New Brighton Community Partnership Magazine

Organised by NEW BRIGHTON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP for the ninth year, the NEW BRIGHTON CARNIVAL takes place on the Saturday 31^st May and Sunday 1^st June on the first Dip, King's Parade.

There will be a Fun Fair, a Junior Soccer Tournament at the New Brighton end, Stalls and a Refreshment Marquee provided by St James with Emmanuel Church and live entertainment - Wallasey Ballet School will perform on Saturday from 12.30 - 1.30 followed by Family Fun and games with Aaron Hayes until 5 pm.

On Sunday from 12 until 5 pm there will be a programme of Sixties tribute bands arranged by Allan Schroeder. We hope that the MERSEYCATS will perform this year.

A STALL AT THE CARNIVAL

£15 per day/ £25 for 2 days Bring your own table

You can set up any time after 9.30 am

Vehicles must be moved from the site by 10.30 am.

Raise some cash for yourself or your Organisation.

Telephone: 0151 639 5798

This year instead of a Parade we are going to let loose 100 balloons in a BALLOON RACE. A donation of 50p will secure your place as one of the 100 people to release a balloon. Each balloon will carry a number and a card requesting that the person who finds it should telephone to say where it was found. The balloon which travels the furthest will earn its owner a £20 gift token. We hope that the Mayor of Wirral will be in attendance to give the signal for the balloons to be released. Telephone 639 5798 to enter.

The Mersey Tunnel 10K Road Race for St John's Hospice

This fantastic race is back again on Sunday 1^st June starting in Liverpool at 10 am and finishing in New Brighton. It's a unique opportunity to run (or walk) through the tunnel! This race is open to runners of all abilities, its probably one of the most fun races held in the UK.

Its sponsored by Norwich union and all runners get a nice goodie bag and medal at the finish. Last year we had runners taking part from the age of 18 - 85. For those of you that still haven't gone metric it's a little over 6 miles!

If you are interested in taking part and would like to raise money for St John's Hospice please call Lynne Hamilton on: 3430778. We will happily supply you with free race T-shirts and special sponsorship forms.

Michelle is looking for talent to register with Castmeuk, in all of the following areas

Professional Artistes, (Male and Female, All ages 0-100, All Characters)
Background Artistes, (All ages 0-100, All Characters)
Professional Film Crew, (DOP, Director, Trainees,
Assistant Directors, Make-up artistes, you know who you are)
Skilled Professionals, (scuba diving, specialist skills, Para
gliding, skate boarding, Kick Boxing, Stunt Artistes)
&
Locations & Vehicles, (homes, warehouse, churches, helicopters,
boats, Cars, Bikes ext)

If you think you have what it takes to be in the Film & TV industry please contact Michelle Billington for further information about her registration day.

The Fairy Wedding

This will take place on Vale Park Bandstand on Saturday 10^th May starting around 12pm weather permitting.

Any local children who want to join in the procession are welcome. Wear a nice floaty dress and make a wreath of flowers to go on your head. Any boys who have a pixie outfit or similar are also welcome.

The photo shoot will be illustrating a story about a fairy wedding that takes place in the imaginary place called 'Nettle woods.' between Fairy Rose Petal and Prince Oberon. Copies of the book will be available to buy locally and mounted pictures will be available to buy after the event.

Plans are well underway for 'Kites over the Mersey', The Wirral International Kite Festival. To celebrate Liverpool's Capital of Culture year an array of international kite fliers have confirmed their attendance. Flyers from as far as New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania and USA will be there displaying an array kites, as well as a Princess of the Bali Royal Family; RA Helmi Ginanti.

This year's international kite festival which takes place on the 7^th and 8^th June at The Dips, New Brighton will include stunt flying, giant show kites, art kites, Japanese and Indonesian kites. There will be a children's kite workshops where they can make their own kites, as well as the ever popular Teddy Bear drop. This event is not to be missed and promises to be a fun day out for all the family.

St Andrew's Knitting Group

Many thanks to all those who have given us wool, and to the folk at Vale House who are acting as a collecting centre for us. You can be sure that it is being put to very good use as we knit and crochet items for people in need both here and in other countries.

We are continuing to knit hats for seamen, baby hats for Arrowe Park, blankets, jumpers and baby clothes for Roumania and Zambia, and other items. Since we heard about the Save the Children appeal for baby hats for Africa we have been knitting those too. They are brightly coloured and can be made from oddments.

