Huytontwodogs: January 2012

Thursday 26 January 2012

What do Older people do ...in Huyton?

Do we ever stop and think what do our older population do all day? Or perhaps you may be like a lot us in presuming that they probably go to a local day center and do some art, flower arranging, pottery or even book writing ....that's what the Huyton writers group actually did , they wrote a book all about 'moving to Huyton' and it was even in the Liverpool Echo as well as a fabulous launch arriving in a Limo to do a book signing in the Huyton Library where 300 people turned up to ask questions and give interviews all about Huyton and its history and to talk of the older residents personal memories. The most inspirational aspect of this group is they were all over 70.

But, the cuts in the arts in Huyton has meant no more local books to write. This Blog will have a look at the impact of the Arts on the Elderly and a little peek into the book Huyton Two Dogs. Below are some of the old Huyton photos from the Prescot Museum Archives chosen by the Huyton Writers for the book

Old Map of Huyton

The internment camp in Huyton 2nd WW

Prisoner Of War Camp in Huyton 2nd WW

The Internment Camp , one of the biggest in the country,was created to accommodate those 'enemy aliens' (Germans, Italians, and Austrians)deemed as a potential threat to National Security by being spies or saboteurs. Churchill's demand to 'Collar the lot' meant that 27,000 people ended up being interned in the UK. Many of the internees were refugees from the Nazis including many artists attacked for their 'degeneracy'. The Camp became known as 'The Huyton University', on account that many of the internees were academics, or artists including Martin Bloch, Hugo Dachinger and Walter Nessier.

St Micheal Church dates back to the 12th Century and is situated in Huyton Village which dates back to the 5th Century. Inside the church there is an early Norman Font and a Chancel screen dating back to 1460.

If you click the link Huyton2dogs it will take you to the whole book and can be downloaded from Knowsley Councils Website.

When we got the group together to write Huyton 2 Dogs Book it became a labour of love. You see, I was born and bred in Huyton so to be able to research our local history was fascinating. My mum still lives there and is very much involved in her community with her community allotment, her local Caldwell Centre...but not the arts. You may be wondering why is Huytons nick name Two Dogs....well, during the 2nd WW Huyton was home to three camps: Prisoner of War Camp, Internment Camp and American GI Camp. It is said that the American soldiers were known as Dogs and there were white and black American soldiers who were always fighting in the many local pubs in Huyton (see the book) and we got the nickname two dogs -

Huyton Huyton two Dogs Fightin'
Ones a Black and Ones a Whiten'

Now, the issue is with the current austerity measures has meant that Knowsley Council has had to make substantial cuts not just in jobs and some public services but ...to the Arts and to the Elderly people.

My over 70s are looking for something to do in the area of Arts in Huyton and the group are angry and sad and feel that they are the last group of people to be considered for funding of arts, they feel its 'all for the young'. I would ask why is the community arts always the first to go, is this because this seems to have the least prevalence in society or is it because the Arts especially Community arts, may ironically lack a voice.

Of course being involved in anything as an older person is good so long as it gets the brain working, conversation going and general well being usually improves. This is what three of the Huyton Book Writers (Betty Meaghan (my mum) Phylis and Joan) had to say about the impact of being involved in the book and art in general.

Joan, Mandy (me) Betty and Phylis (sitting Down )

I asked them how they felt about there not being anything to do with Art available for them in their local area of Huyton.

So, if art has the capacity to be a voice to the voice less, especially in the deprived areas such as Huyton, how do we hear, or see or feel the presence of the older community. Well, the answer is simple ...we don't.

Its funny how we don't ask the question, "What do the older community do all day"? Until that is, when it affects you. I asked Knowsley Arts Services why does there seem to be no art services available to the over 70s in Huyton and the reply was, "due to the cuts .....etc". Although they were very helpful with suggestions of other activities (not art ) but there was the barrier of the events not going on in Huyton.

The impact of re-telling of Huyton history gave such a relevance to their past experiences and gave the 8 authors of the book instant fame in Huyton with a book signing in The Huyton Library and the printing of over 1000 Books. We were inundated with requests to organize writers groups in other parts of Knowsley, such as Kirby, Prescot, Whiston and Halewood but of course the funds are not available despite the measured impact on Health and Wellbeing.

Now the book is published and is downloadable on the Knowsley Council Website . Infact the book has been accessed from USA, Canada, Singapore, Japan and lots of Spanish locations.
So, my advice to all fellow Huytonians if you cannot find anything for the older community then the idea is you set it up yourself....we did and I think we are going to do alot more I will keep you posted .

