easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, are enabling passengers to fly from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to enjoy fantastic destinations such as Dalaman, Alicante and Tenerife, along with fabulous city breaks to the likes of the ever popular Paris and Barcelona. For those of you seeking a relaxing break a little closer to home, then take advantage of easyJet flights to visit Jersey, the Isle of Man and Belfast.

The popular airline also recently announced it will be launching two new routes from the airport this winter, meaning customers have even more choice for their winter holiday and can book early to get the best fares.

On 29th October a new year-round route will launch from Liverpool to Egypt’s scuba-diving hotspot Hurghada, operating twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays, enabling customers to have the choice of a week long break or even a long weekend. easyJet is the number one carrier from the UK to Egypt and continues to prove popular with UK holidaymakers looking for winter sun, vast sandy beaches and world-renowned coral reefs.

The popular airline is also launching a new twice-weekly winter route from Liverpool to Lyon on 13th December, operating on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout winter, perfect for a city break to make the most of the Christmas markets, or to head to the Alps and hit the slopes.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, added “We’re delighted to be launching two new routes and holidays from Liverpool to Hurghada and Lyon, providing even more choice for our customers this winter, whether they are looking for a Christmas getaway, hitting the slopes, or chasing the winter sun and we can’t wait to welcome more customers on board.”

Flights from Liverpool on new routes for this winter are now available to book at easyJet.com and via the mobile app.

www.liverpool airport.com

 

 

Liverpool-based accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has welcomed a record number of new trainees and apprentices as part of its 2023 cohort.

The 48 new recruits include university, college and sixth form graduates who will work with MHA Moore and Smalley colleagues across the firm’s seven offices, supporting clients across the region while undertaking professional accounting and tax qualifications funded by the firm. Each of the new members of staff will be mentored by a senior colleague and will receive their own development plan to support their progression within the firm.

The intake of new graduates and apprentices includes 12 new starters who have joined MHA Moore and Smalley’s Liverpool office. Graham Gordon, managing partner, MHA Moore and Smalley, said: “This year’s intake of trainees and apprentices is another record figure for the firm, which is a testament to our continued growth across the North West and nationally as part of the MHA group. Throughout the firm, we are continually striving to create the best possible workplace culture we can, where all members of staff can learn from each other and develop their skills collaboratively. Many of our graduates and trainees from previous years now hold senior positions within the firm and I’m looking forward to seeing this next generation of MHA Moore and Smalley leaders grow and thrive.”

MHA Moore and Smalley is an award-winning firm of chartered accountants and business advisors with offices in Preston, Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool, East Midlands, Kendal and Lancaster. It has 29 partners and employs over 400 staff. The firm is part of MHA, a UK wide network of independent accountants and business advisers with 18 offices nationwide. MHA collectively employs 106 partners, 1,152 staff and has a combined turnover of £142m.

 

Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been named the UK’s best airport in Which?’s annual survey.

Which? surveyed almost 4,000 people about their experiences at airports during the last twelve months and invited them to rate the airports across eleven categories, including seating, staff, toilets and queues at check in, bag drop, passport control and security.

At the top of the charts is Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with a customer score of 82 per cent. The Airport has also earned Which? Recommended Provider status for the second consecutive year.

Customers praised their experience at the airport as “first class” and gave it five stars for check-in and security queues, indicating an uncommonly hassle-free experience. It also scored four stars for staff, with multiple respondents praising them as both “friendly” and “helpful”. LJLA also achieved four stars for baggage reclaim and queues at bag drop and passport control. One traveller said it was a “well run, efficient airport” while another lauded it as their “preferred” airport.

 

Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s CEO John Irving commented, “LJLA has always focused on three words that are embedded in every member of staff who works at the airport – Faster, Easier, Friendlier. These make up the core philosophy of what we expect the passenger experience to be when flying through the airport, no matter what time of day. It is that ethos and the hard work put in by our staff, along with those of our dedicated third-party operators, which has helped us be named as the UK’s number one airport by travellers this year and we are all extremely proud to gain this recognition once again.”

LJLA is continuing to make investments to further enhance the customer journey. Early next year it will be investing in the latest technology security scanners that will allow liquids to be taken through and electrical items to remain in hand luggage. Investments are also being made across other areas of the terminal just in time for the start of next summer when the airport expects to welcome hundreds of thousands of additional passengers as more and more consumers from across the North West look to fly from LJLA – the region’s Faster, Easier, Friendlier airport.”

Read the full story of REBOOT EARTH on this website in the My Planet liverpool September 2023 Issue READ HERE section

Omer Motiwala and Sonam Thiana Billan are two young people who have teamed up to help in fostering a more sustainable future for our world by  co-founding a Climate-Tech Start-up.

