IN BRIEF
THE HIVE YOUTH ZONE
WELCOMES ITS
6,000 TH MEMBER
WIRRAL DENTISTS
COMPETE IN GRUELLING
CHALLENGE FOR CHARITY
Wirral’s state-of-the-art youth facility The Hive has
welcomed its 6,000th member just seven months after
its launch.
The Hive Youth Zone is funded through a combination of public and
private sector funding and opened in April. It has already exceeded
its target membership for the entire year.
Located in the centre of Birkenhead, the purpose built zone aims to
provide young people with a safe and positive environment where
they can enjoy a wide range of activities, learn new skills, raise their
aspirations and realise their full potential. The centre offer s an array
of activities and first-class facilities including a 4G football pitch,
four-court sports hall, iconic climbing wall, fully fitted gym, skate
park, media room, dance studio, boxing gym and recording studio.
Having far exceeded its membership target of recruiting 3,000 young
people in its first year of operating, the Hive’s outreach team is now
focused on helping even more young people in Wirral to benefit
from its facilities.
Commenting on The Hive’s success, Stuart Barnes, Chief Executive
said “We are very proud to have exceeded our membership target so
quickly as it shows we are delivering exactly what young people in the
borough want and need. This success wouldn’t have been possible if
it weren’t for the continued hard work of The Hive team, the ongoing
support of our Patrons, the input of our young members and, of
course our ever growing army of volunteers, who have clocked up
an amazing 5955 hours of volunteering so far -worth over £50,000 in
equivalent salary.”
Membership of The Hive costs £5 per year with each session at the
Youth Zone costing just 50p per visit. The centre caters to young
people aged eight to 19, and up to 25 for those with disabilities.
To become a member, visit www.thehiveyouthzone.org/new-member
10 wirrallife.com
67 countries, 20 obstacles, 6 categories, 3 kilometres and
all centred on one big hill. The Blue Mountain resort was
the location of the 2017 Obstacle Course Racing (OCR)
World Championships, where Wirral dentists, Richard
and Rachel Gibson took part in the gruelling OCR
challenge to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK
and the Duchenne Research Breakthrough Fund.
Richard Gibson, describing the experience, said: “On approach, when
compared to the scale of the Canadian countryside, the hill didn’t look
that big especially alongside to the vastness of the forests and lakes.
The temperature was a very respectable 10 o C, not bad really when we
were expecting some snow up top. The course was a bit more ninja
warrior than tough mudder. The atmosphere was warm, welcoming and
excitable. The altitude wasn’t an issue as we were only just above sea level,
a far cry from the spartan world championship in 2015 where we started
at 6,500ft and went over 10,000ft during the event – no excuses here!
We set off in waves and we were released with 11 others onto the first
uphill climb. The rules – completion of every obstacle with no assistance
or a time penalty was incurred – fastest time home wins. Over the next
hour we climbed, vaulted, swung, dragged, hauled, leapt, slipped, fell
and sometimes ran over the arduous 3 km course with fantastic support
for fellow competitors and spectators alike. We placed 52nd for me and
38th for Rachel in our respective categories, but with a bit of technical
know-how we can get better quickly. We proudly supported John Albon,
the now 5 times men’s champion in his double victory over both the 3km
and 15km course – a spectacular achievement! The prospect of the event
being held in Europe next year is only more incentive to train harder and
a to qualify again. Thank you to anyone who felt motivated to donate
and if anyone missed the chance to do so the just giving page is still open
at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rachel-gibson22.”