BLITZ ON EAST MARSH BUT WEATHER TURNED INTO A BLIZZARD

On Saturday afternoon I managed to get warmed up; after spending the morning out and about in the East Marsh Ward. It was bitterly cold, but as usual I had great fun! And, to add to the excitement we had the first snow falls of the winter, but to be honest it was only a light flurry.

On Saturday, we started on the first of our community clean-ups. I left our house at 8.30 am and collected my black bags and litter picker from the Community Wardens, and within no time at all I had collected three large bags of metal cans: obviously used, that had been dropped alongside the road or on waste land.

At 10 am, I met up with three of our Community Wardens and five Junior Wardens who had come down to give us an hand for the rest of the morning. Before we set off, I told the young Junior Wardens, that the idea of the morning was just to collect metal cans; with the aim being to demonstrate how much waste could be recycle if people took a little extra time. I explained to young people that every piece of litter costs the council money to collect, but in particular metal is particularly important like other recyclable because it is taking up valuable space on our landfill site.

After a quick warm up we set off, and the young people soon got down to work. Well, done all you Junior Wardens from Strand Junior School and thanks for helping us to collect 13 bags of recyclables, which will now all add to our council’s recycling targets. Well done, once again! Let’s hope its better weather next time, and that more people turn out to give us a hand.

SHOCK HORROR – COUNCILLOR PLAYS GAMES ON CBEEBIES WEBSITE

Friday night, we ended up looking after our two grandchildren – Nathan and James. They are both really changing; Nathan is now 5 and James is the youngest at 3 years old but he is handful at times. However, Friday night he was as quiet as a mouse.

It’s great fun looking after them but you have to do exactly what they want; as you know ‘children know best’!

Saturday was no exception; Nathan is now an absolute whiz on the computer. I just have to leave my computer chair for one minute and he’s on the BBC’s CBeebies website – navigating around from game to another. Saturday afternoon while I was warming up after the Community Clean-Up; I learnt about: Barnaby Bear, Brum, Lazy Town, Doodle Do, Underground Ernie, Tommy Zoom, Pingu, and Boo!

First we was on the games and then we went on music and song; I did not realise we could have so much fun! And, after CBeebies we visited YouTube to take a look at Thomas the Tank Engine videos – now that it is really more down my line!

And, now they have gone home; it’s all quiet but I love them – their smashing!

NEW £4.8 MILLION FOR GRIMSBY’S EAST MARSH WARD RECEIVES ACCOLADES

Havelok Homes has invested £4.8-million into new homes into the heart of East Marsh Ward.

Thirty-nine new homes have been built on land off Roberts Street which was once the site of the car park belonging to old Rialto Bingo Club that was derelict for a number of years.

There are 29 rented and 10 shared homes, with almost all already taken.

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Steve Beasant (East Marsh) is thrilled the investment has happened in his ward.He said: “It is a major investment in that piece of land as it has suffered a lot in the past.”

“There has been a lot of fires and vandalism, and potentially I would receive a report of at least one burnt out car being found on the old Rialto car park – this was taking up a lot of council time and resources.

“I have been very impressed with the innovative way this development has been built and we need to look a lot more at these types of developments for the East Marsh area. This development, nicely compliments the other Havelok Housing at Woodyard Court; which opened less than two years ago just a few hundred yards away from this sight.

“It looks the part, is fantastic and I’m over the moon that they chose the East Marsh for it – I just hope that similar houses will be built in Guildford Street in the near future”.

GOVERNMENT HAVE “COMPLETELY FAILED” TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF UNDERAGE DRINKING

I have just been out and about in the ward collecting signatures for new alleyway schemes, and I was talking to a number of residents about the problem of underage drinking in one area of East Marsh. It is a problem that blights many estates; not just in our area but the whole of the UK. In this case, it is not young people purchasing the alcohol it is the youngsters pressurising adults outside the shop to purchase it on their behalf.

I then arrived home, and read the Sunday Times online and came across an article titled: “hundreds of children under 10 hospitalised with alcohol problems.”

A child under ten is admitted to hospital to be treated for alcohol-related problems once every three days in England, according to Government figures revealed today.

Between 2002 and 2007, a total of 648 under-tens and more than 24,000 under-16s were hospitalised because of excessive intake of alcohol.

