Latest news with #PhilRiley
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Families can get FREE washing machines, fridges and kids' beds or £200 payments this summer – and you can apply now
We reveal below other help you can get covering the cost of white goods HELPING HAND Families can get FREE washing machines, fridges and kids' beds or £200 payments this summer – and you can apply now Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HARD-UP families can get free washing machines, fridges and kids' beds or £200 towards the cost of energy this summer. The help comes via the Household Support Fund (HSF) - a giant £742million fund available to councils in England. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Households can get help covering the cost of white goods Credit: Getty Councils have until March 31, 2026, to allocate their share of this fund to residents in need. Support is usually offered to those on a low income, benefits or classed as vulnerable. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is offering thousands of hard-up households a range of help based on their needs. Some can get £200 towards the cost of gas and electricity while others can get help paying for food. Meanwhile, some can get help covering the cost of white goods such as washing machines and fridges, and single beds for children. Blackburn with Darwen Council wouldn't say how much the average price of a white good someone will receive might be. However, Which? says the average price of a fridge freezer is £800, so you could save yourself a fair amount by applying. Households requesting help with white goods must be referred to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council by a professional. The council said this referrer might be someone from adult services, charity Age UK or children's services. You'll need to be of a limited income to apply for help through the fund. The criteria you must meet is: How to cut energy costs and get help with FOUR key household bills Single Adult in Work: Your household income must be below £26,057 (before tax and National Insurance) Two or More Adults in Work: Your household income must be below £38,870 (before tax and National Insurance) Your household savings must be under £2,000 If you're a pensioner, you can have savings up to £16,000 It's worth noting, if you've received a white goods item in the last 12 months from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, you cannot apply for help with white goods this round. More details about the HSF scheme and how to apply are on Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's website - Councillor Phil Riley, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The Household Support Fund is there to support those people who are really struggling with the cost of living. "In addition to funding for a variety of things, residents can also access financial advice to help them with reducing their household outgoings and improving their income. "Anyone living in Blackburn with Darwen can apply and although there is some eligibility criteria to meet, we're keen to remind people that the Household Support Fund is open to applications from people who are in work, as well as those who are not." Household Support Fund explained Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains what you need to know about the Household Support Fund. If you're battling to afford energy and water bills, food or other essential items and services, the Household Support Fund can act as a vital lifeline. The financial support is a little-known way for struggling families to get extra help with the cost of living. Every council in England has been given a share of £421million cash by the government to distribute to local low income households. Each local authority chooses how to pass on the support. Some offer vouchers whereas others give direct cash payments. In many instances, the value of support is worth hundreds of pounds to individual families. Just as the support varies between councils, so does the criteria for qualifying. Many councils offer the help to households on selected benefits or they may base help on the level of household income. The key is to get in touch with your local authority to see exactly what support is on offer. The last round ran until the end of March 2025, but was extended. The most current round is running between April 2025 and March 2026. If you live outside the Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council area, it's worth checking if you qualify for help via the HSF where you live. You might be able to get free grants to cover energy bills or supermarket vouchers to spend on food. Find out what council area you fall under by visiting How else to get free white goods It's not just through the Household Support Fund you can get help with the costs of white goods. Here are some other avenues to get help. Council schemes Some councils run schemes to cover the cost of white goods. For example, Norfolk County Council has a Client Hardship Service (CHS) offering second-hand and new appliances to hard-up households. To get help you'll need to be aged 16 or older, live in Norfolk and be claiming a means-tested benefit like Universal Credit or Pension Credit. Meanwhile, Manchester City Council provides those who are resettling or moving out of temporary accommodation with basic furniture and white goods. Use the government's council locator tool, which we've shown above, to find out if your local authority offers any white good-based support and eligibility criteria. Many local councils have local assistance funds providing essential furniture and white goods too. For example, Waltham Forest Council, in London, offers struggling households vouchers to pay for essentials like bedding, household goods and furniture. You'll need to prove you don't have savings which could be used to cover the cost of these goods and must be aged 16 or over. North Yorkshire Council also offers households facing financial hardship help. Under the scheme, households can replace broken appliances free of charge, as well as access help buying food, clothing, beds and bedding. You'll need to provide proof of why you need extra support. Grants for those in specific jobs You might be able to get help covering the cost of white goods if you've worked for a specific company. One of the biggest schemes out there is the BT Benevolent Fund, which is for anyone who works at BT or has worked there before, including pensioners and dependants. You can apply for the BT Benevolent Fund on the scheme's website. Another is the Insurance Charities, which can be accessed by anyone who has worked in the insurance sector for at least five years. If a parent or primary carer has worked within the fashion and textile industry for at least one year within the past nine years, they can apply for grants to buy white goods through the Fashion and Textile Children's Trust. This includes working in a supermarket or shop with a clothes range such as Mothercare. The average amount paid is £515. Lastly, the Veteran's Charity supports those who have worked in the armed forces facing hardship. The charity can provide small and large white goods to help those battling hardship and distress. Charity grants Buttle UK is a charity for children, young people, their families, and carers offering grants worth up to £2,000. Support packages include money for essential items, including beds and cookers, and help for children's emotional, social, and educational needs. Meanwhile, Family Fund supports families raising disabled or seriously ill children. They provide grants for several things, including washing machines, bedding, and furniture. The grants are paid through specific suppliers and can be used for the total cost of new items or a discount on the cost. The exact amount given varies in each individual case. For those in England and Scotland, kitchen goods are supplied by the website AO. For those in Wales, grants are supplied by Argos, and for those in Northern Ireland, the supplier is Vision Sales. Charity Glasspool also provides grants to help people buy white goods, bedding, and items for children and babies. There are no specific eligibility requests for this charity, but it says it expects anyone applying to have already made an application for local welfare schemes. Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@ Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Stark scale of borough mental health crisis revealed in new stats
The scale of Blackburn with Darwen's mental health 'crisis' has been revealed. The worse than national average figures are set out in a report to senior councillors. Thursday's meeting of the borough's executive board agreed to spend an extra £1.17 million over the next five years with an emphasis on reaching young people and residents of South Asian heritage. Council leader Cllr Phil Riley told the meeting that figures in the report, especially for young people, were shocking. He said: "It's an epidemic. It's a crisis." Cllr Mustafa Desai, leader of the opposition 4BwD group, told the meeting the take-up of mental health services among the borough's South Asian residents was low, as the community considered it a 'taboo' subject and efforts to improve it needed to be prioritised. The report from public health boss Cllr Damian Talbot revealed: "Local data shows that many young people and adults in Blackburn with Darwen experience poor mental health. "The prevalence of depression has been increasing in the borough year-on-year. "The percentage of those aged 18-plus with depression, as recorded on GP disease registers, at 17.2 per cent in 2023. This is significantly higher than the national figure of 13.2 per cent. "The incidence rate of new depression diagnoses among patients aged 18-plus in 2023/24 is three per cent, twice the national average of 1.5 per cent. "There are over 2,200 people (all ages) with a diagnosis of severe mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychoses), accounting for 1.2 per cent of the total GP registered population in 2023/24. This is higher than the England prevalence of one per cent. "3.9 per cent of school pupils from Blackburn with Darwen were identified as having social, emotional and mental needs, slightly higher than the national rate of 3.7 per cent in 2023/24. "Between 2021 and 2023, there have been 49 deaths by suicide in the borough, 36 males and 13 females. The rate of suicide is 12 per 100,000 and is higher than England's rate of 10.7 per 100,000. "Hospital admissions for self-harm among those aged 10 to 24 is at a rate of 475.7 per 100,000, significantly worse than national and regional rates; and rates of admissions for 10 to 14-year-olds is the highest amongst upper tier authorities in the North-West." Cllr Talbot proposed to spend £1.17m between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2030, on three new services: mental health and suicide prevention training and engagement; men's mental wellbeing service; and a community bereavement support service for children and adults. This will be on top of an annual spend of between £188,500 and £252,400 on other mental health projects, including the Kooth scheme to support children and young people aged 11 to 25 in tackling problems caused by internet use and Blackburn Rovers Community Trust's 'Men in Sheds' programme. Cllr Talbot told Cllr Desai: "How we reach the South Asian community has to be part of this process." In 2025/2026, a project to target under-represented groups will cost £65,000. He added: "The mental health of the residents of Blackburn with Darwen has a significant impact on it as a place. "Improving mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for all the health and care organisations in the borough."
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Ofcom was right to clip Radio 2's wings
The BBC is many things to many people, but what it should never be, to anyone, is a bully boy. Therefore, the corporation should be counting its blessings that Ofcom, following a full Competitions Assessment, has provisionally concluded that the proposed extension to Radio 2 – a digital spinoff that would focus on music and archive content from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – cannot go ahead. Ofcom concluded that the station would 'create a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition', something verboten as per the BBC Charter. The rationale was obvious. While Radio 2 is easily still the most popular radio station in the UK, it's not as popular as it once was (losing roughly 2m listeners in the past five years), with commercial radio booming and independent stations popping up to serve audiences that, according to Ofcom, 'the BBC has moved away from'. The station's major commercial rivals - Greatest Hits, Magic, Heart - have strengthened their positions in recent years, poaching BBC DJs and listeners alike by serving up what we think of as more traditional Radio 2 fare. The audience that Radio 2 has moved away from is, inevitably, the older audience, and thus trying to claw those listeners back via the proposed spin-offs seemed a bit rich. The BBC can't have its cake and eat it. One station in particular benefited from the change in Radio 2's intended audience – Boom Radio, founded in 2021 by Phil Riley and David Lloyd to cater for the 'golden oldies' audience that Radio 2 turned its back on. It's a tiny affair, with 1 per cent of Radio 2's budget, but the station has recruited cannily ('Diddy' David Hamilton, Simon Bates, David 'Kid' Jensen) and serves up exactly the sort of music that the Radio 2 extension was suggesting. The station proudly boasts that the average age of its regular presenters is 70 and that many of them host their shows from their sheds and bedrooms. Ofcom ruled that Boom Radio, which currently attracts just under 650k listeners, would suffer more than most from Radio 2's proposed land grab. Riley, Boom Radio's CEO, was understandably cockahoop with the ruling, calling the proposed station 'typical BBC arrogance… Common sense has prevailed – David has beaten Goliath'. However, we should all be pleased. Firstly, because the BBC should not be allowed to thump smaller, innovative rivals into submission just because they can – Ofcom have allowed other BBC digital extension to go ahead, in the shape of Radio 1 Dance, Radio 1 Anthems and Radio 3 Unwind, because it sees 'limited impact' on fair and effective competition. And secondly, because this could be the spur for Radio 2 to get its own house in order. Ken Bruce, whose defection to Greatest Hits in 2023 should have sent chills down BBC spines, last year advised his former employers to change course and stop chasing younger listeners. 'Radio 2 thinking it's cool is the worst thing we can do,' he said. Whether the station thinks it is cool or not is immaterial, but what is certain is that it has moved its focus onto Gen X listeners (people born in the late 1960s to the early 1980s), with much of its music now coming from 1980s, 1990s and later. (As I write this, Jeremy Vine has just played two big hits from the mid-1990s, Dreams by Gabrielle and Don't Speak by No Doubt.) Radio 2 needs to take this opportunity to take stock and rediscover true cross-generational appeal (and also to consider a slightly more offbeat musical menu than used to be on offer via programmes such as Clare Teal's The Swing and Band Show). Older listeners are not a genre to be syphoned off into a digital station, while younger listeners still love to be introduced to music from long before their time. Now is the time for Radio 2 to remember the musical diversity that, in years past, has made it a hit. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Why Ofcom was right to clip Radio 2's wings
The BBC is many things to many people, but what it should never be, to anyone, is a bully boy. Therefore, the corporation should be counting its blessings that Ofcom, following a full Competitions Assessment, has provisionally concluded that t he proposed extension to Radio 2 – a digital spinoff that would focus on music and archive content from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – cannot go ahead. Ofcom concluded that the station would 'create a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition', something verboten as per the BBC Charter. The rationale was obvious. While Radio 2 is easily still the most popular radio station in the UK, it's not as popular as it once was (losing roughly 2m listeners in the past five years), with commercial radio booming and independent stations popping up to serve audiences that, according to Ofcom, 'the BBC has moved away from'. The station's major commercial rivals - Greatest Hits, Magic, Heart - have strengthened their positions in recent years, poaching BBC DJs and listeners alike