Friday, May 29, 2009

Darwen Time Capsule On Leisure Centre Site

Local people are being invited to take part in a competition to suggest the 10 best things to be placed in a time capsule that will be buried at the new Darwen Leisure Centre that’s due to open in December.

Councillor Michael Law-Riding, executive member for leisure and culture for the Council said: "I am sure this competition will create a lot of interest among local people.

“It’s a perfect opportunity to use your imagination and give future generations an insight into life at the beginning of this century.”

Winners of the competition will be invited to join the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen at an event to bury the time capsule later in the year.

Send your suggestions to Freepost RRHYZKBRBSLA, Communications and Marketing, Town Hall, Blackburn, BB1 7DY before the closing date of July 31, 2009.

The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Full competition rules can be found on the Council website: www.blackburn.gov.uk/competitions

Are you tired of being contacted by telesales people?

If you are sick and tired of receiving telesales calls who just won't take NO for an answer then you may be interested in this website: http://www.phonespamfilter.co.uk/.

According to the site PhoneSpamFilter.co.uk is the only service explicitly designed to provide users with scoring algorithms so they can automatically block phone solicitor calls.

The site has been designed to offer a free service to assist the general public in identifying annoying telemarketers. The site's content is user generated, meaning everyone can contribute to the growing database of numbers and associated comments.

You can search for telephone numbers to read what others have to say about them, browse by area code to see who is operating in your local area and log your own complaints.

The site could be particularly useful if you have caller ID. If you're having problems with annoying & persistent telesales calls visit PhoneSpamFilter.co.uk today to make a complaint and read what others have to say.

Richard Smalley Blog - Our time in France

Darwen Online contributor Richard Smalley left Darwen in 2001 to travel the world. He has now agreed to share some of his experiences with people back home through regular blogs.

Richard writes:
We have all heard that French people are either rude or ignorant towards us on our holidays. But, I have to say after my week here in the Dordogne region in south - east France they have been fantastic towards us and blew all myths about French people out of the window for me.

The last time I drove through France we broke down on the way back from the football championships in Portugal 2004. We were stranded on a roundabout just outside of La Rochelle on a Sunday night. To our surprise a polite French family in a camper van pulled up and helped us by taking my friend to the nearest garage for some diesel. The family later returned and fixed the engine for us and then left as if it was au naturel. It was either that or somebody was looking down on us.

So, after two trips to France I really haven’t got anything but praise for the French. I have met up with 16 family members for a once in a lifetime gift from my parents to stay in a seven bedroom mansion in the French countryside. My family travelled from Australia, Bulgaria, myself from Sweden, Leeds, Cumbria and the majority drove from Darwen.

We visited the quaint town of Duras for the Monday market and had a lot of fun tasting the local cheese, bread and wine at the stalls. There are also four wine making areas in this region so if you like wine, this is certainly a place for you. The scenery, towns, villages and more importantly for me the food and wine have been wonderful. We also went for an excellent five course meal for only €19 each. I have been very impressed with France and I am sure you wouldn’t be disappointed either. Magnifique.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Calls for Janet Anderson MP to vountarily publish all her expenses

Janet Anderson has been challenged to publish her expenses in full, ahead of the July deadline. The call, by her Conservative opponent, Jake Berry, follows repeated attempts to obtain details of the Labour MPs expense claims since July 2008.

In response to a further request from Jake Berry, Ms Anderson failed to justify why she had voted against the reform of MPs expenses and a Freedom Of Information Act request he submitted, asking for the full details of Ms Anderson's second home expense claims, was rejected.

As the Daily Mail has recently revealed Ms Anderson's sky-high travel expenses – enough to allow her to drive around the globe almost twice in a year – Mr Berry said such claims must be published in detail.

Since 2001, Janet Anderson has claimed almost £139,000 to maintain her end terraced house in Darwen which she designated as her second home.

Mr Berry said: "As far as I am concerned my main home will always be here in Rossendale and Darwen. I will never change the designation of my second home purely in an attempt to maximise the amount of expenses I could claim as it appears some MPs have done."

“The voters of Rossendale and Darwen deserve to have confidence in the person who represents them", he added. "I have always believed in openness and transparency regarding MPs expenses. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

"I call on Ms Anderson to voluntarily publish all of her expenses. I have been seeking this information for over a year and I cannot make sense of the mileage or second home allowance claimed," Mr Berry said.

He said that a chain of events has led him to speak out about why he thinks the people of Rossendale and Darwen deserve better, and as a taxpayer first and foremost, he was "disgusted" by the treatment of residents.

For the third year running she has racked up the biggest mileage claim in Parliament with 41,984 miles to her name at a cost of almost £12,000.

"I will always seek to be transparent and honest with my travel expenses. I believe change is required to clean up politics," Mr Berry stated.

"Only an immediate General Election can clear out the old system and bring in a new transparent and open system of MPs' expenses."

