 100 per cent occupancy rates.

� e � gures which have emerged also highlight how the city’s Royal and Broadgreen Hos-pitals had an occupancy rate of 98.9 per cent with just nine spare beds between them in the latter half of January.

Rosie Auckland, 29, originally from She� eld, has been living in Liver-

pool for the past 10 years and is a student nurse.

She said: “� e NHS is a cause very close to my heart anyway as I’m currently studying to be a nurse.

“I’m very aware the constraints put on health care profession-als all across the country and I am attracted to working with 38

Degrees because they are not af-� liated with any political party, there is no � nancial motivation for us to be here, this is just peo-ple who care.

“It is wonderful, we have had a street full of people who care enough to come here.”

Rosie is able to see � rst-hand the amount of work local nurses are undertaking in hospitals with little time and pressure on ever stretching services.

She explained to Liverpool Life: “� e wonderful thing about being a student is when you are on placement you can spend a lot more time with your patients but you can also see that the peo-ple that you are training to work with have huge demands on their time.”

According to Rosie, the ar-gument that the NHS is ‘not sustainable’ is not one to make a campaign on, because there have been hundreds of thousands of people treated every day for 67 years – and to her that is “fairly sustainable”.

said: “� ese people will be the voice for you at university level over the next year and we can be the change you need. It’s not so much about voting for your mates, it’s for voting for people that actually know how to rep-resent all students and not just a small cohort. I believe I am the

person to do that as president next year.”

� e full list of candidates along with their manifestoes can be found online at http://so-elec-tions.com/

Life|Politics|8

‘LiverpoolSU changes lives. I’ve

actually seen it happen’

YOUR SU NEEDS YOU: Lorraine’s campaign photo© LiverpoolSU

“Save our ”

PROUD: campaigners are passionate about preventing NHS privatisation © Kaltun Abdillahi

As the Green Party’s NHS policies gain popularity, Kaltun Abdillahi meets the activists who are

adamant that it should remain an untouchable institution ...

Life|Family|9

Families in Merseyside are being urged to foster children under a new campaign. Imogen Sweeney reports

With more than a thousand foster fami-lies needed across Merseyside, this year will see child-friendly campaigns gear-ing up to provide stable homes for over 3,000 children, including teenagers, children with disabilities and sibling groups. Figures released by the Foster-

ing Network, reveal last year over 7,000 families were approved in England alone, however the report says 13% of foster carers retired or le� the service, over half of foster carers le� due to the pressures of ful� lling the role whilst less than a third felt underpaid.

Liverpool Life spoke to the Fostering Network director of public a� airs, Jackie Sanders, about the issues surrounding foster care and why so many people are leaving this line of work.

She said: “Fostering can be an incredibly rewarding career and

lifestyle choice for those who do come forward. However, fostering is also a challenging job, and when the match between foster family and child is not right, it becomes even more di� cult.

“Fostering is not for everyone, it tests your ability to bring up a child in the right environment and care for the well-being of another person. We encourage people to research into the matter before making any decisions.”

Jackie explained how important it is for people to discuss their decision in depth with family and friends.

“Having a new family member can have an extreme e� ect on eve-ryone, therefore we advise the choice to be made with everyone”.

� e Network is planning to reduce the amount of children needing homes by 2018 and is encouraging local new and existing carers to consider taking up this role.

She added: “A wider pool of foster carers enables fostering services to be able to match the needs of each child more closely with the skills that each foster carer brings, and to � nd the right home for each child, � rst time.”

One campaign is channelling #innersuperhero run by Se� on Fostering Service, who are looking for 30 new foster carers in Se� on and the wider Liverpool area to bring out the inner superhero in

children and young people. Running from February to May, the images will be displayed on the web, social media and outdoor advertising at local railway stations.

Joanne Lee, care leaver and National Inspirational Young Woman of the Year 2014 said: “� e inner super hero theme really speaks to me as someone who has been fostered. I always felt cared for, loved and valued by my foster carer. � ey had high aspirations for me and always encouraged me to do more and be better, to never settle for anything less than my best; � nd my inner super hero.”

Last month saw the wider launch of ‘Fostering February’ hosted by the National Fostering Agency designed to raise the pro� le of the shortage of foster care. � e campaign involved a roadshow tour, making its way across the UK and provided an opportunity to speak to experts and get information.

Michelle Barton, 44, from Liverpool is a mum of two and is now looking to foster young children, as her two sons are now grown up with families of their own.

She said of the tour: “It was a great insight into the process of becoming a foster carer.

“I am delighted that there is support out there from organisations and campaigns such as this.”

Could you be a Hero?

