Liverpool Life 2:10 Dec 10 2013

FREEDOM FIGHTER, VISIONARY, LEADER 10 - December - 2013

This Week...

ALL YOU NEED FOR CHRISTMAS Page 9

DRESSING UP FOR CHARITY Page 5

Liverpool pays tribute to ‘giant of history’ Mandela

by Abi Bramhall

Memorial services of Nelson mandela in Cape Town

KNIT WITS

As the world gathers to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, Liverpool has come together to pay their respects to the great statesman. Global leaders have gathered in South Africa today for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.

The service, which is being held in Johannesberg’s FNB stadium, comes five days after a book of condolence was set up at Liverpool Town Hall for

The Liverpool Life Team pose in their festive jumpers... all for a good cause

Mandela who, died on 5th December. Many people have already written their messages of compassion in the book, including Mayor Joe Anderson and Lord Mayor Gary Miller.

Mayor Anderson wrote a card to the great South African leader. It reads: “In tribute to the man who inspired me to take up politics and make a difference to people’s lives. Freedom fighter, visionary, President, leader; Madiba, your legacy will never be forgotten.”

Full Story: page 3

POST CALLS TIME AFTER 128 YEARS Page 4

City aims for jumper world record

Page 5

Life/News/2 MAYOR OPENS GREEN H2 SITE

Tall ship competition in Liverpool for the first time

By Abi Bramhall

Stavros S Niarchos © Flickr/Kenjonbro

PROUD: Mayor Joe Anderson

By Jess Hayes Around 160 new jobs will be created in Liverpool as a green energy company opens its new £2.5m plant in the city.

The new H2 Energy site was declared open by Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, on Monday 9th December.

The opening of the plant has already created 30 jobs and this number is expected to rise to 160 by 2015 when the factory is fully functional.

The majority of the jobs will be local and some will be apprenticeships, tying into the Liverpool In Work program which helps get long-term unemployed people into work.

H2 Energy is one of only a few firms in the country specialising in ‘anaerobic digestion’, converting food waste into heat and electricity and the new site at Wellington Business Park in the north of the city will build the state-of-the-art “bio-refinery” units which turn the waste into energy.

The manufacturing and innovation center has been located in Liverpool, thanks to support from Mayor Joe Anderson.

He said: “This is great news for Liverpool. We are always looking to work with ambitious, innovative companies who can bring new opportunities for local people so I’m delighted H2 Energy have decided to set up base here.”

Switzer Tugs, Sellafield Ltd, Regenda and Cammell Laird.

The Apprentice Ship Cup will run from 13th June to the 28th in 2014 as part of the Mersey International River Festival.

Competitors will race to Whitehaven before returning to Liverpool.

The race will be followed by an awards dinner for all those taking part.

Normally the brig Stavros S Niarchos heads to the sunny Canary Islands each winter offering people the chance to crew a sailing ship. But the recession has badly hit public demand.

Instead the 200ft long Stavros S Niarchos berthed at Liverpool Cruise Terminal this winter.

Children health crisis warning

By Jess Hayes

A report has warned the govAernment that the next generation of children will have a lower life expectancy than their parents due to a lack of exercise in schools.

The research, jointly conducted by experts from Liverpool John Moores University, was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this week.

The report criticises the government for not fulfilling its commitments to physical education in school.

School children spend seven-eight hours of their day being sedentary; mainly sat in classrooms. The report claims that in day to day life children have no say in their physical activity “Children seem to have little choice and opportunity to be physically active and are practically forced to be sedentary for much of the school day”.

The report recommends that children who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active for at least three hours across the space of a day. Children up to

Liverpool

Life

Team

Editor Kirsty McColgan

Features Editor Harriet Midgley

Chief Sub Helen Healy

Features Nathan Pearce Lucy Bannister

News Lisa Jones Damian Leonard Jess Watters Elen Crean Helen Healy

A new tall ship competition for young people has been launched in Liverpool.

Eight tall ships will race next summer for the Apprentice Ship Cup. Organised by the Merseyside Adventure Sailing Trust, the race is aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds.

The launch was held upon the UK’s biggest working tall ship, the Stavros S Niarchos.

It will take part in the race and is moored for the winter in Canning Dock. The briefing session attracted so many people that two more sessions have been scheduled for January.

Jim Graves, Merseyside

Adventure Sailing Trust chairman, told Liverpool Life: “The briefing was a brilliant success. With the race we are trying to teach young people about citizenship. We identify with you as a person through teamwork and communication.

They will have to get up at 12am and 4am in the morning to sail the boats. 80% of them will probably never sail again but it establishes a preference in life. It helps them to get better at working with people and to identify with people.”

Water supplier United Utilities have entered a team of 20 apprentices which has taken the total number of competitors up to 154 people. Other North West companies who have teams in the race include Peel Ports Mersey,

Sports Editor Jack Birch

Parents ‘will outlive their youngsters’

the age of 18 years should incorporate ‘moderate-to-vigorous’ weight bearing activities that strengthen the muscle and bone at least three days a week.

The lack of this physical activity in children has been linked to health problems in children that are normally reserved for adults and could cause the next generation’s life expectancy to be lower than their parents.

The report found that childhood physical inactivity to be linked to cholesterol appearing in the heart in the first decade of life, type two diabetes, obesity and insulin resistance. They also found that sedentary behaviour is associated with poorer mental health and lower brain function.

The government has pledged to

invest over £300million in UK Sport in the run up to 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janerio,.

‘This government is taking

decisive action Olympic spirit every child has to be fit

Editor’s Letter Welcome to the last issue of Liverpool Life in 2013. The newspaper is produced by 3rd year journalism students at Liverpool John Moores University. In January we will all be completing a month’s work placement, so the next issue of 2014 will be published on February 3rd.

Thank you to all who have read this year and we are all really excited to get back in February to start all over again and bring you much more news, sports and exciting features.

We are going to a number of companies for work experience, such as: Independent Newspaper, London; Sky Sports, Wilmslow; BBC Sport, Manchester; Shortlist magazine, London; Liverpool Football Club magazine, Liverpool; The Chronicle, Newcastle; The Visitor, Morecambe; Halycon magazine, Liverpool; Local women magazine, Northern Ireland and Halifax Courier, Halifax.

Some students will also be completing their work place in various PR companies, such as: Liverpool John Moores PR department, Wentworth, Communications, Sale; Lighthouse Communications, Belfast; Design Foundry, Liverpool; Word Association PR, Hinckley and Western Trust, NHS, Northern Ireland.

Sports Lewis Bell Cillian McGinn

CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT TEAM Nadine Higham; Simóne Foggin; Sarah Mee; Shannyn Quinn; Gemma Brezinski

ACTIVE: Research reveals children need more excersise

Goodbye, see you next year!

Kirsty McColgan

to harness the and make sure the opportunity and healthy.”

CITY GETS CREATIVE WITH SCRAP A local artist and musician has installed a one-off tin sculpture – made entirely from recycled materials – in the city centre.

The installation will be the Christmas window exhibition at the Bluecoat Centre, College Lane, throughout December, with many of the individual elements available for sale.

The artwork features a river containing fish, a bridge crossing the river full of cars and trains, a sky with aeroplanes – and even some flying saucers.

Samantha Rhodes, assistant director at The Bluecoat Centre, said: “We are delighted to host Mike Badger’s December In the Window exhibition.

“I’m sure that the window will be enjoyed by passers-by on College Lane throughout the month.”

Mr Badger is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist and sculptor from Liverpool.

From his studio, he creates sculptures from recycled, brightly-coloured, tin containers and other found objects, raising issues dealing with mass-production, Western consumerism and greed.

The artist said: “I‘ve always had the desire to create and not really able to afford any other kind of materials and it just went on from there.”

Life|News|3

Above: James Bennion

POLICE RENEW APPEAL Merseyside police have renewed an appeal after mounting concerns over the whereabouts of James Bennion, who has been missing since Sunday.

Mr Bennion, 20, from Wavertree, was last seen in the Concert Square area of Liverpool City Centre after leaving Baa Bar on Fleet Street.

James is described as being white, 5ft 9in tall, slim build with short brown hair, pale complexion and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with a record printed on it with dark jeans.

Anyone with any information should contact Merseyside Police immediately.

HELP FOR WOMEN Sefton & Liverpool Women in Business are set to hold another event at the Town Hall.

The “Be Extraordinary II” event will be held at Liverpool Town Hall will be on January 29th 2014, following the success of the last event, which had the backing of Lord Mayor, Gary Miller.

The organisation aims help women with business ventures and ambitions and to get women in Sefton and Liverpool thinking about self-employment The group is also running a ‘In The Best Career For Me’ course for girls in business and are to hold a second event in March 2014. The fundraising day has already had the backing of Everton FC, who have already pledged a signed ball from their community division.

CRASH FOR CASH Liverpool has been named as one of the UK’s hotspots for ‘crash for cash’ insurance fraud.

Liverpool ranked 16th on the UK’s top 20 ‘crash for cash’ hotspots, with other cities including London, Manchester, Bolton and Birmingham also on the list. The number one spot was taken by Bradford.

This comes as Crimestoppers, in conjunction with the Insurance Fraud Bureau, have started a campaign to cut down on insurance scammers.

According to statistics released by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, frauds are costing the government approximately £400m a year, with one in a seven personal injury claims linked to suspected scams.

Global unity for Mandela service

by Abi Bramhall

Global leaders have gathered in Johannesburg today for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.

The service, which is being held in the FNB stadium, comes five days after a book of condolence was set up at Liverpool Town Hall for Nelson Mandela who died on 5th December. Many people have already written their messages of compassion in the book including Mayor Joe Anderson and Lord Mayor Gary Miller.

One message from a member of the public read: “Rest in Peace Mr Nelson Mandela. Thank you for being so wonderful to all mankind.” Another read: “Rest in peace. Thank you for making the world a better place.”

Dr Richard Benjamin, Head of the International Slavery Museum, said: “The world has lost one of the great leaders and freedom fighters. An inspiration to many in Liverpool and around the world.”

