Pictured: Danny Woodworth (Marketing Coordinator) and Tony Richards MBE (Executive Chairman) of the Millennium Centre
The Millennium Centre is thrilled to announce that the St Helens Gateway service has recently been shortlisted for a national Third Sector Excellence Award.
St Helens Gateway, an information service for local health and social care provision, was launched in March 2012 with the support of local charitable and statutory organisations. The service has since grown in stature with hundreds of people accessing the facility every week online, by email, over the phone and face-to-face within the Millennium Centre reception.
Now in their eighth year, the Third Sector Excellence Awards recognises and celebrates the outstanding work and innovation that takes place in charities and not-for-profit organisations. St Helens Gateway has been nominated within the ‘best new or relaunched website’ category, recognising the website’s innovative design, creative use of social media and quantity of easily accessible information.
Although managed by the Millennium Centre, St Helens Gateway is thankful to Cultivate Creative (who designed, structured and branded the website) and to over a hundred local charitable and statutory organisations that have helped compile the directory of written and visual/audio information.
Tony Richards MBE, Executive Chairman of the Millennium Centre, was overjoyed with the nomination, “We are so pleased that we have been recognised as providing a vital service to the local community. In our category alone we are up against some huge national charities, but we are proud to be representing the town of St Helens at such a prestigious event.” Danny Woodworth added, “Although it is the Millennium Centre that has been nominated for the award, we want to dedicate this nomination to all the other charitable organisations in St Helens that work so hard to benefit the local community – we couldn’t have developed St Helens Gateway without their continued support.”
The award winner of the Third Sector Excellence Awards will be announced at a dinner in London on the 27th September 2012. For further information about the Third Sector Excellence Awards please click here.
Click here to view the St Helens Gateway website.
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The Millennium Centre (St Helens) Ltd is a registered charity (no.1089878) based in the heart of St Helens, supporting the local community, the third sector and statutory organisations.
For further information about this story or the Millennium Centre please contact Danny Woodworth (Marketing Coordinator) on 01744 675 132, email danny@tmcsh.org.uk or visit the Millennium Centre website at www.tmcsh.org.uk.
Pictured: Town Crier Barry McQueen, the Mayor of St Helens and Tony Richards MBE (Executive Chairman of the Millennium Centre)
St Helens’ inaugural Wellbeing Week (14th-20th May 2012) went down a storm as people flocked to free events that took place throughout the borough. From art to zumba and local history to Ju-Jitsu, Wellbeing Week consisted of over 70 free events aimed at improving St Helens’ wellbeing by encouraging people to try new things, learn new skills and meet new people.
Wellbeing Week started with a bang on Monday 14th May when the Wellbeing Carnival rolled into Church Square, attracting over a thousand visitors. The sun beamed down on the town centre where there were demonstrations of tai chi, belly dancing and zumba, along with free health checks, hand massages and representatives from local charities and voluntary groups to give information on a wide range of health and wellbeing topics.
On Wednesday over 30 people braved the blustery weather for a ‘Picnic in the Park’ at Victoria Park, joining in with belly dancing, circuit training, a walk around the park and not forgetting the picnic! Over in Newton-le-Willows, more than a hundred people and local schools and colleges turned out for the open day at Selwyn Jones Sports Centre; there were gym demonstrations, information stalls and some interesting abilities revealed within the hidden talent corner!
Around forty people attended the two wellbeing walks on Thursday, with people coming from as far as Chester to take the tour of Dream that was guided by Gary Conley, a former miner at Sutton Manor Colliery. Towards the end of the week the annual Healthy in St Helens event again attracted hundreds of people with free health checks and information. Throughout the week local people learnt new skills such as IT, floristry and arts, and there were also various information sessions, health checks and entries into sports clubs.
Tony Richards MBE, Executive Chairman of the Millennium Centre, was delighted to see the local community embrace Wellbeing Week, “It was great to see so many people attending the variety of events that were planned throughout the week, and now we’re looking to make Wellbeing Week 2013 an even bigger success!”