Links

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1187122/The-6-2m-Scandal-MPs-taking-taxpayers-ride-extortionate-travel-expenses.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/5078358/Labour-MPs-twice-round-the-globe-mileage-claim.html


http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/05/26/labour-mp-janet-anderson-feels-expenses-heat-61634-23711350/

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Error on For Darwen party leaflets

Promotional leaflets have been arriving on our doormats in the run up to the town council elections in June. However, leaflets distributed by the For Darwen party have caused some confusion by listing the election day as Thursday 6th June.

As many of you will already know, the elections are being held on Thursday 4th June, although most will no doubt have already noticed this was a printing error.

Darwen Online contacted For Darwen to enquire about the error but when we rang the number printed on the leaflets we were put through to Darwen Timber on Queen Street?


An email has been sent and we await the response to confirm whether the date was wrong on every leaflet or whether the problem was isolated to one area of the town.

Did you receive the leaflets with the incorrect date on? Don't forget to vote on THURSDAY 4TH JUNE.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Local band Kreuz talk to Darwen Online

Local band, Kreuz, who are playing on the main stage (amonst other venues) at this years' Darwen Live will be updating readers of Darwen Online with regular updates.

The band, who have seen a lot of success despite being together less than a year, say that they have gained local popularity through word of mouth, dedication and commitment. If you want to read more about the band please read our original article: Darwen Live: One to watch or visit their myspace page.

The band have agreed to write regular articles to keep Darwen Online visitors updated on their progress throgh the music world. No doubt there will be some ups and downs along the way, but I for one, really enjoy the music they produce and feel confident they will see huge success. Below is their first contribution:


"Wednesday the 20th May saw yet another success for the Darwen hot shots Kreuz, the venue was ' The Studio ' Manchester and the task in hand was to qualify through an even tougher 'Stage 2 ' of the biggest national competition for un-signed bands.

The event organisers Surface unsigned had already moved Kreuz' set date for Stage 2 from Monday the 18th to Wednesday the 20th May making ticket sales and final arrangements somewhat difficult.

Kreuz guitarist Glenn Evans recalls "We had to pay £20 per car to park in Manchester city centre, and whilst we were there our bass player Simon Pickup came face to face with one of the actors in Hollyoaks. Simon said hello only to be ignored in a true celeb fashion!"

Just to participate in this kind of event is difficult, the point scoring system during the early stages is made up of text votes, points for tickets sold by bands and musicians get to vote for each other, so in theory technically poor bands can qualify at the expense of a more talented band.

Later in the competition there will be an industry vote which is basically a judging system and makes more of bands and there individual talents. The band will now compete in the regional semi final at Manchester Academy mid July, a coach trip is being planned so if you are interested in supporting the band please call Cindy on 07930759471 tickets will include entry to the venue and return coach fare from Darwen.
For an insight into what you will be in for on the night go to -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtpQntn6DGM"

Be sure to show your support for the band at Darwen Live this weekend. They will be playing on the main stage, Franky's Bar and Millstone. For a full line-up, including times click here.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

UltimateHandyman.co.uk. A popular DIY forum

Popular online forum ultimatehandyman.co.uk has been providing millions of visitors with valuable free information on DIY hints and tips. Maybe you've used the website yourself, but did you know it was run by a Darwener?

The site, which was started as a hobby, has been voted website of the month by magazine WebUser and now boasts over 500 static pages and regularly receives over 50,000 page views per day.

Here is what owner, Chez Rossi, had to say to Darwen Online:

"Ultimatehandyman.co.uk was started in December 2004, I remember waking up one morning and just decided to make a DIY website. I had always had a keen interest in DIY and have previously renovated a couple of properties."

"One of the major obstacles of house renovating was unreliable tradesmen and on several occasions I had been let down by tradesmen that did not even show up or have the decency to call to say that they were not coming."

"The tradesmen that did turn up, often were unreliable or expensive and sometimes their workmanship left a lot to be desired, this was my motivation for making one of the countries largest DIY websites as I was determined to help people increase their DIY skills and knowledge."


"The website has over 14,000 pages indexed on Google and is now hosted on it's own dedicated server because the site gets too many hits for shared hosting to cope with!"

"I have lived in Darwen all of my life and was born in Queens park hospital in 1971. I attended Sudell primary school and Moorland high school. I never really liked school and would do anything to get out of going and so my school sickness record was appalling."

"After leaving school I had a couple of jobs before getting a job as a process operator, working continental shifts for ICI acrylics in 1991, the company has now changed it’s name to Lucite international and I now work for them on the maintenance side, rather than production."

If you would like to visit the website to ask DIY questions please visit http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk.

At the time of writing Chez is now the latest person to register on the Darwen Online forum. Please extend your warm welcome to him and congratulate him on a successful website if you get chance!