SUPERHEROES: Se� on Council’s poster campaign aimed at attracting potential foster families in the area

Life|Focus|10

Girl

Pow

er

Tackling prejudice, celebrating diversity

This week Liverpool Student Union have launched a campaign aimed at tack-ling equality and diversity. Student Union sta� across the city will be speak-ing to students from all walks of life to discuss the how the issues a� ect them.

Vice President of Academic Quality, Lorraine Sebastian-Francois, decided to create the event a� er her own personal experiences at university.

She told Liverpool life: “Sometimes people don't feel comfortable correcting people through fear of being rude or seen as over sensitive. So I thought what better campaign to do than #itsnotok to let everyone know what is not okay to do or say to people who identify as these groups.”

� e campaign is aimed at students who identify with any of these groups including BME (Black and Ethnic Minorities), LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer), Women, Faith and Disability.

Each day of the week sta� working on SU sites are approaching students with a dif-ferent topic to discuss, allowing them to share their experiences, whilst making others aware of what’s not okay to say on race, gender, religion, disability etc.

� e project is set to be bene� cial and educational as SU sta� encourage students to voice their opinions which are then shared on social media. Lorraine hopes that stu-dents and sta� � nd the week useful and is encouraging people to take part in diversity quizzes held throughout the week by o� ering prizes and incentives.

She added: “I hope that students and sta� members gain an understanding of di� er-ences as well as everyone taking a look at their own behaviour and interactions. I hope people just get involved on campus as it would be a fun activity at each mini SU! At Redmonds on Tuesday the diversity and equality campaign is celebrating women, and as it is international women’s day on Sunday, we are taking a look at the most powerful women hoping to empower even more women.”

The topic of women being paid the same as their male counterparts is an impor-tant one. Liverpool City Councilor James Roberts told Liverpool Life: “Diversity week is an important way of recognising that there is still a signi� cant way to go

before we have equality in this country.”

He added: “Women in the UK still only earn 82p for every pound earned by a man, people from ethnic minority backgrounds still only make up 5% of FTSE 100 boards despite making up 14% of the population and LGBT people are still far more likely to be assaulted for who they are. I will be encouraging my council colleagues to attend and take part in as many events as possible."

International Journalism and Masters Student John Mallon is delighted that the Student Union has arranged a whole week to engage with students on equality and diversity. John who su� ers from Cerebral Palsy told Liverpool Life: “I think it is a great idea everyone from all walks of life getting involved and yes I would get involved and I think it is a good idea for JMU because it will knock down any perceived barriers.”

Words: Melissa McFarlane and Kaltun Abdillahi

International women’s day will sweep across the world on Sunday 8 March, but Liverpool will be well ahead of the game with celebrations set to take place throughout the city all week.

Merseyside Women’s Movement have created a schedule for the week AKA Liverpool Women’s Week. � e aim is to celebrate female achievements and call for greater equality

� ursday 5th March – � e Women’s Organisation

(2:00 pm to 4:30 pm James Street)� is empowering event will highlight the achieve-

ments of women and o� er some advice on how to

succeed as a woman in business.

Friday 6th March – Liverpool Socialist Singers

& Radical Liverpool(7.30 pm St Brides, Percy Street)

Bene� t concert for Liverpool Socialist Singers, featur-

ing the Singers, Our Morals and other local artists. Saturday7th & Sunday 8th March – FemJam

(11 am at Liverpool Guild of Students on Mount

Pleasant)

FemJam 2015 is open to student feminists from far

and wide, and on last year’s massive conference in

Leeds, FemJam 2015 will be hosted in Liverpool to

coincide with the city’s International Women’s Day

celebrations.

Wednesday 4th March - Women in Peace and

Con� ict Conference (9am-5pm Hope University)

Will bring together academics, practitioners and post-

graduate students with a view to identifying the histori-

cal and contemporary involvement of women in peace

and con� ict.

Sunday 8th March – Sahir House A� ernoon Tea

(2pm-4pm 60 Hope Street tickets £20) Treat someone you know to a fundraising a� ernoon,

with champagne on arrival and entertainment by the

vintage ukulele duo Nancy and Pearl, � e Mersey

Belles.

#makeithappen

Words by Melissa McFarlane

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Life|Food|11

All eyes on the pies©

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Sweet, savoury, hot or cold, thin crust or thick, we all love a pie. As Liverpool Life celebrates National Pie Week, Imogen Sweeney visits a Merseyside bakery that is proud of its perfect pastry treats

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Will

s

Pie facts:People from Wigan are commonly known as ‘pie eaters’ after the miners from Wigan and Leigh went on strike for better pay and working conditions. The Wiganers were starved back to work whilst the miners from Leigh got better pay and conditions, there-fore eating humble pie.

A European ‘protected designation of ori-gins laws’ means only pies made within a certain distance of the village of Melton are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray label on their pork pies. A very popular picnic snack, the sale of pork pies makes up £145 million of a £1 billion pie industry which exists in the UK.