So we continue to be grateful for any spare wool you have - double knitting is particularly useful. Please drop it off at Vale House for us to collect and use to help others.

Pier Feasibility Study

Neptune Developments Limited as part of its multi-million pound investment into New Brighton has commissioned a multidisciplinary team to investigate the feasibility of developing a Pier at New Brighton.

The study brief has been advanced in collaboration with Wirral MBC with the work funded by the North West Development Agency.

The team, led by Faber Maunsel, has been tasked with investigating the technical feasibility of developing a Pier into the River Mersey in approximately the same position of the previous Pier. The study will consider the structural, environmental and financial aspects of a new Pier as well as the nature of uses the structure could accommodate.

Merseytravel will play a key role in the study as the work will look at the viability of bringing the ferries back to New Brighton.

The feasibility study commenced with a walking tour of the study area and the wider New Brighton area, facilitated by Howard Mortimer of Wirral MBC. The tour provided the historic context to New Brighton and set the scene to the feasibility study.

A wider community consultation will be undertaken if the study concludes that a New Pier for Brand New Brighton is technically feasibility.

NEWS FROM THE FLORAL PAVILION

As we all remember the 'King of Knotty Ash' himself Ken Dodd closed the old 'Floral' in his own inimitable style on the 31st March last year.....but of course being Ken it didn't actually finish until the 1st of April !..... Ken had subsequently threatened Manager Paul Holliday that he'd set his Diddy Men on him if he wasn't the first to perform on the new stage........well on Thursday 24th April Doddy did indeed do just that and perform on the stage ....well actually on a concrete slab to be precise!.....

The builders from Kier North West lay down their tools and joined the Mayor and other invited guests for an impromptu performance by Doddy.

He said how astonished he was at the progress made and was sure the new Theatre was going to be absolutely fantastic.

'CLARA' - Central Liscard Area Residents Association - was offered a trip by Wirral Community Narrow Boat Trust Ltd. in mid-March for the first trip of the New Season on 1st:April,2008 using BOTH of their Boats ( we had done their LAST TRIP of the Season on 27th:October,2007 ). The Boats cost £ 85.00 each but they were sympathetic to our plea of poverty and let us have them as ' TWO FOR PRICE OF ONE ' , £85.00 . We were on a promise for two Mini -Buses, 16Seaters,as ' TWO FOR PRICE OF ONE ' but the Proprietor had sold one of his two Coaches so a 40 Seater was our the only option open. At the time of this offer we had only £10.28 in the Bank and with only eight days to raise the necessary costs for Coach and Boats of £225.00. PANIC. When thinking of Rescue of course naturally New Brighton springs to mind : contacted New Brighton Community Partnership who helped with the £65.00 we were then needing as the other £ 160.00 I had raised from another unsung hero of the Community who had long since offered some financial assistance for a project like this. I swallowed pride and he was immediately forthcoming !!! Our thanks tot the Partnership for the assistance that made this important trip possible.

Our Trip began with a HUGGINS 40 SEATER COACH from outside ' Turnberry's '( sadly closed last week ) with all the excited Children & Mums boarding to the tune of ' let's open the Butty Bag now, Mum !! ' and off we set to Ellesmere Port, the Winter Base of the Boats and the Boat Museum is there.

We all excitedly boarded and then cast off for our Voyage to the Roman City of Chester --- a journey of about two and a half hours --- no ' Lochs ' on this route as we stopped in the ' Chester Basin ' to have shore leave and get our land-legs working again with the Mums and some of the Children going on the WALLS and most returning with Fish & Chips : other Children ( supervised ) spent great energy upon the very steep grassy banks within the Basin --- nothing like that to play on in Liscard !!!

The change of environment, being able to take in all the sights and sounds of the wild -life so abundant on the Canal course, the rippling of the water with its pleasant slight sound, the mountain of Butties and the Fish & Chips all conspired to have the Children contentedly appreciating all around them and enjoining with real conversation with the Adults of great range of ages around them in the confines of the Narrow Boats. This was of course what we wanted --- Inter-Generational Cohesion with some of the Respect Agenda apparent ( taken in on the 3 Day ' Play-Like -Brazil ' Football course the previous week --- 20 mins. Respect Agenda thrown in each day !!! ). We are so very pleased that what we looked for was well evidenced to everyone's delight and a clamour for more of the same !! I have told them of a Day out as visit to the N.B.Carnival in due course and they are keen on this.