Wellbeing Week was initiated and developed by the Millennium Centre, and delivered in partnership with over 35 local organisations, the majority of which are charitable organisations. This initiative helped to reaffirm the Millennium Centre’s charitable objectives of supporting the local ‘third sector’, and also reaching out to directly help the local community.
Did you attend any events during Wellbeing Week? Did it have an impact on your health and wellbeing? Please write in to us and let us know – you can email contact@tmcsh.org.uk or write to us at The Millennium Centre, Corporation Street, St Helens, WA10 1HJ.
You can also check out some of the photos taken at various Wellbeing Week events on the St Helens Gateway facebook page.
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For further information about this story or the Millennium Centre please contact Danny Woodworth (Marketing Coordinator) on 01744 675 132 or email danny@tmcsh.org.uk
Pictured: Wellbeing Week organiser Danny Woodworth (Millennium Centre) with Saints’ vice-captain James Roby
Looking to improve your emotional wellbeing or physical health? St Helens Wellbeing Week has over 70 fun and FREE events and activities taking place throughout the borough.
Wellbeing Week takes place this year between the 14th and 20th May, and all events taking place throughout the week are linked to improving your wellbeing. Wellbeing is more than just your physical health, it also relates to your relationships with other people, learning new things, giving back to others and taking notice of the world around you. Having a high level of wellbeing can improve your quality of life and life expectancy.
A full programme of events taking place during Wellbeing Week can be found online at www.sthelensgateway.info, but here is a taster of just some of the activities taking place:
Monday: Come down to the Wellbeing Carnival in Church Square to find out more about wellbeing and join in with some fun activities such as zumba, belly dancing and tai chi – Boots the mascot will also be making an appearance during the morning too. Starting Point are hosting an open day on Hardshaw Street to help those looking for employment, and elsewhere there’s also free badminton, football and bingo sessions in the evening.
Tuesday: Have your say about local health services, find out how Citizens Advice Bureau can assist you, have a go at line-dancing or brush-up on your IT skills. For women there is a chance to relax with creative cards for therapy and hand massages, and for men there are free health checks taking place in the Millennium Centre.
Wednesday: There’s an array of attractions and activities at the open day at Selwyn Jones Sports Centre, and classes across different venues in St Helens including netball, zumba, badminton and break dancing. There is a talk on local history, an interactive session for parents/toddlers to learn about healthy lifestyles and there is also an exciting ‘Picnic in the Park’ event at Victoria Park with fun team activities, circuit training and much more.
Thursday: You can get out and about in the fresh air with two wellbeing walks – one starts at Asda that takes in Taylor Park and finishes at Thatto Heath, and the other tours the Dream sculpture accompanied with a guide by an ex-miner. On Thursday there’s also an information session about volunteering, a work club to meet others who are looking for employment, and chances to get active with tai chi and circuit training classes.
Friday: The Healthy in St Helens event starts in the Church Hall, where you can receive a free health MOT, advice from trained professionals and there will be plenty of fun activities going on too. Elsewhere there are opportunities to try floristry, IT, taekwondo and break dancing. At St Helens Hospital there’s a workshop hosted by Macmillan to support those living with, and beyond, cancer.
Saturday: Healthy in St Helens runs for a second day in the Church Hall. There is also an illustrated local history talk at the Millennium Centre focusing on St Helens town centre, and a chance for juniors to practise Badminton at Broadway Sports Centre.
Sunday: After a hectic week of events why not take some time out to relax and enjoy all that St Helens has to offer in terms of its art, culture, history and parks. There’s also a tea party and plant sale at Willowbrook Hospice, a family fitness and boxing session at Broadway Sports Centre and then in the evening an interactive workshop for young people at the Christian Life Centre by Youth Aflame.
All Wellbeing Week events are completely free to attend, and there is something to suit people of all ages and all tastes; so why not go along and try something new!
You can also find out more about Wellbeing Week by visiting the Millennium Centre reception or by calling St Helens Gateway on 01744 675 137.