Liverpool model Jennifer Ellison tweeted: “So sad! What a

loss and heavens gain!” Scouse comedian John Bishop tweeted: “Today the greatest of men died.

God bless Madiba – you taught us all what a man could be.”

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller, who has announced that he will stand down at the next election, said: “I am proud of a plaque in Westminster Hall, not because it has my name on it but that of Nelson Mandela. It did however take 10 years to persuade the Parliamentary authorities to place it where the great man stood!”

Around 100,000 people are attending the service in South Africa this morning which started at 11am and more than 100 countries are being represented. British Prime Minister David Cameron has attended along with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Former British leaders Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Major have also made an appearance. The memorial will feature tributes from Nelson Mandela’s family and a speech from the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy

President of the African National Congress, began the service with a short tribute to Nelson Mandela. He started by apologising for the rain which was met with laughter from the huge crowd. He said: “This is how Mandela would have liked it.

African traditions, means the Gods are welcoming you.

He continued: “He was our teacher and our mentor and he never gave up on us. We are here today to tell Madiba his walk is finally over. His long walk is over but ours is only beginning.”

Nelson Mandela, who died at 95-years-old, was awarded the Freedom of Liverpool in 1994 for his anti-apartheid work.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison after encouraging black people to go on strike in the fight against the government. After his release in 1990, Mandela continued his campaign against apartheid and became President of South Africa in 1994.

Mandela will be laid to rest in Qunu in the Eastern Cape where the iconic leader was born on Sunday 15th December.

Nelson Mandela © Flickr / Festival Karsh Ottowa

Retirement age is set to rise, again Chancellor George Osborne released the autumn statement last week, announcing the rise in the retirement age and the fall in unemployment.

The government economic strategy plans for future spending, putting £1 billion into housing after a recorded 1.4 per cent rise to the economy.

In education, an extra 30,000 places will be created at universities throughout England by 2014-15, and the cap abolished in the following year.

There will now be free school lunches for children at state schools in England in Reception, Year one and Year two, which is set for next September.

For those in their 40s the retirement age has now risen to

69. Which means people will now have to work an extra four years before they are entitled to their state pension.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who delivered his Autumn Statement in the House of Commons, revealed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits is down 200,000, with unemployment now forecast to fall from 7.6% this year to 7% in 2015.

The new policies in place for those claiming job seekers allowance means adults aged 18 to 21 who do not have basic English or Maths will need to take part in training, or lose their benefits. The government will put a cap to overall welfare spending Cuts marked in the statement include an extra £1 billion from each government department until 2017 and an overall cap to welfare.

However in response to the statement, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published its stateof-the-nation report into poverty and social exclusion in the UK. The report states that in-work poverty has risen by 500,000 within a year. There are now more in-work families than outof-work families living below the poverty line.

Speaking about the plans announced in the autumn statement, Julie Unwin, Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “For the 13 million people living in poverty the measures outlined will not be nearly enough to tackle the rising costs and lower incomes that they face.”

She added: “Few of the policies announced today specifically target these families, who have faced a 25% increase in the minimum cost of living since 2008.”

Liverpool has five of the most deprived areas in the country and the council are facing some of the toughest budget cuts throughout the country. In a report released in November, 7,000 people relied on Liverpool’s food banks from April to August 2013.

Linda Cooper, Bootle branch manager of Christians against Poverty, said: “I think there is a lot of food poverty. We see a lot of people struggling to feed their children. People just have less disposable income.”

“I’ve just been with a client who is very upset that she can’t buy her children what they want for Christmas. This is a time when people start turning to payday loans and loan sharks.

The stress to make Christmas perfect means they try and get money from other places, which isn’t the right thing to do.”

Bishop Kieran Conry, who

oversees the work of mission in England in Wales, has warned that Christmas can be a time of stress and anxiety, especially those on a low income.

He said: “Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of all that is good, but for many it is actually frightening, if they don’t have the financial resources to meet other people’s and their own expectations.”

Taken from Chapter five in Matthew’s gospel, the Bishop thinks the festive period should become simpler.

He added “Christmas really should be about less, not more.”

With the government announcing that the nation will now have to work longer to be entitled to their state pension, we asked the residents of Liverpool how they felt about working until they’re 69.

Rosie O’Neil, 21: ‘I think it’s bad that you have to work longer now, I think you should be able to choose what age you stop working.’

Abby Stevens, 22: ‘I think depends on how you are at 69, whether you can still work or not, how you are health wise.’

Sean Turner, 19: ‘I suppose that if we are going to live longer, working longer makes sense.’

James Sage, 19: ‘If everyone is living for a long time after they have retired they are going to be taking a lot from pensions.’

Sam Davis, 18: ‘I’m not that bothered about it or against it. I think we will live longer so it’s only expected that we will work longer.’

by Bethany Wells

Ketamine may be re-classified from Class C to B

by Grace Lindsey A Merseyside organisation dismisses calls for the Government to reclassify ketamine to a Class B Drug.

Currently a Class C drug, ketamine is used as an anaesthetic in humans and animals but it has made its way into drug culture in recent years.

The Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs is set to make a recommendation to the govern-

ment to increase the classification of ketamine in a bid to prevent more people from taking it.

However, Pat O’Hare, chairman of organisation HIT, formerly the Mersey Drug Training and Rehabilitation Centre, has said that he will not be backing this change. HIT is an organisation committed to reducing drug-related harm.

“It’s ridiculous; reclassification will not make the slightest bit of difference to the number of people using ketamine.’ Mr

O’Hare believes that regulation is the key to preventing further deaths or debilitating illness through drug use. He added: “I’m not advocating people taking drugs but something needs to change because the law isn’t working, people always have and always will take drugs”.

New evidence from the Council shows that in severe cases people who have taken the drug have had to have their bladders removed after sustained use of ketamine which can damage the

bladder irreversibly.

Drugs advice line, FRANK, describes the effects of ketamine: “The effects don’t last long, but until they wear off, ketamine can cause a loss of feelings in the body and paralysis of the muscles. It can also lead to users experiencing a distortion of reality”.

The new classification, if approved, will mean that those found in possession of ketamine can face a five year custodial sentence and those supplying

the drug can face fourteen years imprisonment.

Requests for tighter restrictions and tougher punishments for using the drug were called for by Home Secretary, Theresa May, in March last year. At the time she said “Our annual work programme sets out the government’s priorities for tackling drug issues over the coming year, and seeks expert advice from the ACMD to help develop our evidence-based drugs policy.”

Life|News|4

New Brighton businesses to reopen after storm

By Bill Evans Business staff at the Marine Point Plaza in New Brighton have pulled together to reopen following storms.

New Brighton was worst hit by the storm on Wednesday night and police warned locals to stay inside as 30 foot waves hit the coastal resort.

Marine Point Plaza was badly hit by the storm, the Morrisons store at the site was reported to be badly flooded, with staff using baskets full of the store’s goods to try and stop water gushing into the store.

Despite the mess the storm caused, staff managed to clear the shop and reopen within 47 hours after it had been initially estimated it could take up to ten days.

Other businesses like the Light Cinema received messages on Facebook offering their help with the clean up effort.

People staying at a Travelodge hotel were stuck inside as the hotel was flooded while police cordoned off all surrounding roads leading to the resort.

Students from Weatherhead High school in Wallasey are honouring inspirational figures in their community.

The pupils have been asked to nominate individuals who inspire them on a regular basis.

Teachers, friends and family were all nominated but one group stood out, 64th Birkenhead Sea Scouts. The pupils wanted the group to get the special award from the school, for the experiences, skills and fun that the scouts have provided for young people.

Devestation: Concrete slabs destroyed by the pier

Picture by Jack Horrocks

Last Post sounds for city newspaper

By Josh Weale

The Liverpool post has announced today ‘with the heaviest of hearts’ that they will cease to publish the newspaper next week with December 19th being the final edition.

This is the final nail in the coffin for the Liverpool post which has been on a steady decline since early 2012. The paper has been produced as a daily publication since 1855 however due to the lack of circulation it was re-launched as a weekly paper in January 2012 to try and prolong the life of the publication.

In the current digital era and economical times it is almost inevitable that newspapers have begun to struggle in a highly competitive, ever-changing industry.

It is a sad end for one of Liverpool’s most recognisable publications.

Trinity Mirror North West Managing Director, Steve Anderson Dixon said in a statement: “Sadly, the Liverpool city region no longer generates the demand in

terms of advertising or circulation, to sustain both the Post and the Liverpool Echo.”

Fortunately though no jobs will be lost in the closing of the Liverpool Post and some elements of the business pages will survive in sister paper The Liverpool Echo. The website will also close on the 19th the same day as the newspaper.

The announcement has come as a shock for many, with twitter being ripe with saddened tweets.

Founder of L Media News, Liam Fitzsimmons, said: “Very sad to hear @DailyPostNews is closing down on December 19th. Liverpool journalism has lost a great institution! #LMediaNews”, whilst Laura Davis, Assistant Head of Advance Content of Liverpool Post, tweeted: “Sad news that the Liverpool Post will be no more after next week. I have been very proud to work for it for my whole journalistic career.”

The editor of the paper Mark Thomas who came in to LJMU to speak about his experienc-

es throughout his career was saddened by the decision: “It has been a privilege and an honour to edit this great newspaper and having to share this news with its readers is without doubt the saddest moment of my professional career.”

Thomas who worked very closely on the infamous James Bulger case spoke to journalism students last month about his time on the post and his experiences as a journalist working on major national stories. In the talk he said how he felt that although he didn’t want the paper to re-launch to weekly he felt that the new weekly paper offered ‘value for money’.

It would appear though that the attempt to prolong the life of the newspaper was futile with this announcement today. Mr Thomas signed off by saying: “On behalf of the team I would like to thank all our loyal readers for their support and encouragement over the years, and I hope they understand how difficult this decision has been for all of us.”

By Bill Evans

Twitter/@APMiller1949

Andrew Miller, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston has announced he will stand down at the next general election in 2015.

Mr Miller has held the Labour seat since 1992 when he took almost 45% of the vote, his closest competitor Stuart Penketh coming in with only 35%.