Local Video with some interesting stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqSbLSmOXuw

To download the Huyton2Dogs Book go to:

Knowsley Councils History Website

Bigsociety

If you have read the book Huyton2Dogs you will have realised that Huyton has an interesting vibrant past not only is it mentioned in the Doomsday book , but it has raised many famous people from past and present as well as having links with such as :
Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Alan Bleasdale , Stan Boardman, Sir Rex Harrison, Baroness Sally Morgan, Peter Noone, Wes Paul, Phil Redmond , Freddie Starr, Stuart Ferguson Victor Sutcliffe (5th Beatle ) Football Players - Steven Gerard, Peter Reid, Joey Barton, Lee Trundle, Tony Hibbert, David Nugent and Leon Osman. No doubt Huyton will continue to raise more sons and daughters of future fame.

Anyway, I'm not here to go on about the book, although there is some reference to Community Spirit of the men and women of Huyton of what I want to talk about now. Mr Cameron from the present Coalition Government chose Merseyside as one of the four areas selected to promote his new Big Society agenda...and Merseyside said "No Thanks". It was felt that this concept of promotion of volunteerism for the ' Greater Good' had come at the 'wrong time'. Huyton's Phil Redmond was disappointed that it didn't develop and said "In pulling out of the Big Society we lost our direct access". It was perhaps to some Community and Voluntary Sectors and by Liverpools Labour Leader Joe Anderson as unfair to volunteerr groups who had had their funding cut due to reduction in Council funding , he told the BBC, "I have therefore come to the conclusion that Liverpool City Council can no longer support the big society initiative, as a direct consequence of your funding decisions".

But, many here in Huyton have always been from the view point that The Big Society was perhaps a cover job for getting the good spirited to work for no pay, especially when every city in the country would be made to to choose which voluntary sector projects would loose its core funding and and for having to make thousands of Public sector redundancies because of financial cuts to Local Government.

So, Mr Camerons 'Big Society' is not going ahead as suggested in Merseyside....but in reality, all over the country including Huyton, there are principled projects based on making communities a better place to live already going on and always has been going on...especially here in Huyton. There are so many networks run on Good Will already in operation serving members of Huyton and the Old School House is one of them..

Local Huyton Residents on Allotment Fun Day

This was the Open Day Last Summer all the allotment Group Invited all their families to the fun day th show off their work.... We had a fab day and all the kids got seed to grow and ours are still going .

Having visited, this brilliant example of hands on community engagement I can see why so manyuse it. One of the peoples projects is the Community Allottment (see below)

The harvest from the allottment is always shared and the feelings of achievment generated is really magical.

The Top Garden Rose ...wow !

Another group that uses the School House is Veggie Van that supplies local people with cheap vegatables. This service to many especially the poor is a lifesaver and used by alot of the local community. Of course the centre and all the organisations that make use of the cheap affordable rents and resources are part of a much wider network can have many benefits, such as health and well being, improved mental health, friendships, better heart health and good on your purse.

I spoke to a local service user and Huyton resident and asked how has this Community people led initiative a great example of Big Society?

Because my mum and her pals involvement at the Old School House Allotment my kids in Toxteth and local Huyton kids get to be involved in something much bigger than growing vegetables ....they see a good example of people being together in ways that are almost post-war days 'everyone pulling together. They see and experience older people as vibrant and funny especially when we sit and have a cuppa and talk about the old days when there was no money and they made their own toys, or their first kiss or what it was like to wait for you Dad to come home from the war and you had never even met him. Stories of dancing in the Grafton and drinking only lemonade at 18years old and families torn apart because of marrying a Catholic or a Protestant. So yes, its so much more than growing veg, its The Big Huyton Society.

There are loads of communites doing it for themselves heres some Links below and if you want this blog to mention what you do then please leave a comment and I will be glad to put you on.

North Huyton Neighbourhood Network

North Huyton Childrens Centre

Art on the Network

Huyton New Deal For Communities

My Journey Into Radio

This Is Me, Amanda Meaghan at Radio Hope (Hope University )

Hello, this blog is all about my Radio Hope News Week. I am a mature student on a PostGraduate Radio Broadcasting and Online Journalism at Hope University Liverpool.

Now, for those who don't know what a 'News Week' is, its a real opportunity to have a go at putting into practice all the skills that we have aquired over the past year with our much respected tutors Gary Morrisroe and Paddy Hoey. I feel I should just inform the reader that this course has been specially designed by Gary as an attempt to address the diversity issue within the BBC and other media outlets. This specific programme is the only course in the UK and we have students from all over the UK and abroad and I feel lucky that it is being run around the corner from where I live.

