Get set for Christmas in Hyndburn

Townships will be sparkling soon, with the switching on of thousands of Christmas lights across the borough.

Accrington’s spectacular Christmas light switch on will take place on Thursday 27th November. The evening will feature entertainment on stage outside the Market Hall from 6pm and after the big switch to light up the town, there’ll be a spectacular firework extravaganza and the shops will stay open late for a spot of late night Christmas shopping.

Township switch on events are also set to take place, starting on Tuesday 25th November at Clayton-le-Moors, Wednesday 26th November in Oswaldtwistle, Monday 1st December in Huncoat, Tuesday 2nd December in Church, Wednesday 3rd December in Milnshaw, Thursday 4th December in Baxenden, Friday 5th December in  Rishton, Friday 5th December in Great Harwood and Monday 15th December in Altham, with various things planned at different events to get you feeling festive.

Santa’s Grotto also opens Saturday 6th December, so take the children for a traditional Christmas treat to see Santa and his elves in the winter wonderland grotto at Accrington Market Hall.

Cllr Clare Cleary, Cabinet Member for Town Centres said; “Bring the family into Accrington on the 27th   November for the big switch on. Its set to be a fabulous event with a great programme of entertainment and a spectacular firework display and heralds the start of lots of festive events during November and December.”

Cllr Miles Parkinson Council Leader added; “ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, with all the switch on’s around the borough, including the Accrington spectacular.  Please bring the family into Accrington for the big switch on and also come along and support your local community switch on event. Many thanks also to all the Councillors and members of each community, who have worked hard to organise these local township events.”

See www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk for details of Christmas events in the borough.

Rishton: Provision of Superfast Broadband

A question was submitted on notice by a resident to the Leader of the Council, Miles Parkinson, regarding provision of superfast broadband in Rishton.

A Council spokesman said, "Lancashire County Council are leading on the ‘Superfast Lancashire’ project and BT is their contractor for the rollout programme. For the installation of the majority of on-street broadband infrastructure (the green boxes, etc) then BT don’t have to seek our permission they just advise us they are going to do the work and then get on with it."

A website has been set up for residents to check on the status of their superfast broadband availability in their area: www.superfastlancashire.com

The Rishton postcode has been checked and the website is saying the following:

Your area is enabled for Superfast Fibre but your cabinet is not ready yet so you can’t place an order today. It is in our plans to be upgraded and we update this info weekly, so please check back later.

Residents are able to register their interest on the website and get notified when they are accepting orders.

HBC: Councillors to attend White Ribbon seminar

Hyndburn Borough Council has arranged for a Councillors' seminar featuring Chris Green as part of White Ribbon's campaign to end violence against women.

Chris Green is Director of White Ribbon Campaign UK which engages men in speaking out about violence against women. He has developed an award scheme for municipalities to grant white ribbon status for involving men in White Ribbon activities.

From 2005-2008 he was a member of the Council of Europe Task Force to combat Violence against Women, and a member of the World Health Organisation’s Violence Prevention Alliance. He is a trustee of and sits on the advisory board of White Ribbon Scotland. In 2007 he was awarded the title Ultimate Man of the Year by Cosmopolitan Magazine for his work on anti-violence strategies.

He is a member of the UK End Violence Against Women Expert Advisory Group and the End Violence against Women Prevention Working Party. He is a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Voluntary Sector Advisory Group and the National Institute for Clinical and Health Excellence
Programme Development Group on Domestic Violence. In 2012 his training in engaging men in challenging violence against women included British Council in Istanbul, Oxfam in Lebanon, and World Wide
Association of Girl Guides in Antwerp.

The Rhymes of No Man's Land - 29th November 2014

All residents are invited to The Rhymes of No Man’s Land at St James’ Church, Accrington at 7.00pm on Saturday 29th November. The event, which is part of Mid Pennine Art’s project Truce, is collaboration with Lancashire County Council Up for Arts programme and is an evening of song, performance and visual art commemorating the Christmas Truces of 1914 and the organisation has teamed up with Spring Hill School who will be performing a song written especially for the event.

Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance. You can either collect them from Accrington Library or book them on the Eventbrite page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-rhyme-of-no-mans-land-tickets-14193542267

Baxenden: Free events at Haworth Art Gallery on 22nd and 23rd November 2014

Shown above is an invitation to the launch of Dennis Duckworth – A Retrospective in Style which will take place at Haworth Art Gallery on Hollins Lane in Baxenden on Saturday 22nd November at 12.00pm.

On Sunday 23rd November there is also a FREE concert by Derek Lang and Tommy Young at 2.00pm.

There is no need to book for either events, but please come along early!

Lancashire Constabulary Online Reporting

Lancashire Constabulary have launched their online reporting microsite. This site has been developed in response to the public's expectation to be able to report matters to the police online. The initial release will offer the public six options:

• Report an Incident or Crime
• Lost and Found Property
• Contact An Officer
• Recruitment
• Compliments
• Complaints

The new site can be found here:

https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/

Grassroots Football: A Matter of Life and Death - 21st November 2014

Join the Houses of Parliament Outreach Service at the home of Accrington Stanley FC on Friday 21st November at 7.00pm as they debate, discuss and seek ways to increase dialogue amongst Parliamentarians, lobbyists, campaigners and football enthusiasts about the way grassroots football is organised, governed and financed in this country.

Speakers at the event will include:
·     Graham Jones MP for Hyndburn and a member of the All Party Parliamentary Football Group
·     David Crausby MP for Bolton North East (originator of the e-petition ‘save grassroots football’)
·     Kevin Rye - Supporters Direct
·     Kenny Saunders from the 'Save Grassroots Football Campaign'

Other speakers to be announced. Entry is free and food will be served.

An eye-watering £835 million was spent by Premier League football clubs during the last transfer window; £757 million was spent building Wembley Stadium; £105 million has been spent on St George’s Park training complex; football seems awash with money! Yet, amateur and grassroots football leagues up and down the country are dying because of rising costs and poor facilities, as more and more young people turn their backs away from playing our national game.

How can we improve the state of grassroots and amateur football for the long term benefit of football in this country? How can grassroots football be saved?

If you care at all about the future of grassroots football in the UK, come along and let your feelings, opinions and recommendations be known.

To reserve your place go to https://grassrootsfootball.eventbrite.co.uk