Football For All

Poulton Neighbourhood Management held its sixth annual soccer skills school throughout the Easter break at Trimpell.
The event was a huge success attracting over 30 local children from Morecambe Bay County Primary School and Poulton-le-Sands Primary School, and was free to enter with lunch, drinks and snacks included. A fully qualified Football Association coach took on the task of organising the program of activities as well as devising a personal development plan and a progress report for each player.
The four-day event aimed to give the pupils the opportunity to brush up on their football skills, enhance their personal fitness levels and to promote good behaviour.
The coach and his assistants also worked to encourage positive qualities and values, such as, teamwork, communication skills, personal development coaching and attitude and awareness. Every day, a football was awarded to one of the players who had shown exceptionally good behaviourSue Boswell, Community Development Officer for Poulton Neighbourhood Management said: “This is a really great event for local kids and just gets better every year. Over the last 6 years nearly 200 local children have benefited from the free ‘Football for All’ events. The coaches are fantastic with the children and have as much fun coaching as the children do learning new skills. Also, this week gives some of the children the opportunity to do something that their parents might not have been able to afford to send them to”.
The event ended with an awards ceremony where the children received a certificate, a commemorative medal and a surprise Easter egg. Two winners from the design-a-football-strip competition won the latest England football shirts.

Local Kids Give Birds a Real Tweet

Give three cheeps to pupils from Morecambe Bay Primary School for making food and boxes for our feathered friends

A grant for £1000 from Poulton Neighbourhood Management has allowed the Healthy Living Centre to embark on a healthy schools project. The reception class at Morecambe Bay County Primary School have recently been learning about wildlife and gardening by taking part in activities such as making food balls for birds, looking at bugs that live in the garden, composting to make good soil for plants to grow and they are also going to make bird boxes. 
Furniture Matters are making bird box kits up out of recycled materials which the children will then put together. There are even special boxes being made to accommodate larger birds such as owls. The children will be able to take their bird box home, and some will be placed in the rectory garden and others will be placed around the neighbourhood.
The grant has been used to purchase lots of equipment including;
Ladders, tools, books, 2 large water butts to collect rain water to used to water the plants, bird seeds, plants that will seed, berry bushes and shrubs, mini-beast and wild bird photo packs, cameras for the children to photograph the wildlife, magnifying glasses and bug boxes, stickers to say “You have been good in the garden”, and, the bird boxes.
Anna Read from the Healthy Living Centre said: “The grant from Poulton Neighbourhood Management has purchased lots of equipment and garden produce that will be used by all the local schools and the community for a long time. This project helps to raise awareness about wildlife and gardening and the importance of looking after natural habitats.”
Anna continues to run her sessions in the rectory gardens every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. All are welcome to come along and help out with digging and planting. At the moment the team is busy working on the gardens at the Memorial Hall; putting in herbaceous borders and beds. Next year when the herbs are ready residents will be able to pop in and pick some fresh herbs to go with their dinner!