Wirral Council

🦋 Join us this Friday at the Liverpool City Region's drop-in event, for a chance to ask questions, learn more and leave your feedback on the draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy. The LCR Local Nature Recovery Strategy aims to restore habitats, protect species, and boost biodiversity, and a six-week consultation is now underway. This is your chance to help set priorities and shape the roadmap to recovery, and you can join us to chat, ask questions, or get help with the consultation process. 📅 Drop-in Event – 21 March 2025 📍 Birkenhead Park Visitors Centre For more information and to have your say visit https://lnkd.in/equWi6Ei 🗓️ Consultation closes 6 April 2025

🚛 What’s next for food waste collections in Wirral? You may have heard in the news that starting from 1 April 2026, all councils (including Wirral) will have to collect food waste separately to other household waste. This will be a new weekly food waste collection. This is all part of the goal to cut down on landfill waste, boost recycling and turn food waste into sustainable energy. Wirral Council, alongside our partners across the Liverpool City Region, is gearing up for this change. This is what we're working on: ✅ Joint procurement of bins, kitchen food caddies & vehicles will save costs & improve efficiency across six local councils. ✅ Food waste will be sent to for recycling that will generate sustainable energy, reducing landfill waste. ✅ Future-friendly waste collection: Vehicles can be converted to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) to cut emissions. Before the new food waste collections start, households will receive information to help everyone understand how the new system will work and what they need to do. More updates will be coming on our channels as we get closer to April 2026.

⏳🔜 The deadline to apply for 15 and 30 hours of free childcare for working families - is fast approaching! If you’re an eligible working parent planning your childcare arrangements for April, you need to apply by 31 March to receive: ⌛15 hours of childcare for children aged 9 months to 3 years old. ⌛30 hours of childcare for children aged 3 or 4 years old. Don’t forget to: ✅Ask your early years provider to validate your code to confirm your place. ✅Reconfirm your code via your Childcare Choices account every three months. More info about Childcare Choices here: https://lnkd.in/eBKXse9H

After the success of our previous events in Liscard and New Brighton, Saturday’s Youth Market in Birkenhead was the largest yet with 4️⃣1️⃣ young traders and 7️⃣ up-and-coming performers, making it one of the biggest in the North West! 😎 Thank you to everyone who came along, as well as the talented musicians, performers and artists who helped make the day so special. It’s inspiring to see so much ambition, drive and talent from Wirral’s young people. 👏 Check out the video for a taster of the day!

Finding a sense of community can be life changing – just ask Jen! 💬 She started visiting her local Family Hub when her son was just six months old, looking for support and connection. What she found was more than just a helping hand – she found confidence, friendship and a space she truly belonged. Now, she’s paying it forward by volunteering at the hub, helping other parents feel just as welcome and supported as she did. Family Hubs are here for everyone, offering everything from baby groups to financial advice, all under one roof. Want to learn more? Head to:https://lnkd.in/eZWGWJcg

🛠️ Is your road on the repair list? Wirral’s getting a £7 million investment to fix roads, footways, and bridges in 2025-26. Here’s what’s on the table: 🔹 £3.9M for road repair treatments 🔹 £1.75M for pothole repairs 🔹 £1.25M for further road repairs on some of our key roads and routes Committee approved a proposed list of roads for repairs. Want to know if your road is on the list and being considered for repair? Visithttps://lnkd.in/eqjVMxDY

“I would never have been able to complete further education without the bursary, without a huge overdraft and loans. I wouldn’t have had the career progression and opportunities, or the positive changes for my family life, if it wasn’t for Step Up.” This is what Natalie, now a fully qualified first year social worker in Wirral, had to say about the intensive and rewarding programme that helped her take her career to the next level. There’s just one week left to apply to Step Up to Social Work – a career programme for those looking for a new challenge and career in social work. Successful applicants will receive a bursary, paid over the duration of the programme, to support them during their training. Those who successfully complete the 14-month course are awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work, enabling them to apply to register and practice as a social worker. Applications are open until 24 March 2025. To check if you’re eligible, or apply, see the first comment.

📣 Wirral Youth Market is happening TOMORROW! Who’s coming? 🎉 As well as over 40 young traders and live music all day, there will be an Art Jam with local artists creating eye-catching murals! Here's a sneak peek of one of the artists who’ll be creating magic on the day, the hugely talented Olivia McIntosh. Plus, there are FREE activities to get involved with including: - Graffiti workshops with Zap - Mother’s Day crafts with the Twigtwisters - Animal meet and greet for the little ones The sun is set to shine, so grab your friends and family and come along to celebrate Wirral’s young talent and have a great day out at the same time! 📅 Saturday 15 March 📍Birkenhead Market, 10am – 4pm

“I did not identify with being an alcoholic because I felt in control. I was holding down a job. I was being promoted. I had great appraisals at work.” ‘Dr Mike’ is a Wirral GP who struggled with alcohol addiction for decades. His story represents a significant demographic of professional people with addiction issues who slip through the cracks because on the surface, they look like they have their lives together. Dr Mike’s is one of several real-life residents’ experiences bravely shared in Wirral’s Public Health Annual Report for 2024/25. The report, titled ‘From Darkness to Light, from Harm to Hope: Journeys of addiction’, studies the historic and current landscape of addiction in the borough. Dr Mike is now in recovery having accessed support through his own GP and attended AA meetings. He now leads weekly AA meetings online and sponsors others in recovery. The Public Health Annual Report is a statutory requirement. It is an independent report that describes some of the key issues impacting the health and wellbeing of residents and makes recommendations for how these might be most effectively addressed. The report concludes by setting out key areas for action that will create a better and more integrated approach to addiction support, across all of types of addictive behaviours, that makes best use of resources. To read Dr Mike’s story, and others, you can access the report at https://lnkd.in/eEiUSdNb

❗BREAKING NEWS // Wirral’s Local Plan - a huge document which is the blueprint for how land should be developed over the next 18 years - has today been given the green light by government planning inspectors. The official notification that we can move ahead to formally adopt our Brownfield-Only Local Plan – believed to be the country’s first focused only on brownfield land (land that’s previously been developed) - is the result of years of hard work and outlines what Wirral will look like for the next generation. This vital document outlines how and where much-needed new homes and better employment opportunities can be delivered, as well as considering the infrastructure needed to support this, such as schools, open spaces and how people move around the borough. The Local Plan is the foundation for our regeneration programme, which is one of the largest and most ambitious in the country, and it underpins how we will make Wirral a better place to live and work for everyone while protecting our rich natural and built heritage. You can read more on the Wirral View website.