Nowadays, modern sport is much more financially complex than ever before. Professional athletes are better paid, and gate receipts alone seldom cover costs, which is why additional fundraising has become a vital part of sports administration. The most successful teams raise millions through shirt sponsorship, stadium naming rights, merchandising and partnership arrangements - Manchester United even have an official airline. Seven tiers down the football pyramid, the numbers are much smaller but additional fundraising is no less important. In the Ryman League Division 1 North, shirts are sponsored, advertising hoardings sold and match sponsors sought. My local team, Needham Market ...
This is the Empire Hotel on Fosse Road North in Newfoundpool, Leicester. It is currently empty and in its later years seems to have been no more than a pub. Lidl want to demolish it and the ruined church next door (more of that another day) to build a supermarket. No great loss, you may think. But the Empire Hotel has a long and interesting history and holds the key to the development of this corner of Leicester. The Victoria County History tells the story: By about 1830 Newfoundpool belonged to Isaac Harrison, a member of a Leicester firm of ...
Though I wouldn't put much money on her remaining in the cabinet for long, I don't suppose Maria Miller will stand down as MP for Basingstoke. And if she does, the Liberal Democrats are unlikely to win the by-election. Because, since its creation in 1885, the Basingstoke constituency as been won by the Conservatives at every general election but one. And when they lost it, they managed to win it back the following year. It is not accurate to say they have held the constituency since 1885 except for one year, because of the strange career of Andrew Hunter who ...
So Game of Thrones is back on HBO tomorrow and Sky Atlantic on Monday. I am to say the least excited about season 4. However, I won't be watching it this Sunday. Or for quite a while in fact. I don't have a Sky subscription - It's rather a lot for a student budget - [...]
For some time we've been pressing the owners of the private road in front of the Tatton cinema site to repair the potholes. The Council has recently repaired the large potholes on the unadopted road to the side of the site. We're very glad to see that the potholes to the front were repaired on Friday, and we'd like to thank Dickens – the owners of the site – for doing that. Dickens continue to say that they are planning to bring forward a new planning application to develop the site shortly. The latest date they've given is next month. ...
We went to see the opening of the new BMX track at Bruntwood Park this morning. It's built to top international standards and ranks as one of the best in the country, and it attracted hundreds of riders and a real party atmosphere (despite some "traditional" Stockport weather). A new BMX Club has been formed and will be looking to take on the management of the track. A big thanks to everyone involved in making the project such a big success including Sport England, the North West Mountain Bike Centre, Stockport Council and the many BMX enthusiasts who have come ...
Forty years ago this week the Heath government inflicted a reform of local government upon us. To commemorate this anniversary BBC Sunday Politics NW did a piece including contributions from our MP John Pugh and me. Jim Hancock, the NW's premiere political commentator, has written arguing that there is still unfinished business for the NW following on from a previous posting calling for a more co-ordinated Regional approach which I covered in an earlier posting. Southport got a rotten deal out of local government reorganisation in the 1970's. In truth none of the options on offer back then were 'Southport ...
[IMG: EU flag] Another day, another poll asking the public how they would vote in an in/out Euro referendum, and another lead for 'in' over 'out': If there was a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU with the option of voting to stay in the EU or to leave it, how would you vote? 35% – to stay 32% – to leave 27% – don't know The recent establishment of a lead for 'in' predates the Clegg-Farage debates, but could still have been triggered by them given that the laying down of the debate challenge, the agreement to hold ...
[IMG: rainbow flag on white background : harvey milk plaza, san francisco (2012)] Boy, has this been a tough week. This week I suffered some homophobia. This is tough to write. It came in the form of an e-mail from someone who should know better, but sadly doesn't. Someone who believes their faith gives them the right to put pen to paper (or fingers to keypad) and accuse me of being immoral. I've been lucky since I came out as a gay man, in 2011, in that I've faced very little homophobia (at least that I'm aware of) but this ...
[IMG: Ebuzzing April 2014 Other Blog Ranking] I'm very pleased and surprised to have broken into the Ebuzzing top 100 'other' blog rankings for the first time this month at number 94. I see that I'm in good company too, as I'm only one place behind the British Psychological Society's excellent Research Digest blog and a mere three behind John Leech MP. So thank you all very much for visiting and linking to me!
