Daisy’s for East Lancashire Hospice

On a beautiful Bank Holiday Saturday at the end of May, Daisy’s, for East Lancashire Hospice opened its doors to the people of Wilpshire and the surrounding areas for the first time.

This new, flagship, luxury boutique style shop is the latest to join the East Lancashire Hospice Retail Portfolio and aims to lead the way in ethical charity retail. Located at 781, New Whalley Road, Blackburn, BB1 9BE, the shop sells a vast array of pre-loved and new clothing, shoes, bags, boho style jewellery and accessories as well as a carefully selected number of gifts.

The concept for the new shop came about in response to the ever changing landscape on the high street which has dictated that customers are no longer just looking to simply make a purchase, instead they want an experience. In support of this and in contrast to the existing hospice shops, the new shop has been named Daisy’s which was chosen as it is the flower that is integral to the hospice logo.

It isn’t however just the concept for the new shop that’s special, in fact the owners of the premises, Adrian Swindlehurst and his wife Lisa have a particularly special link to the hospice having previously run an newsagent and post office from the location for over 20 years. Recently, when the time came for them to retire, they could think of no better way to support their local hospice than to offer them the premises for lease.

For Adrian, the hospice has a ‘special place in his heart’ after his mother, Maddalena was cared for there, initially as a day patient going in every Thursday, which she thoroughly looked forward to as it was the highlight of her week, and later as an Inpatient. Adrian went on to explain that he initially had to talk his mum into being admitted, however once she was there, she realised it wasn’t what she had at first thought it would be.

He added, “I really wanted the hospice to have the shop and I feel that mum is up there now watching down over us and is proud of how we are supporting the hospice and that gives us great comfort. We wish the hospice the best of luck with their new venture and are confident that they will make a success of it supported by the wonderful community of Wilpshire and the surrounding areas”.

Instrumental in the re-development process were Darwen based company, Blue Insignia. Liza Ricioppo, Director at the company describes how they were involved in creating this bold new concept for ethical retail – a boutique charity shop for fashion lovers; one that cares about its curation of fashionable product, wants to make a difference to its community and offer an exciting customer experience. “Our company have been proud to have been involved in the full implementation of this project from creating the original concepts, new ‘Daisy’s’ logo design, handmade display furniture, through to manufacturing a complete new shop front & signage”. Liza goes on to say, “we always like to offer our clients a stress-free turnkey service whereby everything is taken care of on their behalf. We are so delighted to be given the opportunity to work with such a wonderful charity which

is very close to our hearts & would like to thank the team at the hospice for giving our company the chance to make their ideas a reality. Blue Insignia always go to great lengths to deliver quality craftsmanship from concept to creation and we can’t wait now to see it become a success!”

Sharon Crymble, Income Generation and Marketing Lead for East Lancashire Hospice commented “We are very excited to have opened our flagship store Daisy’s, in Wilpshire and on behalf of everyone at the hospice we would like to thank Adrian and his wife Lisa for enabling this to happen. A huge ‘Thank You’ must also go to Liza and the team at Blue Insignia who have blown us away with the results of the shop fit out. We wanted a store with a difference, one that would give our customers the ‘Wow factor’ and offer them a ‘shopping experience’ and that is absolutely what we have got!”

The official opening of the store was marked with a ribbon cutting undertaken by landlord Adrian, and was later followed with a Fashion Show to coincide with Pride month, involving local Drag Queens Kobrah and Anaconda, the perfect occasion to show just how glam is glam, with outfits selected from the East Lancashire Hospice Darwen Shop, beforehand. These included an Elsa style long flowing dress, silver sparkly all in one jumpsuit, a very chic flowery dress suitable for a summer wedding, christening or garden party and of course a Daisy’s fashion show wouldn’t be complete with an outfit featuring Daisy Dukes shorts. The fashion show really was the jewel in the crown, and everyone was really impressed by the outfits on display.

