Issue 38 - Summer 2012 - Wigan Council

Missionis to helpNOBODY should have tolive on the streets in2012.That’s the mission of anew campaign to makesure that anyone whofinds themselvessleeping rough will beoffered support quicklyto get into safeaccommodation and onthe road back torecovery.Greater Manchestercouncils have teamed upwith the Riversidehousing group toprovide a 24-hour phoneline which can takereferrals from anymember of the public.One local-rate call to0345 112 8128 or anon-line referral via:www.riverside.org.uk/nsnogm ensures that atemporary place to stayand on-going supportwill be offered to ahomeless person fromany area.Think ofa nameTHERE’S still a bit oftime to suggest a namefor the brand newSaddle Junction reliefroad.It’s now underconstruction and by theend of the year will beready to take traffic outof the town centretowards Newtown.We’ve had dozens ofideas from readers –including someimpressive examples oflocal history and famousconnections to the Pierarea.Many ideas are verysimilar to, or duplicateexisting road names soit’s a good idea to flipthrough the A-Z becauseall new road namesmust be unique.For full details, type‘Saddle Name’ into thesearch box on:www.wigan.gov.ukAll kinds of artistssee green oasis asINSPIRATIONIWandered Lonely As ACloud… For WilliamWordsworth, it was theinspiration of the Lake Districtthat helped him create some ofthe most memorable poems inthe language.But there’s no need to headnorth on the M6 when the musecan be found right here inWigan Borough.The Greenheart RegionalPark is just waiting for walkers,horse riders plus budding poetsand photographers to enjoy ourborough’s open spaces.Earlier this year, theGreenheart board chose theirfavourite poems from versespenned by the public about theborough’s countryside.Laura Taylor’s poem “ANorthern Delight” begins:“Where once the foundries,mills and mines/scarred andscorched this earth/a landscaperises, built anew/a hope, a joyfor all.”Bethany Whittle’s poemspeaks of the canal with “waterlike sweet wine that soothes thetown’s soul”.The winning entry, fromlecturer Helen Kay, is printed infull here.John O’Neill, chair of theGreenheart Board, said: “Twothirds of our borough iscountryside. We worked closelywith the organisers of this year’sWords Festival to celebrateWigan’s unique countryside.“We hope you all enjoy thewinning poem.” John and thejudges want to keep that gentlecompetitive spirit going andhave a twist on last year’sphotographic calendarFor more inspiration, goto www.wigan.gov.uk andtype ‘walking’ into the searchbox. The top item is a list ofhealth walks leaflets for you todownload and take out forinspiring strolls aroundBickershaw, Top Lock,Borsdane Wood and manyother local areas.IT’S ALL IN THE GREENHEART: Whetheryou’re out for a duck, walking the dog,watching the wildlife or snapping thescenery, Greenheart has it all!competition. They want to seeyour nature pictures of the localarea – but using inspirationfrom the poems in the WordsFestival. Read them online at:www.visitgreenheart.com“Send us your high qualityphotos of nature,” added John.“Flowers, wildlife, birds orcountryside scenes from localareas showing areas like WiganFlashes, Haigh Hall, PenningtonFlash and AmberswoodCommon. The best will be usedto promote our countryside nextyear.”Email jpegs (under 1megabyte file size) to:greenheartcalendar@wigan.gov.uk before 30thSeptember with yourname and the shot’slocation (two entriesmax per person).If your image ischosen, we’ll askyou for a higherresolution versionand send you twocopies of the 2013Greenheartcalendar.12 BOROUGH LIFE Summer 2012