Booklovers, digital champions and historians wanted

If you love books, computers or local history, Blackburn with Darwen Council would love to read all about you.

The call has gone out for new people to join the existing band of dedicated volunteers who deliver books to housebound customers and support local libraries.

It’s part of the Council’s new Your Call campaign offering residents opportunities to make a real difference in their community.

Helpers are needed for at least half a day every two weeks to deliver and collect library books to and from housebound readers. You need to have your own car with suitable insurance and enjoy spending some time with the people you visit, talking about and promoting books and library services and feeding back any requests. You should also be willing to forward any customer queries on to other Council services.

If you have IT skills, then you can become a digital champion, supporting people who may never have used a computer before and need a little help in taking their first steps.

Volunteers with an interest in the past are also needed to help in the community history department. The library is constantly looking for new ways to document the changing face of the borough and opportunities range from writing articles, taking photographs, and using computers to helping to create databases for the Cotton Town website and helping customers with their personal research.

And if you’d like to help out with events in libraries, from children’s holiday events to our programme of famous authors, there are always opportunities to be involved.

To find out more, call (01254) 661221, email library@blackburn.gov.uk or drop in to any Blackburn with Darwen central library and ask about volunteering opportunities.

CHARITY MOTOWN & NORTHERN SOUL NIGHT, Darwen

HELP FOR HEROES VALENTINE’S

CHARITY MOTOWN & NORTHERN SOUL NIGHT

Featuring DJ LESTER

Sat 11th February at Hollins Grove Con Club Blackburn Road Darwen

Tickets £5 each Starts @ 8pm

In Aid of HELP for HEROES

Pay on the Door or Contact Vince for details on 07970958275

Make a splash with charity swims

Keen swimmers are being offered two chances to take the plunge and raise charity cash – and you could get free entry before the end of January.

Daisyfield Pools, Blackburn is hosting its annual Swimathon which raises money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Sport Relief mile and offering free registration for the first 10,000 entries before the end of January.

Anyone wanting to take part in the Swimathon can set a personal challenge of completing the individual 2.5K or 5k or join up with family, friends and colleagues and take on the team 5k.

And for Sport Relief, you can swim an individual or team mile to raise funds for Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

The event will be on Thursday, April 26 from 6.30pm until 10.30pm or Saturday April 28 from 3.30pm until 7.30pm.

For more information, contact Daisyfield Pools on (01254) 277300 or enter online at: www.swimathon.org

Save The Rovers - Online Petition Against The Demonstrations At Ewood Park

An online petition has been started by a Darwen resident called SAVE THE ROVERS.  


The lifelong Blackburn fan, 59, who wishes to remain anonymous started the petition because, like many, he believes the demonstrations aren't achieving anything other than damaging the vital home performances of the club. 


Yes, things need to change down at Ewood Park, but first and foremost he believes supporters should show their support for the players and encourage them to start picking up points at home.


Rovers surprised everyone by picking up rare points at Old Trafford and Anfield, however, they failed to pick any points up in the matches against Stoke and Bolton while playing in front of home fans.


"We all know that behinds the scenes at Rovers is a disaster, but it now clear that the demonstrations have failed miserably to bring about any change and are now damaging the club and affecting performances."


"Nothing is more important than avoiding relegation, if stopping the demonstrations will help Rovers to avoid relegation, however unlikely that may be, then people have to sign this petition." 


He hopes fans, players and staff can all pull together to achieve survival by making Ewood Park a feared place for opposition to come. At the moment, it seems that teams are looking forward to the fixture knowing that the home team will be nervous and under pressure from fans prior to Kick-Off to the final whistle.


Sign the petition at http://www.savetherovers.co.uk