‘Sing a song of sixpence’ is a popular nursery rhyme which dates back to the 16th century that involved a pie of birds being made for a feast.

New research reveals that that 75% of people enjoy a pie at least once a month so it is not surprising that the UK has a week dedicated to one of our favourite delicacies. But for a Crosby bakery pie week lasts 365 days a year.

Family business Satterthwaites Bakehouse has pro-vided over 102 years of pleasure for pie-lovers. A� er bidding a brief farewell in 2012, the bakery opened its doors once again last year complete with fresh new � avours and recipes.

Parents of three John and Sarah Wills have brought back their ‘famous pork pies’ much to the delight of their regulars, and honoured local requests with their hearty Scouse Pie, a meaty stew com-monly made with lamb or beef topped with crisp pu� pastry.

In preparation for this week the couple are keen to showcase their new pie inventions in style. � ey told Liverpool Life: “We are excited to promote all of our new � avoured pies this week including pork with chorizo, pork and haggis and it wouldn’t be a great British Pie Week without our famous Scouse pies! We have also produced a new beef wellington pie with our delicious mushrooms, carrots and onions which we started to sell last Friday, which have

proved to be extremely popular with our customers!”With the hope of expanding bakeries across Liver-

pool City Centre the pair describe how their British pies are the ideal comfort dish. � ey said: “Our spe-ciality is the classic pork pie, we sell around 5,000 per week. We freshly bake our pies each morning and we only use the highest quality ingredients which makes them so delicious. Our pork is sourced from a local butcher and our seasoning is made especially for us.”

With a queue of people waiting to get their hands on one of Liverpool’s famous pies, the nation’s most debatable food question is brought to light this British Pie week: when is a pie really a pie? A peti-tion arguing that a pie with a pastry lid is really just a casserole has gained around 5,000 signatures. If 100,000 people sign, it must considered for debate in Parliament.

� e people of Liverpool participated in a poll ask-ing is putting a pastry lid on a casserole/stew enough to make it pie or does the � lling need to be entirely encase in pastry. � e results showed that 70% agreed that a pie doesn’t always needs a pastry base whilst more than 30% said of course you need pastry and � lling to make it a pie.

Best pies: The Wills family outside their Bakery Satterthwaites Bakehouse

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Life|Fashion|12

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Words: LAURA SCHUMANN

Step into spring in style with the latest must-haves on the high street. Florals are out in force once again, with bold prints seen in almost every shop, whether it’s blazers, shoes or tops.

� is season’s essential colours are pastels. Anything with a pastel print on will be bang on trend this spring. � e tailored look is also all over the high street. Trench and collarless coats are a great way to stay warm while it’s still chilly, but still look sassy in spring.

High heels with � oral print are walking all over the catwalk throughout S/S ‘15, with Beyonce and Taylor Swi� already spotted in a pair this week. Grab yourself a pair while they’re hot. Hawaii prints are covering men’s shirts this season - so guys, don’t be afraid of splashing on colour. Remember, real men wear pink!

The line-up for the One Magni� cent City festivaal has been announced, and it will include a

variety of events across May, June and July.� e seven week programme sees

a range of events from annual fes-tivals to street events with the

visit of Cunard’s � ree Queens being a staple part of the one-time event.

W a y n e Heming-way, spe-

cial festival director of the

event, said the plans are to bring

together music, cul-ture and fashion.

� e sixth annual Light-Night festival marks the be-

ginning of One Magni� cent City, it’s a one-night festival that sees hundreds of culture ven-ues across the city keeping their doors open late into the night, taking place on Friday 15th May.It includes light projections

onto the sides of iconic buildings across the city, such as the three graces at the pier head. Music, drama, cra� s and art events and

activities will also be open for festival goers.� e 23rd to the 25th of May sees

the arrival of the � ree Queens. Saturday evening continues the theme of projections with imag-es lighting up the Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liv-erpool building with music and � reworks at the pier head. � e images, known as ‘Sea of Faces’ projects the faces of the people of Liverpool as a welcome to the city. An estimated 2,000 people are thought to attend the water-front during the event.Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth

and Queen Victoria make up the � ree Cunard Queens. Over the weekend they’ll arrive before performing a ‘ballet’ together on the water, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend. � e visit is part of the Mersey River Festival.Projections and � reworks will

continue into the evening mark-ing the once in a lifetime occa-sion of the � ree Queens meet-ing on the historical docks.Claire McColgan, Liverpool’s

director of culture, said: “� is is all about this city and its part-ners working together to use the opportunity of Cunard visits to bookend an incredible cultural

o� er unsurpassed by any other city in the UK.”One Magni� cent City culmi-

nates in Cunard 175 or Trans-atlantic 175, a vintage themed weekend celebration of Cunard’s 175th anniversary of the � rst transatlantic crossing, sailing from Liverpool to New York City, tying in with American In-dependence Day.As part of Cunard 175, Cunard

