Archive for January, 2010
Support the Allandale Youth Club
Generations of children have benefited from the Allandale Youth Club ever since, in the 1950s, it was given in Trust to the Seacombe Community.
The pushers of the squalid leaflet could not even bother to glance upwards to the name above the door, to spell it correctly. Are their priorities perhaps on something lower?
The Council cannot interfere in the Allandale’s management, but is always there to provide professional advice. When the Club was previously in difficulties Adrian was invited to chair its management committee, which he did for some years. Adrian says:
Because that is the present risk Adrian requested a meeting with the Allandale’s officers and senior council professionals to advise on ways to tackle the club’s difficulties. That meeting took place on 18th January and steps were taken to set up local fund-raising activities in the short term, and also to produce a ‘business plan’ for the longer term with professional assistance from Council Officers.
On Monday Adrian and Council Officers met the Chairman of the Allandale to help establish a recovery plan. Next day others published a leaflet claiming the 'Allendale' is facing the axe. With 'friends' like that who needs enemies?
But while those of us with a genuine interest in supporting the Allandale were working constructively for it, others were busy preparing a party-political leaflet – ’squalid’ comes to mind – claiming, absurdly, that the Allandale is about to be ‘axed’. We don’t know how many houses received the propaganda leaflet but those who did will know who was responsible for it - and, ironically, will see at once that its authors know so little about the Allandale that they can’t even spell its name! Yet there it is, on a large name plate, right over the door! And the leaflet claims it is going to be ‘axed’.
That is untrue. The Allandale is a community asset, held in trust. The Trustees are precisely the people who have done the most to keep the Allandale up and running for over half a century, and are even now working for it to stay there for another. They are the last people who would ‘axe’ it. But is the squalid leaflet intended to give the impression that the Council, which has no such power and is working to help the Club, is the (imaginary) axe man?
The next misinformation (by the same culprits) was that the Allandale has been subjected to ‘cut backs’.
That is also untrue. The Allandale’s income is raised by the hard work of its volunteers, staff, and parents — and by taking on funded projects. To portray the ending of projects - time limited projects that were always going to end - as ‘cut-backs’ demonstrates muddled thinking. Or do the sad leaflet’s pushers have another motive for using such grossly misleading terms?
Those of us approaching it constructively are working to find some short term income, to get over the immediate difficulty; and to strengthen the management structure with the expertise to build a long term development plan.
What the kids who use the club need is genuine support for the Allandale — not a political football.
Wirral house closed down under anti-social behaviour order
30th January 2010
The newspaper link below contains a quote from Chief Superintendent Jon Ward, our Wirral Area Commander.
A new name for Wirral?
30th January 2010
News is coming in that somebody (not a Labour supporter!) may have proposed changing the name of our peninsula to ’Peel Wirral’.
We are presently trying to find out whether he or she was serious about it.
We think the idea is barmy.
Watch this space.