It is fair to say that from start to finish, this project has been a real community effort and one which wouldn’t have been possible without the involvement of a great deal of local people and businesses, many of whom have offered their time and services voluntarily. From the Utilities Warehouse, Eastham’s Flower Shop, the Flower Shack by Sarah and Amelia’s of Clitheroe, to the shop volunteers who are also giving their time to support this new venture, each and every person has played a valuable role in helping to ensure as much money as possible is raised for the provision of patient services both at East Lancashire Hospice and in the local community.

The next step for the hospice is to introduce an online shop for Daisy’s providing supporters with another option of where and how they can make a purchase.

And for those people who also enjoy a more traditional charity shop, there is a great deal to offer in the hospice’s Darwen, Great Harwood and Clitheroe shops, as well as the Furniture Showroom on Brunswick Street, Blackburn.

Daisy’s for East Lancashire

Hospice is located at 781, New Whalley Road,

Blackburn, BB1 9BE

Tel: (01254) 491261

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm.

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F elhshops | I daisys_elh LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE 35

By Ken Harcombe - Volunteer Press Officer, Fleetwood RNLI

The RNLI’s two main assets are its volunteers and their lifeboats. Whilst courage, commitment and dedication are required for one, the other need’s reliability, safety and speed.

Recruiting operational volunteers is difficult, as so much is asked of them. Not only do they need to live close to the lifeboat station, they also need the backing of friends, family and sometimes, employers, who will be ready to support the volunteer when the RNLI pager goes off. That’s before they’ve demonstrated the commitment required for weekly training, midnight call-outs in winter and supporting vital fundraising activities. But lifeboats are more straight forward. The charity prides itself in providing the best lifesaving equipment available; not only to ensure volunteer crews can launch safely to assist those in trouble at sea, but also (and most importantly) equipment that will make sure the crews return home to their family and friends, safely, whatever the weather. The latest all-weather lifeboat to join the lifesaving fleet is the Shannon. The new Shannon class all-weather lifeboat costs £2.2 million. State of the art technology and world class safety features doesn’t come cheap, but as a lifesaving service, the safety of its crews will always come first. But the RNLI is privileged to receive generous bequests and donations and they are fortunate to have a good public profile. But it’s not all large donations that help fund new lifeboats. The general public also play a major role and sometimes their combined contribution is just as impressive. At Blackpool RNLI, both their D class in-shore lifeboats had reached the end of their service life and needed changing. A bequest helped with the first, but the Fylde’s busiest lifeboat station put out an appeal to its local community. Not only did they raise the £52,000 required, they raised it within 12 months! A remarkable achievement. But Blackpool’s local community involvement didn’t end there. Naming a new lifeboat is generally the privilege of the donor. But because this was an enormous community effort, that option was impossible. So, it was decided to involve the very people who had funded the new lifeboat in the first place. They were asked to suggest a new name for the D class in-shore lifeboat. Once a short list had been drawn up, the Seasiders were able to vote on their preferred name for the town’s new in-shore lifeboat. The seaside resort will welcome both new in-shore lifeboats to the town this autumn and by then, the result of the naming poll will be known.

When Fleetwood RNLI received their new Shannon class all-weather lifeboat in 2016, it was as a result of a major bequest from Kathleen Pierpoint, of Altrincham, who provided the bulk of the cost and the request was made to name the lifeboat after her brother, Kenneth James Pierpoint. As the Second World War raged, Kenneth gave up his university degree course at Cambridge to join the RAF Volunteer Reserves as a trainee pilot. He quickly attained the rank of Pilot Officer and in the August of 1942, joined 605 Squadron, based at RAF Ford in Sussex. But his career was short lived, as so many others were during

Above: Harbet and KJP that period. A few weeks after joining the squadron, Kenneth tragically died in a training accident. Kathleen was 15 years old at the time and lived with this tragic memory for a further 70 years. The RNLI and Fleetwood Lifeboat Station were very grateful to Kathleen that she chose to honour her brother and ensure his memory would live on for many years.

