Merseyside
County News
The first five months
I have been in office for 5 months and like my counterparts elsewhere have been on a steep learning curve of what is expected of a High Sheriff and what a High Sheriff can do. Where does one start?
I sought advice from previous High Sheriffs, who were extremely helpful and encouraging. It rapidly became clear that though there are many events which occur yearly, each High Sheriff does it differently and it depends on personal interests and background. This is one of the strengths and weaknesses of the post. The strength lies in reaching different sectors and different people within these sectors, each year. The weakness lies in the absence of continuity and a central office which acts as a focal point for contact. I have found that most of my contacts have come from the meeting of people at an event and being made aware of and being introduced to many others as a consequence.
My personal background is that of a Consultant Paediatric Radiologist in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. I had little interface with the community outside the Health Service, so one of my first tasks was to introduce myself to the business and voluntary communities of the five Boroughs of Merseyside. I met the CEO’s of the Boroughs, all of whom have been helpful and encouraging and have passed details of my interests to their heads of sectors. They in turn have followed up the contact and as a result I have been invited to visit schools, attend Good Neighbour Awards, and to see some of the new social housing to name but three. These new schools and colleges are bright, airy and full of open space, well equipped and with an air of purpose and determination to give children aspiration, education, and guide their personal development. These have been designed with input from the students who are fine young men and women. I have also visited several alternative educational facilities, mainly run by charities but with services commissioned by the local councils. These coax youth , many of whom have dropped out of mainstream school, back into education and by using imaginative ways of engaging the students have huge success in restoring self esteem and a very high number move on to college courses, apprenticeships and some to University. Needless to say, in Merseyside music and sport loom large!
I have visited a new sheltered housing scheme for the elderly. It is a mixed development with a partnership between the public and private sector. It is dignified and fit for purpose with great thought given to sustaining independent living and privacy. The public areas are open to all.
I visited the rangers responsible for the Sefton coast preservation. This coastline is an important Special Scientific Interest area. I had a spectacular day with them and gained a fascinating insight into the extent of the task of managing coastal erosion, preserving public access and sensitively developing it further as a wild place in which flora, fauna, both avian and terrestrial and people can thrive and enjoy. Of course I had some spectacular bird viewing as a side effect!
The Police, Fire and Rescue, and the Probation Services have welcomed me from the beginning and have given me many insights into what they are doing within the community. They are fantastic. It is hard to understand how they cope with the bad press they so often unfairly get. It is a pleasure to be able to support them by going to their varying award ceremonies both for their own members and for the community activities they support, such as the Prince’s Trust program. The police officer in charge of Safer Schools, Inspector Colin Lewis, is helping to establish CRIMEBEAT on Merseyside. We hope to have our first award ceremony in December.
I have also been given the opportunity to talk to the undergraduate courses for teachers in our Universities about being a High Sheriff and to introduce the concepts of CRIMEBEAT and DEBTCRED to the students. Hopefully this will provide a natural method of cascading the concepts downwards in the future during citizenship and self awareness classes in the schools. With the help of Carol Penny we are well on the way to establishing DEBTCRED on Merseyside. This has largely come about by one of the Borough’s education Directors sending the information I sent him out to all the schools in his area. The hope is that the program will be advertised by word of mouth from school to school once it is shown to be successful.
When we were in Burghley, we were advised that a High Sheriff could and should lift the phone and ask to come and visit! This is not something most of us would normally contemplate, so it was with some diffidence I did this at first. Several of my predecessors in the role admitted the same reluctance. How right was the advice! The phone calls have received often startled but always welcoming replies and it is through this that I have now visited many voluntary sector activities. These include charities which provide services to the Educational Authorities, NHS and Social Services, those providing support and help for many disadvantaged groups such as Asylum and Refugees, families with disabled children, specialist schools for Autistic children with individually tailored programs for each child, the Reader Organisation which alters lives through reading. And outdoor activity centres. I spoke at the AGM of Bradbury Fields which provides the services for the blind and partially sighted, and are contracted to do so for the NHS. The spirit there and almost everywhere I have been is one of hope and determination not gloom and the spirit of Dunkirk is everywhere.
The voluntary sector is long established in Merseyside. 2 umbrella charities were established over 100 years ago. These are Liverpool Voluntary and Charitable Services (LCVS) with over 2,000 smaller charities on their books, and the Personal Services Society (PSS) which provides personalised and tailored social care. The more recently established Merseyside Community Foundation is the biggest grant giving body in Merseyside. All provide advice to those charities on their books and where requested mange them. In spite of the current economic climate and the consequent reduction in income being suffered by many, there is little self pity and a spirit of hope and determination to continue to support those they serve. I have run out of superlatives to describe what they do.
There have been many civic and military functions, days in court, meeting and hosting visiting judges who are universally fun and delightful, graduation ceremonies and official openings. I have made new friends, and spoken to and laughed with people whom I would never otherwise have met.
I have met the Governors, the staff, the instructors and some of the inmates of our prisons. The efforts being made to rehabilitate the prisoners and to fit them for work on release, to find employment for them and to liaise closely with the probation service to continue this rehabilitation are truly inspirational. I did not know what to expect but I found hope and those that were working there are fulfilled and caring. The same is true of the probation service. The commitment of the young case workers and their evident caring for their clients and belief in what they do is unbelievable and of course they are very successful in rehabilitation of many whom society would consider lost to rehabilitation. Restoration of self esteem is key to this as it is with youth dropouts from school. One runs out of superlatives!
If I had to sum up my role I would say that I see myself as a catalyst for making connections and helping to introduce contacts. I have tried to follow the advice of the Bishop of Oxford. I am getting to know my county. I am finding out what is good in it and I am doing my best to spread the good news. I have been ably, lovingly and generously supported by my husband Austin and by my family. I look forward to what the next 6 months will bring.
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