Inner city Liverpool riding school 'won't give up' despite funding shortfall
The school offers riding lessons to children between the ages of five and 10.It is funded by the lessons and had also been relying on donations from a benefactor since it was made a charity last September, but the Good Samaritan can no longer afford to support the school amid rising costs.The school previously said it had applied for grants.
'Community purpose'
Ms Allen said: "This has been a heartbreaking time."But we're not giving up without a fight. "This space means everything to our young people and our wider community. This is our city." Set up in 2017, the charity has won several awards for its work, including a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.Trustee Karen Scott said: "This is about more than horses. "This is about saving a community space that brings joy, purpose, and unity."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Services industry grows at fastest rate for 10 months as cost pressures ease
The UK's services sector expanded at its quickest rate for 10 months in June, as inflation pressures eased. The closely-watched S&P Global UK Services Purchasing Managers' Index report gave the industry a score of 52.8 for June, the best figure since August 2024 and above analyst forecasts of 51.3. Any number above 50 indicates the sector is growing, while any figure below denotes contraction. Companies surveyed said their output benefited from higher organic sales, 'generally improving' business and consumer spending, and marketing and promotional activity. Overall new work gained by service firms rose for the second time this year, although only marginally, while new orders increased at the fastest pace since last November, thanks to domestic demand. While input price inflation lingered, with 29 per cent of survey participants reporting higher cost burdens, the rate of cost inflation was the lowest for six months. However, service employment shrank for the ninth consecutive month, with anecdotal evidence pointing to greater payroll costs and an absence of pressure on business capacity. In early April, employers' National Insurance contributions went up from 13.8 per cent on annual salaries above £9,100 to 15 per cent on wages exceeding £5,000. The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over also went up by around 10 per cent to £12.21 per hour. Many major UK businesses have warned that the changes, which were originally announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget, will force them to cut jobs or avoid hiring new people. Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the mix of falling employment and abating inflationary pressures 'leaves the door open' for the Bank of England (BoE) to cut interest rates next month. The BoE has reduced the UK base rate, which currently stands at 4.25 per cent, by 0.25 percentage points on four occasions in the past year. Its governor, Andrew Bailey, told CNBC earlier this week that 'the path of interest rates will continue to be gradually downwards'. S&P Global noted that the growth in average prices charged by service sector companies was the smallest in four-and-a-half years. Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said this 'will give some ammunition to the doves at the Bank of England, and makes a rate cut in August even more likely'.
Auto Express
34 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Our New Car Awards winners prove many great models are now more affordable than ever
Have new cars for real-world drivers ever been better, more versatile, efficient, safe and fit for purpose? Not in my lifetime. As this week's Auto Express New Car Awards clearly demonstrate, there's nowt wrong with the current crop of state-of-the-art showroom products. Follow our unbiased advice, do your homework, be open-minded, factor in discounts and insurance groups plus likely resale values, then draw up your personal list of the very best models in the price category you're working within. Only then will your contender cars reveal levels of excellence and quality that consumers on limited budgets (that's most of us) could only dream about in the recent past. We used to be content with cars that were merely good or, occasionally, very good. Now, some great models are within our financial reach. A car doesn't necessarily have to be big, quick, expensive and outrageously good-looking to qualify as a modern great. The Renault 5 E-Tech, winner of our Affordable Electric class, proves my point. Think top speed of 93mph, a more than reasonable sub-£24k starting price, plus a design that's unapologetically understated, not tastelessly tacky. Not by coincidence, its longer, taller, more spacious big bro, the classless sub-£27k Renault 4, is officially commended in the same EV category – in addition to topping the Small SUV league. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below I've no doubt that Fiat would not have priced its Grande Panda range so attractively had its Stellantis Group sibling rival Citroen, plus its external enemy Renault, cheekily 'incentivised' it to do so with provocatively low pricing for, respectively, the C3 and R5. When I attended the 1989 launch of the original Mazda MX-5, I knew and predicted that it'd be a hit for decades to come. Some 36 years later it has again been crowned as the Convertible class winner. Officially, prices are from £28k. But with zero per cent finance and discounts averaging £3k-plus, it's as affordable now as it was then. Talking of affordability, decent petrol-electric cars don't come much cheaper than the sub-£19k MG3, which picks up the Affordable Hybrid prize. This latest victory for the Chinese manufacturer should be yet another wake-up call for the likes of VW which, inexplicably, still drags its heels in bringing hybrid tech to buyers with limited budgets. But it's Skoda that can consider itself the serial champ this year. Wins for Octavia (Family Car), Superb (Estate), Elroq (Mid-size SUV) and Kodiaq (Large SUV) were impressive enough. But the much-coveted Car of the Year gong for the Elroq is the icing on the cake. Our awards do feature some more pricey picks, but all of the cars mentioned in this column can be had, brand new, for between about £19,000 and £36,000. All are credible, appropriately priced and world-class. Why buy lesser, sometimes more expensive rivals that aren't? Configure your perfect Skoda Elroq through our Find A Car service now. Alternatively, check out the best deals out there on a new Skoda Elroq from stock or top prices on used Skoda Elroq models... Find a car with the experts Car Deal of the Day: 717bhp BMW M5 Touring super-estate on a tasty lease deal Car Deal of the Day: 717bhp BMW M5 Touring super-estate on a tasty lease deal The BMW M5 Touring is M car royalty, with a thoroughly impressive PHEV powertrain. It's our Deal of the Day for 29 June Range Rover Sport SV gets massive £35k price drop as it enters series-production Range Rover Sport SV gets massive £35k price drop as it enters series-production There's also a new SV Black trim, and a Range Rover Sport Stealth Package for non SVs New 2026 Honda 0 SUV: Japanese brand to finally have an EV to rival Tesla and BYD New 2026 Honda 0 SUV: Japanese brand to finally have an EV to rival Tesla and BYD Honda EV plans are gathering momentum, and they'll be realised in the groundbreaking 0 SUV next year
Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Branson's Virgin Trains revival blocked after government opposition
Sir Richard Branson's attempt to resurrect Virgin Trains on Britain's railways has been blocked after opposition from the Government. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) confirmed on Thursday it had rejected Virgin's proposal to relaunch services between London and a range of major cities. As well as turning down Virgin's application, the regulator also snubbed proposals from FirstGroup and Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway (WSMR) over fears that the West Coast mainline north of the capital was already too busy. Virgin, which had planned to offer an alternative to state-run trains on the inter-city route, said the decision was 'a blow for consumer choice and competition'. It comes after the Government and senior Whitehall officials lobbied against the so-called open access applications, arguing that new services would have robbed Labour's new nationalised railway of vital ticket revenue. In a letter to the ORR dated June 20, Richard Goodman, director general for rail reform and strategy at the Department for Transport, said that new rail applications must 'deliver benefits without undue cost to taxpayers or existing passengers'. That followed comments from Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, who told the ORR in January that it should adopt a more rigorous stance on private bids. The industry group Rail Partners said at the time that the Government appeared to be intent on 'creating the conditions for existing operators to wither on the vine'. FirstGroup, which was blocked from running trains from Rochdale to Euston via Manchester, said the ORR must be able to 'work without interference,' while stopping short of accusing the DfT of twisting the regulator's arm. A spokesman said the decision will come at a cost to jobs, private sector investment and growth. Virgin, which increased annual passenger numbers on the West Coast franchise from 8m to 42m during its 22 years in charge of the route following privatisation in the 1990s, had planned to provide services from London Euston to Liverpool, Birmingham and Preston, adding 5m additional seats. It would have competed with Avanti, Britain's worst-performing rail operator in the first quarter, with almost 60pc of trains delayed and 6pc cancelled. A Virgin spokesman said: 'We still believe that, given the opportunity, Virgin's open access routes could play a valuable role in delivering the high-quality train services the British public deserve and GBR wants to encourage. 'Anyone who remembers British Rail would rather forget it. Competition improves services, increases rail ridership, and drives better results for everyone, including the taxpayer.' The ORR said it reached its decision to block all three applications after concluding that the southern section of the West Coast route had insufficient capacity and that adding further trains would be 'detrimental to performance.' Stephanie Tobyn, its strategy director, said: 'It was clear that there was insufficient capacity to approve any of the services without a serious negative impact on the level of train performance that passengers experience on the West Coast Main Line.' Virgin said it would now focus on its bid to compete with Eurostar on the Channel Tunnel route to Paris and Brussels.
