The Wigan Courier Newspaper :: Wigan's Good News Paper

WIGAN CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP
Presents
A NIGHT WITH THE BANDS
Monday evening March 29th @ The Swinley Club, Centre of Wigan
from 7-00pm to approx 10-30pm
“Come and listen to some of Wigan’s freshest young talent playing live......” says Wigan Cultural Partnership Chair Mark Ashley. The evening Hosted by Chris Skoyles of Wigan Children and Young Persons Services Department ( The Linc)
FREE raffle with CD prizes
FREE music poster to takeaway
Tickets just £2-00 on the door, or tickets available from Wigan Courier office in advance.

Bands pencilled in include:
Colour Me Blind
Chaos Theory
Short Notice
Facing Paige
+ special guest appearence by 'Wild' Wayne Mawdesley (Britain's Got Talent)

Refreshments on sale - no smoking venue
The Swinley, Coppull Lane, Wigan WN1 2LQ

The February meeting of the Wigan Family & Local History Society proved to be a great success with more than forty people in attendance.

The huge increase in attendance followed a publicity campaign by the Society assisted by the Courier and others. Also moving back to a more central part of town to hold our meetings has played a significant part. We are very grateful to the Management and Staff at the Bowling Green Hotel for the use of their excellent function room.

Chairman Keith Guest introduced Alex Miller who is the Borough Archivist. Alex then set about explaining just what was held at the Borough Archives. He had also brought along some source documents, rent books from the 1800’s, school attendance records and the like. Alex then went on to demonstrate that with the aid of documents like these not only could you trace your ancestors but you could gain an all important insight into their daily lives. A variety of questions were fired from the audience and fielded expertly by Alex, who was then thanked by the Chairman and received a round of applause as a mark of appreciation.

The Chairman then outlined the Society’s vision for the future. We need to move with the times and to harness technology. To this end the Website will be re-vamped and become interactive. Members will be able to access the site and indicate their preferred topics etc. It is also our intention to embark on more field trips to bodies like the General Records Office at Southport, Lancashire Records Office at Preston and not forgetting Wigan History Shop.

The next meeting takes place on Monday the 15th March in the Bowling Green Hotel 7.30 for 8pm. We have an excellent speaker in Peter Watson he is one of Wigan Society’s favourite speakers. His subject next month will be Medicine and Magic the social history and customs and practice associated with disease health and ill health.

Local Master Chef, Brian Mellor, is set to cook up a storm of salad at this year’s Wigan Food and Drink Festival.
The award-winning chef will host Hazeldene’s Outdoor Market Kitchen Theatre, which takes place at 11.30am on Saturday 13th March at Wigan’s biggest culinary festival.
Hazeldene, the leading UK freshly prepared salad supplier, is sponsoring the event and with the support of Brian, will help festival goers ‘put more flavour on their plates’ and learn how to be a little more creative with all things salad. As well as gaining some top advice from Brian, attendees can look forward to demonstrations, tastings and giveaways.
Simon Ball, Hazeldene’s managing director, was delighted to announce Brian’s involvement. He said: “At Hazeldene, freshness is in everything we do, it’s in our roots, from plant to plate, to guarantee ‘best in class’ salad varieties that provide new and enticing flavours, colours, textures for consumers to enjoy in bagged salads, sandwiches, wraps, salad bowls and stir-frys.
“Brian’s approach is a perfect fit with ours, having been recommended by a friend as being honest, friendly, very professional, highly engaging and passionate during demonstrations. As a keen supporter of locally sourced produce, Brian understands the importance of such relationships, something that we share, value and are extremely proud of with local suppliers, seed houses and growers, to provide a seamless link from plant to plate.
“We’re thrilled to have him on board at our Outdoor Market Kitchen Theatre and are looking forward to seeing his creativity with Hazeldene’s produce through the three differing salad recipes he will be demonstrating on the day. We are expecting the demo to not only be informative but entertaining – something that is not to be missed! So, make sure you, your family and friends come along and taste the flavoursome dishes on offer!”
Brian, the former Executive Chef at Granada TV and Head Chef at BBC is no stranger to the kitchen, having ten years of experience of demonstrations under his hat. He currently runs a busy cookery school in Wirral, which offers the perfect opportunity, even for beginners, to learn about the freshest of food.
In between classes, Brian is the chairman of judges for the North West Young Chef Competition, as well as sitting on the judging panel for the Northern Chef of the year. He is also well established amongst celebrity TV chefs, having worked with ‘I’m a Celebrity’ king of the jungle Gino D’Acampo and TV presenter Simon Rimmer.
Pleased to be teaming up with Hazeldene at this year’s Wigan Food & Drink Festival, Brian commented: “Ever since a young age, I’ve always loved cooking so I’m really looking forward to being able to share my passion and enthusiasm for all things culinary with people from Wigan and beyond. As an active supporter of the gastronomic scene in the North West and involvement in the annual young chef competition, it will be great to be back in town to show off my skills!”
“Chefs love ‘funky’ leaves, shoots and cresses and this chef is no exception, so I’m really into what Hazeldene does. Whether it’s as a side, main on within a wrap, salad can really liven up a meal and it’s healthy too, so you can’t go wrong!”
Hazeldene’s Outdoor Market Kitchen takes place on Saturday 13th March at 11.30am until 1pm. A full festival programme is available from Wigan Tourist Information Centre (contact 01942 825677 or go to www.wlct.org/foodanddrink. For more information on Hazeldene, log on to www.hazeldene.co.uk.