The Traveller Returns

Our new "columnist", Richard Smalley will be updating Darwen Online regularly with news about his travels. This is his first article:

Yet again, I woke up at sun rise at 3.42am this morning and tried getting back to sleep. It’s really some getting used to and it will soon be 24 hour daylight here in northern Sweden. This is where I am living at the moment with my Swedish girlfriend.

Firstly I would like to say a big hello to everyone in Darwen, a place I still visit after most of my travels, to see family and to have a pint in The Engineers with friends. I left Darwen Vale without any grades and started work at Octaveward in 1997.

I learnt the trade of fibreglass plastics over four years while living at Two Gates Drive and later at my own house on Alice Street. I slowly got bored with routine, paying the mortgage and not having any fun, so every Thursday I stared at overseas job adverts in the national newspapers just wishing.

Then in February 2001, I plucked up the courage and phoned one of the job adverts. It was a risky and very scary step and in a blink of an eye I was flown to The Netherlands and started work. I have never looked back and I have been travelling ever since.

From sleeping rough in Uruguay to watching England at the World Cup in Germany 2006. From being mugged in Rome to spending three weeks in the Atacama Desert. To be out drinking with Turkish gypsies to white water rafting in the Andes Mountains. Swimming in Thai jungles at midnight to talking to Prince Andrew in Southampton.

Eating with poor Laos families to lavish Argentinean steak and wine. To the heights of the Empire State building to the views of Darwen Tower and Bolivian train journeys to spotting moose in Sweden.

As I learn the language and culture in Sweden, it just shows nothing is really stereo-typed and you should take things as you see it. I will be travelling around Scandinavia soon enough and next week I will be seeing 18 of my family members in France for a special birthday celebration.

In future I wish to have plenty of enjoyment and discuss any kind of travel stories from where you or I have been. I think we can have a lot of fun on this column and I would love to read some of that true Darwen humour.

You can follow Richard Smalley via his blog: The Traveller Returns

New Darwen Online Column

ExDarwener, Richard Smalley, will be writing a regular 'column' for Darwen Online about his life travelling the world since leaving the UK in 2001.

The 28 year old would like to share his experiences with those in his hometown and hopefully inspire others to travel and see as much of the world as possible. After leaving Darwen Vale, Richard worked at Octaveward for 4 years before deciding to start travelling.

The regular write-up on Darwen Online will provide an insight into what life can be like travelling round different parts of the world, what experiences he has had and what he misses about his home town!

Those of you who can't wait for his first article may be interested in reading his own blog: http://www.thetravellerreturns.com/ which has been online since July 2008. If you would like to welcome our new contributor you can communicate via the forum where he has made a recent introduction.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Children in care to benefit from ground-breaking pilot scheme

A pioneering pilot scheme to boost the long-term outcomes of children in care is being launched in Blackburn with Darwen.

One of the borough’s children’s homes will welcome two social pedagogues – specially trained children’s specialists who work with and support the children and their all-round development – in September.

The experts from Germany are currently being recruited to start in their roles. In January the pilot home was judged to be outstanding in every area by Ofsted.

This is the first full-scale research on this issue by the government and is part of a pilot by The Department for Children, Schools and Families for eight children’s homes in the country as part of the Care Matters agenda, which aims to improve the lives of children in care.

The children’s home, which cannot be named, was selected from a huge number of interested local authorities to take part in the pilot.

It aims to see if the scheme improves outcomes for children in residential care homes.

The title social pedagogue, which roughly translates as a teacher or instructor, describes the work done by youth and residential workers. They use creative and practical skills with groups and on an individual basis to support children.

Social pedagogues are well known in Europe and are often trained to graduate level but it is relatively new in the UK.

By encouraging young people in residential care to take what might seem small steps - such as developing a routine to get out of bed and go to school - the social pedagogue can help them to make great strides in terms of developing life skills.

Gladys Rhodes, deputy director of children’s services, said: “There has never been a full government supported scheme on this scale into the work done by social pedagogues before and we are hoping that this approach will help us even further in improving outcomes for children in residential care in Blackburn with Darwen.

“We are really pleased that Blackburn with Darwen has been chosen to pilot this extremely successful way of delivering residential care which is established in other parts of Europe and has proved very beneficial for children.”

Darwen Live 2009 just days away

Festival preparations are underway with Darwen Live 2009 just days away.

This year the mini festival organised by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council celebrates ten years of showcasing local talent as well as bringing well known performers to the town.

Topping this year's bill are The Bay City Rollers, featuring original member Eric Faulkner; original Boomtown Rats, Garry Roberts and Simon Crowe along with pop-punk band The Stiffs.

The free, two-day festival will also boast many local musicians including Recall, Jah Mission Vibes and the recently reformed Jo Danuki band, making their first ever appearance at Darwen Live 2009.

Young up and coming bands will be strutting their stuff on the Youth Stage, which is also Europe's only fully solar powered stage.