� agship Queen Mary 2 sets sail for America on July 4th itself from the Cruise Liner Terminal, recreating the original voyage of Britannia back in 1840.Vintage stalls will be across the

pier head, with the Very Big Cat-walk where all people are invited to put their name to join in.Liverpool models will be used

to try and take the world re-cord of the longest catwalk from current holders Mexico. Cho-reography will come from key players involved with London Fashion Week with Liverpool DJ Greg Wilson providing the soundtrack.Across the seven-week peri-

od maritime lectures, events and street art will be happening across the city, with the docks thought to be the cultural hub of One Magni� cent City.

One year ago the new Everyman � eatre opened its doors to an await-ing public.

A staple on Hope Street, the theatre underwent a £28m ren-ovation, and a� er two years of construction the award-winning building was complete on March 2nd 2014.� e Everyman is no stranger

to radical transformation. It was founded in 1964 in the Hope Hall, once a chapel, then a cin-ema, in an area of Liverpool noted for its bohemian envi-ronment and political edge, and quickly built a reputation for ground-breaking work.In its early years it played host to

a succession of visionary direc-tors, exciting writers, and bold acting companies. � e theatrical � ame has been

kept well and truly alive in a building drenched in theatre his-tory.It’s seen talent from the likes of

Julie Walters and Bill Nighy to home-grown writer Willy Rus-sell.� e new Everyman is set to see

future talent and hone their skills to produce the next generation of theatre-makers.Everyman & Playhouse Artistic

Director Gemma Bodinetz and Executive Director Deborah Ay-don said: “� e last year has been an incredible journey which we’re delighted to have shared

with so many people; from � rst time visitors to those who were regulars in the old building, our artists and young people to archi-tects and our contemporaries in theatre.”� e auditorium, which lies at

the heart of the new Everyman, was re-launched with Gemma Bodinetz’s ‘Twel� h Night’, and a year on it’s currently playing host to Nick Bagnall’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.But what’s been going on in the

interim?Since its completion it’s sold

more than 60,000 tickets for a variety of shows, from world pre-mieres to a rock ‘n’ roll panto.Michael Wynne’s ‘Hope Place’

was the theatre’s highest sell-ing new play for over a decade, ‘Dead Dog in a Suitcase’, created with Kneehigh, has been award-ed with a tour across the country this autumn following a success-ful run at the theatre, while crit-ically acclaimed ‘Bright Phoenix’ by Je� Young contributed to the sale of tickets to over 15,000 bookers, 52% of which are new to the theatre.Alongside the main auditorium,

the Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) space was named � eatre School of the Year by � e Stage for their ‘unique’ approach to providing young people with the skills to become theatre-makers of the future.With two productions in the

Everyman and collaborations

with Liverpool’s Flux Young Peo-ple’s Festival and Young DaDa Fest, technicians from YEP worked on lighting the Roy-al De Luxe family of giants across the city in July.But it’s not just theatre ac-

colades the new Everyman has collected over the past year, the building itself has found itself centre stage.It’s received three re-

gional, eight national and two international awards for architecture including the RIBA Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious ar-chitectural award and is the � rst time it has gone to Liverpool triumph-ing over the Shard, Birmingham Library and the London Aquatic Centre.Gemma and Deborah added:

“Haworth Tompkins delivered us a building which had so much potential but could only be re-alised by all those people � lling it, using it and taking it to their hearts. “A� er a year of working in it,

thriving in it, sharing in it and celebrating in it we know it truly is the theatre of dreams.”� e new Everyman was made

possible by major investment, with £16.8m of public funding by the National Lottery from Arts Council England and donations from trusts, foundations and over 1,000 individual supporters.

Life|Arts|13

On the anniversary of its re-opening, James Tomlinson looks back at a year of the renovated

PROGRESS: The Everyman was a building site in 2012 © Joshua Killner, JMU Journalism

LANDMARK: The theatre as it looks today © JMU Journalism

© Bs0u10e01/Wikimedia Commons

Cunard will come home to Liverpool as part of a seven-week long programme of cultural and public events this summer. James Tomlinson delves into the line-up...

REGAL: Queen Victoria and its sister ships will meet in Liverpool. © Joost J. Bakker/Wikimedia Commons

DIVERSE: Light Night will also be part of the festivities. © Matt Ford/ Open Culture

LANDHO!

Life|Sport|14

By LAUREN PULFORD

Liverpool boxer Tony Bellew has landed himself a major � lm role in a Rocky spin o� .

� e 32 year-old will star along-side Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone who will repeat his role as Rocky Balboa, Creed’s trainer.

Bellew will play ‘Pretty Ricky’, an opponent of Creeds, in the � lm.

