Here’s some info on the upcoming grants programme from our friends at the Culture Company. If you are planning any projects or events, these briefing sessions may be useful:

The Arts and Cultural Grants programme for 2009/10 will be announced shortly. In advance of the grant scheme going live we would like to draw your attention to the following programme of briefing sessions and surgeries which aim to provide officer support during the application process.

Booking

To book a place on the grant briefing sessions or to arrange a time at one of the surgeries please contact:

Phil Taylor
Liverpool Culture Company
Tel: 0151 233 5604
Email: phil.taylor@liverpool.gov.uk

Click ‘more for the dates and venues of the sessions.
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Click for larger route map.

Merseytravel has stepped in to recast the city centre bus network, following the deregistration of some of the city’s key services.

The move, subject to an emergency tender by the passenger transport executive, will see an improved network in some areas, with new and stronger connections to key city destinations.

It will also ensure the continuity of services in many others.

The service changes, coming in from December 27th this year, will include revisions to the S1, S2, S3, 4 and 11 bus routes.

The S1, 4 and 11 bus routes, operated by Arriva and supported by Merseytravel, have been deregistered and Merseytravel has terminated the contracts for the Merseytravel funded S2 and S3 services, as part of the review.

In order to maintain links, the network will see four new services created, all operating under Merseytravel subsidised contracts (see notes and map for full route details).

Click ‘more for full details of the new city centre busses.
Read the rest of this entry »

As the end of the year fast approaches, Community Foundation for Merseyside invites you to some special community project visits in December that will give supporters, donors and partners the opportunity to visit a selection of projects that we have supported together over the past year.

The project visits will give you the opportunity to see these grassroots groups in action and meet the people who benefit from funding as well as benefit from some intimate networking opportunities with like-minded businesses.

We very much hope that you will be able to join us for one of these special days. The visits are taking place on the following dates and times in December:

Tuesday 9th December
2pm - 5pm
Theme: Green Machine (Environment and Health)
Opportunity to meet community leaders working on conservation and healthy living projects
Kindly hosted by Medicash (Meeting point at Medicash offices on Lord Street, Liverpool)

Thursday 11th December
4pm - 7pm
Theme: Merseyside Young Transformers (Youth crime prevention and education)
Opportunity to meet local groups working with young people at risk of becoming involved in crime, delivering transformation activities
Hosted with Merseyside Police (Meeting point TBC)

Thursday 18th December
10am - 1pm
Theme: Merseyside Cultural Legacy Fund (Arts and Culture)
Opportunity to meet varied groups who use the theme of arts and culture to meet community needs.
Kindly hosted by the Royal Liver Group (Meeting point at the Royal Liver Building, city centre)

On each day, guests will meet at our host venue, visit two different projects in Merseyside and then finish off with some refreshments and networking at our host venue. We aim to provide transport for the visits.

The Community Foundation would be delighted if you are able to attend in order to see the impact that community groups and our donors together are having on people’s lives.

To let us know if you are able to attend, please contact Cat Kirkcaldy (0151 966 2872 / cat@cfmerseyside.org.uk) by Wednesday 3 December, specifying which date is best for you. If you would also like to bring colleagues, clients or partners along, please let us know the names of your guests.

Liverpool Cathedral was last night announced as the first winner of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Arts Award.

The award is designed to stimulate Liverpool’s tradition of patronage by rewarding the company or organisation who funded the best publicly available art in Liverpool in the last five years.

The piece, titled ‘For You’ by Tracy Emin, RA takes the form of a pink neon wall mounted sign in Tracey’s own handwriting carrying the message ‘I felt you and I knew you loved me’ The judges were impressed with this dual personal and spiritual message in such a sacred space.

The judging panel made up of the crème of the Liverpool arts establishment ; Lewis Biggs Director of  Liverpool Biennial, Brenda Parkerson, Business Development Manager of Arts & Business, John Entwistle, sponsor and Christoph Grunenberg Director of Tate Gallery Liverpool felt that the Cathedral’s on-going work with such a cutting edge contemporary artist had produced a very bold and courageous piece.

The award sponsor, John Entwistle commented: “I’m very keen that this competition encourages the tradition of patronage of the arts in Liverpool and I’m delighted that work of this calibre is being commissioned in Liverpool.”

How Those Pesky Kids Use The Interwebs

The Digital Youth Project, an American, 22 case study, $3.3 million ethnographic study of what kids are doing online, has  published its results. The project is the largest and most comprehensive study of young peoples’ internet use ever undertaken in the US.

The conclusions are sane, compassionate, and compelling: in a nutshell, the “serious” stuff we all hope kids will do online (researching papers and so on) are only possible within a framework of “hanging out, messing around and geeking out.” That is to say, all the “time-wasting” social stuff kids do online are key to their explorations and education online.

Ito and her team establish a taxonomy of social activity, dividing it first into “peer-driven” and “interest-driven” — the former being what kids do with their real-world friends, the latter being the niche interests that drive them to locate other people who are as fascinated as they are by whatever brand of esoterica they fancy.

Within these two categories, the researchers break things down further into “hanging out” (undirected, social activities), “messing around” (tinkering with media, networks and technologies) and “geeking out” (delving deep into subjects based on global communities of interest) and for each one, they describe the successful and unsuccessful techniques deployed by parents and educators to direct kids’ activities.