In a statement released to the media, Mr Miller said: “It has been an enormous privilege to represent Ellesmere Port and Neston since 1992 as well as serving the Labour Party in that role so it has been a tough decision to take.

Over the next couple of months the Labour Party will start the process of democratically selecting

‘NO’ TO MORE STUDENT HOUSES Liverpool councilor Nick Small will be opposing the build of more student housing at a council committee meeting tonight.

The planning committee will meet to discuss the build of an eight storey student accommodation block on Vauxhall Road in the city Centre.

Developers will be trying to get permission to build in the area, which has a heavy student presence, with many student apartments.

Mark Thomas at JMU last month

Picture by Laura Ryder

Labour MP steps down after two decades

Step down: Andrew Miller

STUDENTS HONOUR INSPIRING FIGURES

a candidate to stand in Ellesmere Port and Neston and I will work with that person to help them get to know the many people and organisations that have made my tenure so enjoyable.

I thank those people from the bottom of my heart for their friendship and support through the good times and through rocky waters.”

Since becoming a local MP Mr Miller has had several other notable jobs and titles. He served four years from 2001 at the Department of Trade and Industry, in 2007 he introduced a Private Members Bill, giving agency workers the same rights as direct staff.

Then in 2010 he was named the first Chair of the House of Com-

mons Science and Technology select committee. Although stepping down from his role as MP, he has plans to carry on his work within the science sector on projects that he hopes will help the growth of the UK economy.

His statement went on to say: “I am also proud of a plaque in Westminster Hall, not because it has my name on it but that of Nelson Mandela. It did however take 10 years to persuade the Parliamentary authorities to place it where the great man stood!”

The statement finished: “I want particularly to say a big thank you to the people who have worked for me, both lay members of the party and my staff and especially to my family for making this extraordinary period of my life possible.”

Cllr Small ©Flickr/Social Enterprise Network

UNIONS PROTEST AT CUTS Unions are planning protests against proposed cuts at Wirral council when the authority’s ruling cabinet meets tonight.

It follows the end of the “What Really Matters” consultation by the council on how it will cut £27million from next year’s budget.

The cabinet’s recommendations will then be presented to a meeting of the full council next Monday, December 16.

Life|News|5

Liverpool attempts jumper world record

by Bethany Wells

This Christmas Liverpool has taken on a new challenge, as it hopes to set a world record.

On Friday Liverpool launched its attempt to create the world’s largest online photo album of people wearing Christmas jumpers.

The mass ‘wear a Christmas jumper’ event is a month long campaign to get 5000 pictures to the online Twitter album.

Twitter uses are asked to take a ‘selfie’ in their Christmas jumpers and post it on the social networking website, with the hashtag #LpoolXmasJumpers.

On January 5th, they’ll be counted up and if they hit the 5000 mark, Liverpool holds a new world record.

Mission Christmas is part of Cash for kids, a Liverpool charity who gives children living in poverty a present to wake up to on Christmas day.

They have teamed up with Central Bid for the unique challenge.

It is part of their Christmas appeal

and they are asking people for the small donation of £1.

On Friday they held a mass family photo outside St Johns shopping centre to kick start the album and familiar statues throughout the city centre have been dressed up in knitwear to take part.

Mike Doran, Communications Manager for Central bid, said: “We recognise that there are some who don’t receive Christmas presents, this is a way of giving something back to the community.”

Central bid represent 620 business throughout Liverpool, many of them high street retailers.

The businesses can see up to a 30% increase in sales over Christmas and Mission Christmas aims to give something back to deprived children.

“We’ve been looking at how to animate the city over Christmas with a bit of fun.”

Following Liverpool’s attempt and defeat at the Santa dash record, Central bid came up with a new record for the city.

Central Bid will also team up with Everton Football Club to issue a Christmas jumper surprise.

LABOUR MP WINS RIVERSIDE ELECTION

by Abi Bramhall

A Labour MP has won the Riverside by-election following the resignation of Liverpool’s Deputy Mayor Paul Brant.

Michelle Corrigan won the election, which was held on 5th December, with a staggering 1,055 votes. The win comes after the shocking resignation of Paul Brant.

Michelle said: “I’m really pleased with the result and looking forward to what comes next.

The issues on the doorstep have been the same as they are in the rest of the city - concern over the cost of living, jobs and employment for young people.”

The turn-out for the election was just over 11%.

In Paul Brant’s letter of resignation, which was read out at a Labour group meeting by Mayor Joe Anderson in October, he said that his decision to step down was for “personal reasons.”

The lambanana gets festive in honour of the world record attempt in Liverpool.

Macmillan festive fundraiser

by Abi Bramhall

Lauren Cordelle dressed as Rudolph for her event.

Students from Liverpool John Moores University turned up to their classes today in fancy dress and raised a total of £200 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Third year journalism students went all out with their Christmas themed dress code, with some wearing Christmas jumpers, and others wearing onesies. All the money that has been raised will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Fundraiser organiser Lauren Cordelle, decided to do the event after her dad was diagnosed with cancer in August.

She told Liverpool Life: “After my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I instantly felt like I had to do something, to help raise money for those going through similar situations. My mum and dad have always raised money for Macmillan so that’s why I chose to raise money for them; it was just a case of deciding how to do it.”

Lauren came up with the idea to ask people to come into university in Christmas themed clothing, due to it being their last full day before they break up for Christmas. To encourage students to take part, prizes

were given to the best dressed. In first place was Nadine Higham who wore a festive cardigan and reindeer antlers. Harriet Midgley took second place and Nathan Pearce came in third.

Lauren originally aimed to raise £50 but thanks to the generosity of students and lecturers, managed to quadruple her aim to total £200.

Macmillan provides high quality, up-to-date cancer information for cancer patients, their families and carers. Cancer is not a single disease with a single type of treatment.

There are more than 200 different kinds of cancer, each with its own name and treatment.

In 2010, 324,579 people in the UK were diagnosed with cancer, and in 2011 there were 159,178 deaths from the disease.

One in three people will get cancer and it’s likely to be the toughest thing most of us will have to face.

The Macmillan team provide practical, medical and financial support and keep working on better and more effective ways for cancer sufferers to receive better care.

Without the generosity of the general public, Macmillan would not be able to carry out the work that they do, as 98% of their funding comes

©Flickr/pixieclaire001

KEN DODD TO LEAD BIG SING

by Abi Bramhall

Nadine Higham won best dressed from supporters. Beverley Hurst, a Macmillan nurse, said: “At this time of year, we need help more than ever.”

Decking the halls in Bethlehem

by Bethany Wells The Christmas Decorators of Wavertree have travelled far and wide to deck the halls in Bethlehem.

The decorating team have returned to Liverpool this week after dressing the 55ft Christmas tree in Manger square in Bethlehem. The tree is a focal point in the city as it stands next to the Church of the Nativity and the manger where Jesus is said to have been born in the stable.

This year the tree took twenty two hours to decorate but the team of five, with six and a half thousand baubles and five kilometers of lights, all in the traditional Palestine colours, red white and green.

The firm has decorated the tree

for the second year running and was led again by Ged Comerford, Head of UK Operations.

He said: “We were highly honored to be asked again.

The first time they were contacted, the firm, we were set to dismiss it as a prank call.”

The decorating team are preparing to head back to Bethlehem in February, to discuss the change in the design for the following year, which will see the Liverpool company return to trim the Christmas tree for the third year running.

This year, the firm has also worked on a project at Camp Bastion, the ISAF/NATO headquarters in Afghanistan.

Comedian Ken Dodd OBE is set to lead Liverpool Cathedrals largest Big Sing tonight.

‘The Night Before Christmas’ – Big Sing 2013 will be taking place at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral.

More than 250 children from schools all over the city will take part. Schools include Bellerive FCJ, Belvedere Prep, Wavertree CE, Emmaus RC and CE and Northway Primary plus the Liverpool Cathedral Junior Choir.

Ken Dodd will be narrating the show. The famous poem will be presented through music, dance and spoken narrative. The performance is the result of a 10 week in-school project and will feature performance artists Zooka the Eccentric and the Amazing Suzie Q. The event is free and everyone is welcome.

NUMBER 1 LIBRARY

The 55ft tree in Manger Sqaure, Bethlehem. ©TheChristmasDecorators

Liverpool’s Central Library has been named the city’s number one tourist attraction.

The library, which has recently been given the National Building Excellence Award, was placed number one out of 124 attractions in the city by travel review site, TripAdvisor.

The ranking means that it is the only public library in any of the UK’s major cities to be in first place.

Life/News/6

Dear Santa...

Santa Claus, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, The North Pole NOR P073

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A new lease of life

by Grace Lindsey

A

new survey has shown that more people are taking on new challenges post-retirement in Merseyside.

The data from the Office of National Statistics released at the weekend shows that in 2011 there were 9.22 million people aged 65 or over living in the UK and some of these pensioners in Merseyside are not settling for the quiet life in a retirement home.

The survey shows that a third of people retiring in the North West are taking on a new hobby and a quarter are offering their services to volunteer work.

Annie Brislen, 64, from the Wirral, said: “My project is to

dig out flower beds and plant edible things instead.”

Veronica Ashall, 66, volunteers for The Midlands Air Ambulance but her husband took on a slightly bigger challenge: “His most recent item is an eight foot sleigh for our caravan park where he plays Santa.”

The survey shows that those straight out of retirement find they are able to cope with day to day life easier than the oldest section of the population which could explain the uptake of new activities.

Over half of the 65-74 year olds questioned are not limited at all in their daily activities compared to only 15% of people asked who were 85 years old or over. Sefton and Liverpool’s branch of Age Concern

is a hub for people looking to fulfil their time after retirement.

A Spokesperson at head office said “We have quite a few volunteers here, thirteen of them”.

He noticed that there is a consistency in the number of people offering to help: “The volunteers are all retired and they work in the office, there have been a steady number of volunteers in recent years.

“We have day centres called the Poppy Centre and people who aren’t able to cope with day to day life as well as other pensioners can go there.”

