Sefton residents needing advice on their sexual health will be able to get help and advice from a new clinic opened this month.

The new community sexual health clinic in Bootle is £260,000 investment in the service by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust in Sefton Sexual Health Service.

It opened oat the beginning of April on the fifth floor of St Hugh’s House in Stanley Road and incorporates services previously available at the nearby May Logan Centre and the PACE service for under 19 year-olds at Bootle Health Centre.

The opening coincides with the relaunch of Sefton Sexual Health website, www.seftonsexualhealth.nhs.uk. As well as a feature that help users quickly find the service they need, it contains information on all contraception methods, STI testing and treatments.

Matron, Wendy Hicks, and service manager, Lynne Hindle, said: “We are thrilled to be able to open our new sexual health clinic in south Sefton offering an integrated sexual health service to all who live, work, study and play in the local area. We hope the new website will support service users to access the right service at the right time for their sexual and reproductive health needs.”

Silas Nicholls, Chief Executive, added: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to work with our public health partners Sefton Council to deliver this new service.

“It represents a significant investment by the Trust in a service which is as much about preventing disease as it is about treatment. ​

Sefton Sexual Health clinics at Southport Centre for Health and Wellbeing, Maghull Health Centre and Netherton Health Centre will continue as usual.

It’s Sefton Year of Friendship. And, what better way to meet and make new friends, than going along to the popular Age Concern Crosby ‘Flicks and Friends’ at the Plaza Community Cinema in Waterloo.

This month’s film is Fisherman’s Friends and will be showing on Tuesday, 23rd April at 1pm. The doors open at 12.30pm and there will be refreshments available to buy.

No need to book, just turn up on the day and enjoy the film – details of which are below.

TITLE: Fisherman’s Friends (12A)

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour 52 minutes

GENRE: Comedy, Drama, Musical

DIRECTOR: Chris Foggin

WRITERS: Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard & Nick Morecroft

STARRING: Tuppence Middleton, James Purefoy, Jade Anouka, Daniel Mays and many more

STORYLINE: Ten fisherman from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties.

To coincide with the Year of Green Action, Living Well Sefton is launching its Grow For It Grant.

The £500 grants are for community-based organisations using gardening as a way of improving people’s wellbeing.

Living Well Sefton is supporting the government’s Year of Green Action initiative which aims to encourage more people in activities to improve the natural world.

And linking in with Happy Plants, from local gardening supplier Porters Fuchsias, means that the grants have the potential of receiving match funding.

In order to be eligible for a grant, groups and organisations need:

• To be from the voluntary, community and faith (VCF) sector
• Agree to provide feedback and photographs on the Grow For It project
• To have spent the grant by the end of May 2019

Anyone interested in applying for one of the £500 Grow For It grants can complete a Grow For It application form and email back to Anne-Marie Morrison via anne-marie.morrison@seftoncvs.org.uk or LWS@seftoncvs.org.uk

The deadline for completed application forms is Friday, April 26.

If you have a query about the grants please ring 0300 323 0181.

Red Box Project Sefton are hosting a ‘Tea and Tampons’ coffee morning at Venus Women’s Centre in Bootle (215 Linacre Lane) tomorrow 10am-12pm.

The community-based project provides schools with red boxes filled with menstrual products to ensure no pupils miss education due to their period.

Entry is £2 or free to attendees who bring a donation of towels and/or tampons.

Find out more about Red Box on their website or Twitter

Sefton Carers Centre have a number of exciting new opportunities to join them and provide valuable services, including two new roles as part of Living Well Sefton.

They are also seeking to recruit a new Trustee to Sefton Carers Centre Board.

For more details about the various posts, including how to apply, or to see what else Sefton Carers Centre has to offer, go to their website.

Residents across Sefton are being encouraged to feel the benefits of being more active by trying a beginners course in bowls. Taking part can give yourself a boost, feel more refreshed and is a great way to meet new people. 

‘Bowl for Health’ is a six to eight-week programme designed for complete newcomers to bowls, providing an overview of the basics and how to play a match.  Run by welcoming coaches and club volunteers, the programme is due to start up again for 2019 in three clubs in Southport.

The programme is being led by MSP (Merseyside Sport), after being successfully rolled out across Sefton and Liverpool in the last 18 months.  The idea for Bowl for Health was developed and successfully piloted in 2017 by Holy Trinity Bowling Club in Formby, and the programme has also had support from Active Sefton and the National Lottery Community Fund.

One participant – Tom, in his sixties from Southport, explained how taking part has helped him to feel less isolated: “Being on my own is very difficult – it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that you can’t turn around to speak to anyone. I got a note through my door about the Bowl for Health course and I was really interested in joining.

“My father was a great bowler in Liverpool and I used to go and watch him play, but I’ve never played before myself. I’ve only been playing bowls for a short time, but I’ve found the activity very invigorating – both from a physical and mental side – so with this you get the best of both worlds!”

Danny Woodworth, from MSP, said: “Being active doesn’t need to mean joining a gym, it’s about finding an activity that you enjoy – people have told us that bowling is a great way to enjoy gentle exercise in a relaxed and sociable environment.  Bowl for Health is for anybody to join in with – it doesn’t matter what your age, experience or level of fitness is.”

Sessions are starting up in April and May in Southport:

• Botanic Gardens Bowling Club (Churchtown, Bankfield Lane, Southport, PR9 7NB) starts 10am to 11am Friday 12th April, running for six weeks – to book your place please contact Rod Eckersley on 01704 224167 or email reckersley144@btinternet.com (there is a small charge of £10 for this six week course, which will be deducted from the membership fee should you wish to join the club after attending Bowl for Health)
• Scarisbrick Bowling Club (The Pavilion, 1a Falkland Road, Southport, PR8 6LG) starts 10.30am to 11.30am Friday 10th May, running for eight weeks – to book your place please contact Roger Lloyd on 07821 995055 or email lloyd70@gmail.com
• Victoria Park Bowling Club (Esplanade, Southport, PR8 1RR) starts 10am to 12pm Saturday 11th May 2019, running for six weeks – to book your place please contact Paul Crummey on 07816 287273 or vpbcbowling@gmail.com

For further information about the programme please visit www.merseysidesport.com/bowlforhealth or call MSP on 0151 728 1811.

Today (Wednesday) is National Walking Day and the benefits of walking cannot be under estimated.

According to the NHS: “Walking is simple, free, and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier. You don’t have to walk for hours. A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise.”

But, as the charity Living Streets points out, 26% of UK adults do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week (1).

The thing is walking is good for us in all sorts of ways. It gets us out of the house, we give our lungs a bit of a work out, we can catch up with our friends, enjoy the scenery and notice changes within our community.

Living Streets highlights the link between walking and being more alert at work too. It says: “Regular exercise causes an overall work performance boost of about 15%.”

More than that, walking can help to prevent diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and depression.

Luckily, our Living Well Sefton partners have walking groups that meet every week in Sefton so you can keep on walking and there are also regular organised walks through Active Travel.

To find out about our partner walking groups call 0300 323 0181. For walking enquiries via Active Travel call 051 934 2824.

To read more on the benefits of walking click on the NHS web page here and also for details on how to put your best foot forward for National Walking Month in May with Living Streets.

(1) source: NHS Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, 2017