And support for the event is as strong as ever with nearly 800 people joining the Council's Darwen Live Facebook group within just two weeks of it being set up.

The group currently has over 1,000 members.

To maintain the festival's family friendly atmosphere, alcoholic and soft drinks will be available from the licensed marquee on site that will be operating under the Bar U scheme as during last year’s festival, and where prices will be similar to local pubs.

Programmes for the event are available now from Blackburn and Darwen Town Halls, Darwen Library, Darwen Library Theatre and participating bars and clubs.

The full line up is as follows

Sunday May 24 – main stage

The Bay City Rollers featuring Eric Faulkner

Ray Bailey’s Soultrain

A 9-piece band featuring the Union Pacific Horns playing classic 1960’s soul.

Torrents

Top indie-pop band currently working with ‘The Enemy’ producer Matt Terry.

Jo Danuki Band

First time on the Darwen Live main stage for this recently reformed Darwen crowd-pulling covers band.

The Northern Jazz Orchestra

Featuring the drumming of band leader Paul J. Rigby, the orchestra will be performing the timeless sounds of Glenn Miller and the Big Bands.

Sunday May 24 – Darwen Library Theatre stage

Pete Brown and the Volunteers

Son of Joe Brown and brother of Sam Brown, this renowned producer is currently promoting his new album, ‘Not Before Time.’

Jah Mission Vibes

A fully-blended mixture of root reggae and ska, this band has come all the way from Darwen to perform its Afro-Caribbean music.

Darwen Music Showcase

Elite Music Services present a selection of the area’s talented singers and musicians.

Monday May 25 – main stage

Boomtown Rats

Featuring original members Garry Roberts and Simon Crowe.

The Jamie Mac Band

Legendary Darwen singer reforms the band especially for this event.

The Stiffs

‘Pop with steel toe caps’ mixed in with high-energy pop that has the forcefulness of punk.

Decadenze

This Welsh rock/metal band will be calling into Darwen as a part of their current 50-date UK tour, as they promote their debut album.

Blackburn with Darwen Music Big Band

Traditional and contemporary Big Band music, as performed by very gifted students from throughout the borough.

Monday May 25 – Darwen Library Theatre stage

Recall

Popular local mainstream music trio.

Graham Robinson

Tremendous finger-pickin’ country blues and ragtime guitarist.

Blackburn People’s Choir

Performances will run from 1-9pm on Sunday, May 24 and Monday, May 25 in Darwen town centre.

Author, Jane Eagland, to visit Blackburn library

Local author Jane Eagland is coming to Blackburn Library on Thursday, June 11 at 7pm to talk about her new novel, ‘Wildthorn’.

Set in Victorian times, ‘Wildthorn’, brings a gothic twist to a coming of age story.

Louisa wants to be a Doctor, for this she is sent to an insane asylum as an inmate under a different name.

Described as 'a bold and thrilling read' the novel was marketed for teens.

But it also has a broad appeal for adults particularly those who enjoy the great classics of the nineteenth century.

It promises to be an enlightening and entertaining evening.

Free tickets are available from Blackburn Central Library.

You can buy the book from Amazon (RRP £6.99) here: http://www.amazon.co.uk

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

MSN release heat map of MP expense claims

MSN News have created a heat map of the UK showing MP's expense claims during April '07 and March '08.

The map shows how sporadic the maximum and minimum expense claims are up and down the country with the darkest colour showing those who claimed in excess of £170,000 and the lightest showing those claiming under £100,000.


Darwen & Rossendale appears within the top category, higher than other adjacent areas. You can view a breakdown of the expense claims by clicking within any region which brings up an 'expense report'.

You can view the full interactive map here: MSN

Council secures funding for highways management plan

We might finally be about to see improvements in local road maintenance as nearly half a million pounds has been secured by the council to help with highway management. Problems with potholes in and around Darwen have been regularly reported with some roads being described as "awful" and "dangerous".

Until recently, local residents have been using websites like Darwen Online and Fix My Street to voice their opinions, but the money will also be used to develop their own online system to monitor issues - hopefully making it easier to report problems to the right people.

The Council was one of only 14 local authorities to receive full funding after making two successful bids for cash.


The money will be used to develop an online system where the public can log and monitor issues such as potholes, damage to railings and other property, report a street light which is out, or register concerns over the speed of traffic.

Further schemes will also be introduced including training for young people within the borough and an IT system upgrade.

The Council will also act as regional champions and have the opportunity to share best practice and technique with other authorities.

Adam Scott, strategic director of regeneration & environment, said: “This scheme, developed by the Council’s partners, Capita Symonds, is designed to allow local people to have more involvement in how their highways are managed and maintained.

“The DfT received 69 applications, covering 111 authorities, so to be one of only 14 successful bidders is fantastic.

“The opportunity to act as regional champion also means we are able to promote our expertise and really put the borough on the map.”