Given the current direction of economic growth and lifestyle habits, there are pressing sustainability issues that continue to be overlooked and the most beautiful creations of nature are being taken for granted. These problems will only worsen if they are not addressed – and soon. However, Omer and Sonam are both committed to delivering effective solutions to create a better earth for both present and future generations. Firm believers that we all share a collective responsibility in caring for our planet, Omer says, “The purpose of creating Reboot Earth is very much in the name of just that. The concept arises with a vision to solve the problems with a Reboot of everything that we do. Establishing Reboot Earth is the need of a century, as we take it. Sonam adds, “It’s not just us who want it, it’s the entire world that needs it. It’s the future generation. It’s that one single question that may arise from every child in the future – Why did we not do something about it?”

“Understanding the value of the gifts provided by Nature is paramount. My point highlights the diminishing biodiversity. Consider this analogy: just as a TV without a remote renders it useless, the absence of key components in nature disrupts its functionality. Think about a car without tyres – can it serve its purpose when needed? Similarly, a flower relies on a bee for pollination; dwindling bee populations disrupt this process, causing problems within the natural order. This comparison underscores the crucial connection between everyday items and the intricate balance of biodiversity.”

Omer says. “We believe there is an opportunity at this given time that we as humans can actually unite for a single cause and once and for all not see colour, race, religion, country, education, background, occupation, age or gender. We then may be able to become just part of nature, helping each other and being part of a system that is, at the end of the day, a perfect one. A system which sustains, a system that cares, a system which is peaceful enough to be content.”

WHEN DO YOU HOPE TO LAUNCH ‘Reboot Earth’?

We are in the development stage of our first product and plan to announce the official launch sometime very soon. We have however started the Pre-Sign up and we would like you to become part of the movement and register your interest by scanning the QR code below to Reboot Earth

WHEN DO YOU HOPE TO LAUNCH ‘Reboot Earth’?

We are in the development stage of our first product and plan to announce the official launch sometime very soon. We have however started the Pre-Sign up and we would like you to become part of the movement and register your interest by scanning the QR code below to Reboot Earth

The first 999 pre-signs will get the first product that we release for free.

Also, for every Pre-Sign up, we will plant a Tree for Free, regardless of the pre-signup numbers.

Lets Reboot Earth together.

 

 

Widnes based artist John Petch was born in Liverpool in 1948 and was educated at Bluecoat Grammar School, leaving in 1967 and going on to attend St Katharine’s Teacher Training College from 1967 to 1970. John taught in a number of schools in Merseyside and Powys, Wales, until retiring in 2011 He says “My work investigates the relationship between line and space. Challenging how the brain perceives and makes sense of the difference between what is understood and unfamiliar. I began painting in the mid-1960s, moving from Op Art to Geometrical Abstraction, being inspired by geometric imagery and pattern. My paintings invite the viewer to be drawn into a conversation from a simple statement of pattern to the relationship between art and mathematical special awareness. My style is Geometric to hard edge abstract, often with recognisable context. I have a fascination with perspective, line, space and colour interpreting the world around especially in the relationship of buildings to their setting and the energy they portray. I simplify by abstracting detail into related plains of colour.”

In 2016, John was commissioned by the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to produce artwork for the cover of their thirteenth Studio Album ‘The Punishment of Luxury’ with further covers and related work. In 2018/9 he completed a design for the windows of the phone box, in Meols, made famous through OMD’s second single release ‘Red Frame White Light’.

He is a member of dot-art (www.dot-art.co.uk), the art consultancy and promotions organisation, managed by Lucy Byrne, and which is at the forefront of many art initiatives in the Liverpool area. He has, along with a number of other resident artists who are offered commissions and opportunities to exhibit, all his work displayed and for sale, at the dot-Art Gallery.

John Petch’s exhibiton runs until 4th December 2o23

For more information

Call the INNSiDE by Meliá Liverpool hotel or

dot-art Gallery

INNSide by Meliá is at: 43 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9PP – Tel: 0151 832 0960

dot-Art Gallery is at:  14 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool L2 4TX – Tel: 0345 017 6660    

www.dot-art.com

On Thursday 10th August, wellbeing advocate Joel Jelen, founder of Wellbeing Ubiquity and Sniff, Sigh, Yawn, teamed up with BIPC Liverpool City Region and Liverpool Art Fair for a special indie authors’ showcase at our city’s world-famous Royal Liver Building. Joel has recently published his own book Why Does Daddy Breathe Funny? which tells the children’s story of young Esther, who wonders why her daddy breathes funny. She finds it embarrassing when they are exercising in the park. She notices that her mummy burps a lot, and her daddy doesn’t feel well sometimes so she worries about him.