I am aware that the BBC is changing ....yes its moving to Salford Quays and hopefully this will bring with it a new agenda of change and our course will be ready with a fully trained group of diverse people. (In theory anyway)

I came onto this programme simply because I wanted to change my career and at age 45 years of Brilliant age I am so glad I did. I actually used to read the news with Janice Long (great lady) 17 years ago and in that time the world of radio has changed dramatically in terms of technology and I believe Radio is making a come back despite the BBC cuts in Local Radio. Of course news will always be news, but the new journalist must be armed with the knowledge of social media, Adobe Audition and Burli which was not around when I read the news. I want the reader to know that when I joined this course a year ago I was a techno Virgin and NOW I am not.

My news week was a great experience and I know I have learned alot simply by doing.

“Tell me and I’ll forget, Show me and I’ll remember. Involve me and i’ll understand”

Confucius (551 BC-479 BC) Chinese philosopher.

My Co Worker was Jess whom I have known for ten years (Jess was an actress in my Award winning Play) and she is skilled in calmness and organisational skills, so we complimented eachother well plus she has a great sense of humour.

Being involved in this week was for me very exciting and yes there were times when I thought I would die, if I didn't get the desired peice out on time but I felt really alive and involved for the first time in years so I kow I am on the right journey and I have been on a few...misguided journey's that is. There has been many learning curves and challenges in the news week and I aware of what could have been done better ...being impartial is a particular challenge, (still learning that one I'm afraid). My telephone interview with the Anfield food bank went particularly well (listen below), this is when you can either do a live or recorded interview) I felt really comfortable and passionate about this issue because it resonates with how the cuts in social welfare and public job losses are impacting on the working poor in England.

I noticed with myself when the pressure is on I will do what I have to do and 'Wing it' when I have to in the process, perhaps being an actress has helped in working under pressure.

What goes into a News Week:

Working in a pair you have to produce, present and drive the desk of Four Shows and within each show we must produce a two way interview with a member of the News team and allocate them a specific story that is of News importance. Also we have to organize a telephone Interview again making sure the relevance and importance of the story. We must also be aware that we are producing a local show so some Merseyside News Input is necessary. Also, as if that was not enough, we had to be a broadcast journalist on the other 4 News teams so we had to write two ways (pre-written interview on a allocated news) for the other shows and we had to source two interviews for our own show live or recorded. Also, we had to write two news bulletins using Burli nad Adobi Audition and using our editing and voice skills learnt on the Post grad. Of course being aware to present the news stories in order of importance. All this must be ready for hourly news so the pressure was on.

My favorite jobs on radio are presenting and two-ways, (Pre Written Interviews with either a social, political or Sports Correspondent ) I think I sound most as ease in these roles. Although reading and writing the news is fun I think I sound like a Sergeant Major and its not really for me.

Another aspect of radio which used to make me' heave in fear' was the desk....I have got better, in fact, alot better, I still get a little panicky but no longer want to burst into tears. For anyone who is thinking of coming into Radio Journalism but may be thinking that the technology is too scary, well I just want you to know that I was awful and I was terrified, but I DID it and I still cannot believe that I have come so far. Thats because of great teaching as well.

I LOVED being part of the News Week and I work great in a team. I don't like being a boss (in this situation) but I do like being left on my own to write my pieces I reckon being a journalist can be a lonely place sometimes but I'm ok with that.

Here's a taste of my Best bits of Radio Podcast.

Merseysides Demon Drink Problem

Welcome to this Blog, I will be looking at the Love -Hate relationship Liverpool has with Alcohol.

Being brought up in this fine, funny and talented city I am only too aware of the impact that Booze has on the lives of its people. My Father was one of the most intelligent men I have ever met, he had the first central heating firm in Liverpool and when he was sick in hospital with TB Brian Epstein came to visit him. But besides all that and my Dads natural comic ability he was a Chronic Alcoholic and left us at the early age of 64, dieing of Sclerosis of the Liver. So, I chose to do my Radio Hope Package on Liverpool and Alcohol.