It is claimed that Stallone had to intervene in a brawl between Bellew and another actor on set as a � ght broke out o� camera.

Bellew has since denied the story by tweeting: “Despite ridiculous media reports I’ve not been involved in any kind of “� ght” on set of #Creed! Or anywhere else for that matter #Pathetic.”

It is likely that Evertonians will also get their own starring role in the � lm too as they were � lmed at Goodison Park back in January.

However, there will be no continuation of � lming in the city as � lmmakers have chosen to use Philadelphia as a stand in for Liverpool instead.

By JAMES BUSBY

A Merseyside mum with a black belt in taekwondo aims to get chil-dren away from crime by opening up her own community centre.

Joanne Lawson, 24 along with her partner Ashley Nicholas, 24 have been teaching taekwon-do to Merseyside children for six years in Litherland in order to keep local kids o� the street.

Joanne, told JMU Journal-ism: “We aim to get kids o� the street by allowing them to take part in a range of sporting ac-tivities like boxing and judo.

We will be taking the kids to do various activities like going to theme parks to get them out-and-about.”

When asked why she wanted to set up the community centre she, said: “My little boy is two years old and I don’t want him growing up around all the crime.

“I’d rather him have some-where safe that he can play.”

Joanne’s current taekwon-do club has been very popular amongst young people in the area and last year one of her pupils,

Josh Tickle a 12-year-old was selected to represent England at the Commonwealth Champion-ships in 2014 where he earned silver medal in Taekwondo.

Pupils Kevin Booth, 8, and Demi Molly, 16, earned bronze medals in Taekwondo at the British Nationals last year.

� e black belt added: “� e current taekwondo club is fan-tastic, I have members that have been there for years and I think there should be more clubs like this in Liverpool as it keeps kids o� the streets and prevents them from getting in-volved in acts like gun crime.”

� e new centre on Lina-cre Road is due to open to the public in four weeks a� er its refurbishment and those who sign up for classes at the cen-tre will get the � rst one free.

� e non-pro� t club works in co-ordination with Bootle charity, YKids which helps give young people the best oppor-tunities, training and employ-ment to help them for the future.

It is hoped that clubs and cen-tres like Joanne’s will keep minors o� the streets and out of trouble.

By LAUREN PULFORD

Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leon-ard is coming to Merseyside.

� e famous � ghter will be a special guest at an a� ernoon lunch for the Steve Prescott Foundation (SFP).

SFP was set up by Steve Pres-cott seven years ago a� er he was diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei - a form of terminal cancer.

� e 1976 Olympic Gold Med-allist, who was named ‘Boxer of the Decade’ for the 1980s Ring Magazine, will be appearing at the event on March 22.

� e 58-year-old was world champion in � ve di� erent weight categories and is one of the most famous sporting names in the world.

� e event will be held in St Helens and Sugar Ray will be ap-pearing alongside Merseyside’s own Martin Murray.

SFP promises to hold a knockout Sunday Lunch, with top Master of Ceremonies Pete Emmett along with Comedian Lester Crabtree and a host of SPF Charity ambassadors.

By LAUREN PULFORD and KIERAN ETORIA-KING

LJMU Fury’s last game of the season was something of a dis-appointment - but it failed to dampen the spirits of the 12 graduating players.

A� er their defeat against Lan-caster Bombers, the team were given a moving send-o� and were given commemorative shot glasses to mark the occasion.

� e defeat to Lancaster saw the Fury’s season � nish with four wins and four defeats. However, the team are hopeful of keeping their returning squad togeth-er and complementing it with a strong recruitment in September.

� ough they had hoped to reach the national promotion play-o� s a� er the only teams in their division to beat them last season (She� eld Sabres and Derby Braves) were moved by a league re-shu� e, head coach Craig Pennington said they were satis� ed with what they had achieved, considering many of their players this season had nev-er played the sport before.

Speaking at the team’s Senior

Day reception a� er the game, Pennington said: “We had a hard time this season, when we started we weren’t sure how it was going to go.

“What you guys did this season, who have come in having never played before, and started to learn this sport, to go 4-4 with so many new guys playing football was really impressive. � e coach-es appreciate that work.

“For some of you, it’s your last game for the Fury. We hope you go o� and play for senior teams, but we wish you all the best wherever you go and whatever you do.”

Although beaten, the team had something to celebrate when wide receiver Richard Bosworth scored his � rst touchdown a� er three years with the team.

Richard said: “To score my � rst touchdown with the last play of my last game was perfect.

“My favourite memories will be the away trips. � e laughs on those long journeys back on the bus, they’re the best.

“I think I speak for all the sen-ior players when I say that I can’t thank all the coaches and players

enough for everything they have done for me the past three years, this has seriously been the best team I have ever been apart of and I don’t know what I’m going to do on Sundays now!”