The figures come from within a parliamentary answer revealed by the Liberal Democrats ahead of the launch tomorrow of their strategy to tackle underage and binge drinking.

In the 16-17 age bracket alone, they revealed, around 12,500 teenagers were admitted to Accident and Emergency for alcohol-related conditions, marking an increase of 95 per cent between 2002 and 2007.

Reacting to figures from the Department of Health, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster is calling for a change to Britain’s drinking culture, and said the Government had “completely failed” to tackle the problem.

He said: “For so many children of such a young age to be hospitalised is scandalous. Ministers must conduct an urgent review of the systems in place, which are meant to be ensuring that young children cannot have access to such harmful substances.

“Only a complete change to our drinking culture will prevent a whole generation of young people from being condemned to serious alcohol-related illnesses.”

I completely agree with Don Foster’s comments, we should be doing more to help our young people with drink related problems; they must learn to drink sensibly. Binge drinking is often linked to high teenage pregnancy rates, mental health conditions, worklessness, crime and disorder. In many of our communities drink is too easily available, and at prices that encourage young people to go over the top.

THERE’S SO MUCH HAPPENING IN EAST MARSH – JUST CLICK TO FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON!

A new community website has been launched recently mainly for the people of the East area; however anyone who wants to find out what’s going on in our area are welcome to visit the site.
It is hoped that the website will promote the whole of the East Marsh area, and already there is information on the site about the following organisations: Community Chest, Harbour Place, Foresight, Grimsby Neighbourhood Centre, New Life Centre, CPO Media, East Marsh Involve, and the Freeman Street Market which is promoting the Freemen’s Craft Company.

The Freemen’s Craft Company which was featured in tonight’s edition of the Grimsby Evening Telegraph is hoping to hold regular craft markets at the rear of the Freeman Street Market. They have plans to sub-divide the market in the hope of attracting new trade this area of the East Marsh.

Visit the East Marsh Community Website for more information about our area.

JON-PAUL HOWARTH POSSIBLY THE UK’s YOUNGEST COUNCILLOR, AT THE AGE OF 19

I was pleased to read the Jon-Paul Howarth’s latest blog article in VOXX magazine, Jon-Paul is a fellow Liberal Democrat Councillor in East Marsh Ward and perhaps is one of the UK’s youngest Councillors, at the age of 19.

He is a great advocate of not only young people, but the residents of the East Marsh. So far he has carried out some great work in the ward, but within the local council; it is interesting to look around and listen to some of the comments when Jon-Paul is around. At times you often hear: “Now then, young man”; perhaps Jon-Paul should respond with “Now then, old man,” but fortunately he is very tolerant. And of course there have been the usual comments about his dress codes, get to grips everyone we are in the twenty first century, and if John McCain gets away without a tie surely Jon-Paul can occasionally wear a “trackie”.

VOXX Blog: Hello and welcome to the second edition of my blog, and just before I start can I just say, how great the first VOXX? It was the definitely the highlight of the carnival!

Amishi, a new nightclub in Cleethorpes has recently opened. This is great news, when you look on the Riverhead to see clubs closing left right and centre, that a brand new club has opened. However, as a 19-year-old I may not be able to enter!

The club is operating to 21 years and over policy, and is not the first in the country to be doing this. So how come clubs are allowed to turn away under-21 away so easily when you have to be 18 to drink? Surely this is discrimination and in this PC world they can’t get away with being prejudiced against young people? We’ll soon we could be finding that we are too young to get in.
Imagine the outcry if the Grimsby Evening Telegraph’s latest headline read “OAPS to be banned from Freshney Place”.

This is a quote that I have adopted from the Shalom Youth Project ‘Being a young person is not a crime! Discrimination against them should be!’
Thank for reading – seeing you next time……

ANDY SAMSON AND FORMER MAYOR – BOTH HIGHLY RESPECTED AND POPULAR FIGURES

Over the last few days we have learned with great sadness of the death of both Andy Samson, Executive Director of Children’s Services, and ex-Mayor (and Liberal Democrat Councillor) Margaret Thompson.

Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Andrew De Freitas said: “Andy was a fine man who was hugely passionate about children’s services. He personally led a remarkable improvement in children’s services in just over two years. He will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of working with him.”

On the Grimsby Evening Telegraph website there were many tributes to Andy and they included comments from both present work colleagues, and from Oldham were he worked as a Deputy Director of Children’s Services. There were also comments from: Maggie Atkinson; President, Association of Directors of Children’s Services; Phil Woolas MP (Oldham), who said “His former colleagues are very sad and we all send our regards. He was hugely admired and when he left we knew he was our loss and your gain. There are many children whose lives were improved by his work. Andy family should be very proud indeed.”

There were many other comments but one last one is worth mentioning, it was signed a ‘Looked after Child, Grimsby’: “Andy was a great bloke. He was dedicated to his work, he was doing a lot for me to try and make my dreams of becoming a care officer come true. He was a well respected bloke and he will be missed, he was a strong, kind caring bloke and wanted to make our lives as good as possible……… my regards to his family.”

Shortly following the death of Andy it was announced about the tragic loss of Margaret, she was mayor of North East Lincolnshire in 2006, and passed away after a short illness in hospital surrounded by loved ones. She was 77.

Tributes from colleagues and friends were made in the hours following her passing. Son, Brian Thompson (52) said on behalf of the family: “She was a wonderful mum. She did so much for the area, and will be sorely missed by so many people.”

Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council Councillor Andrew De Freitas said: “I knew Margaret for 44 years, after I joined the Liberal Democrats. At the time she was a treasurer for the Grimsby branch of the party.

“Among her many achievements, she was the longest surviving special constable – being in the role for 35 years.

“She also was a Councillor for the Park ward with myself and Councillor Daniel Khan.

“Margaret also spent many years in the scouting movement, and raised a lot of money for causes including Cancer Research. Her service to the community was second to none.

“As a person, Margaret, quite frankly, was a rock. You could always rely on her.”

The current Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Councillor Colin Eastwell said: “It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Margaret. She was a valued colleague as a councillor with a dry sense of humour, and gave a lifetime’s commitment to the community and people.”

She leaves behind her son Brian, and daughter Joy, as well as three grandchildren: Vickie, James and Richard.

LOSS OF CARD ACCOUNT WOULD BE NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR LOCAL POST OFFICES - THURSO

There appears to be a great deal of speculation that the government have already made up their mind about Post Office Card Account, and it appears as though it may be bad news. However, any announcement may not take place until after Glenrothes by-election on Thursday, because Labour believes that this would be a gift to the SNP.

Most political commentators are seeing the by-election as a litmus test of Gordon Brown's recent political popularity, and he is seeing it as key to his continued renewal and revival.

According to the Daily Telegraph the NFSPO says that losing the Government contract could threaten as many as 700 out of 1,120 Post Offices in Scotland. All the opposition parties have been campaigning on post office closures in Glenrothes.

Mervyn Jones, a postmaster in the Scottish Borders who is the national president of the federation, said: "I believe the bad news could be being deliberately held back because of the Glenrothes by-election."

The Government insists that the contract is being handled on a purely commercial basis and insists that politics will not influence the announcement

Commenting on rumours that the Post Office has already lost its contract to run the Post Office Card Account (POCA) but that the Government is delaying its announcement until after the Glenrothes by-election, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, John Thurso said: "If these rumours prove to be true, this is the final nail in the coffin for local post offices. Giving the contract to anyone other than Post Office Limited themselves is a slap in the face for all the people who are fighting to save their local post office."

John Thurso went on to say: "This is a deeply cynical u-turn by the Government given its position just five years ago, when it described POCA as the ‘cornerstone' of the Post Office's new banking products.

"It is surely no coincidence that in a by-election week the decision, if indeed there has been one, has not yet been announced."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Jenny Willott said: "A decision to award the POCA contract to anyone other than the Post Office will mark a dereliction of duty by the Department of Work and Pensions to serve the millions of pensioners and others who rely on pension and benefits payments to make ends meet.

"Thanks to the locality of post offices, millions of people have come to rely on the POCA as the only means of accessing their benefits because they are disabled, elderly or simply cannot afford to travel miles to the nearest bank.

"The department's most vulnerable customers will suffer if the POCA is not run by the post office."