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Wellbeing Week is being coordinated and delivered by the Millennium Centre in partnership with over 35 local organisations.
The Millennium Centre (St Helens) Ltd is a registered charity (no.1089878) based in the heart of St Helens, supporting the local community, the third sector and statutory organisations.
For further information about this story or the Millennium Centre please contact Danny Woodworth (Marketing Coordinator) on 01744 675 132, email danny@tmcsh.org.uk or visit the Millennium Centre website at www.tmcsh.org.uk.
The Millennium Centre is working in partnership with over twenty local organisations to help deliver a brand new campaign to the local community. St Helens Wellbeing Week is aimed at improving people’s awareness, education and participation around health and wellbeing, and will take place this year between Monday 14th and Sunday 20th May.
All information and events in Wellbeing Week 2012 will centre around the concept of wellbeing. Wellbeing refers to ‘feeling good’ and ‘functioning well’, both mentally and physically, and research (NEF, 2008) suggests that people can significantly improve their wellbeing by following five simple steps:
• Connect with other people
• Be physically active
• Take notice of the world around you
• Keep learning new things
• Give back to other people
There will be a whole variety of exciting, fun and free events held across St Helens during the week for anyone to get involved with. From walks and guided tours to information sessions and exercise classes, there will be something to suit everyone of all tastes and all ages. The week will also aim to help raise awareness of local services that are available to people, which can help them improve their health and wellbeing.
The campaign will be launched with a marquee event on Monday 14th May (held in Church Square), where anyone can come down on the day to find out more about wellbeing, have a go at some fun activities and learn more about other events that are taking place during the rest of the week. There will also be a prize draw and there may be a special guest popping down too, so make sure you get yourself into St Helens town centre on that day!
Organisations involved in Wellbeing Week so far include The Millennium Centre, St Helens Gateway, The Wellbeing Project, Healthy in St Helens event, Age UK, St Helens Mind, Health Improvement Team, GoActive, Women Supporting Women, Platform 51, Healthy Heart Support Group, Helena Partnerships, Alzheimer’s Society, RASASC, Macmillan Cancer Information and Support, St Helens Star, the Hope Centre, PSS Young Carers and the Volunteer Centre.
Further information about Wellbeing Week and a full programme of events will be published shortly. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with the latest updates on the St Helens Gateway twitter page.
For further information or press enquiries about this story please contact Danny Woodworth (Marketing Coordinator) on 01744 675 132 or e-mail danny@tmcsh.org.uk
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Further information about wellbeing can be found via the Wellbeing Project. The Wellbeing Project have also recently produced a publication called St Helens’ Ways to Wellbeing that promotes wellbeing and local resources that can help people achieve wellbeing: http://www.wellbeingproject.co.uk/documents/StHelensWaystoWellbeing_highres020112.pdf
The full research conducted by the New Economics Foundation (2008) around the five ways to wellbeing can be found here: http://neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Five_Ways_to_Wellbeing.pdf
Welcome to the new-look Millennium Centre website, including our new corporate logo. Thanks to help from local design agency Cultivate Creative, we have redesigned our website to be clearer, more aesthetically pleasing and easier to navigate.
Our new logo uses the three arches – this represents the three storeys of the Millennium Centre building, plus it also indicates that we act as an umbrella charity, with smaller charities and voluntary groups using our facilities and with us all working towards the same goal of supporting the local community.
We have also chosen the strap-line ‘the heart & soul of St Helens’ due to the location of the Millennium Centre, being adjacent to the town’s bus and train stations for easy access, and also due to the high proportion of St Helens residents who use the building for a variety of different purposes. To find out more about what facilities are available at the Millennium Centre have a look at the ‘facilities’ link towards the top of the page.
We would love to hear what you think about our new website and there are various ways to get in touch with us – please contact us via the form on the right, follow us on twitter or check out our facebook page.
For further information or press enquiries about this story please contact Danny Woodworth, Marketing Coordinator on 01744 675132 or e-mail danny@tmcsh.org.uk