Life is just that little bit the better all round back in Liscard and we will endeavour to nurture matters along even further --- there is a reward for effort to be enjoyed by all, whether on the actual Boat Trip itself or back in Liscard.

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE FRIENDS OF THE TOWER GROUNDS will be holding their ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING at Vale House Café on Saturday 17th May at 11 am.

Free insulation for the over 70's

Free loft and cavity wall insulation is now available to all home owners and private tenants of 70. Call the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012 for more details.

Holds regular monthly meetings at the Grosvenor Assembly Rooms, Grosvenor Street, Liscard on the fourth Thursday of each month at 11 am.

BURNING THE TORCH FOR BREAST CANCER

Do you fancy taking part in a 'Moonlight Walk' to raise money for breast cancer?

The Birkenhead Soroptimist International Group, an organisation for professional and business women are organising the sponsored walk as part of their week of celebrations to mark their 75^th anniversary.

The Walk takes place on 31^st May starting at 11.30 p.m from Morrisons in West Kirby and finishing at New Brighton Dip. There, a warm welcome and hearty breakfast awaits walkers laid on by the army in a specially set up field kitchen. Walkers can either join for the 10 mile walk from the starting point or at any of the points along the route for a shorter version.

There are six Soroptimist clubs on Wirral and the Birkenhead club have organised a busy week's celebrations from May 31^st including an Antiques Road show at the church hall in Port Sunlight. A civic reception at Birkenhead's Town Hall and a Charter lunch at the Williamson Gallery where member groups from around the world will be joining the Wirral Club. They will also be planting a copse of 75 trees at Arrowe Park in recognition of their 75 years.

The Moonlight Walk is sponsored by Lookers, Sun Valley Peanuts, Tesco and Burd Ward, Solicitors. Proceeds raised are for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Elm House.

There is a small enrolment fee for the Walk, and you can register and obtain an entry form online at www.birkenheadsoroptimists.com. or contact Cherry on 0151 343 9976 or Sue on 0151 334 9768 for further details.

A family ticket for the Chinese State Circus was available for the first person to ring 639 5798 after 10 am on Wednesday morning 19^th March leaving name, address and telephone number and the answer to the following question:-

In which year was the Foundation Stone for the Promenade laid?

Unfortunately none of the people who rang gave the correct answer so we were unable to give out any tickets.

The correct answer which you can see for yourself if you look at the Foundation Stone opposite the Floral Pavilion is 1907. Last year marked 100 years since the stone was laid.

MASTERMIND
SON et LUMIERE
LABRYINTH
BREAD CHURCH
SONG of PRAISE
CRAFT WORK
CHRISTIAN ART EXHIBITION
DELIA SMITH (not in person, but just as good!)
EXHIBITION OF THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY ON MERSEYSIDE
A CAFE WITH HOT AND COLD FOOD SERVED DAILY FROM 9am TO 7pm
THE ESSENCE COURSE
TAIZE PRAYER
CIRCLE DANCING
CHRISTIAN PUPPET SHOW
WIRRAL YOUTH FOR CHRIST
AGE TO AGE CONCERT
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE COLOSSIANS DRESS
CHRIST ON THE MERSEY
PRAYER GUIDES
PEARLS OF LIFE
ORGAN RECITAL
SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENING
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
So, has that got you excited? Well, there is more....

A celebration of the Christian Faith through spirituality,
the arts and plenty of fun...

The fringe festival across the Mersey River to compliment Liverpool's Capital of Culture 2008

Our Lady and Saint Joseph's, Wheatland Lane, Seacombe, Wallasey CH44 7ED 0151 638 2873

For more information visit
www.faith08.co.uk
and the local press and radio as May approaches.

Photos of Old Wallasey

Message Board

WALRUS

To ADVERTISE in the WALRUS costs £30 for a FULL page, £15 for HALF a page, £7.50 for a QUARTER page and £5 for.a BUSINESS CARD. The Walrus is delivered to 7,000 households in New Brighton every March, May, September and December.
Telephone 639 5798 or email rustyk92@sky.com.

NEW BRIGHTON CARNIVAL SATURDAY 31ST MAY SUNDAY 1ST JUNE 12 - 5 PM ON THE DIPS, KING'S PARADE ADMISSION FREE

The Mersey Tunnel 10K Road Race for St John's Hospice