� e Fury are planning to un-veil their 2015 promotional at their awards night this weekend, which they hope will gain them the attention they need to con-tinue their growth and recruit another strong team.

Last year’s video featured Al Pacino’s famous ‘� ght for every inch’ speech from the movie Any Given Sunday.

Last September’s recruitment season saw the most sign-ups in the team’s history.

Fury’s head of media Lloyd King was excited to release the video and hopes that it will help to drive more interest in the team: “American football is an exciting sport and I want to convince as many people as pos-sible that there is no better place to play or watch it than LJMU.”

LJMU Fury are losing 12 key players this summer, so they are keen to bring in as many new faces as possible. TOUCHDOWN: Richard Bosworth ©John Maher

Final farewell to Fury’s graduates

Taekwondo mum opens sport centreBy ANGHARAD

MILLINGTON

Defending their title, the LJMU Gaelic team are set to kick up a storm this weekend as they take part in the British University GAA (BUGAA) championships.

Last year saw the team win-ning the 9th British Champi-onship and expectations are high for this year’s competi-tion.

President for the LJMU Gaelic team, Mark Forde, said: “Everyone’s been feeling posi-tive for the weekend! It will be tough as we have a few injuries but we are quietly con� dent.

LJMU Gaelic team kick up a storm

COMPETITION: LJMU Gaelic team ©Niall McGovern

Boxer Bellew in Rocky brawl

Liverpool Hope are still the team to beat through as they have great strength and depth in their panel.”

� e championship will be held in Manchester and Liverpool and JMU will com-pete alongside teams from Birmingham, Dundee and Northumbria.

Last month saw the team loose to their local rivals by four points in the All Britain � nal but the team are con-� dent that they will bounce back.

Captain Mylie McBride said: “A� er the loss, we took a week o� as the training we had done prior was at a very high intensity. In the past two weeks, numbers have been good and the intensity has hit the same highs as before.”

“� is will be my last weekend pulling on the John Moores jersey and is our last chance as a team to win a trophy this year. We hope that our county players will play an in� uential role in retaining the British champi-onship,” he added.

� e semi-� nal takes place on Saturday whilst the � nal will be played Sunday in Manchester.

Sugar Ray to visit St Helens

Life|Sport|15

Alex gets chance to run for team GB

pics approaching in 2015. He said: “Prague will be a really good stepping stone into the senior team for me and will de� -nitely help me progress towards a place in a senior team outdoors whether that be the Olympics in 2016 or the world championships this year.”

Boyce has previously competed in the world youth champion-ships in 2011 and European jun-ior championships in 2013 where his accolade of a bronze medal was bagged in the 4x400m relay.

hope to � nish in the top three to get a medal”.

Fellow contestants and Liver-pudlians competing in the ath-letics event which will be run-ning until the eighth of March, also include Katarina Johnson- � ompson, a heptathlon athlete who also holds British records in the long jump and was also a contender at the London 2012 Olympics.

Allerton born student Alex hopes that his next move could go the same way with the Olym-

doors and 47.03 outdoors and training four times a week at Wa-vertree track, Alex has his sights

set on winning a medal whilst in Prague. He added: “Britain always do well in the relay so I’d

place at the event following an injury.

Running with his � rst senior team, and with his sights origi-nally set on the under 23 outdoor championships in July, Alex told Liverpool Life: “I’m really excited at the moment as it has all come out the blue really, it wasn’t even a championships I was targeting this year so it’s a big shock but I’m just really excited to get there and be in the team atmosphere.”

Training since 2009, with his personal best being 47.49 in-

By JOSIE O’ SULLIVAN

A Liverpool born athlete and full-time student has high hopes of success a� er being selected to represent Great Britain at the European Indoor Athletics in Prague starting this � ursday.

Relay runner Alex Boyce, a 20-year old student studying ar-chitecture at � e University of Liverpool will take part in the 4x400m as one out of � ve for team GB, replacing athlete Rory Evans who had to withdraw his

RELAY: Alex Boyce in action

Reds are back in the black

set about increasing the clubs revenue both commercially and through Stadium invest-ment. � e accounts are expected to improve even more in the next year but as of 9 months ago Liverpool’s revenue had increased by 19% to £255.6m, media and commercial revenue also increased by 46% and 5% respectively. � e begging of the £100m re-development of the An� eld Main Stand to increase capacity to around 53,000 has already begun and is set to be ready for the start of the 2016/17 season.

� e period also covers the ex-isting £3 billion Premier League TV deal, with the new £5 billion deal set to come into place for the 2016/17 season. � e results cap o� an excellent week both on and o� the � eld for the Reds as they improved their hopes of a return to the Champions League by beating champions Man City 2-1 at An� eld.