The Poppy Centre is run by Age Concern and offers food and drink for its visitors and encourages them to take part in activities such as arts, crafts and line dancing.

Retired people in Merseyside are taking on new hobbies such as dancing. Pic © Eylse Pattern/Flickr

Life|Whats On|7

Liverpool

Life

The future’s bright for student songwriter Alex

by Kerryleigh Gough

S

tudents can usually be found in bed sleeping, at the library working last minute on a deadline or in the Student Union drinking.

For Alexandra Jayne, last month she juggled all the above plus composing her own song, which is set to be recorded in a professional studio and will be shooting her music video before Christmas.

Alex, who is in her final year studying Psychology at the University of Liverpool, took a break from the books especially to talk to Liverpool Life.

“I am running on empty at the moment but I’m at the library trying to fit some studying in,” she said.

The 21-year-old, was the winner of Liverpool’s Acoustic song writing challenge on the November 22 after performing her individually composed song ‘1969’ at the final showcase.

Despite being so busy she is glad she entered: “I thought about everything and how it was my last year in Liverpool and I wanted to make the most of it. I did think about will I have enough time or not? But then I thought sod it I want to do it.”

The final was a showcase that involved all four finalists performing their songs before the panel of judges. As the winner, Alexandra had the privilege of performing her song ‘1969’ to the whole audience again, including her mum and older sister Holly, 23.

Alex not only won one award,

Alex will soon be recording her new song and shooting her music video the judges’ award - which is the main award, she won the audience award through the withdrawal of another contestant.

She said: “When I won it was such a good feeling. I was stood there listening and thought I’m not third, not second… hold on first, then they called my name and it was me. I had won!”

She continued say how appreciative she was, excited like a child and genuinely thrilled

with the award. It’s refreshing to hear someone get over-excited about a win rather than brush it off with an unoriginal statement such as ‘as no words can describe’ or ‘it means everything to me’.

All of the entrants began the process by attending an open art gallery at Liverpool’s Blue Coat. They had to choose one piece of art from the hundreds they have on display to use as

inspiration for their submission songs. The singers then had a month to compose and record the song themselves to submit to the competition.

Alex spoke of how she couldn’t wait to record the song and create the music video.

She said: “The current recording is from my bedroom in my student flat so I’m looking forward to recording it in a studio.”

Since her win, Alex has received ample amount of media attention with many wanting to know about her and her background before the competition.

“The media attention has been strange; it’s good, I’m not complaining at all.”

Speaking of her childhood Alex said she had always been involved in music since picking up her first guitar at 15. It was then her journey began. She admitted that she has been through a bit of a transformation over the years, from performing in the school choir and acting in plays with her sister.

“I started a band with my best friend Louise at the time and we were performing at gigs, we fell out though and I decided I wanted to go it alone.

Soon after I ended up at uni in Liverpool.”

Alex admitted that most people’s first instinct is to ask her who in the music industry inspires her or who she listens to most. “In different ways music has always been a part of my life.”

She laughed, saying: “When most people hear I’m a punk princess and all I listen to is The Clash they are shocked and usually say something along the lines of, ‘No way I thought you would be into Joni Mitchell or something’.”

Alex Jayne has just performed at a gig at Liverpool’s Zanzibar on Seel Street, one of the many others lined up for the near future. You can find out more about Alex by following her on Twitter or checking out her Facebook page.

Choirboy’s quest for Christmas no. 1

by Gemma Sherlock Liverpool choirboy Jack Topping releases his album ‘Wonderful World’ this week in the race to secure Christmas number one spot.

The 11-year-old is the youngest solo artist ever to sign to Decca records.

But the Metropolitan Cathedral singer insists he is still a normal child who does the things any other child his age would do, saying: “I’m just an ordinary person. My mum still tells me to tidy my room and do my homework!”

The pupil from St Edward’s College, West Derby, is up against Simon Cowell’s X-Factor winner this year. His album ‘Wonderful World’ includes 14 classical covers with his solo voice backed up by the choir

Jack Topping ©Twitter/Officialtopping of the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

It marks the history of Liver-

pool with his own versions of the Beatles songs Let it Be and The Long and Winding Road.

However, Jack’s favourite song to sing is You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Manager, Simon King of Decca Records, admits that he would like Jack to become a big star saying: “Christmas is always a difficult time of year as there is lots of competition out there. This experience for Jack has certainly boosted his confidence.

“He is a very funny character and a pleasure to work with.

A normal boy who enjoys football, TV and isn’t affected by meeting all the big stars.

This will hopefully this will be the kick-start to his musical career.”

Jack recently made his bigstage debut at the Royal Albert Hall for the Classic Brit Awards and said he was overwhelmed with excitement.

“I was absolutely amazed when I sang in front of the

Queen, it was a brilliant experience. My dad said someone was clapping and smiling at me in the Royal Box and I asked who and he said it was the Queen!”

Having been with the choir for four years, he says his two aims in life are to have a career in music and to complete his grades in music and piano.

Nevertheless, Jack still feels the pressure when performing on stage with venues like the Royal Albert Hall as well as Goodison Park for the Merseyside derby.

“The hardest thing to do is to remember the words of all the songs. I worry I’ll forget the words but I don’t mind singing in front of people.”

Jack Topping’s album ‘Wonderful World’ is out now on Decca Records with proceeds from the single ‘Tomorrow’ going to Save the Children.

Critics’ choice TV series of the year

by Bill Evans

Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White, a father, husband and high school teacher turned drug lord. This suspense filled drama series has become a cult classic.

Walter, played by Bryan Cranston, becomes a meth cook after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But Walters and his partner’s exploits get them in deeper trouble than they could have imagined.

It will intrigue and entertain anyone who watches it and really is a must see!

Book of the year

by Elen Crean Paul Finch’s Detective Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg returns in Sacrifice. sets out to tackle a serial killer who is gruesomely murdering his victims in the public eye.

You will be up into the early hours following Heck and his team as they try to take down the ‘calendar killer’.

With its remarkable twist, Finch is fast becoming known for his unpredictable and enigmatic storylines.

However, try not to rush through Sacrifice as you will have to wait until February 2014 for the third instalment of the series – Hunted.

Album of the year

by Nathan Pearce

Former Disney child star turned international pop superstar released one of the most anticipated albums of the year, BANGERZ and it certainly didn’t disappoint, creating two global number one singles, with party anthem We Can’t Stop and emotional power ballad Wrecking Ball.

Miley will return to the UK in May 2014 with her BANGERZ World Tourit’s set to be one of the most talked about events of 2014.

Life|Christmas|8

Special, seasonal shopping

As the festive season continues, high street shops start to feel the rush. However, Lisa Kerr reminds us of how shopping locally can provide the best Christmas gifts for anyone

N

ine years on and still going strong, the Liverpool Christmas markets have once again transformed the city centre into a shopping wonderland. From vintage coats to handcrafted fruit bowls, to owl-shaped cushions to Christmas stockings, Liverpool Life couldn’t resist a trip down Church Street to find out more.

First stop, Lotta Jones’s bath bomb stall.

Why bother trawling round Boots sifting through the same old bath sets when you could walk away with a heart shaped blueberry scented bath bomb from here? We spoke to Lotta and asked her how the stall was doing.

“We’ve been really busy. Saturdays are definitely the busiest, but Sundays and Mondays can get quite mad too.

“This stall is new to Liverpool, but we’ve had others before in Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. It’s been good. I’m sure we will be back next year.”

Saif Khalif from the cupcake stall next door to Lotta agreed.

“Saturdays are busy, but evenings are much busier than daytime. Saturday nights mean lots and lots of people.”

With shows like the Great British Bake Off giving cupcakes their five minutes of fame, we were eager to know what the best sellers were.

“The Red Velvet sells out fast. It is definitely our most popular.”

A few stalls down, Peter Michel took a break from showing off his Christmas trees to speak to us.

“We sell a lot of trees. And holly wreaths. All of our decorations get a lot of attention. People are always taking photographs.”

It’s no wonder really; with each stall looking like it has been taken straight out of Lapland.

We were particularly drawn to “The Merry Monk Mobile Tavern” a cosy pop up bar that promised mulled wine and hot toddies.

Andrea Lavery and Rachel Masterton chatted to us from behind the bar.

“I think this year has been busier than last.

It definitely feels that way anyway. People always come here for a break between shops.”

W

e dragged ourselves away and moved towards Bold Street, which boasts dozens of independent stores.

We visited a couple to find out how Christmas has been for them, and see if the Christmas markets have taken away any business.

Nicole Jones, from Bold Street Sweets, didn’t feel the markets were taking any business from their shop.

“It’s been great; we’ve had lots of people in. Everyone likes to buy sweets at Christmas time so we’ve been busy. The blue bon bons are a big hit. And the pretzel M&Ms.” A few doors up, Shared Earth gave us an insight into Christmas time in their store. Shop assistant Jack was too rushed off his feet to say much, but he encouraged us to take photos.

The five-man deep queue stretching from the till said it all about this place.

The final store that got our attention was Oxfam. With a huge sign on the front door “urgently” appealing for donations, it seemed that this shop wasn’t doing as well as others.

Ged Flint, store manager, explained: “Christmas is a really difficult time for us. Sales are excellent, but donations are scarce. That causes problems after a while.

“It depends on what’s going on that year too.

Donations have picked up since the disaster in the Philippines, but usually we struggle this time of year. Until January that is. January is great for donations.”

So when you find yourself braving the crowds to finish your Christmas shopping, don’t stop after the Christmas Markets and Independent businesses, support your local charities too.

Above: Liverpool Christmas stalls selling candles, cupcakes and stockings.

Far left: Andrea Lavery and Rachel Masterton sell mulled wine and other festive drinks from The Merry Monk Mobile Cavern

Left: Shared Earth shop window showing that fair trade is the way to go for Christmas.

Below left: Nicola Jones selling sweets in Bold Street Sweets during this busy shopping season. Pictures: Lisa Kerr

© PR Shots

© PR Shots

Inside:

Tasty treats Page 11

Spread some Cheer Page 12-13

Panto time?

Oh yes it is!

