Heavens above!

Welcome to our monthly look up to the night skies and the first of the planets in our Solar System and the one with the fastest and shortest orbit around the Sun. Mercury is a unique planet of extremes with enormous and dramatic changes in temperature as it rotates on its almost vertical axis. It is a rocky planet with a solid surface, which like Earth, Venus and Mars is covered in craters so looks very much like our moon. Because the planet has very little atmosphere it has little defence against the impact of objects hurtling through space which has resulted in around 763 craters, all of which have been named after famous artists, musicians and writers including Wren and Monet, Bach and Puccini, Shakespeare and Dr Seuss!

As the closest planet to the sun it experiences extremes of temperature due to its very slow rotation. Days on Mercury are very long because the planet turns very slowly but it has a very fast and egg-shaped orbit meaning that one Mercury year takes 88 Earth days (if you lived on the planet you’d have a birthday every three months!) This also makes for unusual sunrises and sunsets. In some places on the planet the sun appears to rise for a short time, sets and rises again. This happens at sunset too with the Sun appearing to set twice.

QUICK FACTS…

Equivalent size (if the Earth was the size of a cherry tomato!) A pea

Equator circumference: 15,329 km (9,525 miles)

Radius/Diameter: 2,440 km (1,516 miles)/4,880 km (3,032 miles)

Distance from the Sun: 58,000,000 km (36,039,529m) miles

Day length: 59 Earth days

Year length: 88 Earth days

Temperature: from -180° to 430°

Made of: This planet consists of silicate rocks and metals and is made largely of iron. The exosphere (thin atmosphere) is made mostly of Oxygen, Sodium, Hydrogen, Helium and Potassium. It is unlikely to support life as we know it because of the extreme temperatures and solar radiation.

Features: If you were able to stand on Mercury’s surface the Sun would appear more than three times larger than it does on Earth and would be seven times brighter. It has no moons because the gravitational pull of the Sun would drag them out of the planet’s orbit. Although Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun it is not the hottest; that honour goes to Venus which is much hotter due to its very dense atmosphere.

Mercury is visible to the naked eye so it is difficult to say exactly when it was ‘discovered’ however it was first observed through telescopes in the 17th century by astronomers Galileo Galilei and Thomas Harriot.

Mythology: Mercury is the Roman name for the Greek god Hermes and was the god of commerce, merchants and communication. He was also the messenger of the gods known for his speed and swiftness. He is often depicted wearing winged shoes and hat. This led to the naming of the planet because of its extremely fast orbit around the Sun.

Mercury is the least explored planet. Only two missions launched by NASA have been sent to Mercury. These were both robotic spacecraft; Mariner 10 launched in 1973 and was able to send images back to earth of about 45% of the surface before the mission ended in 1975. MESSENGER was launched in 2004 entering orbit in 2011. The mission lasted for 4 years and collected enormous amounts of data and images before it was pulled onto the surface by the planet’s gravitational force ending the mission in 2015. Currently the European Space Agency mission BepiColumbo is on its way to Mercury to explore further and send more data back to earth.

Join me next month for the next planet on our journey through space!

By Pam Waggott

References: www.nhm.ac.uk • www.funkidslive.com www.solarsystem.nasa.gov • www.britannica.com

For those of you who purchased a Penrith and Eden Valley Monopoly, you’ll probably remember how much work this team put in to creating this unique part of history.

Is this the kind of team you would like to join? You might like to help out how you can with the skills you have for a couple of hours a week or a month? Whether you are 8 or 98, we welcome people of all ages to the team! You’ll become part of a team that is committed to helping local groups, charities, other not for profit organisations and local businesses, to be seen and heard in the community they serve.

What comes next?

Well, the Group moved to a new site in November, and it’s doubled its output to reach more people in Eden, approximately 38,000. Do you want to join? You can even volunteer without leaving your home, workplace or school. It is looking to recruit volunteers in Penrith, Appleby, Alston and Kirkby Stephen for four new micro studio hubs. It is also looking for groups of villages to set up clusters with 3 to 6 neighbouring hamlets and villages via pop up studios through IP addresses.

It is all connected via the main studio, enabling the hubs to connect with Eden on a regular, shared schedule, with regular local news, events and stories, at least once a month.

This group is hoping that the five secondary schools in the Eden Valley consider doing one show a week live from their school, as an after school, homework slot that can be recorded, then loaded and played for all to hear, which the team can set up. It would like groups to come forward and spread the word about what they do at least once a month - this could be wildlife, events, music, sport, local news, hobbies and/or a campaign.

You can find out more about this by firstly recognising who this group is on the front cover and secondly using the contact details on page 4 to find out more.

Have you heard of them? Would you like to be a part of Connecting our Community?

National Minimum Wage & Statutory Rates of Pay (April 2023)

National Living Wage & National Minimum Wage

Annual increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will take effect from 1 April, but are you prepared and making the necessary changes?

Whilst employers are not required to advise employees of the changes to NLW and NMW rates and how they may affect them, it is probably a good idea to let them know in advance, to avoid numerous queries.