See the report’s website here.

Download the 2-page summary [PDF]

Download the full report [PDF]

The above copy / post has been shamelessly lifted from Boing Boing

FREE Workshop - Thursday 11th December 2008 - 4.00 to 7.00pm

Liverpool Chamber’s Ultimate Business Class is holding a free workshop to help you strengthen your business. In these testing times, we aim to give you the support you need to see them through.

The workshop will cover a range of topics to help you work smarter

1.   Introduction - the current business climate

Planning - ‘ start with the end in mind’

2.    The ‘human effect’- the changing demands on individuals, and how this can affect your business

3.    The Business Appraisal model - general awareness and ‘barometer’ of where your business stands in today’s climate

4.    ‘Recession-proof’ your business:

• survive
• consolidate
• move forward
• grow your business

5.    Cash management

6.    Managing change in small business

7.    Close - after-hours networking and refreshments

With
Geoff Stevenson - Ultimate Business Class
Catherine Glazebrook - Real Growth Ltd

Jenny Esau - Credit Management Group

To attend please email Geoff Stevenson with your details and number of delegates.

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce,
No 1 Old Hall St., Liverpool L3 9HG

Do you have a Neurological Condition or Brain Injury? Do you need advice and help?

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce member Neurosupport offers non-medical information, support and advice to people affected by a Neurological Condition or Brain Injury.

Neurosupport offers information and support, not only to those who suffer from a Neurological Condition, but also to their families and carers, employers and training providers.

Neurosupport Services include:

• Working Life Service supports employees and employers to obtain and retain employment.
• Our Library has a wide range of information-from books on many neurological conditions, to newsletters and leaflets.
• The Neurosupport Centre, stands in the heart of Liverpool, is accessible and central and provides some of the best value for money meeting space in the North West.

For more information on Neurosupport go to our website www.neurosupport.org.uk or telephone 0151 298 2999

Events

In 2009, Neurosupport is holding two important events:

• February 11 sees our regular Holiday Exhibition for Disabled People and their Carers in Liverpool.  Go to www.holidayexhibition2009.tumblr.com for more details.
• February 19 we are holding, in conjunction with Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, a conference on Sport, Rehabilitation and Brain Injury.  See www.sbiconference2009.tumblr.com for more information.

Sponsorship

There are some exciting sponsorship opportunities available  for the conference, from just a few hundred pounds. These include:

• Sponsorship of Delegate packs: £300.
• Sponsorship of food, hospitality and catering for the day: £500.
• A bursary for conference fees: £100.
• Exhibition stand: £125-£175 See details in this leaflet (PDF)
• Or if you would like to discuss a wider sponsorship opportunity, for example having your company’s name connected with the day or displayed prominently as a supporter of the conference, we would love to talk to you.

If you’re a Chamber Member and would be interested in discussing this opportunity contact Danny Start, Events and Marketing Co-ordinator, at danny@neurosupport.org.uk or 0151 298 3281.

MERIT’s next free event looks at the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. This came into force in January 2007 and aims to both reduce the amount of WEEE being produced and encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it. The WEEE Directive also aims to improve the environmental performance of businesses that manufacture, supply, use, recycle and recover electrical and electronic equipment.

If you are an importer, rebrander or manufacturer of new electrical or electronic equipment then it’s likely that you will need to comply with the UK’s WEEE Regulations, which in part implement the WEEE Directive. If you do need to comply, then you must register on a producer compliance scheme.

This event will provide information and advice on complying with the WEEE Regulations and challenge you to think about the environmental consequences before deciding to replace equipment. Do you really need to buy a new product or could you buy a refurbished product instead. If you have working equipment that you no longer need, could you think about passing it on to others instead of throwing it away?

Also covered within the seminar, will be an update on the Batteries Directive which will affect businesses that produce, supplies or disposes of batteries and accumulators. If you manufacture or design battery powered products, you will need to ensure that the batteries can be removed from the products and supply instructions on how to remove them.

Registration
11:00am - 11:30am

Presentation
11:30am - 12:30pm

Lunch/Networking
12:30pm - 13:30pm

Venue
ICDC Lecture Theatre
Liverpool Innovation Park
2nd Floor Faraday House
360 Edge Lane
Liverpool
L7 9NJ

Book online for FREE at the MERIT website

The Department For Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (DBERR) has put together a handy set of guides to help you manage your cashflow.

Cashflow is critical to business survival but all too often the day to day challenge of running a business, particularly a smaller business, can mean losing sight of some of the skills for successful cashflow management. This series of guides, developed in partnership with the Institute of Credit Management, is part of a series of initiatives providing practical support to help businesses help themselves through these difficult times. They are designed to provide straightforward and speedy advice with simple checklists and top tips.

See the guides and download them here.

In these turbulent economic times, the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) is even more important than usual.

Not only are the results of the survey considered by the Bank of England in setting interests rates, but they are also used locally by agencies developing business support packages.

We have sent out paper copies to our members across Greater Merseyside. However, we want to hear from all businesses, members or not.

You can fill in the QES online by visiting the Mersey Economy website and following the QES link on the home page. Or you can return your printed survey by fax to 0151 236 0121or post to:

Policy Department
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
One Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9HG