Page 14

Cut-out for fashion Page 16

Life|Christmas|10

It’s not a Dogs life

by Gemma Brezinski

A

t a time where we are celebrating and being festive, there are some unfortunate critters that will be left out on the street to fend for themselves this Christmas like every Christmas.

Since 1978 Dogs Trust has been tackling the problem of abandoned dogs and yet again will be fighting the heroic cause for man’s best friend this festive season.

this Christmas DENNIS

The trust’s famous slogan “A Dog’s for life not just for Christmas” is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the longstanding campaign aims to raise awareness of the consequences of treating dogs as gifts or toys. Every year hundreds of thousands of children plead for the latest fad or top toy on the market, only to discard them a few weeks after Christmas when the novelty wears off. Unfortunately, the same perception is also apparent with dogs. Dogs Trust are continually seeking to change this.

KEADY

Carlie Horsley from the Trust explained just how they find perfect partners for their cute canines, she said; “We have a strict rehoming procedure which is carried out each and every time a dog is rehomed, whether at Christmas or beyond.

The average time between visiting a Rehoming Centre and taking your new pet home is around eight days.”

TAFF

She added; “We like you to get to know your chosen dog before you take him home so, if you have any other dogs or family members, you may need to bring them along for a further visit to ensure the whole family is happy with the decision.”

JMU Journalism also wanted to find out if there was an increase in adoptions over the Christmas period, Carlie said: “Christmas is a busy time for us and we do get a lot of calls over the festive period. We urge people to think carefully about whether they can cope with a dog and what kind of dog will best suit them before making the decision to adopt. It’s important to remember that a dog is a lifelong commitment and needs serious consideration.”

ALFIE

DEXTER

“Every circumstance is different but during your first visit we will take a few details from you so we know what you are looking for. You will be able to visit the dogs and we’ll advise you on how to find the right dog for your circumstance and that your circumstances will work for the dog too.”

JET TOBY + KIBBI bility before getting a dog. They are asking people to tweet @dogstrust with their hand up against their dog’s paw to create the pause sign and all pictures are featured at www. presspaws.org.uk

The 35th anniversary of the slogan “A dogs for life, not This year, the dogs trust are running a Twitter campaign named #presspaws to urge people to consider the responsi- just for Christmas” is as important this year as ever.

Welcome to Liverpool Life’s Christmas issue,

A letter from the editor

W

MAGGIE

elcome to our Christmas supplement jam-packed full of festive treats for our readers to enjoy over the holiday season.

The team here at Liverpool Life have come up with plenty of ideas and features for you to enjoy this Christmas time. We offer recipe ideas for Christmas cakes and for the vegetarians some recipes for a veggie Christmas meal.

FERGUS

SPOT

FREDDY

Our Liverpool Life Festive-Dogs wish you a very

Merry Christmas

Along with the festive food we have a guide to all your Christmas needs including fashion for the yuletide season, a message from Dogs Trust and very merry Christmas wish from our very own Liverpool Life festive friends. We have a guide to help you make your own Christmas cards and how to take a Christmas ‘selfie’. As well as all this we also have a guide to how you can help out some people less fortunate this Christmas time volunteering.

If pantomime is your thing we also have a programme for all the panto’s on show in the Liverpool area. However if Christmas isn’t your thing at all we have a ‘bah humbug’ column by our very own Nick Seddon.

We have all enjoyed working on Liverpool Life in 2013 and we hope you have enjoyed reading, to all have a very Merry Christmas this year and a Happy New Year, we will be back with another edition of Liverpool Life in February 2014.

Life|Christmas|11

Christmas cooking.. it’s a piece of cake!

Simple recipes for a very veggie Christmas Christmas roast

Vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients:

Method:

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil 1 green pepper, very finely chopped 1 leek, very finely chopped 1 carrot, very finely chopped 1 onion, very finely chopped 1 celery stick, very finely chopped 300g field mushrooms, very finely diced 1 large egg, lightly beaten 200g mature Cheddar, grated

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat.

110g/4oz unsalted butter 110g/4oz caster sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 110g/4oz self-raising flour 1-2 tablespoon milk

Add the pepper, leek, carrot, onion and celery and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes; if they produce lots of juices, cook them out. Transfer to a large bowl.

Method:

Fold in the egg, 150g of the cheese and 100g of the breadcrumbs. Mix well and season. Transfer to a greased, base lined 28.5cm x 13cm x 6cm deep loaf tin. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.

Preheat the oven to 160C / Gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until set and the top is golden. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out, slice and serve with gravy.

Fold in the flour, adding a little milk until the mixture is of a dropping consistency.

Using and electric or hand mixer, Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale.

Beat the eggs and add a little at a time and stir in the vanilla extract.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden-brown on top.

Vanilla buttercream

Vegetarian lentil loaf Ingredients:

Ingredients:

50g (5 oz) green lentils 75g (3 oz) brown rice 50g (2 oz) wheatgerm 175g (6 oz) dried breadcrumbs 2 eggs 1 large onion, chopped 1 teaspoon dried thyme 100g (4 oz) passata 1 dessertspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup 1 tablespoon soy sauce grated mozzarella cheese (optional)

125g unsalted butter 250g icing sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Gel Colouring Drop of milk – if needed

Recipes by: Bill Evans Shannyn Quinn Jess Hayes

Method: Use an electric or hand mixer to whip the butter until it becomes a pale colour – this should take around 2-3 minutes depending on the mixer speed.

Preheat oven to 160 C / Gas mark 3. Cook lentils and brown rice according to packet directions.

In a large bowl, mash lentils. To the lentils add wheatgerm, breadcrumbs, brown rice, eggs, onion, thyme, passata, ketchup, soy sauce and cheese. Pour into 23x12cm (9x5 in) loaf tin.

Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Sift in the icing sugar to the whipped butter and use a wooden spoon to combine the butter and sugar.

Now use the electric mixer to beat the ingredients until they are fully combined and form pale buttercream. – this should take around 3 – 4 minutes.

Add colours and flavours at this stage in small quantities. You can always add more, but too much will ruin your buttercream and you will have to start over.

If the continuous beating has left the buttercream too soft, leave it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes

Wash it all down with a refreshing Christmas tipple..

Christmas Cosmo For a Christmassy cosmopolitan, mix 500ml of vodka and 500ml of ginger wine. Stir in a litre of cranberry juice, then add the juice of five limes and some sliced stem ginger. Garnish with lime zest for the finishing touch.

Angel Kiss Pour 400ml of Tia Maria into small cocktail or liqueur glasses in equal measures. Carefully share around 250ml of double cream into the glasses over the back of a teaspoon so it floats on the surface of the Tia and creates a separate layer. Dust the cream with cocoa and serve.

Spicy Tomato Non-drinkers can still indulge in the Christmas spirits.

Mix 300ml of tomato juice with the juice of one lemon. Add a desert spoon of Worcestershire sauce and half a tablespoon of Tabasco sauce. Finish off with a pinch of salt and some ice.

Life|Christmas|12

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Jingle all the way

W

ith just over two weeks to go until Christmas Day, it’s finally appropriate to dust off those old Christmas tunes.

After all, if Christmas is about one thing (other than, you know, Christmas) it’s about familiarity.

Christmas music, as anybody who works in retail will tell you, is without doubt one of the most predictable and noticeable trends. Usually fanfared in

by Noddy Holder’s shrieks of ‘IIIIIIITTTT’S CHRRRRIIIISTMAAAAAAAS!’, love them or loathe them Christmas songs have become a staple of the seasonal frivolities.

Festive hits the likes of ‘Last Christmas’, ‘Fairytale of New York’ and ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ are pumped into offices and shop fronts in Liverpool and worldwide usually as soon as the Halloween stock is cleared from the shelves. Some of the world’s biggest musical names have recorded Christmas tracks, from George Michael and Wham!, to Mariah Carey, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and even, oddly, The Wombles.

But what about home-grown Christmas tracks? It’s the most famous musical city in the world, so where’s Liverpool’s stake in all this?

The Beatles - The Fab Four recorded a string of Christmas messages between 1963 and 1969 which were issued to members of their fan club.

Conceived as a means to appease fan-club members whose letters, due to their sheer volume, were not always being answered in a timely manner, the records included songs such as ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Good King Wenceslas’ along with the band’s messages of thanks to their fans.

Post-Beatles, Paul McCartney also recorded a variety of Christmas material, including ‘The Christmas Song’ in 2012, previously done by the likes of Nat King Cole, and the decidedly weird ‘Rudolph the Rednosed Reggae’, the B-side to ‘Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time’ and arguably the most bafflingly awful thing Macca ever put to vinyl.

Dead or Alive - Before he became a walking warning against plastic surgery, Wirral native Pete Burns was the frontman of New Wave heavyweights Dead or Alive. Catapulted to fame in the mid-80s by single ‘You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)’, which went on to become one of the most-played songs of the decade, Pete and co. rose to become one of the most recognisable pop acts the world had seen. Little-known ‘Blue Christmas’ was added to the latter half of their fifth album, 1990’s ‘Fan the Flame (Part 1)’ .

The Farm - Whilst not strictly a Christmas hit, Liverpudlian pop band The Farm released ‘All Together Now’ on their debut album ‘Spartacus’ in April 1991.

Despite Santa and Rudolf being notably absent from the lyrical content, the song was inspired by the Christmas Day Truce of 1914 when soldiers from both sides of the World War I front laid down.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood - In 1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who had their origin in the Liverpool punk scene of the 70s, released ‘The Power Of Love’.

The follow-up to their massively successful debut single ‘Relax’, is again not a ‘Christmas song’ per sé, but hit the number one spot after its release in November in conjunction with a Nativity-themed video.

Elvis Costello - While not locally born, the parents of the legendary Elvis Costello were both from the city and he lived in Birkenhead for a number of years.

The famously acerbic songsmith’s idea of Yuletide fun clearly involves no sleigh bells ringing or children singing after he released a song alongside Irish traditional legends The Chieftains entitled ‘St. Stephen’s Day Murders’ that tells the story of poisoning family members with a toxic ham on Christmas.