So, what should you be paying from 1 April 2023 in terms of NLW, to ensure you are compliant?

• NLW is payable to workers aged 23 and over, and will rise to £10.42 (currently £9.50)

From 1 April 2023, the following rates will be applicable for most workers under the age of 23. The different age bands are as follows:

• The adult rate for workers aged 21 to 22 will rise to £10.18 (currently £9.18)

• The youth development rate for workers aged 18 to 20 will rise to £7.49 (currently £6.83)

• The young workers rate for those aged 16 to 17 will rise to £5.28 (currently £4.81)

• The apprentice rate will also rise to £5.28 (currently £4.81)

Don’t forget it is against the law for employers to pay workers less than the NMW or NLW and there can be serious penalties for breaches.

Also remember that there may be reasons why your staff may not actually be receiving the correct, minimum rates of pay. This could be:

• where your staff are required to purchase part, or all of their uniform themselves

• where your staff are required to take unpaid breaks or attend meetings (unpaid)

• where you make deductions from staff wages for work-related events

• where you are offsetting staff ‘benefits in kind’ against their pay

Statutory Rates of Pay

With effect from 2 April 2023, the following statutory weekly rates will increase to £172.48 (currently £156.66):

• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

• Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)

• Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

• Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)

• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP)

In addition, with effect from 6 April 2023, please note Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will increase to £109.40 per week (currently £99.35 per week).

Do you need any other employment-related information or assistance?

Whatever your employment-related query, I am here to help – able to offer advice and support and provide information as needed. The following are typically some of the areas I support businesses with:

 Employee relations – disciplinaries, grievances, whistleblowing, bullying and harassment

 Attendance issues – sickness related and other

 Performance issues – appraisals, managing poor performance and capability

 Staff Handbooks – policies, procedures and standards

 Employment documents – particulars of employment (employment contracts) and any other employment-related documents

 Changes to Employment Law

 Recruitment and selection – recruitment activities, job descriptions and recruitment documentation

 Pay and benefits – pay structures and job evaluation

 Reorganisation and redundancy

 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

 Management Training/Coaching

Advice and support can be provided on an ad hoc basis or through a retainer service, where for a small fixed, monthly fee, you can access support as and when you need it.

I’d be delighted to hear from you, whether you need some immediate advice or whether you would like to discuss ongoing support.

Email:

PENRITH - 15 Apr PENRITH PLAYHOUSE

RHYL - 30 Apr RHYL LITTLE THEATRE

MACCLESFIELD - 12 May MADS THEATRE

COLNE - 19 May PENDLE HIPPODROME

LIVERPOOL - 26 &27th May HOPE STREET THEATRE

A brand new stage show featuring all the best loved Irish ballads and trad favourites premieres in the North West this Spring, as part of a twenty three venue UK TOUR for 2023. And all the cast and crew are northwest based also making this a very special production for a region with so many Irish connections and heritage.

The show is a fully staged production with set, costumes, props, narration, poetry, music and song and will appeal to not only those with Irish blood but also those who love all things Irish. Who isn’t moved by beautiful ballads such as ‘Danny

Boy’, ‘Town I Loved So Well’, ‘I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen’ and who can resist toe tapping and clapping along to songs such as ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Tell Me Ma’, ‘The Wild Rover’ and ‘Black Velvet Band’ to name just a few.

The cast features Morgan Wild (The Wizard of Oz / Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf / Rapunzel); Tom Loughlin (Carmen the Opera / The Devil Rides Out musical / Cinderella); Julie Proctor (Ramsbottom Concert Orchestra / Bolton Symphony Orchestra / Ribble Valley Jazz Festival); Michelle Victoria Riley (Ada / Birdsong in Bedlam / Hearts Hands and Cake); Tom

Collins (Edinburgh Festival / Cannon and Ball show / Keeping It Country TV); and Ryan Ireland (Celtic Christmas tour / The Devil Rides Out musical / Rock’n’Roll Roadshow UK Tour)

The role of Dara, our soprano is played by some outstanding singers on the northwest spring tour - Shelley Anne Rivers [Salford/Rhyl/Liverpool] fresh from her appearance on ITV Starstruck as Judy Garland, as well as Rebecca Casey [Blackpool], Gabrielle Dams [Penrith], Sinead D’Abreu Hayling [Macclesfield] and Millie Green [Colne].

March always brings out everything that Irish and the tour opens on 31st of March in Salford at The Empty Space Theatre, but continues into April and May with performances at Showboat Blackpool 10th April, Penrith Playhouse 15th April, Rhyl Little Theatre 30th April, Mads Theatre Macclesfield 12th May, Pendle Hippodrome Colne 19th May and two dates at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre on 26th and 27th May.

So join us on a journey across the Irish Sea to hear about the mass emigration, the effects of the famine, the building of the titanic, the 1916 rising, and Irish music spreading across the world. With a fantastic cast of seven actor/singer/musicians all based in the northwest it really is a production that will showcase some of the wonderful talent in the region.