Drainage improvement work - Hoddlesden

Drainage works designed to reduce a build up of rain water on Bayne Street, Hoddlesden, are currently underway.

The area, near to St Paul’s Primary School in Hoddlesden, will benefit from improvement works which will redirect excessive rain water, travelling along the rear of Bayne Street, to an existing gully.

Completion of the work is expected at the end of May.

In August, highway resurfacing works will be carried out by Capita Symonds on the footways outside the school and the main carriageway.

Adam Scott, strategic director of regeneration and environment, said: “We carried out an investigation into the root cause of the problem and came up with a solution which will bring lasting improvement for residents and the school.”

Gandhi’s visit to Darwen

Gandhi’s visit to Darwen in September 1931 was a major event in the town’s history.

Even today older members of the community still remember the excitement Gandhi’s visit generated.

Darwen Library is currently staging a display in the Library Foyer recalling this historic occasion.


The exhibition that runs until September was created by James O’Neill and Ben Radcliffe, two students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) as part of their course work.

It features a DVD showing archive footage of Gandhi’s visit to the North West provides an illuminating commentary.

So far the exhibition has already provoked interest and positive feedback from library visitors.

Monday, May 18, 2009

New Forum Members Music

One of our latest forum members, alanfrodarwen, is already being followed by online fans via popular social networking site YouTube.

Alan, who has uploaded a number of songs has even had his work displayed on the official Fred Dibnah website. His song, Missing You, can be seen on Fred's website here: Fred Dibnah.

Other popular songs include Broken Gravestones which was featured on Dawen Online back in April.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Darwen Online Forum, if you would like to welcome him personally please visit his forum page here, where you can also find out more information about Alan's work.

Darwen resident celebrates 100th birthday!

Congratulations to Harry Duggen of Oldfield Nursing Home, Hawkshaw Avenue in Darwen, who celebrates his 100th birthday today!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Darwen Live: One to watch

Not sure who to see this year at Darwen Live? We'd like to bring your attention to local band Kreuz who will be performing on the main stage, Franky's Bar and the Millstone over the two day event later this month.

The band, who formed in 2008, has qualified for Stage Two of the Surface Unsigned Festival 2009 - the only national live music event which brings unsigned bands to the attention of the music industry!

You can watch a video of their song, No Change on YouTube:



Jordan Small (lead singer), Simon Pickup (bass), Glenn Evans (guitar) and Tom Davies (drums) are the four Darwen lads who make up the new band heavily tipped for good things!

If you liked their music video and can't wait until Darwen Live to see them you can see them perform at King George's Hall where they will be supporting Stiff Little Fingers on Friday 15th May 2009.

Red carpet treatment for young stars of crime film

Young people who made and starred in a film to show how victims of crime suffer will get the red carpet treatment at a premiere event at Darwen Library Theatre.

‘Because of You’ will play to a 150 -strong audience of young people, teachers, youth offending team workers, magistrates and a number of well known TV actors and director who supported the project on Wednesday, May 20.

Lancashire actor Paul Simpson, who has appeared in Coronation Street, Casualty and Heartbeat, directed the film, which aims to help young people understand how victims are affected by crime.

Film and TV Director Philip Wood, Manchester based actress Elianne Byrne, Coronation Street Graeme Hawley, who plays John Snape, and EastEnders and Casualty scriptwriter Ian Kershaw were also involved. The soundtrack was created alongside the young people by up and coming musicians on the grime and niche scene in Manchester Chimpo and George.

It was part of a project funded by Blackburn with Darwen’s community safety partnership, working with a group of young people aged 14 to 17 to help them empathise with victims of violent crime.

The young people involved helped to develop the concept for the film and were involved in storyboarding, acting, filming and editing, as well as recording the music for the film.

There are plans to interview real victims of crime and produce a documentary style programme to go with the film, which will then be used as a resource for work with young people.

Gladys Rhodes, deputy director of children’s services, said: “Young people are so often seen in a negative light, but this is an extremely positive event.

“The making of this film has been a very worthwhile experience for these young people, some of whom are now interested in pursuing media courses when they leave school.”

Council launches review into single persons' council tax discounts

As part of a national fraud initiative, Blackburn with Darwen Council is launching a review of the council tax discount currently awarded to single occupants of homes within Blackburn and Darwen.

This is to ensure local people are paying the correct amount of council tax due for the number of people living in their household.

In Blackburn over 20,000 households are currently claiming a 25 per cent single person discount on their council tax.

Residents who do not live alone but who incorrectly claim a discount could face serious consequences. Any person fraudulently claiming a single person’s discount could be subject to a £1,000 fine and made to pay back any award granted.


During May, review forms will be issued to households currently shown as receiving a discount, requesting they confirm their entitlement before the end of June.

