Martin goes the extra mile on £5k school run
Trust takes over pool and merges with museum company
ATEACHER who ran a marathon (and a bit!) between a borough’s schools has gone past his £5,000 fundraising goal in aid of a food bank.
Mr Martin Parkes, head of PE at All Saints’ Catholic High in Rawtenstall, undertook the challenge to raise money for The Raft Foundation foodbank.
The dad-of-two set out to run from All Saints’ and take in all seven feeder Catholic primary schools. Braving icy conditions, he was given a huge boost on his way by staff running and cycling alongside him.
He said the reaction to the event had been “staggering”.
“The whole marathon experience has been fantastic and one that will stay with me forever,” said the former semi-professional footballer.
“The support from the All Saints’ community both before, and on the day of the event was great. The way the pupils, parents and families of All Saints’ rallied round to support the event; and of course, the Raft Foundation, has been truly staggering.
“The money raised is currently £5,200 which will make a huge difference to a lot of local people in need.”
“I’d also like to thank the feeder Catholic primary schools for the way that their pupils and staff came out to support the event,” added Mr Parkes, who is married to Hannah.
“To see their smiles and hear their very noisy cheers in the freezing cold, certainly helped to spur me on. The welcome myself and the team received at each school was amazing.”
Over five hours of running, Mr Parkes somehow managed to clock up more than 28 miles – two miles beyond marathon distance.
Children and staff at St Peter’s made posters, bunting, flags and even Mr Parkes face masks to give him a “hero’s reception”.
Headteacher Helen Sullivan said: “On the day, 80 of us lined the top of our very steep hill armed with an array of musical instruments and our loudest shouting voices.”
TO donate, search for ‘Martin Parkes’ on justgiving.com and follow link from the Crowdfunders section.
AROUND £1m in pandemic losses to leisure facilities has led to a major shakeup.
Under the changes agreed by councillors, CLAW (Community Leisure Association Whitworth) will surrender their leases to the Whitworth Leisure Centre and The Riverside.
New leases will be granted instead to Rossendale Leisure Trust (RLT), who will take on and reschedule CLAW’s debt as well as merging with the Community Interest Company running Rawtenstall’s Whitaker Museum.
The council has also agreed £100,000 in revenue funding to RLT, plus a lease payment holiday until March 2023.
Council leader Alyson Barnes, whose Labour group was criticised for overseeing the closure of Haslingden pool in 2013, said they were “just trying to keep the show on the road” in the face of central government funding challenges.
The transfer of Whitworth facilities has proved particularly controversial given the history of CLAW, established in the summer of 2002 after the closure of Whitworth baths by the council.
Coun Dayne Powell said: “There’s a lot of distrust in Whitworth of the term ‘Rossendale’ due to the past history of the baths and the reasons CLAW was set up, and unfortunately that’s not going to go away.
“It’s very important that Whitworth residents have a clear delegation on to the leisure trust board. Whitworth needs a strong voice within the leisure trust, and the facilities of CLAW is something that the residents of Whitworth feel very strongly about. There’s definitely an unease that things will not get better after their partnership. Saying that, I feel this is the only way these facilities could stay open. So reluctantly, I will support this.”
Fellow Whitworth councillor Coun Lynda Barnes said: “Until last week when it became public, I knew nothing about this.”
After stressing her “full” support for the plans, she warned people in Whitworth were “so against” Rossendale council because of the history of the baths.
She also sought assurances that RLT would abide by the terms of the lease, in terms of maintaining the state of the Town Council chamber.
In response, Coun Jackie Oakes, the council’s nominated representative on the CLAW board, replied: “I’m staggered that a local councillor isn’t aware of what’s going on with the leisure trust. I can assure you that whatever agreement is made with the leisure trust it will be kept to. This is the best chance of keeping that facility open. I think we need a positive encouragement from the local councillors in the area to make sure that happens.”
Coun Oakes also cited a social media message from the chair of CLAW Coun Karen Ruane emphasising that CLAW trustees were “totally committed” to the longterm sustainability of the sites.
She added: “Covid has impacted on all our leisure facilities, including the ones in Whitworth. They are suffering major losses.
“This is being asked of council specifically to keep these facilities open so I do hope that everybody will support that proposal.
“There is a significant financial loss to all our leisure facilities, likely to reach about £1m in total.”
Coun Oakes said an independent report assessing the impact of Covid had found that the RLT are a well managed organisation that was in a “strong financial position” when Covid hit, with a positive balance of £300,000. She also emphasised RLT’s “instrumental” role in establishing the Rossendale Connected hub, “helping vulnerable people through the crisis”.
The trust will be allowed to accumulate its debt with the council – taking up to a decade for it to be paid off – but governance procedures would be strengthened.
Coun Oakes said the Whitaker, undergoing a £1.9m transformation supported by the Heritage Lottery, now wants a more formal merger, and the appointment of a head of hospitality was an important step.
Whitworth Coun Alan Neal supported the proposals, but said he had been made aware of a lot of “unprofessional” and “unkind” claims being made in response to them.
He added: “The leisure trust has a proven track record.”
Conservative councillors supported the recommendation, but offered words of financial caution.
Coun Anne Cheetham suggested a three or fourmonthly review of income and expenditure, adding: “I’m not against this particular partnership at this time, but I do think we need to watch the finances very carefully if we are going to give our guarantored support for this venture.”
And Coun Margaret Pendlebury said: “Where do we financially draw a line on this debt? If we’re cushioning the blow for everybody I do feel we should have a line.”
Cabinet member for resources Coun Andrew Walmsley said there seemed to be a misunderstanding of the way CLAW and RLT have worked together for some time.
He added that it would be a reprofiling of the debt, not a writing-off.
He said: “Clearly there’s risks, and there’s risks associated with the recovery after Covid. I would encourage everybody to lobby our MP and government to support leisure trusts.”
Council leader Alyson Barnes said they would be keeping “a very close eye on the figures”.
She said: “The government aren’t doing nearly enough to safeguard these facilities. If this had been an in-house service then almost all their losses would have been mitigated by government funding. We all know that these facilities are needed and will be needed by our communities after they’ve spent months and months and months on not really being able to do very much at all. We are all just trying to keep the show on the road.”