The City Councils drawing up a "local plan" which is about land use and other planning type issues for the City for the next 15 years. Local people are being invited to comment, with info available on line. There's not long to go though as the deadline is 30 April. You can find the information, at this link.
"It is not that I am not voting out of apathy. I am not voting out of absolute indifference and weariness and exhaustion from the lies, treachery and deceit of the political class that has been going on for generations", he added So said Russell Brand on Newsnight. So I wonder if he thinks these folks are wasting their time? You know, risking life and limb in Afghanistan to exercise their democratic right? The first one certainly seems to have a message for him
[IMG: Advocates disrupt transfer of asylum seekers from Villawood] The Immigration Bill is currently going through its final stages in the House of Lords. On Thursday, Liberal Democrat peers, led by Roger Roberts, tried to amend it by inserting a clause which would have entitled asylum seekers to work after 6 months. Roger told me that he was not able to press the amendment to a vote because it received no support from either Labour or Conservative front benches. This, he felt, was grossly unfair given George Osborne's desire for full employment and Labour's supposed solidarity with workers. "So much ...
[IMG: Business/political speaker silhouettes] I guess it's a small thing. But I find it intensely irritating. I read much of the press coverage across a range of policy areas, but most commonly housing policy and welfare reform. A lot of the coverage in the broadsheet newspapers at the moment is documenting the negative consequences of one or other of the policies the Government has implemented. You can almost guarantee that the last paragraph or two of an article will carry a statement from the relevant Government department. And you can almost guarantee that the statement will make little or no ...
"Whisper it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon" but the UK has finally reached the target of devoting 0.7% of our GDP to aid development in the poorest countries. We originally signed up to this target, set by the OECD, in 1969. At the time I joined a campaign, largely organised by the churches, to gather signatures for a petition to urge the government to meet the target with the utmost dispatch. In those pre-internet days gathering signatures was a bit of a slog but we worked together to try to achieve, I think, a ...
I stumbled across this video from a London based charity called the House of St Barnabas. They've supported homeless people in London since 1846. The charity has done some quite exciting things. It opened the first not-for-profit member's club in the UK, which integrates training, and work experience for people affected by homelessness. It's housed in a beautiful, historic set of rooms in Soho, and Jarvis Cocker is a member. SOURCE: Guardian (I'm pretty sure that this is the only time that the Guardian has actually praised a private members' club!) It costs £3000 for each participant to attend the ...
Steve Richards writes in the New Statesman of Ed Miliband: [IMG: Ed Miliband] The mood around Ed Miliband is one of paranoia and suspicion... Ed Miliband faces a crisis. The impossible task of leadership becomes even tougher for the player in difficulty. Dissenters grumble more loudly. There is a sense of panic... There is a degree of paranoia about the conduct of other frontbenchers.
[IMG: Houses of Parliament] The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd are in recess next week, but Westminster is still sitting. House of Commons The Commons is still dealing with the Finance Bill, implementing the measures in the Budget. There, is however, a Justice and Home Affairs debate on Monday. Communities & Local Government, Foreign Office, the Department of International Development (therefore Lynne Featherstene) and Business, Innovation and Skills face questions. Adjournment Debates include the closure of Worksop Magistrates' Court, transparency in business, abortion on the ground of disability and treatment of Cystic Fibrosis. The abortion debate has been raised by ...
It is strange, but one of the most moving and effective pieces of radio which I have heard recently was this. The morning after the death of union leader Bob Crowe, Chris Evans, on BBC Radio Two, played The Strawbs' 'Part of the Union' as a "tribute" to Mr Crowe. I found the whole thing quite moving. As I listened to the words of the song, it seemed a perfect tribute to the man. This was made all the more surprising because I had always thought of the song as a bit satirical. But, in fact, the song was intended ...
[IMG: Cubox and Plug] It's not often that you get to play with a computer which is smaller than its own plug! This is the Cubox from Solid-Run. An impossibly tiny PC which is pitched at the hobbyist and developer market. This will be a quick review based on half a day of mucking about with it. A Warning This is a toy for geeks. As such, there's lots of wandering around unmaintained Wikis, reading out-of-date forum posts, and fiddling on the command line to get this thing running. While the Cubox isn't aimed at exactly the same market at ...
The CBI looks at Mental health in the workplace Am I alone in thinking "this is LOVELY, but for those of us in crappy minimum wage jobs, it's a bit Let Them Eat Cake"? (tags: ) Sex is not the opposite of feminism - YES. THIS. "wanting sexual pleasure - to give it and to get it - is not anti-feminist. What is anti-feminist is claiming that everyone must give it and get it in exactly the same way." (tags: ) Vladimir Putin's Divorce Finalised, Freeing Him To Marry Nigel Farage (tags: ) How was your income tax and NI ...
[IMG: Farage clegg] Some Liberal Democrats, and other pro-Europeans, seem to be rather down about the outcome of the Nick v Nigel debate. Certainly it is depressing to see your fellow citizens support a man who professes admiration for Vladimir Putin. But Nick Clegg really was up against first-class populism on Wednesday night. Farage dropped every conceivable fear or concern about the modern world at the door of the European Union. Would you like an end to war, waste, politicians, people speaking foreign on the train and every problem the outside world bothers us with? Just leave the EU and ...
While Maria Miller sits firmly in the centre of the media storm over her expenses, there is an ever burgeoning list of other folk who now find themselves dragged into it. How long does this list have to get before Maria Miller resigns I wonder? 1. David Cameron - who wrongly said the lay members of the Standards committee had the casting vote on Maria Millers expenses claim investigation, and must also now regret saying the following (h/t @samcoatestimes and @magsnews 2. The 10 MPs who sit on the Standards Committee - who I don't think don't come out of ...
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-04-04 at 18.00.12] Another week, another success for Lib Dems in the European Parliament. This week it was hammering the final nails into the coffin of mobile roaming charges in Europe. From the end of next year, the extra fees for using your mobile phone in another EU country - already reduced significantly in recent years - will be scrapped entirely. It's another practical, common sense measure which means good news for consumers - despite resistance from the telecoms sector. It's also an example of what the EU does best: simplifying life And it's got the Liberal ...
The Bonnie Dundee Group and Dundee City Council are working in partnership to promote Keep Scotland Beautiful's Clean Up Scotland Campaign and the city's Have a Pride In Your Park initiative. To promote this work the group and the city council are organising a litter pick on Magdalen Green and the surrounding area (mainly along the railway areas) next Wednesday 9th April at 2pm meeting at the bandstand. Would you like to be involved? Litter picks, gloves and bags will be provided. The event will last no longer than 2 hours and you are not required to stay that length ...
Over at the Western Morning News at least one Tory MP is quite upset at the UK Government's decision not to roll-out the badger cull beyond the pilot areas. West Country MP, Neil Parish has labelled the Liberal Democrats "turncoats" for hailing "victory" in halting the expansion of badger culling in the South West they previously supported. His problem of course is that the evidence is against him and the cull, whilst the whole experiment has turned out to be a fiasco. It is little wonder that even those misguided Liberal Democrats MPs who once supported this cull, are now ...
http://alj.am/1il8DMZ Mozilla's co-founder and CEO is stepping down after a backlash over a $1000 donation he made to the Prop 8 plebiscite in California that instituted a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The response of Mozilla's chairwoman, however, has made me even less likely to use their products: '"She said that Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech and that "figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard"' Sorry, that's just nonsense. It's not very difficult at all. Everybody is entitled to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, if you ...
Interesting vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday about tackling tax fraud, tax evasion and tax havens. The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour (582-35), with all the Lib Dem MEPs in the 582. And in amongst the 35? All the UKIP MEPs.
Note from the county council The work is due to commence on Monday 7th April for an estimated duration of 2 weeks. It is essential for 3 Way Temporary Traffic signals to be erected at the Junction of St Stephens Hill/Griffiths Way/ Holywell Hill to complete the works. I am aware of the impact this will have on the travelling public in St Albans and have requested for the Signals to be manually controlled during the peak periods to minimise disruption. Due to the nature of the works no guarantee can be given that this will be completed within the ...