Above: Wing Commander Paul Bell from 605 Squadron at the Naming Ceremony

Fleetwood RNLI volunteers were also privileged to welcome Wing Commander Paul Bell from 605 Squadron at the Naming Ceremony, who represented the Pierpoint family on the day. In his speech, he informed the attendees that 605 Squadron’s motto was ‘Nunquam dormio’, which translated is ‘I never sleep’. It fits perfectly with the lifeboat named after a comrade from a previous generation.

When RNLI Lytham St Annes was due for a new lifeboat, to replace the station’s Mersey class all-weather lifeboat, royally named Her Majesty The Queen; along with a substantial local fundraising effort, their major contribution came from the estate of Barbara Anne Cameron Roberts of Winchester. Of course, shortening the name to ‘Barbara Anne’ led some to assume a Californian pop group had donated to the new lifeboat. But Barbara Anne’ not only required the £2.2 million to build her, but a further £1.5 million for the Launch

and Recovery vehicle to not only ensure the lifeboat actually reached the sea when the tide was out, but also to return her to the safety of the lifeboat station following a call-out.

The Barbara Anne made her passage to her new home from Poole (where the charity’s headquarters is based) to Lytham St Annes back in February 2018, and has been saving lives off the Fylde coast ever since. The newest RNLI lifeboat on the Fylde is the D- class in-shore lifeboat at Fleetwood. She was named Harbet and her operational number is D-853. She arrived in February and was quickly brought into action, less than a week after arriving. Harbet was named after Harold and Betsy Hollingsworth of Cheadle. Harold had many happy memories of sailing out of the old fishing port of Fleetwood and so it was an apt place to choose to keep their memory alive. Incidentally, Harbet is the 853rd D-class lifeboat in the RNLI fleet, since their introduction in the 1960’s, which explains her operational number, whilst the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat fleet are each named after rivers from across the UK and Ireland, Shannon being the latest. Over the years, the RNLI have had many unusual names on the side of their lifeboats, generally as a result of a group or community fundraising effort. There was the unforgettable ‘Telford Shopping Centre’ adorning the side of Troon’s D class in-shore lifeboat and the equally memorable ‘Peterborough Beer Festival IV’, also on a D class in-shore lifeboat, reminding the good folk of Skegness, that not all donations are from seaside communities. This was also the Beer Festival’s fourth RNLI lifeboat. The RNLI charity and its volunteers are very fortunate and privileged to have such generous supporters. But not everybody has the funds to donate a substantial amount to ensure their loved one’s name appears on the side of a lifeboat. Until now... In 2019, the RNLI introduced an opportunity to remember your loved ones, by adding their name to the letters and numbers on the side of the lifeboat, in exchange for a donation. The charity has now launched their third ‘Launch a Memory’ campaign to help fund a new Shannon class lifeboat for Wells-next-the Sea on the Norfolk coast. Invergordon RNLI was the very first lifeboat

Above: Barbara Anne station funded through the ‘Launch a Memory’ campaign, the second being Clifden RNLI. This lifeboat is currently under construction at the All-Weather Centre in Poole. A suggested donation of £50 will ensure your chosen name will live on for a considerable time and you’ll be assured your donation will help save lives at sea. For further details, go to: https://rnli.org.uk/give-money/ donate-in-memory/launch-amemory

Above: Launch a Memory 3 artwork

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT FLEETWOOD RNLI GO TO: www.fleetwoodlifeboat.org.uk

TO DONATE OR SUPPORT THE RNLI GO TO: https://rnli.org.uk/support-us

Liddell at One Hundred:

A Family Portrait of a Liverpool Icon

By Liverpool-born Author Peter Kenny Jones

THIS Liverpool FC player had the ‘hardest shot in football’, breaking bones with his cannonball strikes. And the fascinating life of legendary forward Billy Liddell is now profiled in a revealing new book.