Having moved well out of the relegation zone in SLC1 after a five match unbeaten run with a game in hand and in some cases two over their nearest opponents, 10th place Wigan are away to Oswestry who are 11th in what will be a 'four pointer' as far as the Douglas Valley club are concerned.
With Steve Peacock out with a 'deadleg' Danny Winrow is switched to scrum half paving the way for the return of Paul Bullough at centre. The pack remains unchanged.
"We showed great character last week as we fought back from a 10 point deficit," commented head coach Ronnie Dutch. "The win over Warrington lifted us 7 points above the relegation zone but we still have 7 games left and will be aiming at a mid-table finish."

With hopes fading of a top two finish Orrell, in 3rd place in SLC 2, face a crunch match at home to 4th place Ruskin Park. Mark Hewlett returns from injury at full back, Jeff Gavin comes in at centre with Andy Draper given a run at outside half. In the pack Peter Sprung makes his first appearance of the season at tight head after six months in Australia, with Mark Williams given his chance at hooker after impressive performances in the 2nds.

With so many postponements the Miller Homes League 5North is making little sense at the moment. Having made the early running, due to four games having been postponed, Aspull are now back in 5th place and although they do have games in hand over their rivals these still need to be played creating a worrying backlog of fixtures.
This Saturday they welcome Colne and Nelson 2nds to Woodshaw Park in a 5th v 6th clash, with Tom Kennedy replacing Tom Wolfenscoft, who suffered a broken leg last time out, at centre the only change.

Still with games in hand Leigh are away to Wilmslow in North One West and although safe for the season will be looking to take the opportunity of moving further up the table.
The pack remains unchanged but in the backs Terry Knapman takes over from Ryan McKinstry at centre with former Orrell and Sedgley Park back rower Ian Grainey appearing on the bench after a nine year absence from the club.

WIGAN Council has set up a new, locally-managed landlord accreditation scheme aimed at recognising property standards and good management service.

The scheme, introduced in response to requests from local landlords and managed by the Council’s Housing Strategy Team, is free to join and offers a host of benefits, including discounted landlord insurance and free credit checks.

The scheme offers free advertising of vacant properties through the Property Shops as well as discount cards for Jewsons, one of the UK’s leading chains of builders merchants, and plumbers merchants Grahams.

The scheme requires landlords to complete an application form and provide evidence of certain certification, in addition to complying with property inspections to ensure that they comply with Housing Health & Safety legislation.

“We are responding to requests from local landlords who have told us quite clearly they want a scheme based in Wigan. We want the many Wigan landlords who offer a high quality standard of property with a good management service to be recognised. We also know that letting a property for the first time can be a daunting task so we want to be able to help new or inexperienced landlords so that they can get it right first time. We are hopeful that the many landlords operating in the Wigan area will see the benefits of joining our scheme and gaining the recognition they deserve.”

For those seeking accommodation in the private sector, this scheme means that tenants can be assured that checks have been carried out on landlords with accredited properties - and that they meet minimum standards in terms of property maintenance and housing management.

Overall, this will raise standards in the private sector, as well as increasing access to additional housing options for those seeking accommodation in the borough.

Patricia Wildon has been renting out properties across Wigan Borough for over ten years. She says she’s delighted to be the first landlord accredited on the scheme:

“I think this is an excellent idea! It whittles out the less responsible landlords and recognises the effort and investment that many landlords make to ensure their houses are homely, safe and comfortable. Tenants need to know that the property they rent is maintained to a proper standard, for instance that the electricity and gas supplies are reliable and safe. Inspections also flag up potential problems with damp and drains, and highlight hazards such as open staircases which may pose a risk to toddlers. This accreditation scheme is good for landlords and tenants, and will bring rented accommodation across the borough up to an acceptable standard for all.”

One of Mrs Wildon’s tenants is Andrea Tate. She agrees that the accreditation scheme is a great idea:

“It offers peace of mind. My landlords are very thoughtful and because they are local, I know that day or night, if there is any problem, they will always be there to deal with it. With this kind of scheme, tenants know that the accommodation is kept to a quality standard - so you can sleep at night confident that your family is safe.”

Further benefits include access to the Council’s Private Sector Leasing Scheme which enables landlords to lease their properties to the Council on a long term basis and received a guaranteed monthly rent. The Council subsequently employs Wigan Housing Solutions, a not-for-profit organisation, to manage the properties on its behalf. Wigan Housing Solutions also manage the Bond Scheme on behalf of the Council - another benefit available to landlords who become accredited.

If you have any queries about the Wigan Landlord Accreditation Scheme please contact Jen Martlew on 01942 488478.