Twiggy & Beaky inspire a child, and go to school!

9 years old Niamh received a pair of Twiggy & Beaky liver birds soft toys for her birthday. She was so inspired by them that she wrote a thank you letter to us at Capital of Caring, which her father has kindly permitted us to print here.

To Ed,

Thank you for my liver birds I love them. There names are Twiggy and Beaky.

This is what they would like too say to you:

I like my new home very much. Niamh and Daniel are looking after me extremely well. I watched Niamh open her birthday presents. Niamh had lots off gifts

On the first night I went to seep with Daniel as he didn’t get any new presents and he really liked me, it was very cosy.

I sleep with Niamh now every night, I am warm and cosy in the night.

We went to see the super lamb bananas with Niamh and Daniel.
We are going to school with Niamh for “show and tell”.

Love Niamh, Twiggy and beaky

XXX
XX
X

Children are the key

Following on from one of the leaked gov memo's about the potential for increased crime etc. in an economic down turn ... the time to develop and push initiatives is "NOW" if you want to achieve more with any investment. Any achievements with increased caring & well-being with the younger generation would/could help reduce the potential for increases in minor youth dissatisfaction/disturbances.
Sent by Martin... thanks

superlambananas

Anyone walking around the city in the last few days can not help but notice all the colourful sculptures that have suddenly appeared here, there and everywhere. They are 100 mini versions (about a 4-5ft high) of the original, yellow 'superlambana' which is on the corner of Tithebarn Street.

These sculptures are painted in all kinds of different colours and patterns and have really brightened up the city and have created a new interest and talking point for residents and tourists alike. All of this creates a positive 'buzz' which adds to the feelgood for our communities.
I understand that there is one plan that they will be sold off for charity at the end of the year.

The charity idea is great, but wouldn't it be nice if they were to stay for a long time after 2008?
(I also heard that there was some rumour that the destiny of the original is again in question and that it could be lost to the city. I wonder if this really matters, if we keep the 100 mini ones? But it does remind us that the icon that we should really be working with is our own Liver Birds!)

Carers Day, St George's Hall, 12th June 2008

Yesterday, I was working as a volunteer on an exhibitor's stall at the Carer's event in Liverpool's St George's Hall, where many service providers and disability organisations were able to meet and talk with people from all over the city who live with disability of one kind or another.

The organisers kindly allowed me to display one of the Capital of Caring banners and also exhibit Twiggy & Beaky birds, as the message was consistent with the event.

It was great to see how well people took to the project and to the birds, and several wanted to buy Twiggy & Beaky to take home to their families. One visitor was a local City Councillor who impressed me enormously with his enthusiasm not only for the carers event but also for Twiggy & Beaky! He was so enthusiastic that he took a pair of birds across the road to meet some schoolchildren at the Art Gallery, where he used the toys as the basis of an inspiring little 'tale' about how these birds had 'just hatched'!

But back to the event itself, I was struck by how many carers have a really tough life and how many are unhappy about the level of help they get from Social Services. I was also really pleased to know that I had been able to help many of them. The really positive reaction from the people I talked with made the day for me. There is so much demand out there for practical help and advice that, if I could find some funding source, I would take it up professionally.

Bottom line is that Capital of Caring needs to consider adding an advocacy or counselling service to its portfolio.

As for the birds, it was suggested that I talk with Children's services and get the birds on the schools and also to CityTalk to get some airtime publicity.

I'd welcome comments from anyone who was at the event or knows someone at the Radio Station or Children's Services.

"A great place to live and grow up"

Someone suggested occasional photos to help show off our great city.

Here is a rare view of the RC Metroplitan Cathedral of Christ the King, taken from an eastern aspect and not from the more popular south side.

Cohesive, sustainable communities

I've just returned from a very special consultation meeting run by the local council - a meeting to which a number of rate payers were invited to be part of the development of the strategic housing plan for the next 2 decades. We talked about the drivers for the changes in the housing market and what our views were on the issues.

Guess what? Community was high up on people's agenda. Personally, I emphasised the notion that, instead of merging primary schools, (which forces people into their 4x4's to take their kids to school) we should be making the investment into real 'village' style communities ,with modern schools and shops and community halls that will again attract mums (and some dads!) back to the habit of walking their children to school and meeting and, more importantly, enjoying the interaction with each other on the journey!

With so much 'modern' culture which now pervades our society and materialistic values replacing simple humanity towards each other, it will take a big effort to make this kind of change happen. It will need guts and true leadership and a long term view from our councils and government, businesses and community leaders, to drive and support and encourage.

Can we expect this to happen? Or will we see our leaders continue to take the simpler, short term economic decisions when it comes to town and community planning?

I would like to think that someone in power and influence will eventually see that the real economy is a 'social economy' that comes not from saving capital now, but from 'using' money for housing (jobs, etc.) in a strategic way to create a more stable, cohesive, sustainable and cost effective community in the future.

The socio-economic benefits of creating truly interactive neighbourhoods will far outweigh the immediate costs in simple monetary terms.

Some who read this will want to pick holes in what I have not said, such as the complications of modern working cultures, the internet, crime and antisocial behaviour and so on. They would be right to pick holes - and I would be naive to believe things could be so simple. But fixing the issues of today's society has to start with some basic human principles, and where we live and how we live is a big part of the long term solution.