News Andy Burnham MP for Leigh

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12/02/2009 - Miners' Strike inspired Leigh MP

Andy Burnham visited Winstanley College students to give an inside view of being an MP and a cabinet minister.

Andy faced a number of questions from the students ranging from Guantanomo Bay, the sacrifices to family life for a politician and public transport. He told them he was proud of the government's achievements for the Leigh area such as Leigh Sports Village, free swimming for U16s and the free theatre tickets for U26s.

Andy also said he was inspired to get involved in politics during the turbulent times of the miners' strike when his school bus went past the Parkside Colliery and he took food parcels to the miners.

He urged students to 'aim high' and hoped they would get involved in changing things for the better.

11/02/2009 - A Night Less Ordinary - Free theatre tickets for the U26s launched today

Culture Secretary and Leigh MP Andy Burnham today launched a national programme offering free theatre tickets for under 26 year olds. North West theatres have signed up to Labour’s free theatre scheme which is offering 618,000 free theatre tickets across England for the next two years.

Andy Burnham MP said, “I have always believed in making the best in life available to everyone. We all know how a visit to the theatre can be a life-changing experience, and it’s incredibly exciting to imagine our theatres full to bursting point with young people."

“This scheme allows us to unlock seats that might otherwise have remained empty, giving us good value for money, as well as ensuring we open up theatre to as many people as possible. In the same way we opened up access to our great museums and galleries, we are now extending this principal through to the performing arts, and I congratulate all those theatres taking part.”

“I have seen myself how positively young people respond to the theatre. I know that this scheme will help ensure young people in Leigh get the chance to experience these brilliant productions, and I look forward to working with my local schools and collages to ensure as many of Leigh’s under 26 year olds know about the scheme and apply to get their free tickets."

“Having people like Eddie Izzard and Kevin Spacey offer their support is great, and I want to thank them for their support.”

Eddie Izzard said, "I think free theatre tickets for young people is a great idea, especially as things are getting tough financially right now. I am very pleased that the Government has launched this scheme for under 26 year olds. We have a great British theatrical tradition and I hope people take advantage of this offer."

For more information on the scheme please visit: www.anightlessordinary.org.uk

A video starring Eddie Izzard can be viewed at: Click Here

List of participating North West Theatres

Contact Theatre
Royal Exchange Theatre
Dukes Playhouse
Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Blackpool Grand Theatre
West Cumbria Arts Partnership: Theatre by the Lake, Keswick;
RosehillTheatre, Whitehaven; Kirkgate Centre,Cockermouth; The Wave, Maryport, Arts Out West West Cumbria rural touring scheme)
Met Arts Centre, Bury
Library Theatre, Manchester
Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse
Marine Hall & Thornton Little Theatre, Wyre
Forum twenty eight, Barrow

09/02/2009 - Leigh Students given the chance to be Chancellor and opportunity to balance the nation's budget.

Andy Burnham MP is supporting the launch of the 2009 Chance to be Chancellor competition and is calling on schools in Leigh to take up the challenge of balancing the nation’s budget. The competition is organised by educational charity, Citizenship Foundation, and Norwich Union, and is an extension of the 'Paying for It' programme, which takes economic citizenship education into schools up and down the country.

Chance to be Chancellor is open to all 14-19 year olds and Andy is encouraging students in Leigh to get involved. The competition challenges entrants to grapple with issues that face the Chancellor ahead of the Budget in March. Students are required to draft their own Budget based on a selection of possible policies detailed on the Paying for It website. The competition includes an educational unit addressing the current economic crisis.

The competition will be judged by a panel of experts chaired by The Times’ Economics Editor, Gary Duncan, and the winners will be announced around Budget day in March. The overall winner will receive a Nintendo Wii Console Sports pack along with a voucher for £250 to donate to charity. There are further prizes for the runners-up.

Norwich Union and Citizenship Foundation are delighted that the teachers’ resources provided through the wider Paying for It programme have been awarded a pfeg Quality Mark - a recognition that they are suitable, effective and of the highest educational quality.

Speaking about the competition, Andy said, “The Chance to be Chancellor competition is a fantastic way of teaching financial education in schools in the Leigh area. It’s also a great opportunity for students to have their say on what they think should be included in the Budget."

“I encourage as many students as possible in to get involved and submit their thoughts on how to balance the country’s books, which is a particularly difficult challenge in the current economic climate. I wish all entrants the best of luck.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, commented, "Following the success of last year's competition, I'm very pleased that it is running again. There are new challenges and big choices to be made this year. I hope that the many people entering the competition enjoy the chance to be Chancellor."

In 2008, the winner of Chance to be Chancellor was Tanim Zaman, a 17 year old from Ilford in Essex, who impressed the judges with his plans to tackle poverty and flooding.

All entries to Chance to be Chancellor 2009 must be submitted online by Friday 27 February and details of how to enter can be found on www.payingforit.org.uk/chancellor.

About Paying for It

Paying for It was developed in 2007 by independent education charity Citizenship Foundation and Norwich Union to support and enrich citizenship teaching around economics and finance. Over the course of 2009, Norwich Union volunteers will use specially tailored resources to work with small groups of young people on different topics such as transport, social welfare health and housing in 23 schools. Two new modules – education and employment- have been introduced for this year’s programme in seven areas across the country.


About the Citizenship Foundation

The Citizenship Foundation is an independent charity (no.801360) which aims to empower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law, democracy and society, Founded in 1989, it focuses on developing young people’s citizenship skills, knowledge and understanding. Its work includes resources, training, active learning programmes, community projects and research. www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk