Estate where 'some kids have never been on a train'
The exact location of a station is still to be confirmed, and it is expected to take until about 2030 for planning permission to be given. Once built, it would link the estate to Liverpool and Wrexham.
'Open up opportunities'
Emma Simms, a staff member at Fender school, said: "A lot of the children do not have the opportunities to leave the estate whether that is for days out or holidays."We have conversations with children who have never been on the trains."Staff at the school said a new station would cut down on travel time, open up school, university and job opportunities, and give children more life experiences. Sue Lee, who has lived in the area for 20 years, feels the new station would bring more value and investment to Woodchurch as well as open up opportunities.She said: "Just trying to get off the Wirral at all is a tricky one."You can but then you have to go to Birkenhead to get the train somewhere. This just enhances all your options."She said her daughter was an athlete and in the past, sometimes they had to get taxis to competitions because there were just no other options."A lot of children do not get off the estate," she said. "If there is something right there it makes it a lot easier to go to places they might not necessarily go to."
'Degree of isolation'
However, there's still some scepticism after years of promises. Maureen Cain said: "It's a good place to live, it really is and I think it will be really uplifted.However, she said: "Until it happens, no one will be jumping for joy. I think people get fed up and think that until it happens, we aren't going to be happy about it."Wirral councillor Jerry Williams, who grew up on the estate, said connectivity was one of the most important issues on the estate.The Labour councillor for Upton said there was "a degree of isolation on a lot of the estate" and "to have a station there is really going to transform things".When the funding was announced, it was welcomed by top politicians in Wirral. Matthew Patrick, Wirral West's MP and former councillor for the area, said: "People here deserve good jobs, better transport links, stronger schools and great leisure services."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
07-08-2025
- The Guardian
Blackadder star Tony Robinson vents anger over ‘heightism'
As dating apps using height filters spark debate on 'heightism', the Blackadder star Tony Robinson has vented his anger at women who feel it is acceptable to comment on men's height. 'Nowadays, you don't pick on people's looks, do you? It's like kind of a new understanding over the last 10 or 15 years, you don't deride people for what they look like,' the 5ft 4in actor, 78, told Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast, admitting he had seen his shorter than average height as a problem in life. Studies over decades show heightism leads to bias, yet it appears even today to be more socially acceptable than other forms of physical prejudice. The term 'heightism' was first coined by the sociologist Saul Feldman in 1971. Dr Erin Pritchard, a senior lecturer in sociology and disability studies at Liverpool Hope University, believes much heightism is subconscious, but that it is ingrained. It has also not benefited from widespread acceptance movements. 'You had the fat acceptance movement, and while there's still issues, you would never go, 'well, how much do you weigh'? But it's perfectly acceptable for people to go, 'how tall are you'?' she said. It is reinforced through popular culture, 'Chicken and egg, I suppose. But you're seeing it in films and in TV shows, jokes about short man syndrome,' she said. 'Height is all about power, isn't it? It's quite a powerful thing.' And it is present in everyday language. We tell people to 'walk tall'; we 'look up to' people; those respected 'have stature'; those less so 'have shortcomings' or 'fall short'. The US state of Michigan, the US cities Santa Cruz, San Francisco and New York City, as well as Ontario, Canada and Victoria, Australia, are among the few to address height discrimination in civil rights law. An increase in men's height corresponds to increased income, according to a 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The term 'height premium' emerged from another 2004 study, which found an 1.8% increase in men's wages accompanies every additional inch [2.54 cm] of height, and that men's wages as adults could be linked to their height at age 16. Women prefer a larger height difference between themselves and male partners, according to a 2013 study at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and were most satisfied when their partner was 21cm taller. Men, however, preferred an 8cm difference over female partners. There was a lighthearted, body positive movement during the 2022 TikTok 'short king spring', in praise of short men. But then a 2023 study suggested 'short man syndrome', often referred to as the Napoleon complex, may lead short men to compensate with antagonistic behaviours. The study claims evidence of 'such a complex in those characterised by the Dark Triad traits of psychopathy (i.e, callousness, criminality), narcissism (i.e, inflated sense of self, grandiosity), and Machiavellianism (i.e, pragmatic cynicism, duplicity).' However, being too tall also attracts the unwelcome. The 6ft 7in comedian and actor, Stephen Merchant, has spoken of his weariness at relentless comments. Trying to be funny was a way of taking ownership of standing out. 'If people are going to look at you, they may as well look at you and think what you are doing is good or funny or entertaining rather than just pointing and laughing. I guess I was a nerd and I felt a bit awkward because I was 6ft 7in even from a young age,' he told Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. The actor Geena Davis knocked two inches off her 6ft height to get accepted by modelling agencies in her youth. Miranda Hart, the Call the Midwife star, has said she is fed up with being defined by her 6ft 1in height. Nicole Kidman, at 5ft 11in used to shave halfan inch off to get auditions. A study of taller than average female college students found it resulted in unintended intimidation. Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's labor secretary, a Rhodes Scholar, and one of Time magazine's 10 best cabinet members of the century, is 4ft 11, an issue he publicly addressed in his blogpost. 'When it comes to choosing leaders, our society is exceptionally heightist and seems to be getting more so. My dear friend and mentor, the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith, was 6 foot 8. He once said that favouring the tall was 'one of the most blatant and forgiven prejudices in our society'.' But he added: 'I'm fortunate to have grown up (or at least grown upward) in a society that, more and more, values brains over brawn. There are still bullies in the world, of course. But in a civil society, those bullies can be stopped with words and ideas. At least, that's been my faith. That's how I've tried to compensate for my short height.' Prichard believes: 'We need more voices like Tony Robinson coming out and saying it, to show this is not all woke nonsense, [to] just sort of sit down and listen to what they have to say and go, OK, these are their lived experiences.'
BBC News
05-08-2025
- BBC News
Royal Mail funeral cortege after much-loved postman's cancer death
A fleet of Royal Mail trucks and vans joined a funeral cortege in honour of a colleague after his death from cancer. Andrew Farnsworth, 56, who worked for the postal service for more than 40 years, had recently retired from its Stockport office after receiving a terminal diagnosis. The red liveried vehicles stopped traffic as they made their way from Mr Farnsworth's father's house to the crematorium in Edgeley. Paying tribute to the father-of-three, who lived in Wirral with his partner Caroline, colleague Anne-Marie Pollard-Vearnals said he had "brought us all together and helped us bond and socialise outside of work". Ms Pollard-Vearnals added: "At work, Andrew - or Farni as all his friends knew him -would organise race trips and Christmas dos to bring everyone together."She described him as "well-loved at work", and said up to 400 people attended the service for him at the crematorium. The Royal Mail fleet cortege was organised at the request of his partner Carloline, Ms Pollard-Vearnals added. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
03-08-2025
- BBC News
Warning over impact living in hotels can have on children
Staff at a homeless charity have warned of the impact living in temporary accommodation can have on warning comes after Liverpool city council announced plans to launch a new strategy to reduce its use of hotels and bed and breakfasts for homeless are over 450 children living in temporary accommodation in the city at the moment, with 1700 households placed in bed and breakfasts and hotels, according to the latest council McDonald, who works at the Whitechapel centre, said children who had to stay in hotel rooms with their families could be privy to unsettling conversations about money and other worries, which could put "a lot of stress" on them. "They have to go to school and create a façade that everything is normal, when it's far from normal." she added: "The children don't express themselves verbally about what's going on, but it's through all the activities we do with them that we can see this is something that does weigh heavy on their minds."Currently, the council refers homeless families assessed as having the greatest need to a homeless centre, based in Toxteth, Kerry had been placed in five or six different hotels with her toddler before arriving said one hotel was in the city centre where she was surrounded by "drunk people" and another was in a rural location, with no access to transport. She said: "We've been passed from hotel to hotel, room to room. It's hard.""My son didn't like it, he had no routine, just slung into a room with no facilities, just a kettle." She added he had no space to play or move said staying at the centre had been "brilliant" and had "changed her perspective" on her family's said "becoming homeless is something that could happen to anyone" and added, "you never know if you're going to have to leave a domestic violence situation, a fire, flee".Kerry said private rented accommodation was impossible for her because landlords expected so much money Hetty Wood, Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, said: "Homelessness can affect anyone. Families in temporary accommodation, young people leaving care, people fleeing violence, refugees and those facing eviction all need our support. "This new strategy is about prevention, dignity and long-term solutions. It's also about listening to people with lived experience and making sure services respond to their needs. Everyone deserves somewhere safe to stay."The homeless centre is based in a huge Victorian mansion and offers self-contained flats for up to 16 Connor, centre manager, said losing a home is one of the "most traumatising" things that can happen to a said: "Often they've lost all their pets, all their toys, they've moved out of the neighbourhood where all their friends are."They may still be going to school but it's a long way, so they may be turning up late." She said things like free transport passes for children could help keep them in their old schools, and that consistency in education was essential for maintaining stability in children's lives. She added that living in the hotel system can make children feel "removed" from their "old life".Alison added it was becoming harder to find suitable permanent accommodation for the families to move into, sometimes taking 200 days to find somewhere for a small added larger families could be living at the centre for two years "because there's nowhere for them to go".Liverpool city council said the costs of temporary accommodation were projected to rise from £250,000 in 2019 to £28m by the end of this financial year. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