The Justice Collective - On a somewhat more positive note, 2012 saw The Justice Collective reach number one with their cover of the Hollies’ ‘He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Brother’ in aid of various charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster.

Musicians and celebrities including Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Melanie C, Paloma Faith, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Beverly Knight collaborated on the song, shoving X Factor winner James Arthur off the top spot.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - Among all the gaudy pop ostentation, it can be easy to forget the humble Philharmonic Orchestra. With the comings and goings of modern pop and X Factor winners with the shelflife of warm milk, the orchestra provides a relaxingly stable and serene backdrop to the Christmas period with arrangements of ‘Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing’, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ and ‘Silent Night’.

When being pummelled in the eardrums from all angles with a barrage of festive pop stuffing, it’s not always obvious that sometimes the real oldies are the best, Cliff Richard notwithstanding.

Share your thoughts and suggestions on Twitter by tweeting @ JMUJournalism or use the hashtag #LiverpoolChristmasHits.

By Ryan McElroy

� � � t s � ... � T f�� � s How we reported on the big Liverpool stories of 2013...

See you all in 2014

As we get ready for the holidays, Claire Bynoe looks at ways that you can help bring a little extra happiness to someone

© Flickr/Rosie

O’Beirne

C

hristmas has once again landed and while most of us will be doing our last minute shopping and stocking the fridge for the big day, Christmas can also be a hard time for many.

Many charities and organisations in the UK and Liverpool are reliant of volunteers help over Christmas time.

From local food banks to helping the elderly, there are a variety of volunteers that dedicate their time to improving the lives of others.

Christmas tends to inspire people with the festive feel and sometimes encourages us to think about others. Working as a volunteer to help those in the community during this time has the potential to be extremely rewarding.

Liverpool Life takes a look at some of the organisations that depend on volunteers to keep them successful.

Help out an elderly person Many older people during Christmas feel the worst of the acute loneliness and isolation. A new confidential helpline for the elderly was launched nationally in November of this year to provide information, friendship and advice. The Silver Line was established

by Esther Rantzen who also founded the children’s helpline, ChildLine, in 1986. After the death of her husband in 2000, Esther wrote about her own experiences of living alone after losing a loved one. She also explained how the loneliness among the elderly is a ‘creeping enemy’ that ‘erodes confidence’ in a recent interview in The Telegraph.

Director of Development and Communications at The Silver Line, Sarah Caplin said: “Christmas should be one of the happiest days of the year. However, sadly, nearly half a million older people in the UK will be spending this Christmas by themselves, making it a profoundly lonely time.”

Volunteers are absolutely crucial to The Silver Line organisation to give them the ability to achieve their aim of reducing loneliness and improving the lives of the older generation. Volunteers at the organisation will call an older person once a week for chat and to check they are ok. They are there to listen to any worries the

Esther Rantzen, founder of The Silver Line charity elderly person may be feeling and to transfer them to specialist services if they are suffering from abuse of neglect. This can make a big difference to the elderly’s experience, especially during the Christmas season and gives them an opportunity to share their life stories.

Speaking about volunteering for this service, Sarah said: “It is incredibly rewarding talking to older people who want to chat about their lives and are so pleased to have the opportunity to talk to someone who is really interested in them. We have around 5000 enquiries from prospective volunteers wanting to train as Silver Line friends.”

Funding of £5 million for the organisation was granted by the Big Lottery Fund to support the first two years of operation. In its first year alone, The Silver Line is expected to have over one million calls. Staff and around 3,000 volunteers will operate a 24/7 helpline which will help up to 12,000 older people.

The organisation is now letting callers know that the help line will remain open during the Christmas and New Year holidays and that they can call anytime, day or night.

For more information about how you can volunteer visit http:// www.thesilverline.org.uk/ or alternatively, if you are an elderly person who would like to speak to someone during Christmas call The Silver Line on: 0800 470 80 90.

Join in at a food bank Food banks are set up to provide emergency food for those in crisis.

Around 13 million people within the UK live below the poverty line.

The Trussell Trust food banks provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support for those experiencing hard times.

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Life|Christmas|13

The Liverpool Life team voted for their favourite Christmas films, and here’s what they came up with:

Elf

Love Actually

Wrapping up for Christ

mas. pic: © Flickr/Micah

Taylor

city centre on the following days between 4pm and 8pm:

sy time for food

Christmas is a bu

banks

In Liverpool, there are many food banks available for people to volunteer as support workers and also for the public to donate food.

Food banks help to prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdowns and mental health problems.

Chief Executive of the Big Help Project that runs food banks in Knowsley, Barry Cooper, said: “We are completely reliant on people’s donations of food and volunteers time we have well over 50 people that volunteer across the borough and we couldn’t operate without them.”

Volunteers help sort through the foods that have been donated and check that they are in date. The foods are then packed into boxes so it is ready for people in need to collect.

He added: “We will be receiving around 50 tonnes of food this year which is a colossal amount of food and that is just people’s generosity of all sort of people maybe in their thousands.”

Recently, the organisation held a foodbank drop off point at a Tesco store in Prescot. Over the three days the foodbank was there, the public gave over 3.6 tonnes of food that will help many families. Speaking on the response of those that benefit from the food donations, Mr Cooper said: “The vast majority are very grateful but some are extremely embarrassed, it must be really tough having to turn up to a food bank as you can’t afford to feed your family. We see people at their very lowest of their lives, some are literally in tears and we are able sometimes to sign post them to other services for support.”

For more information about the food banks in Knowsley visit: www.knowsley.foodbank.org.uk.

Wrap up for Christmas The Royal Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is dedicated to defeating lung cancer. To raise money this Christmas, the foundation is looking for volunteers to go along to their Christmas Wrapping Days. The days will be held at the Met Quarter in the

Wednesday 18th December Thursday 19th December Friday 20th December Saturday 21st December By offering your time, you will be wrapping presents for shoppers in exchange for donations to help the charity beat lung cancer.

Help at a homeless shelter

Home Alone

As the nights get darker, the cold starts to creep in too leaving many people who are on the streets feeling the chill.

Volunteers can help their nearest homeless centres that have life-changing services. There is a range of opportunities available suiting a variety of people with different skills.

There is always need for help in the kitchens for preparing and dishing out food. Many shelters also need help with the maintaining laundry and creating learning workshops.

The Whitechapel Centre in Liverpool provides 365 days a year service for those homeless people who need some help to pick up their lives. Their aim is to deliver positive outcomes and find solutions for those that have found themselves to be homeless.

Last year, around 2,200 people came to the centre for help and support. For more information visit their website: www. whitechapelcentre.co.uk/

Miracle on 34th Street

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The Holiday:

Life| Christmas| 14

A Liverpool guide to the Festive

Pantos

By Will Shaw

A

lthough Liverpool is midway through its pantomime season, there is still much to look forward to over the festive period.

Ray Quinn stars in Peter Pan at the Liverpool Empire theatre which starts on December 13th, running through until January 5th.

The former Brookside actor and X-Factor runner up, told JMU Journalism: “I am absolutely super excited.

This is the big one for me. I can’t wait to come home and get back on the Empire stage. It’s one of the best theatres in the country and I love performing here to a home crowd.”

The show will feature another Brookside legend, Louis Emerick, who will play the famous baddie role of Captain Hook.

Little Red Riding Hood will also be showing at Liverpool Actors Studios throughout December.

Bah

Humbug...

Nick Seddon once again takes on the role of Scrooge and discusses alternativess to the traditional celebrations

I

s it just me, or does Christmas become rather stale by the time the 25th rolls around?

Once the presents have been bought, the festive songs have been nothing short of exhausted and the annual embarrassment of the Christmas parties have all concluded, the actual day itself can be rather anti-climactic.

Whilst seeing one’s family can be regarded as a special treat, the thought of sitting at a cramped table next to Aunty Betty, having been blackmailed into sporting the itchiest of jumpers

Louis Emerick, who will play the The show which adopts a Scouse twist, with Little Red Hood’s mother sporting rollers and pyjamas, famous baddie role of Captain Riding features just four actors, including local actors Gemma and Cath Rice.

Hook, told JMU Journalism, “I am Brodrick Liverpool Empire will host a three-day ballet bonanza The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Swan so excited. I have played Captain with Lake being performed by The Russian State Ballet & of Siberia across consecutive days.

Hook before but this is my first Orchestra Fred Lawless’ popular musical comedy, The HitchhikGuide to Fazakerley, also continues at the Royal time in the Empire. I am looking er’s Court through until January 11th. As well as the laugh-aminute performance, the Royal Court also offers a meal forward to being home for for just ten pounds extra.

Christmas and performing in my However, if you want a more interactive experience, audiences are invited to join the Philharmonic orchestra hometown with the best audience and choirs for a sing-a-long in Rudolph on Hope Street.

The production will be taking place at the Philharmonic in the world.”

knitted specially by her for the occasion, it makes you wonder if the turkey dinner is really worth all of the hassle.

I am not suggesting that Christmas should be ditched all together, but I do feel that one can find alternative arrangements once the big day finally does come around.

When boredom strikes, the first port of call would naturally be the television.

However, with it being reported that almost half of the schedule on Christmas day will be repeats, it seems that it will be down to Doctor Who to once again save the day.

With the telly out of the picture, it seems that the only solution is to visit your local pub. It is hard times for the industry, so why not treat yourself to a pint and some pub grub, safe in the knowledge that you will not be forced into playing yet another DVD game.

If you are running out of ideas, one can always rely on good old Mother Nature and escape everything with a winter walk.

Treat yourself to the tranquillity of everyone being indoors and absorb the pleasures of the outdoors on what will undoubtedly be a brisk winter’s day.

However, if the pub is out of the question, your walking shoes are in the washer and your distant family has you trapped in its clutches, just remember it could always be worse.

It is easy to be pessimistic about Christmas day, but all things considered, it is a day off. So grab the beers, eat as much chocolate as possible and ban the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’.

With their tongue firmly in cheek, some of the JMU Journalism team predict the future...

2013 Christmas number one X Factor winner X Factor 2013 winner Sam Bailey FA Cup Winners 2014 Everton Wimbledon winner 2014 Andy Murray Premier League Winners 2014 Manchester City Eurovision 2014 UK representative McBusted

Name of Simon Cowell’s child Simon Jnr Scotland independance vote result NO World Cup Winner Germany To gain a knighthood David Beckham Eurovision 2014 winner Azerbaijan Grand National 2014 winner Sydney Paget

Life | Christmas | 15

Selfies Of the Season

Some of the Liverpool Life team posed for a selfie in front of our Christmas tree!

Why not send us your selfies?

Email: livlifenews@gmail.com Twitter: @livelifenews

Make your own

Rocking Robin Christmas cards

with Simóne Foggin’s easy step by step guide.

Step one: Using a circle template (sticky tape works wonders) cute out two even sized circles in each of the brown and red card.

Step two: Take a small section of the brown card, fold it over and draw on your robin wings. Next cut them out and you will be left with two identical shapes.

Step three: Take your red circle and cut out a small section along the top this will create your robins red breast.

Step four: Cut out a small yellow triangle for the beak. Lay out all your pieces, you should now have the right elements to create your robin.

Step five: Now it’s time to put it all together.

Next take a black fine liner and draw on some legs and eyes. Add on some final touches using gold stickers. (A gold gel pen would work just as well!)

Why not have a go at using the same techniques to create a christmas pudding card.

Life| Christmas| 16

Dress our dolls!

Jess McDonald explores the winter fashion, ready for our own ‘dolls’ to wear.

We all love wrapping up for Christmas, whether it be in our best winter jumper or our warm, woolly coat, festive fashion is everyone’s favourite.

Even the manliest of men can be spotted in the merriest attire at this time of year, making keeping cosy fun.

Walking through town you can admire the clothes of local fashionistas, from fur hats to mittens it is clear that the ladies and gents of Liverpool have got their daytime winter wear down to a tee.

The only nightmare before Christmas tends to be finding the ideal dress to rock around the Christmas tree, how do you wow the people that see you every day? Here’s how.

Girls, blow the dust of your highest of heels, we all want to look special, so why not get your hair done, or better yet do a DIY job with your heated rollers.

This season has been invaded with sequins, so take this into account whilst picking the right look for you. All Saints has an abundance of sparkly skirts and dresses that are perfect for your

Topman shirt £8

party, with ASOS and Topshop also having some glittery items in stock.

Another big hit for us girls this year is tuxedos; they look super stylish and compliment your figure in all the right places. Matalan offers a fabulous female suit by Abbey Clancy with a nice price, with The Koople’s displaying the best in tailoring if you’re willing to pay a slight bit more.

Guys, get in the spirit with your best pair of brogues. You may not admit it but we know you want to look good, so why not do it in the coolest kicks provided by Schuh, with deals on formal shoes.

Also take a look at the finest fitting shirts in Topman, with some currently priced at £8. Or, if you are after something a bit more up market, new pop up store Simon + Simon provides unusual shirts with reasonable prices, so why not grab one whilst you can and stand out from the crowd.

Finish off the outfit with a traditional tweed blazer fellas, and you won’t disappoint! For the ladies, we know you want to keep warm too, so team up your ensemble with a trendy coat, with

Matalan’s Abbey Clancy suit £70

Simon + Simon shirt £49

Topshop dress £60

Why not cut out JMU Journalism’s very own Damian Leonard and Nadine Higham, and dress them in this season’s fashion picks?

All Saints dress £198

Life|Features|17

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E OPEN The Royal Li verpool Golf Club will be The Open Cha hosting mpionship fr om Tuesday to Sunday 20 17th th. It will be the 12th time Hoylake has that hosted golf ’s oldest Major it one of the , making sport’s most anticipated ev ents on the golfing ca lendar.

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Every two years, Liverpool holds a 10 week long appreciation of extrao rdinary art called the Biennial. It is the larg est international contemporary art festiva l in the UK and will see a range of artworks, pro jects and a dynamic program of events.

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Life|Sport|18

Why I will always love Liverpool

Sky Sports’ Spanish football pundit and journalist, Guillem Balague, gave us the lowdown on what the future holds for Liverpool FC, his eternal love for the city of Liverpool and an insight into the life of one of the greatest footballers of all time, Lionel Messi

by Jack Horrocks

G

uillem Balague is a man who lives and breathes football.

The Spaniard has a knack of being in the know when it comes to transfers and breaking stories and he was back in Liverpool at the weekend launching his new book, the city where his journey began over two

Balague’s new book ‘Messi’

decades ago.

Balague is a very busy man. He is the face of Sky Sports’ coverage of Spanish football, appearing regularly both on live match coverage and on the weekly round-up show, Revista de La Liga, as well as a writer in The Times and in Champions magazine, not to mention an award winning author.

After finishing a journalism degree in his native Spain, a 23 year old Guillem Balague came to Liverpool to learn English and do some scriptwriting. In what was only meant to be a short stay, Guillem soon fell in love with the city and ten years later Liverpool had become home for the Spaniard.

Guillem reminisced on one of his first memories of the city which was when he made his first visit to a Liverpool pub. He said: “I have two very fond memories of my time in Liverpool.

In 1991, I walked into a pub and I

Guillem Balague looking forward to relaxing after a busy year. asked for a coffee and everyone in the pub started laughing at me and looking at me like I was stupid.

I was really confused as to why there was no coffee in Liverpool pubs but now they are everywhere, that was the first thing that I noticed about Liverpool!”

Guillem said: “The people are really friendly and I will be forever grateful to the people and the city of Liverpool. It is a city very close to my heart, I understand the scouse accent very well, give me 30 minutes in Liverpool and I start speaking in a scouse accent.”

A

close friend of former Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, Guillem struck up a relationship with his Spanish counterpart when writing his book ‘A Season on the Brink’, an account of Liverpool’s sensational Champions League winning season in 2004-2005 and have been in regular contact ever since.

Liverpool have never hit those dizzy heights of European football following Benitez’ departure and as a Liverpool fan himself, Guillem is one supporter who would one day like his friend Benitez to return to the Anfield dugout.

Guillem agreed that there was definitely some unfinished busi-

ness for Benitez on Merseyside.

He said: “Benitez adores the Liverpool people, the city and the club. He won’t be coming back anytime soon, especially with the current owners in charge, but I would like to see him back at Liverpool one day and I know he would like that to happen too.”

‘Messi is different because from a very early age he has known he is the best, even in the park as a kid and then through the youth teams at Barcelona’

Photo courtesy of John Quintero He was also quick to praise Liverpool forward Luis Suarez and Liverpool’s impressive form in the Barclays Premier League this season under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers. A big fan of Suarez, Balague made it clear he still has a way to go to be considered the best in the world.

He said: “Liverpool have a great opportunity this year, Suarez is growing but he is not on the same level as Messi or Ronaldo.

Who knows, it could finally be their year.”

Guillem was in Liverpool launching his new book ‘Messi’, a player who he believes is the best ever player to play the game.

His motivation behind writing the book was so people could get to see the ‘real Messi’ as he is a person who seems to have more questions about him than answers.

H

e said: “I spoke to Leo [Messi] himself and his family and he is really a person who nobody really knows about, I wanted to find out the things that you don’t see in the newspapers, what his teachers have to say, his coaches and his family.”

He added: “He is a complex character like most professional footballers, but Messi is different because from a very early age he

has known he is the best, even in the park as a kid and then through the youth teams at Barcelona. He talks like he is 40 years old, even though he is only 26. He left home at the age of 13 so he had to grow up really quickly. He is a humble person from a humble family who is very level headed.”

The Spaniard also gave a message to young aspiring journalists, he said: “My message to all young journalists today is to always remember your microphone.

Everybody has a fascination to be a sports journalist and publish their own opinion but you must remember only the top journalists can do this and if you forget, you are a worse journalist for doing so.”

He added: “I’d definitely recommenced a journalism degree over a sports journalism degree because it allows you to learn the industry, and get an understanding of the profession.”

A very busy year for Balague has seen him write two books, recently publishing ‘Another Way of Winning’ a biography of Barcelona’s legendary former manager Pep Guardiola, and now ‘Messi’.

So what next for Balague? He said: “I just want to rest! I have got a couple of projects that I am working on, so we will have to wait and see.”

GERRARD TO MISS FESTIVE SCHEDULE

By Karl Cryer

Liverpool FC will face the prospect of entering the Christmas holidays without skipper Steven Gerrard.

The captain will be out for up to six weeks, after suffering from a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s weekend victory over West Ham. The midfielder limped off the pitch in the second half and had a scan to confirm the full extent of the damage.

Liverpool will be missing their captain in key fixtures against Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea before the New Year.

Gerrard could potentially miss up to eight matches leading into January, including the team’s FA Cup tie against either Oldham or Mansfield.

Another addition to Liverpool’s injury worries include Jordan Henderson, who was on the receiving end of a cynical challenge on the weekend by West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan.

Liverpool have confirmed that Henderson has bruised his ankle and are hopeful that he will be fit in time to play Tottenham this weekend. Daniel Agger is also expected to make the squad.

Other long term injuries include striker Daniel Sturridge and defender Jose Enrique, who are expected to return as late as February. Rodgers will be forced to pair defensive midfielders Lucas and Joe Allen over the Christmas period after paying £15 million for the welsh midfielder.

THEY THINK IT’S ALL OVER

By Jack Horrocks England realised their World Cup fate last week when the draw was made for the 2014 World Cup Group Stage in Brazil.

Roy Hodgson’s men were pitted in Group D alongside Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica which will see Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard come up against teammate, Luis Suarez of Uruguay.

England have never previously beaten Italy or Uruguay at a major tournament, while they have never faced Costa Rica.

It has been described by many as the ‘Group of Death’ with SOME fans giving England little hope of qualifying from the group ahead of the world’s 6th and 7th ranked side in the FIFA World Rankings.

England open their campaign on 15th June against Italy before travelling down to Sao Paolo to face Uruguay on 19th June which will see England face the side that knocked them out of Euro 2012 in Kiev.