By MICHAEL GLYNN

Liverpool have made a pro� t for the � rst time in seven years as the club � nally begins to bear the fruits of ownership group Fen-way Sport Group’s � nancial strat-egy and huge Premier League TV deals.

� e � gures show that during the period up to May 31st 2014 a� er a season that saw Brendan Rodgers’ Reds nearly win the Premier League, the club made a pro� t of £0.9 million, compared to the previous year’s £50 mil-lion loss.

Current owners FSG bought the club in October 2010, when crippling interest payments on £300m worth of debt le� the club on brink of administration following the disastrous reign of fellow Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

� e current owners, who are led by John W Henry, and also own the Boston Red Sox

‘I hope to � nish in the top three to get a medal.’

Europa KO fi res up Rogersalso be returning from injury for Wednesday’s game, which has caused him to miss the team’s last � ve matches.

Liverpool will also face Cham-pionship side, Blackburn Rovers, this Sunday in a bid to reach the semi-� nals of the FA Cup. Goals from Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge secured their place in the quarters with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

� e last time Liverpool and Blackburn met was at Ewood Park in the 2012 Premier League, where Andy Carroll scored a 90th minute winner in a 3-2 victory.

Manager Brendan Rogers com-mented on the threat Burnley pose and praised Sean Dyche’s managerial ability.

He said: “Sean has got them very well organised. � ey have got great motivation when they play, great motivation to stay in the league and they are � ght-ing - so they are team that we’re wary of. We are getting back to the form that we have had for about 18 months, which is going into every game with con� dence, respecting the opponent but be-lieving that we can win – Burnley will be no di� erent.”

Captain Stephen Gerrard could

missed a critical spot-kick which knocked them out of the running to reach the round of 16.

On the contrary, the An� eld faithful will be aiming to con-tinue their 11-match unbeaten run in their home game against Burnley tomorrow evening a� er their 2-1 win against title con-tenders, Manchester City, last Sunday.

An early goal from Jordan Hen-derson and a world-class strike from Brazilian mid� elder Phil-lipe Coutinho put the Merseyside team in front a� er an Edin Dzeko equaliser, leaving them � � h in the table.

By JOSH HANDSCOMB

Liverpool are be looking to chan-nel their focus this week follow-ing a tense Europa league exit.

� e Reds were knocked out of the Europa League last � ursday a� er they lost their � rst Euro-pean penalty shootout against Turkish side, Besiktas, at Istan-bul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium.

Liverpool’s memories of Istan-bul were fond until now, as the venue is where the team won a penalty shootout against AC Mi-lan to win the Champions League in 2005. In the end of � ursday’s game, centre-back Dejan Lovren,

By Georgie Whitworth

� e LJMU Men’s Rugby Union 1st team were in high spirits a� er they won the BUCS Northern 4A league on Wednesday.

� e team, who are undefeated this season, beat the Lancaster University Men’s 3rd team in a 65-0 away win to become cham-pions. Despite having two games of the league yet to play, the team have gained enough points to beat to the top-spot.

Pic © LJMU Men’s Rugby

LJMU take leaguetitle

Paralympian shorlisted for award

By JOSH HANDSCOMB

Widnes Vikings will be aiming to have a repeat of last week’s performance when they visit Hudders� eld.

� e Vikings earned their � rst Super League victory of the season with an impressive 58-16 Wake� eld Wildcats on Sunday.

Hudders� eld Giants have not yet managed to win a game this season despite a near comeback against Leeds over the weekend so Widnes will be looking to extend their time with no points on the scoreboard.

Stand-o� , Lloyd White, scored an impressive four tries in the Vikings victory.

Viking victory

Tranmere in actionmixed performances that have been seen them slip periously close to the drop zone.

Rovers are currently standing three places and one point away from relegation, while Wycombe are pushing for a play-o� place.

On Saturday, Rovers host fel-low strugglers Dagenham and Redbridge.

By JOSIE O’ SULLIVAN

Tranmere Rovers face promo-tion hopefuls Wycombe tonight at Prenton Park, still stinging af-ter their 2-0 defeat last time out against Cheltenham Town.

� e league two strugglers will be looking to turn around their

By JOSH HANDSCOMB

A Liverpool Paralympian has been shortlisted for an award that commends his role in wheelchair basketball.

Abdi Jama, 32, from Toxteth, represented Team GB in the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008 where he brought back a bronze medal and also com-peted in London’s Paralympics, narrowly missing out on a podium position a� er a loss to the USA.

Somalian-born Jama has now been shortlisted for the Faezeh Hashemi Award for Excellence in Sport a� er being nomi-nated by readers of � e Muslim News.

Speaking to Liverpool Life, Abdi said: “I’m very proud to be nominated for this award especially with all the hard work I have put in for all these years. “Im very proud to nominated for this award specially with all hard work ave put in for all these yearsIm very proud to nomi-nated for this award specially with all hard work ave put in for all these years.