If you wish to notify the Council of any changes in your circumstances please phone (01254) 585585 or email revenues@blackburn.gov.uk

Denise Park, strategic director of resources, said: "This anti-fraud initiative is designed to ensure all discounts awarded to households in the Borough are correct. It will help people avoid a fine if they are unaware of the rules.

"Please fill out and return the form. If there are any changes to the number of occupants within your household you must let us know so we can put together a revised repayment plan for you."

New vision for the borough’s children

A new and ambitious vision has been launched by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and its partners to make sure every child in the borough has a chance at a better future.

The proposals form the Children and Young People’s Plan 2009-2013, and set out the main goals to improve outcomes and boost everyday life for the area’s children over the next four years.

The Trust, formerly the children and young people’s partnership, made up of representatives from the council, other public sector organisations such as the health and police services, business, and the voluntary, community and faith sectors.

Key findings from the previous report showed that outcomes for children and young people across the borough had improved in the last decade, and sometimes exceeded national and regional trends, and that the past year has seen strong improvement in school exam performance.

But the new report states that work still needs to be done to tackle poverty and deprivation, which included issues such as dental health, rising obesity rates with age and lifestyle practices and choices.

Some of the main aims of the far-reaching plan include:

* cutting risks such as sexual activity, substance abuse, alcohol and smoking
* helping vulnerable children access better safeguards and health services
* raising attainments at all ages
* improving positive activities for young people and their families and reducing rates of anti social behaviour.
* getting more young people into training or work.

The plans have been developed with the help of children across Blackburn with Darwen schools and includes their views on health, schools, leisure time and activities and youth services in the area.

The plan, which was launched in 2006 and was refreshed in 2008, is based on the priorities set out through the Government’s Every Child Matters campaign, and has been developed by the Children and Young People’s Trust.

Peter Morgan, strategic director of children’s services, said: “A great deal of work has been done by all partners and we have achieved a lot over the past three years, but we hope to achieve even more, and help more children get the very best out of their lives, with these updated goals.

“We are underlining and reiterating our commitment to making sure that every child and young person in Blackburn with Darwen can look forward to a positive future and is well equipped to achieve these important outcomes.

“This plan is the product of the knowledge and the vision of all our partners who are working with Blackburn with Darwen, together with the positive contributions of children, young people, families and communities we serve, and we commend the goals that these challenges represent.”

To view the full plan, visit www.blackburn.gov.uk/childrensplan, or share your views, comments and ideas at cypp@blackburn.gov.uk.

Children’s Trust notes to editors:
In October 2002, the then Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, outlined government plans for a radical restructure of social services following the enquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié.

Proposals were announced to establish specialist children's trusts to jointly plan, commission, pay for , and in some cases deliver, local services for children and young people up to 19 years.
Blackburn with Darwen was selected as one of 35 areas to pilot Children’s Trusts.
The aim of Children’s Trusts is to deliver greater strategic coherence, better integration of services and improved access.

Make your mark by voting on June 4th

Blackburn with Darwen Council have made a YouTube video to help encourage people to vote on Thursday 4 June.

The video, which lasts just under 2 and a half minutes displays bin wagons, cups of tea and brick walls in the shape of an X - similar to the marks used to cast your vote on ballot papers.



The YouTube video includes clips of local sites including the Leisure Centre development and Darwen Library Theatre. It’s part of a campaign to encourage people to have their say and be part of history on June 4 by voting in the European elections, the biggest ever held in history, and the first elections ever to Darwen town council.

It’s the third time the Council has used You Tube in this way. The first video in January 2009 featured an interview with chief executive Graham Burgess while the second, posted last month, features the Workroutes initiative which helps people overcome barriers to getting back into employment.

Children from Darwen children’s centre performed X jumps while pupils from the Highercroft centre for vocational education are seen building a brick wall in the shape of an X.

The video ends with a number of Council staff holding up signs giving their reasons as to why they vote. These include having a say, making a difference and having the right to vote from 18 years old.

If you wish to pass the link on to other people it is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BwDCtube

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Darwen Live goes green

Darwen Live organisers hope to make a big impression this year by leaving a smaller carbon footprint.

The two day festival, which will feature a whole range of talented local musicians will boast Europe’s only fully solar powered stage.

The 24 ft stage will be used to showcase the borough’s youth bands at the event that runs from Sunday, May 24 to Monday, May 25.

Blackburn born Tony Fleming originally from Mill Hill is the brains behind the eco stage, which has solar charged batteries ready to back up its power if heaven forbid the sun isn’t shining.

Tony, 48, who now lives in Cornwall with his wife Tracey and their family has been living a green lifestyle for over a decade.

Before the likes of Kevin McCloud came along with his Grand Designs the couple were running a household on and promoting renewable energy.

“We got into renewable energy at Glastonbury in 1994 after we bought our first panels second hand from the festival,” said Tony.

“We’ve never looked back.”

He now has a solar powered home, office and workshop and sells his surplus to the national grid.

