Partner chosen

One of the largest house building companies in the UK - Bellway Homes - has been chosen by Gateway Pathfinder to be its lead partner in delivering a £500 million programme to revitalise Hull’s housing market.
Noted for its work in regenerating Hull’s Victoria Dock area, Bellway will work alongside Gateway, Hull City Council and local communities to help create new homes in east Hull over the next 10 to 15 years.
“We will be working with Bellway to provide a better quality and choice of housing in stronger, safer communities,” said Cllr Allen Healand, responsible for housing in the city.
“This will encourage existing residents to stay and new people to move into the area.”
Gateway is an organisation set up to breath new life into Hull’s neighbourhoods. It has already started work in west Hull, and in the Ings and Preston Road areas of east Hull where sub-standard housing is being replaced with modern, energy-efficient homes for sale, rent and shared ownership.

All that jazz

British musician Dennis Rollins.

An internationally-renowned composer and jazz trombonist has helped fifteen young musicians develop their musical skills during a workshop in Hull.
Dennis Rollins, who was in the city to perform at the Hull Jazz Festival, held a master class at the Albemarle Centre in Anlaby Park Road South.
He introduced young people to the full range of his work which includes jazz, blues, samba, soul, reggae and hip hop.
The session was part of the Music 4U project which is supported by the Humber Youth Music Action Zone.
“We were delighted to give young people the chance to work with a top-class musician,” said Delma Tomlin of Music 4U. “The experience will no doubt help their own development as musicians.”

Economy will get back on track

Left to right: Mark Jones explains how Hull businesses are overcoming the effects of flooding to Stephen Timms MP and Don Stewart of Yorkshire Forward

Flooding will not delay the economic regeneration of Hull.
That was the message given to Stephen Timms, the Minister for Competitiveness, when he visited the city to find out how companies are recovering from the floods.
He met council leader Councillor Carl Minns and representatives from regeneration agency Yorkshire Forward, the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, Hull Business Forum and Business Link Humber.
Together they visited Reckitt Benckiser, one of Hull’s largest employers, where the minister saw how the company was overcoming the effects of flooding at its Dansom Lane plant.
“We told the minister how Hull businesses and business support agencies are working as one to get the local economy back up to speed,” said Mark Jones, Hull City Council’s head of regional development.
“We explained that Hull was experiencing an unprecedented wave of private and public sector investment and that the flooding would not hinder the city’s regeneration.”

Fair trade city

The first-ever Wilberforce Fair Trade Festival will be held in Hull this month.
The festival begins on September 21 with the annual meeting of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops at the Wilberforce Institute of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) in High Street.
The following day, at Hull City Hall, the public can browse a wide selection of fair trade goods on sale – all under one roof.
A conference for the public will also be held that day in the Mortimer Suite at Hull City Hall to discuss how fair trade can be extended across the world.
Fair trade ensures producers and growers in developing countries get a fair price for their goods to lift them out of poverty.
For more information and booking details please visit www.wftf.org.uk

Songs of freedom

The world-renowned Milton Margai School for the Blind Choir, from Freetown, in Sierra Leone performed a major concert to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade.
The choir (pictured), which has performed to packed audiences at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral, performed at Holy Trinity Church last month.
During the concert, which also involved dancing and drumming, the choir told the story of Sierra Leone from its beginning as a colony for freed slaves right through to its recent civil war and the present day.
The event was hosted by the Freetown Society, an organisation set up to promote friendship and understanding between Hull and its twin city of Freetown.
The choir also performed at the KC Stadium before the rubgy league match between Hull FC v Warrington.

Pride and playfulness

A mixture of Yorkshire pride and playful celebrations filled Hull City Centre as two major events coincided.
For Yorkshire Day 50 mayors and council chairs from across Yorkshire paraded through the old town streets and a marching band performed in Queen Victoria Square.
While next door in Queens Gardens National Playday saw hundreds of children enjoying fun and messy play activities.
Yorkshire Day is held in a different town or city in the county each year on August 1.
“It’s a very special honour for Hull, in our Wilberforce commemoration year, to host the county-wide celebration,” said Lord Mayor of Hull Cllr Brenda Petch.
“What makes it even more appropriate is that it was on August 1st 1834 that slaves throughout the British Empire were emancipated.”
Meanwhile National Playday, a celebration of children’s right to play, featured such entertainments as an ice rink, bouncy castle, animals, fairground rides, and human table football.