England will then finish their round of Group Stage fixtures against Costa Rica on the 24th June in Belo Horizonte which will see Everton’s Brian Oviedo test himself against England.

Life/Sport/19

Liam Smith victorious in front of home fans

Liam Smith lands a stiff left jab on Mark Thompson before stopping him in the fourth round.

Twitter@LiamBeefySmith

By Karl Cryer Liam Smith defended his light-middleweight belt at the Echo Arena over the weekend.

Smith, nicknamed ‘Beefy’, took his glory against Mark Thompson in under four rounds. Smith successfully floored challenger, Thompson, two times in the third round before referee Phil Edwards was later forced to intervene about 13 seconds into the next round.

Smith announced after the win that he had signed a new multi-fight deal with promoter Frank Warren.

The light-middleweight winner is set to be preparing for his next fight in the first week of March next year. Smith is also a holder of

the Commonwealth belt and will be looking to take the British belt in the future.

The Echo Arena also hosted Derry Mathews’ loss to WBO European lightweight champion Stephen Ormond over the weekend.

The 30-year-old fighter damaged his right hand in the second round.

Mathews lost the fight by a unanimous decision at the end of 10 rounds, with Dublin-born Ormond given the win 98-93, 98-93 and 98-92 by the ringside judges.

During the bout the Liverpudlian fighter was largely out-boxed as he appeared to be lacklustre in the ring. A final flurry in the ninth

round proved to be the icing on the cake as the Irish man Ormond, shot a smile to the crowd as he knew there was no doubt the judges would go against him.

Upon further hospital inspection it was discovered that Mathews had suffered a broken hand.

Following the defeat, Mathews was forced to relinquish his WBO European lightweight title, he still remains the Commonwealth lightweight champion.

Mathews remained upbeat on Twitter following the loss though he tweeted : “This career of mine has got to be the biggest roller coaster have ever seen full of ups and down but

lucky enough am still commonwealth champ” The loss is Mathews’ ninth career defeat, putting further pressure on him to rebuild his reputation, he is already making plans for a possible rematch in March if his hand heals in time.

Other boxing related news includes Liverpool-born David Price, who has pulled out of his heavyweight encounter with Russia’s Evgeny Orlov this month, due to a virus.

The fight in Neubrandenburg was set to be Price’s return to the ring after two losses to American Tony Thompson earlier this year.

On the junior boxing scene,

bantamweight Paul Butler of Ellesmere Port easily beat Ruben Montoya over 12 rounds. ‘The baby-faced assassin’ as he is known continued to impress as his fledgling career grows moving onto 14 fights unbeaten. Former cruiserweight world champion Maccarinelli floored Englishman Fry in the first and sixth rounds.

Warren said: “I’m delighted that Liam has signed with me again and he’ll spearhead my plan for shows in Liverpool next year Along with the other top fighters like Derry Matthew, Paul Butler, Joe Selkirk and Matty Fagan, we’ll be doing some more big shows in Liverpool in 2014.”

Motorsport teen in need of sponsorship

By Karl Cryer

Local teenage racing-ace Declan Jones is looking for new sponsorship for next season’s championship.

Jones, an 18-year old from Halewood, finished runner-up in last season’s GT14 Championship and is one of best teenage motor racing drivers in the region.

Declan started karting in 2005, followed by moving into cadet karts and winning four out of five

notice cups.

In 2011, he moved from karting to join the Ginetta Juniors and gained multiple top 10 finishes and eventually ended the year at 13th place in the championship.

Last year Declan raced in the VdeV Endurance Championship.

In the Dijon two hour race he achieved a victory in his class, third in prototypes and sixth overall in the standings. Other impressive achievements include Rockingham, where he finished third, with both a second and first

at Silverstone.

He is managed by his father, Kelvin, who is searching for local sponsorship to help challenge for the title next season.

Declan will be aiming to add to his experiences as a young professional driver and will be looking to move to the next level in future championships.

He is currently being sponsered

by Hero Energy, the minty and taseful canned energy drinks company.

Teen wonder: Declan Jones

Match fixing: the scourge of the beautiful game

By Jack Horrocks

Six footballers have been arrested and bailed following claims into match fixing worth thousands of pounds.

One of those arrested is Tranmere Rovers’ captain Ian Goodison. The 41-year old Jamaican international was quizzed by police and later released on bail until April.

He is the second Tranmere Rovers player arrested in relation to the

spot-fixing scandal after Akpo Sodje was also questioned by police.

The secon was Goodisons brother Akpo, 33, who also plays for Tranmere.

A statement from the club said: “Tranmere Rovers is aware of reports regarding Ian Goodison and Akpo Sodje. This is an ongoing investigation the club has no further comment at this time.”

The National Crime Agency (NCA)

acted after ex-Premier League footballer Sam Sodje, Akpo’s brother, was filmed apparently bragging that he can arrange for professional footballers to get yellow cards or even sent off in return for cash.

The other players under investigation by police are former Premier League striker, DJ Campbell, Oldham Athletic’s Cristian Montano and ex-footballer Steven Sodje.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Liverpool

LifeSPORT TUESDAY, 10-DECEMBER-2013

ROVERS GO PLATINUM

INSIDE SPORT

League One Tranmere fans welcome new donation incentive

by Josh Weale

The Tranmere Rovers Trust has announced that a Platinum donation package designed to attract larger investment will now be available in their on-going campaign to take over the club.

The trust is made up of supporters hoping to table a bid to take over control of the club from current controlling shareholder Peter Johnson.

The new platinum package is intended to attract larger donations to the trust in exchange for exclusive benefits including the chance to travel to a match on the team coach once a season, invitations to platinum-only events, such as a private tour of the training ground, the opportunity to have a squad number and also the chance to be a ‘Director for a Day’.

To get these benefits the trust is hoping to gain a minimum donation of £3,000, previously offered packages were the corporate package, £500 minimum; the gold package at a £300 minimum and the basic option, which allowed fans to donate just £50.

It is hoped that the new platinum package will attract indi-

GUILLEM BALAGUE SPEAKS TO LIVERPOOL LIFE Page 18 Prenton Park: Home of Tranmere Rovers Football Club which is subject to a takeover bid by supporters viduals who can commit sustainable investment. So far the Tranmere Rovers trust is the only viable bidder that has come forward in public to take over the club and it is thought that five hundred thousand is needed to cover the costs and contribute to the club’s working capital.

The chairman of the Trust, Ben Harrison, said in a statement: “These platinum packages will reward those who are able to invest significantly in our campaign, while also maintaining

a one member, one vote ethos.

Regardless of an individual’s level of investment, all members will have the same voice and the same opportunities to make themselves heard.”

Peter Johnson the current controlling shareholder gave a boost to all possible bidders last month when he said that he is willing to write off £5 million worth of historical debt. Johnson, who has owned Tranmere since 1987, is hoping that this gesture will encourage a bid from someone

who has the long-term sustainability and interest of the club at heart.

The Trust has said that it would like the takeover plans to be put together and formalised by New Year’s Day. The Rovers trust takeover plan has sparked a lot of opinion on the club’s forum, Total Tranmere.

A member on the forum Matt93 said: “I do see the possibility of them doing better, they would look for new things and new ways of doing what

they want, which I believe includes fresh ideas regarding ticketing. If they were not going to do any better, then surely all you’d get is a load of mini Peter Johnson’s, not trying anything new to stimulate revenue. New impetus will be good because with it comes the potential for progressive and sometimes modern business ideas.”

Details of the Trust’s plans can be found at www.tranmereroverstrust.co.uk.

LJMU sports season of good cheer

by Josh Weale

LJMU’s sports teams head into the festive break in good spirits following some impressive results over the last term with several teams unbeaten in their respective leagues. Sports including Badminton, Gaelic football, American football and women’s netball have all been well represented by teams from LJMU in 2013.

The LJMU women’s netball first team remained unbeaten winning seven out of seven so far this season beating Northumbria second team convincingly at IM Marsh on Wednesday December 4. They go into the New Year top of the Northern 1A division and look on course to continue their good form in 2014.

Captain Ally Thomas said following the victory: “Northumbria are a really good side, when we last played them we only won by nine so we were expecting a hard game, we started off really strong though and played well together as a team and individuals, we kept the intensity up throughout the game which helped us reach the score 62-31.”

Their first game in the New

Year will see them face off against their rivals, University of Liverpool’s first team on January 29.

2013 has also been a good year for the Men’s badminton first team who currently sit three points clear at the top of the Northern 3A division. They have an unbeaten record winning five of their six games and drawing the other. Their most recent victory was an emphatic 7-1 triumph over Chester’s first team in the league.

Jack Berry, who is the team’s captain, said: “Throughout the season, the team’s performances have been getting better as we are learning each other’s games and forming strong partnerships.”

Next up for LJMU’s first team is a trip to Lancaster to face fourth place Lancaster seconds.

American football has also been a sport that LJMU have excelled in this year. Since the team’s inception in 2008 they have had mixed fortunes, however, this year LJMU Fury have really impressed, winning five out of five fixtures. They head into the New Year with a lot of confidence following a 49-20 dismantling of Staffordshire Stallions.

The team’s social secretary

LJMU women’s netball team (Left to right): Eleanor Cardwell. Kelsie Hill. Becky Smith, Ally Thomas, Becky Gregory, Leanne Murphy, Rachael Leach, Amber Hazleton, Megan Melbourne, Dale Ingram.

and Centre on the offensive line, Ross Jones, said: “This season, through good recruitment, proper organization and training regime we are five out of five, which is already the most successful LJMU Fury team ever at this point of the season.” They will next play on February 2 against Derby’s

first team.

It has been a particularly good year for LJMU’s Gaelic men’s team who close the year as BUCS A Championship champions with a win over fierce rivals Liverpool Hope University. They are now the most successful university team in Britain

becoming league champions for the eighth time. They beat Hope University by a score of 0-06 to 0-05 in a tight game. It has been a successful season and they will be hoping to improve on their record in 2014.

Liverpool Life wishes all the teams good luck in 2014.

© LiamBeefySmith/Twitter

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