“We’ve brought two kids up using renewable energy and started using it before it was main stream.”

“We got into it by necessity after we bought a piece of land in Cornwall and began living a green lifestyle.”

The dad of three who runs Southwest Solar Solutions came up with the idea for a solar powered stage after attending festivals and seeing that stages are normally powered by ‘noisy generators’.

Tony’s stage is towed by a truck, which runs on vegetable oil and hydrogen gas and is fitted with nine solar panels.

They generate enough electricity to run a pa system and lighting rig plus all the energy he needs for his living accommodation inside the truck.

Just under two kilowatts can be produced in peak sunlight.

“For the Darwen Live event they’ve got three stages so in theory we’re cutting their carbon emissions by a third,” added Tony.

“It gives a really good message out for Blackburn and Darwen that they’re doing something about carbon emissions.”

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Darwen Road Closure

The road leading from the main road up to Bank Bottom has been closed to traffic exiting the A666. Previously traffic was being blocked up in an already congested area when vehicles facing Bolton wanted to turn right onto the street.

It was also considered to be dangerous when vehicles entered the road when travelling in the opposite direction - forcing drivers behind them to brake suddenly upon realising that they were slowing down enough to take the turning.


Although this didn't add to the congestion as much as those turning right, a decision was made to close the entrance to the road completely.

Those wishing to access the car parks at the rear of the bank or Post Office will now have to do so via Bank Bottom, although presumably the NO ENTRY signs which make one of the car parks inaccessible will be removed shortly!

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Darwen Vale High School Musical Evening

On Friday the 8th of May, Darwen Vale High School presented a musical evening performance by the pupils of the school and ‘The Blackburn with Darwen Music Service Big Band’.

The Darwen Vale School Orchestra opened the first half of the evening with a spirited rendition of James Bond movie themes. There followed a most enjoyable programme of solo and group performances. The first half of the evening ended with three numbers from the School Choir, including a Beatles number, ‘Penny Lane’.

We particularly enjoyed the duet ‘You can’t stop the Beat’ and a trio rendition of ‘Hallelujah’ from ‘Shreck’. All items were performed with great enthusiasm and were a tribute to hard work of the Music Department and pupils of Darwen Vale High School.

‘The Blackburn with Darwen Music Service Big Band’, directed by Paul Rigby, featured in the second half of the evening. After a somewhat confused start the audience was entertained with a series of popular numbers all performed to a high standard concluding with the number ‘Street Life’– Joe Sample.

It was the first time that we had seen ‘The Blackburn with Darwen Music Service Big Band’ in action and we were very impressed with their performance.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Darwen Academy Taking Shape

After months of work on the Darwen Academy site, the landscape is starting to change at a rapid pace now that construction is well under way.

Whilst work is expected to be completed this year, students aren't expected to move from the current site up Moor Lane until 2010.

A video was uploaded to YouTube to show the transition from Moorland High School to Darwen Aldridge Academy. The video shows what you can expect the finished building to look like in the town centre:

Darwen FC hangs up its boots!

The FA has been notified that Darwen FC will cease to exist after the 2008/09 season.

However, Darwen WILL still have a football club but it will need to be renamed in order to free the club of debts. A brand new football club is planned for the town called AFC Darwen which will need to start life in a league lower than Darwen FC.

The following statement was issued on behalf of the Vodkat League Committee on Thursday:

"The Football Association has been notified by Kevin Henry, owner of Darwen Sports and Social Club, that he intends to withdraw the company from football related activities at the end of the current season 2008-09. As this company controls Darwen Football Club, this effectively means that Darwen Football Club will cease to exist at the end of this season.

As a result, the Football Association has informed the Vodkat League Management Committee that they should make preparations for season 2009-10 on the assumption that Darwen Football Club will not be members of the League, and will not be participating in the League’s competitions."

Darwen FC was one of the oldest football clubs in the UK, taking up association rules way back in 1875. The club also boasts being the first club to play under floodlights and the first club to pay a professional footballer.

One record which the town doesn't like to boast about is the 18 consecutive defeats suffered in the 1898-99 season, a record which still stands today! It was in 1899 when the club moved to the Anchor Ground where it remained until its final season.

Despite an early and glorious start to footballing life - including an FA Cup Semi Final appearance in 1881 things quickly deteriorated for the club whilst other local teams flourished, including Blackburn Rovers. Darwen FC were relegated through the football tiers and most recently played in the North West Counties League Division Two after being relegated from Division One in 1998 due to ground regulations despite having secured enough points to avoid the drop.

Football in Darwen now face a similar fate after achieving a points haul of 40 and finishing 13th in the league the town will now have to start football life in a tier lower, albeit as a new club.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Exhibition at Sunnyhurst Wood Visitor Centre

An exhibition of paintings showing of some of Lancashire's most captivating countryside is currently taking place.

