Welcome to “Sunday Snippets” a weekly feature from birkenhead.news. It is a round-up of important local news stories from the last seven days. Click or tap on each story to read the full article.
Claire House takes part in Eurovision filming
With Eurovision 2023 being held in Liverpool, Claire House was very excited to be asked to be one of the Merseyside charities and community groups featured in the BBC’s Handover and Allocation Draw Show.
The filming took place at Claire House in Liverpool on Monday 16 January, with Noah Cunningham and Codie Ann Gibney, who are supported by the hospice, having star roles.
The BBC sent over a film crew to film the young people and their families alongside some of the hospice staff reading a few lines of a poem written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Other organisations will also feature in the poem, which is being filmed around Liverpool.
Sixth form college GCSE resit results smash national average
Birkenhead Sixth Form College students have significantly outperformed the national average for GCSE resit results, which includes two Ukrainian refugees sitting English GCSE for the first time.
Nationally recognised for outstanding results at A Level, Birkenhead Sixth Form College has another string to its bow in offering a second chance to students who had failed Maths and English at high school.
The national average pass rate was measured at 20% in 2022 after a full year of resit study, with exams taken in the summer. Birkenhead Sixth Form College’s pass rates of 53% in Maths and 72% in English Language are made all the more remarkable given that students had only been studying at the Claughton-based institution for just three months and turned their fortunes around when taking the exams in November.
Consultation starts on plans for new Birkenhead neighbourhood
Consultation is now underway on plans for a new neighbourhood in the heart of Birkenhead based around a proposed park area reclaiming unused land.
The Dock Branch Neighbourhood will surround a new park on the former Dock Branch rail line 
which cuts across part of the town.
Combining residential with retail and leisure uses the aim is to create an attractive and vibrant place for people to live and work as well as a destination to visit.
Join birkenhead.news on Facebook
Keep up to date with all the latest Wirral news by liking our Facebook page.
Wirral MP: Government’s Strikes Bill is shameful attack on rights of working people
Margaret Greenwood MP has said that more than 12 years of abject failure from Conservative governments are to blame for widespread public sector strikes.
The Wirral West MP was taking part in a debate on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in parliament, and she accused the government of pushing nurses, ambulance workers and other dedicated NHS staff to the brink.
The bill, if passed, would allow the government to make regulations setting out the minimum service levels required in certain sectors during strikes.
Weekly warm space opens in Port Sunlight
A new weekly warm space is opening at Port Sunlight’s Church Hall to help local communities in Wirral keep warm and connected this winter.
Run in partnership with Port Sunlight Village Trust and the village’s Christ Church, the warm space will open every Tuesday, 9am–12pm, from 17 January. Everyone is welcome to join and take part in activities, enjoy free hot drinks and toast, and access information from local support services.
Claire Bates, community engagement officer at Port Sunlight Village Trust, said, “With rising energy and household costs, it’s important people in our local communities have somewhere nearby to relax, feel supported and stay warm. The warm space will be open every Tuesday for people to use as they wish, whether you want to make new friends and take part in activities or simply read a book and enjoy a hot drink.”
Work on the West Kirby flood wall gathering pace
The new flood protection wall along South Parade in West Kirby is literally taking shape now.
The distinctive ‘wave’ design of the 1.2m high wall can now be seen clearly from the Riversdale Road end of the promenade towards the junction with Salisbury Avenue and it is believed that by the end of January the installation of the pre-cast wall units will have been completed all the way down towards the Old Baths Site.
With the wall units in place, works around them can then take place as the contractors move closer towards the completion of the scheme.
Wallasey school achieves prestigious award
Weatherhead High School in Wallasey has been awarded the prestigious ADHD Friendly School award by the ADHD Foundation for their work with young people with ADHD in the last academic year.
Weatherhead High has achieved this remarkable accomplishment by showing that they are proudly committed to supporting all learners within their school, whatever their particular needs, to improve their life chances through education.
The school considered all of the main barriers to learning for children with ADHD and has sought to address them in their everyday practice. This includes the use of tactile resources as a tool to assist students with regulating their attention such as fidget resources and resistance bands as well as notepads, enabling pupils to doodle to help focus while listening.
More than 1,500 North West ambulance workers announce five new strike dates
More than 1,500 GMB Union ambulance workers across the North West have announced five new strike dates
Paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff will walk out.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said, “GMB’s ambulance workers are angry. In their own words ‘they are done’.”
Rogue landlord handed banning order
A Wirral landlord has become the first in the region to be served with a Banning Order, which will prohibit him from letting or managing any property to tenants for the next three years.
The order against Frank Morrow from New Brighton was granted last week (10 January) by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) at the Civil Court in Liverpool.
As a result, not only is he banned from letting property, he is also prohibited from being involved in letting agency or property management work in England for a period of three years.
Free Friday night football sessions in Wirral
Free football sessions are being run in several areas across Wirral thanks to some grant funding from The Youth Justice Sport Fund.
Every Friday until 31 March 2023 football sessions will be held at the following locations:
- Guinea Gap Leisure Centre, Seacombe 7pm – 9pm
- Leasowe Leisure Centre, 5pm – 7pm
- The Oval Leisure Centre, Bebington 5pm – 7pm
Wirral Police weekly news round-up
This is the birkenhead.news weekly round-up of police activity in and around Wirral during the previous seven days.
What’s On? Guide
Visit our “What’s On?” guide for Wirral and the surrounding areas in the coming weeks.
Why not follow birkenhead.news on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to news@birkenhead.news
Sign up for our FREE newsletter using this form:
Facebook comments