Bargains galore for Blackpool residents

Everyone loves a bargain.

We know it, the marketing people with their BOGOFs and their two-for-one’s know it; they put a smile on everyone’s face and a spring in our step.

So, while we’re all still feeling the summer buzz around Blackpool, I’ve decided in this blog I won’t harp on about politics.

Instead I want to point out to you some of the best bargains and boosts the Council can offer you, the Blackpool local.

Charity begins at home, they say, so first off we’ve brought in a whole host of recycling innovations to try to help keep Blackpool – and your house – nice and tidy.

One big one is Rover – our free new mobile tip – which travels around one area per day, saving people the fuel cost of a trip to the tip at Bristol Avenue.

Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for times and locations which change depending on demand.

If you do make your way to the tip we’ve also got a very popular new innovation – the Re-Use store – which reclaims and reconditions goods that people are looking to dump, putting them back on sale to pay for the tip’s upkeep and raise money for charity.

This project too has been a great success and, believe me, from TV’s to toys, there are amazing bargains and top quality items to be had.

The summer in Blackpool is always all about fun and we always try to put on free events aimed at families.

From the Blackpool Air Show, which was a soaring success despite windy weather, and Ride the Lights to the upcoming World Fireworks Championships running every Friday night in September, we’ve some wonderful free events for people both young and old to enjoy.

And speaking of fun, I’m excited to see our new community engagement tool – the council couch – coming to your area very soon.

It’s quirky, it’s a bit of fun, it costs next to nothing but it will hopefully get people talking and allow you, the local resident, to come along and get something off your chest.

Maybe you can even suggest an idea that will help us a better deal for Blackpool.

And finally we’ve a new scheme which could help you save a good whack off one of everyone’s least favourite pest to their pocket – energy bills.

Our collective energy switching scheme, Ready to Switch, is back – keep an eye out for details in the press, on our website and online.

We’ve also a whole host of energy-saving advice and expertise available and a new home insulation scheme in the pipeline.

Keep an eye out for news on that soon.

You can find out more about these initiatives by searching the words in bold on the Blackpool Council website.

Fat chance if you don’t exercise!

I’ve got a confession to make…… I’m a bit fat.

I recently turned 40 and, unless the weight loss fairies turn up out of the blue, I’ll go into the early part of my fifth decade on the planet weighing in well over what I should be.

If the famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer of “Let’s Get Ready to Rumbllllllle!” fame was doing the old “tale of the tape”, he would say that Simon “The Bruiser” Blackburn, from Blackpool, England, was weighing in at five feet and six inches and weighing in at 13 and a half stones (he’d probably use metric but that’s another debate altogether).

In other words, I’m above what a healthy man of my size should be.

Now I blame this, in part, on me quitting smoking (eight months and counting) and, in part, on Denise who is in charge of butties at the Town Hall.

Sadly though, the rest is down to what doctors call a sedentary lifestyle – although since Emma and I got Bentley (the Labrador, now nine months old), we do more walking.

I make light of the problem but, as we all know health, not least obesity, is a problem across Blackpool.

And there are also a number of reasons that I feel the need to take the initiative and get my own house/stomach in order.

Firstly, I’m Chairman of the Health & Wellbeing Board, secondly, I’m getting more involved in the Victoria Hospital Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group and thirdly, I’m getting married in November!

I can’t, in all good conscience, fulfil any of those important obligations without at least making some effort towards losing a few pounds.

As a result I’ve signed up at the council’s new Gateway Fitness Centre – tucked away on George Street at the back of our new offices (and before you ask, no, councillors aren’t moving in to the new building).

It’s a good, convenient, town centre gym; not lavish but modern, practical and open to everyone and you can sign up on the council’s website online.

This isn’t an advert though, more a plea for others to read about this problem, which is weighing so heavily on me (boom boom) to have a think about their own health and whether it could be improved.

There are a million and one ways to exercise from joining a fancy expensive gym, to a mid-range one, to all the sports under the sun or simply going for a good walk or even a run every day.

It doesn’t have to cost a thing and we all know that.

For more information on getting to and maintaining a healthy weight, take a look at the various help that is available.

Finally, I’m hoping to attract sponsorship to lose the weight, to raise money for the Mayor’s Charities (Donnas Dream house and The Snowdrop centre), so keep an eye on this blog and I will keep you posted – or we’ve just got a “Just Giving” account up and running (geddit?), which I’ll promote via my own social media pages, as will the Council.