by serving up what we think of as more traditional Radio 2 fare. The audience that Radio 2 has moved away from is, inevitably, the older audience, and thus trying to claw those listeners back via the proposed spin-offs seemed a bit rich. The BBC can't have its cake and eat it. One station in particular benefited from the change in Radio 2's intended audience – Boom Radio, founded in 2021 by Phil Riley and David Lloyd to cater for the 'golden oldies' audience that Radio 2 turned its back on. It's a tiny affair, with 1 per cent of Radio 2's budget, but the station has recruited cannily ('Diddy' David Hamilton, Simon Bates, David 'Kid' Jensen) a nd serves up exactly the sort of music that the Radio 2 extension was suggesting. The station proudly boasts that the average age of its regular presenters is 70 and that many of them host their shows from their sheds and bedrooms. Ofcom ruled that Boom Radio, which currently attracts just under 650k listeners, would suffer more than most from Radio 2's proposed land grab. Riley, Boom Radio's CEO, was understandably cockahoop with the ruling, calling the proposed station 'typical BBC arrogance… Common sense has prevailed – David has beaten Goliath'. However, we should all be pleased. Firstly, because the BBC should not be allowed to thump smaller, innovative rivals into submission just because they can – Ofcom have allowed other BBC digital extension to go ahead, in the shape of Radio 1 Dance, Radio 1 Anthems and Radio 3 Unwind, because it sees 'limited impact' on fair and effective competition. And secondly, because this could be the spur for Radio 2 to get its own house in order. Ken Bruce, whose defection to Greatest Hits in 2023 should have sent chills down BBC spines, last year advised his former employers to change course and stop chasing younger listeners. 'Radio 2 thinking it's cool is the worst thing we can do,' he said. Whether the station thinks it is cool or not is immaterial, but what is certain is that it has moved its focus onto Gen X listeners (people born in the late 1960s to the early 1980s), with much of its music now coming from 1980s, 1990s and later. (As I write this, Jeremy Vine has just played two big hits from the mid-1990s, Dreams by Gabrielle and Don't Speak by No Doubt.) Radio 2 needs to take this opportunity to take stock and rediscover true cross-generational appeal (and also to consider a slightly more offbeat musical menu than used to be on offer via programmes such as Clare Teal's The Swing and Band Show). Older listeners are not a genre to be syphoned off into a digital station, while younger listeners still love to be introduced to music from long before their time. Now is the time for Radio 2 to remember the musical diversity that, in years past, has made it a hit.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Town's council opposes merger with neighbour
A town's council bosses have decided to send a post-devolution plan to the government which makes it clear it could not support a merger with its neighbouring authority. Burnley Council's ruling executive, made up of Burnley Independent Group and Liberal Democrat councillors, voted to send its preference for five unitary authorities, rather than two, to ministers. Burnley's full budget council previously agreed the opposition to any plans to amalgamate into a single East Lancashire all-purpose local authority including Blackburn with Darwen. The executive said it remained "open to district configurations as long as the districts of Burnley and Blackburn were in separate unitary councils". The full budget council had earlier opposed any large unitary council as proposed in a government White Paper, saying it was not "the right solution for our area". At its meeting, the executive resolved to "note and endorse that Lancashire leaders submit a high-level interim plan for local government reorganisation in Lancashire with multiple options". It said it was "crucial for Burnley to take a proactive stance". Meanwhile, Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Phil Riley, who chaired the first meeting of the new Lancashire Combined Authority on Tuesday, told senior colleagues on his borough's executive board he accepted that the 15 existing councils would not support a single proposal for local government reorganisation post-devolution. However, he said after "an outbreak of common sense" their leaders seemed set to sign an initial letter of response to the government. He said it would be "pretty bland to be honest" in order to secure all 15 signatures. But he said with the government wanting the new all purpose councils to serve populations of at least 500,000 it was pretty clear what the direction of travel was. Riley added he firmly believed a new East Lancashire unitary authority with Blackburn with Darwen at its heart would be created. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. First meeting of county's new combined authority County's combined authority officially launched Devolution deal signed at castle ceremony Lancashire Combined County Authority