Bronze medallist, Abdi, broke his back at the age of 14 and feared he would not be able to take part in sports again. Little did he know that he would be introduced to wheelchair bas-ketball by friend Ade Orogbemi, who also competed in the Bei-jing bronze medal campaign.

� e Toxteth raised athlete is currently Im playing,training here in the Spanish league with mideba teamin Spain playing for Spanish league team, Mideba Extremadura, and o� ered his advice for youngsters or other disabled people who are think-ing about entering the sport.

He added: “All I would say is give it a go and be patient with yourself. You will get there in the end and have fun doing it.”All I would say is give it a go and be patient with yourself u will get there in the end just and have fun doing it.

Sue Peel, a former teammate, is a coach at St Helens-based Vikings Wheelchair Basketball Club where Abdi Jama � rst

began his fruitful career as an athlete.

She told Liverpool Life: “I hope he gets the award. He has never forgotten what it was like to start at the bottom and always stayed behind to get involved with newcomers. He never got too big for his boots.”

Mrs Peel, who played with the Team GB athlete for around 3 years in his time at Vikings, emphasised his generous and humorous nature.

She added: “He is a proper joker, especially with the younger ones and getting them involved. And also the ones with not much con� dence. Even the players who weren’t going to reach GB standard.”

Liverpool

LifeSPORTInside Sport

By JOSIE O’SULLIVAN

SHAMED© John Maher

JOY FOR TEAM GB RELAYATHLETEP15

JMU FURYCROSSFINISHLINEP14

© @TonyBellew/Twitter

ROCKY SPIN-OFF FOR BELLEW P14

© Alex Boyce

BOXER: Harry Scarff ©

Student Harry’s golden debut

3rd - March - 2015

By STEPHANIE BEWLEY

New report reveals shock rise in football discrimination

SHOCKED: These images were taken from a Youtube clip that made headlines around the world. The footage shows the man trying to board the train in Paris while Chelsea fans push him off while allegedly making racist comments. The incident is currently under investigation.

� e FA and Kick It Out have revealed � gures uncovering a huge 70% rise in reporting discrimination in football.

As Liverpool Life revealed last week, the disappointment on the issue of abuse circu-lated around the city. Critics claimed the football governing bodies are failing to do enough to stop it.

Reported incidents of racist abuse, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination have sharply increased at all levels of foot-ball this season says the game’s anti-discrimination campaign, Kick It Out, and the Football Association.

� e FA’s head of judicial ser-vices, Mark Ives, said that the

rise is more to do with people being con� dent enough to re-port the abuse, rather than an increase in the number of in-cidents.

He said: “It may seem strange to say that it is good to see cas-es increase from 477 last year at grassroots level to probably 800 this year, but we believe anecdotally the problem itself is not increasing, and that this represents people feeling more con� dent about reporting abuse.”

� e organisation says 184 reports of discrimination were submitted to them from Au-gust to 28 December 2014. � at is 48 more than the 136 grievances received by Kick It Out in the same period during the 2013-14 season.

Racism (117) and anti-Se-

mitic abuse (32) were the most common forms of discrimina-tion reported.

Director of Kick IT Out, Roi-son Wood said the number of complaints does not re� ect the true scale of the issue.

“� e reality of the level of complaints submitted to us this season, despite showing a leap from 136 to 184 when compared to the midway point of the 2013-14 campaign, bare-ly scratch the surface of a wide-spread problem.”

� e incidents happened at all levels of English football and also involved profession-al players and social media, where there were 73 reports of football-related hate crime.

Police are currently inves-tigating racist chanting at St Pancras station by men

thought to be Chelsea fans and a� er an incident of alleged rac-ism by Blues supporters on the Paris Metro.

REVEALED: Our report last week

Liverpool John Moores University student Harry Scar� has taken home a gold medal a� er his � rst � ght at � e British Universities Colleges and Sport (BCUS) national � nals at the weekend.

� e BCUS nationals, held in She� eld, saw 6,000 students attend over the weekend of 20-22 Febru-ary, where Harry’s successful � ght gained him a gold medal against his opponent from University of the West of England, Robert Dark.

Harry, who has to train twice a day, told Liv-erpool Life: “It was a good � ght, I just came out strong and kept the pressure on for the round, hurting him to head and body, he was given a

standing count by the ref and then the bout was stopped at the end of the � rst round.

“It was good to win it because it’s another title to go with my ABA (amateur boxing association) national title.”

Harry, who has been boxing for eight years, � rst took to the sport when he was introduced to it by his dad in his hometown, Derby.

He said: “My dad took me down to a gym in Derby and then I just stuck at it really.”

� e 21-year-old sport and exercise student is currently training for the ABA championships at the end of the month.