Brothers Jack and Bill Lacey originally from Blackburn are exhibiting their work at Sunnyhurst Wood visitor centre.

The beautiful landscape paintings feature scenes from Sunnyhurst Wood, the Ribble Valley, the Lake District and many other places both in Britain and abroad.

They reflect the brothers' love of the countryside and appreciation of the natural world.

The exhibition runs until June 7 and is open Thursday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, 1 - 4.30pm.

Sunnyhurst Wood is a wonderful place to visit , but is especially beautiful in May, when the Bluebells are out.

For more information please Telephone (01254) 701545.

Funding granted for youth crime reduction plan

Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to roll out a national plan to reduce youth crime.

The Council's community safety partnership successfully bid for £350,000 of Government funding to deliver several elements of the Youth Crime Action Plan.

The plan seeks to enforce and punish unacceptable behaviour but also offer support where it is most needed and better and earlier prevention.

Elements that will be rolled out in Blackburn and Darwen include giving Police and Council officers the authority to take young people from the streets at night to community centres or other safe places.

Their parents can then be asked to collect them, reminded about their responsibilities and given information about support services.

Young offenders will also be assessed at the earliest opportunity via youth offending team workers in police custody suites and after-school police patrols will be launched to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Intervention will also be offered to the families whose children are at greatest risk of serious offending and street-based teams will be created to tackle crime and disorder.

A total of £56.5 million of funding has been made available to 69 local authority areas for 2009-11.

The local Youth Task Force Sub Group will be responsible for taking the work forward.

Kevin Ruth, chair of the community safety partnership, said: “Behaviour that causes misery and suffering to others can not be tolerated and the plan sets clear consequences for those who overstep the boundaries.

“However, with this funding we will be able to improve the support we offer to young people and parents to deal with problems – spotting them early and intervening to stop them getting out of control.

“We know that the vast majority of young people are well behaved and it is the minority we really need to focus on by setting clear boundaries, but also offering help to those who stay on the right side of the line and make the effort to turn things around.”

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Keys to Turton Tower are handed over

Ten-year-old Natalie Heaney was guest of honour when ownership of Turton Tower officially transferred to Blackburn with Darwen Council, from North Turton Parish Council.

Natalie, who lives in Bromley Cross, wrote to HRH Prince Charles asking for his help when she learned the tower was in danger of closing due to a lack of money to pay for the running costs.
Turton Tower and its grounds on Chapeltown Road, Turton, were, until recently owned by North Turton Parish Council with Lancashire County Council managing the Grade 1 listed building as a museum.


John Grove, chair of the Friends of Turton Tower said: “We are delighted that the future of the tower has been secured after a long period of uncertainty. Our discussions with officers and councillors have been most productive and lead us to believe that we are able to look forward to helping to improve facilities and develop activities at the tower.”

Daniel Wild, chair of the parish council: “The Parish Council is happy that Turton Tower finally has a secure future. We are confident that Blackburn with Darwen Council will prove to be an excellent custodian."

Grant awarded for restoration of historic building in Darwen

A grant has been awarded towards the restoration of a historic building in Darwen as part of an initiative to enhance, improve and revitalise town centre properties.

The Darwen Town Centre Townscape Heritage Initiative comprises of a £2m Common Fund of property and environmental improvement grants provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Blackburn with Darwen Council.

A THI grant of £31,899, jointly funded by the two partners, has been awarded to Anderson Brookes, Legal and Financial Services, for 25 Bolton Road.

It will fund external works including stone cleaning, repairs to doors and windows, roof re-slating and a new shop front, which compliments the existing building. The grant will also fund interior works to bring vacant floor space back into use.

Works on the property have now started.

Adam Scott, strategic director of regeneration and environment, said: “Many historic building are in a poor state of repair and are losing their original character and appearance. Owners are encouraged to take advantage of the grants available to enhance and improve their buildings.”

Property owners in Railway Road, Bridge Street and Bolton Road, Darwen, are invited to apply for enhanced THI improvement grants.

For more information or to discuss your property, contact Pauline Roscoe, town centres’ heritage manager on (01254) 688057.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Darwen bank holiday weather

Despite a promising start the weather is expected to turn cooler and more showery as we progress through the bank holiday weekend according to Metcheck.

On Saturday we experienced sunny spells throughout the day, however we are more likely to see increasing rain showers across Darwen during Sunday and Monday. Despite some sunny spells, we aren't forecast to see temparatures rise much above double figures.

The good news is that after two wet and cool summers we are being told to prepare for a hot, dry summer by the Met Office this year!

So with prolonged spells of warm weather between June and August maybe we can finally dust down those barbecues. Despite the "confident" announcement by the Met Office they believe the chances of another wetsummer is very low.

Our advice - make the most of it whenever possible. Quite often it seems to be raining in Darwen even if TV forecasts said it would be fine and dry - much like this bank holiday!

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