I don't know what it is about Liverpool that on the one hand it can be a hardened, binge drinking, loud mouthed, drink fuelled City (arottennd that's just the women) then on the other hand ..... it can also be a highly cultured, political, (scousers are not afraid to speak their views) hilariously funny and its an extremely friendly place to be. This is why we are famous and yes we do 'speak with an accent exceedingly rare' etc. But there is a serious problem that is almost unspoken about Liverpool ....We have a problem ....that will not go away if we don't get serious about how we address....the problem with BOOZE.
Because of the social aceptability of Booze our children are now exposed more than ever before to this toxic liquid, as we have seen in AlderHey over the last ten years with an increase in children being treated for alcohol poisoning. When we think of where we get our ideas and comfortable attitudes towards this lethal drug we don't have to look far , because every Soap Opera (Eastenders, Corrie and Emmerdale) has the much frequented bar.... The Vic, The The Rovers and The Woolpack. People may assume that children learn drinking habits from their peers when in fact its more likely to be learnt behaviour from our Parents. Some of the recent Statistics released by the North West Public Health Observatory have informed us that Liverpool has some of the highest alcohol fatalities in the UK (adults and children) we also have:

The highest Alcohol admissions in England

The highest Crime related to alcohol

Residents are twice as likely to die from Alcohol related conditions

33 AA Groups

And has England's first ever Dry Bar -The Brink

(Public Health Observatory)

But, Liverpool and its relationship with the 'hard stuff' is a complex area and would indeed be too much to cram into my 5 minute radio package so I really had a hard job on my hands.

Liverpool was labelled the 'Binge Capital' by The Guardian Journalist Stuart Jefferies a few years ago, a label that has done this city no favours especially post 'Capital of Culture'. Was Liverpool's problem with Alcohol seen more as a cultural issue, perhaps Liverpudlians are seen to use drink to make themselves funny because, after all, we are famous for churning out well known Liverpool characters and Comedians...and maybe there is a connection. Or perhaps it is the Working Class drinking men's clubs that started us on our love affair and dependency on Booze. At present the Public Health Agenda is to set a Unit Price Per Alcohol based on alcohol product strength, however this has attracted alot of ctitisim from groups who describe although this has brought about alot of critisism claiming this is Anti-Alcohol., super markets who sell cheap booze will stand to profit but not the likes of Sainsburys or Waitrose who sell the more 'up-market' beverages.

The Drinkaware charity have recently commented on the new proposal for the drinks indusrty to water down alcoholic drinks to combat the nations addiction to daily doses of the dreaded drink. Another critisied proposal is for higher taxation on stronger alcoholic drinks. But , where is the personal responsibility to drink sensibly and are the sensible drinkers in society having to pay the price, literally, for the non-snesible drinkers ?

According to experts, one in four men and women in the UK are currently drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol that are causing, or have the potential to cause, physical and mental damage.

In the UK the number of alcohol-related deaths has more than doubled in the past 16 years, with over8,000 people dying of conditions such as alcohol poisoning and liver cirrhosis every year.

Sir Ian Gilmore, special adviser on alcohol and chair of Health Alliance at the Royal College of Physicians, outlines the health risks of drinking every day and recently this month urges drinkers to have two days off per week.

So.... who really is responsible for the high alcohol consumption -society or the individual. Is it fair to lay the blame for ones own behaviour on the social problems in society such as ,Unemployment or stress or even blame the availability of cheap booze outlets. Is it possible that these 'excuses' are actually preventing many heavy drinkers and addicts from properly addressing the problem by taking personal repsonsibility for a self harming lifestyle choice. So, what can be done in Liverpool, I asked Local Liverpool PCT Communiy Health Liason Officer Michelle McKeoen her thoughts on the problem and what Liverpool should be doing to address the issue.

As the frontline staff deal with so much in the A&E I was lucky to speak to Senior Alcohol Nurse, Sarah Haywood, at Aintree Hospital Liverool.

Some of the statistics revealed at Aintree Hospital indicated that women are amongst the highest group in terms of increased drinkers overall. I spoke to a young Liver patient who told me how old she was when she first started drinking.

In Liverpool, as with other major cities like Manchester, Glasgow and London alcohol not only costs the NHS millions , but also is associated with loss of business due to customers staying away from city centres for fear of physical or verbal abuse. One of the creative ways to address this was to set up the only Alcohol free bar in the country- The Brink is an innovative way to create an environment that is safe and is staffed by 75% ex-addicts or alcoholics that have been on the rehab programme. This Social Enterprise can do no wrong the praise for this intervention is just pouring in ...Kate Middleton is now one of the patrons . I interviewed the Brinks Manager Carl Alderdice.

I asked interviewed two members of staff in recovery how the Brink has impacted upon their lives.

The Brink is addressing the issue of alcohol dependency in a unique way but almost obvious. Why had Liverpool not done anything like this before judging by the problems associated to Booze that have been simmering for years. The People who have gone through rehab have been given a second chance and are an inspiration to the rest of us.