Joel’s A-to-Z book includes a glossary of new words for children and short notes about better breathing for parents. Slow down, relax and read this book with your children to find out how you can all breathe better and improve your health.

To celebrate the release of his new book, Joel gathered an incredible group of outstanding wellbeing individuals, each with their own remarkable stories to share, to mark his special occasion and the full story of Joel’s great Indie Author’s Showcase evening at the Royal Liver Building can be read in the September issue of My Planet Liverpool and here online from 31st August 2023.

Meanwhile you can buy Why Does Daddy Breathe Funny?  via the direct link below, which can be also be viewed in the Arts & Creatives and Health & Wellness categories on this website

www.sniffsighyawn.com

www.wellbeingubiquity.co.uk

 

 

In the latest in our series of interviews with local talent, we spoke to prolific author Rob Keeley to find out what inspires him.

What initially inspired you to write?

I’ve been living with stories for as long as I can remember.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home full of books and we were also great TV viewers, and that taught me subconsciously from an early age how to tell stories, long before I studied Creative Writing. My grandmother – Nan – also did a great deal to fire my imagination. I spent lots of time with her while my parents were working and we would play ‘pretending games’ where we could be just about anyone, in any situation.  One involved me wearing an old mackintosh of hers to be a door-to-door salesman, knocking on the kitchen door to try to sell her something ridiculous, such as a broom-handle with no broom attached.

Then, because I’m a wheelchair user, when I was three years old I was placed in a special school, all disabilities mixed in together, where I had a very rough time indeed. It took until I was nearly ten for me to get full-time into a mainstream school. So my world of the imagination was a useful place to escape to and I’ve maintained it alongside my regular life ever since.

What did you find that writing offered you?

It provided a place where I was in charge, where there weren’t  people continually telling me what I could and couldn’t do, and where anything was possible. This is why I can’t understand the modern theory that “children want to see themselves in books”.  I was the last person I wanted to see.  I wanted to see others and be others.  Then, once I was able to get my fictional world down on paper, it offered me the opportunity to share that world with an audience.  I quickly discovered that I loved writing stories and had the ability to entertain.

How was your first book received and what thoughts and feelings created the words?

The Alien in the Garage and Other Stories, my first story collection for the 8-12s, was in the making for the best part of a decade before I finally found a publisher for it.  It didn’t come out of one consistent set of thoughts and feelings – rather, they were children’s tales I’d written over a long period of time, in and around my studies, my day jobs in offices and other writing projects.  I was delighted when Matador (Troubador Publishing Ltd) agreed to take it on, and overjoyed when it received good reviews.

Given the impact of your first book, how did this manifest in further books?

The success of the book gave me confidence to do more and I produced two further collections of children’s short stories, The (Fairly) Magic Show and The Dinner Club, before moving on to do children’s novels with my Spirits series and others. Recently, I’ve returned to the short story format and the fictional school I created for it with The Boy Who Disappeared and Other Stories, which was published in March 2023.

How do you think up subjects for your books?

You don’t usually begin with a subject – unless you’re writing non-fiction – but with a story, a character or an idea. This can come from someone you’ve known, something you’ve done or read about, somewhere you’ve been – but very often it’s totally random. My current novel for the 8-12s The Teacher Who Knew Too Much, which is published later this year, is about a boy who discovers his Maths teacher is really a safecracker and taking part in bank raids. And I have no idea where that came from!

Sometimes even dreams can supply ideas – particularly when you’re in that half-waking, half-sleeping state in the early morning. This happened with my picture book Carrots Don’t Grow On Trees! when I half-woke early one morning with a mental picture of a carrot tree. When I got up, an hour or so later, I had in my mind the story and the characters to go with it.

Can you offer any advice to people who sense they have a book in them but have never got round to doing it? Are there particular habits that work for you that help you get the book done?

I would say: simply sit down as soon as you can and get writing! You’ve got to make the time to write. It’s no good having a project in mind for years and never starting it. You can surprise yourself with what you can produce. If you need to build your confidence and learn writing technique, think about doing a Creative Writing course. I teach Creative Writing myself, to adults and children, and have an eight-week course I offer in person or online.  Writing competitions can be a great way to get your work known – though they’re called ‘competitions’ for a reason!

The other thing I would say is: get to know the industry, the market for books like yours, and most of all, your target audience – which you have to have in mind constantly while writing. One of the silliest sayings I’ve encountered about writing (and the industry is full of them) is “write for yourself”. You never write for yourself! You always write for an audience and you have to know what they’re waiting to read. A good source for who’s publishing what, and technical advice for authors, is The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, which is available in bookshops, reference libraries and online.