Author Peter Kenny Jones hopes to shine a light on the exploits of Liddell, a player some fans might not even be aware of, before it’s simply too late. Scotland international Liddell played for the Reds 492 times, scoring an incredible 215 goals between 1938 and 1961.

A teammate of late Anfield great Bob Paisley, Liddell was a toughtackling, clean-living and committed left winger and striker with a keen eye for goal. An exceptional athlete, his ferocious shot was feared the world over. And his professionalism shone through none more so than when he paused his career to serve as a Royal Air Force navigator during World War II.

Liverpool-born author Peter has penned Billy Liddell at One Hundred: A Family Portrait of a Liverpool Icon to celebrate Liddell’s life at a time when he would be turning 100 years old, had he not passed away in 2001 aged 79.

Peter - a Liverpool Hope University graduate - compares Liddell’s attributes to the supreme fitness and versatility of the current Liverpool squad’s James Milner, and the sharp-shooting finesse of Mohamed Salah. And having spent 18 months interviewing Liddell’s friends, family, teammates and supporters, Peter is desperate to ensure the memories of Liddell’s successes live on.

Peter, who completed both an undergraduate degree and a Master’s in History at Hope, reveals: “I’ve spoken with more than thirty people - fans, players, family - and not one person had a bad word to say about Billy Liddell.

“He was quiet, unassuming, didn’t drink, didn’t swear and didn’t speak out of turn, he was a proper professional. And he was loyal, sticking with Liverpool even when they were playing in the second division.

“And he was still getting picked for both Scotland and the Great Britain team while he was playing in the second division, which tells you just how good he was.”

For Peter there’s an intriguing family connection to Liddell, too, as his aunty used to take part in the same Scottish dancing classes that Liddell used to attend in the city back in the day.

It was through that connection that Peter was put in touch with various members of Liddell’s family - including his twin sons David and Malcolm.

Peter, who works in property management, has also secured forewords by Liverpool heroes Jamie Carragher, Ian Callaghan and Alan Hansen.

A great man on and off the pitch and a leader by example, Peter says Liddell’s close friendship with Bob Paisley - a former Liverpool leftback who went on to become an illustrious manager - is telling.

Peter, 26, reveals: “Liddell made his debut with Bob Paisley and the pair won the league with Liverpool, got relegated with Liverpool, and stayed together until manager Bill Shankly took them back up into the top flight.

“Paisley and Liddell were great friends. And because they both played on the left hand side of the pitch, they also had a real footballing connection.”

For Peter there’s no question Liddell could have been a success in the modern game.

He argues: “If you’re good enough to play then, you’re good enough to play now. Liddell could play either wing, he could play up front, and he actually played every position on the pitch except in goal. He could do everything.

Liddell at One Hundred: A Family Portrait of a Liverpool Icon is published by Pitch Publishing and will hit shelves in November this year.

“He had the hardest shot in football. He broke one goalkeeper’s arm and another ‘keeper’s wrist. He was also a great header of the ball. He was just an exceptional athlete and committed to his physical health.

“The people I spoke with would place Liddell alongside Liverpool legends such as Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard - he was that good.

“And what’s really important to me is that it feels like Liddell represents an era that’s about to become extinct.

“He played with nearly 100 different players with Liverpool and only 10 of them are still alive, with 6 in good health today. I wanted to record his exploits now, before it’s too late, and before these amazing stories disappear forever.”

Peter says his time at Liverpool Hope University was hugely influential in his decision to become a football historian.

He wrote two football-related dissertations during his two stints at the University, one about the inter-War period and exploring why fans spent money going to matches when they were, in fact, extremely poor, and the second essay delving into the ‘golden era’ of Merseyside football in the 1960s, a time when both Everton and Liverpool enjoyed huge success.

Peter adds: “The University was extremely encouraging about me combining history with football, and being at Hope was really formative in me following a path into becoming a football historian. I’m really grateful for that support from everyone at Hope.”

Liddell remains the oldest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history and their fourth-highest scorer of all time.

He was never booked or sent off in his entire footballing career.