Beryl Bellew is a founding volunteer at the North Liverpool Foodbank. Since the introduction of lockdown, Beryl has had to take a step back from the project she helped to create to shield from coronavirus. Now, as lockdown eases, Beryl is gradually returning to her former duties and provides us with this month’s instalment of the … Read more
Kevin McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool, shares his thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on the economy of Liverpool’s music industry. “Covid-19 has impacted on every walk of life causing unimaginable grief and pain but one of the worst hit sectors has gone largely unreported – the music industry. In Liverpool I’d … Read more
The club that launched The Beatles is facing permanent closure due to Covid-19. The Cavern, on Mathew Street, is arguably the most famous club in the world attracting more than 800,000 visitors a year and is a key factor in the city’s £100m a year Beatles industry. But the owners of the legendary live music … Read more
As sixth-form students in the city receive their A-level results today, Liverpool’s Director of Education, Jonathan Jones, has a message for them… Today will be a day of highs and lows. This year in education has been challenging and unimaginable for everyone but has been particularly unsettling for students who would have ordinarily been sitting … Read more
Mayor Joe Anderson reflects on the opportunity that lockdown presented him and how it’s never too late to make a difference. “As someone who was classed as a shielded person, and told I was at a much higher risk of not being able to fight off COVID-19 if I became infected, I found it a … Read more
Director of Culture Liverpool Claire McColgan MBE explains how Liverpool has taken the future of the city’s cultural offer into its own hands… Pandemic… this isn’t something that has been in any cultural risk assessment I’ve ever done. We ‘do’ culture and plan events here really well but COVID-19 hit like a slow motion car … Read more
Kevin McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool, shares his thoughts on the experience of a virtual music festival and the people that made it possible. “On Sunday 19th July 2020, thousands of people would have been in Sefton Park enjoying some welcome sunshine and another glorious festival of music and general good … Read more
Paul Riley, one of Liverpool City Council’s ‘Green Champions’, reflects upon the year that has passed since the council declared a Climate Change emergency and the changes that people have made, even in the face of a pandemic, and how we can build back better. “12 months ago, as a member of Liverpool City Council’s … Read more
Coronavirus is with us for the foreseeable future. Liverpool’s Director of Public Health Matt Ashton explains why we all have to remain cautious to prevent a second wave. Over the last few months, we have all made considerable sacrifices in order to get the Covid-19 coronavirus infection rates down. Whether it’s not being able to … Read more
Culture guru Phil Redmond reflects on the threat Covid-19 poses to the cultural sector we know and love and the importance of a recovery plan to ensure its future. “It has been estimated that a worst case scenario for the cultural industries would be a loss of 400,000 jobs and £74bn in annual revenue across … Read more
My name is Simon Huthwaite and I’m the Operations Manager for St Andrew’s Community Network. The Network is the home of North Liverpool Foodbank and as detailed previously, we provide 3-day emergency food parcels to people in crisis across the north of the city in partnership with the Trussell Trust. We have noticed an increase … Read more
Surgeon Commander Rourke was born in Liverpool. He read Natural Sciences and Medicine at Cambridge University, graduating in 2002. He completed basic surgical training in Cambridge, Norwich and Edinburgh before returning to Merseyside in 2006 for specialty orthopaedic training. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2011 and in 2012 … Read more
The death of George Floyd will be remembered for a very long time to come, as a watershed moment for how the world views issues of race and equality. It is tragic that it has taken a senseless death to force us, both here and in the US, to take a look at the way … Read more
For Carers Week, carer development worker, Chris Monaghan, has written a poem imagining the hopes, needs and frustrations of what a carer experiences every day, every week, every year. Making Carers Visible You wouldn’t recognise them in a crowd. They don’t really stand out. They don’t wear a uniform, or a badge or even a … Read more
Kerry Mallaby is a carers development worker at Liverpool Carers Centre, run by Local Solutions and commissioned by Liverpool City Council. The team supports carers across Liverpool with assessments, a health and wellbeing programme and access to breaks from their caring role through the Mytime initiative. During Carers Week, 8–14 June, Kerry explores how lockdown … Read more
Last year, 235 young carers in Liverpool were assessed by Barnardo’s Action With Young Carers or received support from them. Young carers look after a parent with a long-term condition and sometimes also younger siblings. Here, Aimee Hadwin, 18, explains what life is like for a young carer and how Barnardo’s have made a difference. … Read more
In November 2018, following work with partner agencies and young people, Liverpool City Council submitted a bid to the global children’s organisation which cemented its intentions to put young people at the heart of everything it does. On March 7th 2019, Unicef UK officially accepted the bid. Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Employment … Read more
Ann Williams is a commissioning and contracts manager with Liverpool City Council’s Adult Services and Health team. She leads on the Innovation Network project which is all about using new technology to make new connections and help people to be happier and healthier. Covid-19 has brought with it many difficulties — and for many — … Read more
‘Annie’ (not her real name) was subjected to two years of abuse at the hands of a violent partner. Here she tells how she sought help and how she emerged from the ordeal. Promises are easily given, but seldom kept. It’s a sad fact about the nature of human existence. Despite what might be pledged, … Read more
COVID-19 changed lives overnight. Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson believes it is a catalyst for bold action to change the way the city lives in the future… The pain, suffering and the grief we have shared over the last few months has been hard for us all to witness and most of us will have … Read more