As you can gather, I’m very disciplined about my writing. I was an office worker for a long time and still work an office-style day with a breakfast break, a coffee break and a lunch break. Yes, a breakfast break!  I like to make an early start at writing, do my creative thinking in bed then be at my desk for eight a.m.  Then I can get in 60-90 minutes’ work before breakfast.

What hobbies and pastimes do you have outside of writing that help ground you?

The writing process never really stops. With me – I can have ideas or plot a new story while shopping or vacuuming or having a meal. But away from my desk, I love exploring the countryside or taking a stroll by the sea, going out with family or friends or taking part in our church community. I still love reading, going to the theatre or cinema and watching new things on TV or online.  These pastimes give me the grounding to go on writing.

What drives you as an individual? What are you passionate about?

The need to tell stories underpins my whole life and I’m passionate about children’s storytelling and literacy. It’s so important to give young people a good start in life, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds who don’t have automatic access to books and media. Having experienced inequality from an early age, I want everyone to have access to reading and writing. But in the end I believe in a meritocracy with opportunities based on individual worth, rather than an identity-based society that is drawn on race, gender, sexuality or disability. This comes out of a lifetime of trying to get everyone to see the person in me, rather than the wheelchair. There is so much more to people than surface characteristics and we need to help people to focus on their talents, and to make best use of them for the benefit of society as a whole.  Everyone has something to offer.

http://www.robkeeley.co.uk

‘Honour’-based abuse conference and vigil highlights the importance of understanding in region.

 On Wednesday 12 July, Merseyside-based national charity, Savera UK and Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer held a conference and vigil in Warrington to discuss the issues of ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and harmful practices, the challenges faced by professionals working with those at risk and the work being done to end these practices.

The day also enabled delegates to remember Shafilea Ahmed and others lost to ‘honour’ killings and abuse by tying orange ribbons to the Golden Gates in Warrington prior to the official Day of Memory on the 14 July – Shafilea’s birthday.

Delegates heard from Afrah Qassim, Founder and CEO of Savera UK, John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, Jaswant Narwal CPS, Chief Crown Prosecutor Thames and Chiltern and lead on forced marriage, female genital mutilation and ‘honour’-based abuse, Superintendent Jon Betts, from Cheshire Constabulary and Savera UK Survivor Ambassadors Saliha Rashid and Khatra Paterson.

After the conference, The Mayor of Warrington, Councillor Steve Wright, opened the vigil before Savera UK Direct Intervention team member, Merfat, encouraged attendees to place themselves in the position of Savera UK clients through a powerful description of their experiences, to help people better understand the impact of HBA and harmful practices on individuals. Savera UK Survivor Ambassador Saliha Rashid delivered an emotive reading of Shafilea Ahmed’s own poem Happy Families, revealing the torment she suffered before her murder. Survivor Ambassador, Khatra Paterson, then closed the ceremony with a short tribute and a minute’s silence. Guests were each invited to tie an orange ribbon to the Golden Gates as a symbol of remembrance and hope for the future, for a world without HBA and harmful practices.

Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer said: “The conference was fundamental in bringing together professionals, who may come into contact of vulnerable and at-risk people of this type of abuse and raise awareness of what is happening. There were a number of survivor stories told during the event, and you could literally hear a pin drop. It was a harrowing reminder of why we were there. I want Cheshire to be at the forefront of the change and help Savera UK meet their aim of eradicating ‘honour’-based abuse and harmful practices. I’m going to pull together a working group to enable this to happen. I’m encouraging you all to watch this space.”

CEO and Founder of Savera UK, Afrah Qassim, said: “Twenty years since Shafilea Ahmed was murdered by her parents in an ‘honour’ killing, it is vital that we recognise and accept that ‘honour’ killings, ‘honour’-based abuse and harmful practices still happen today, in the UK and around the world. It can affect anyone, regardless of age, culture, sexuality, gender, or ethnicity. It is a collective issue and one that we must work together to end. We thank those who attended our conference and vigil on Wednesday, those who support our mission and our brave clients and survivor ambassadors, who have bravely shared their stories and given a voice to the issue. Our Day of Memory conference continued important conversations about what we have achieved and what still needs to be done to help survivors and those at risk of HBA and harmful practices. While progress has been made, there is still much to do, and we will work relentlessly to end HBA and ‘honour’-based abuse for good.”

Helpline: 0800 107 0726  (Open 10am–4pm, Monday–Friday, excluding Bank Holidays)

www.saverauk.co.uk           www.saverauklearninghub.co.uk

If you, or someone you know is at immediate risk please ring: 999

 

All photographs by Andrew – AB Photography