CREATIVELY-minded folk from Parr are jetting out to Brussels on Saturday, July 7 to take part in high-level talks over the recent negative national media portrayal of St Helens during the General Election campaign (which was highlighted by the St Helens Star).

The Sure Start Parr Creative Writers group, made up of parents from the area, condemned the damaging comments made by members of the national press about the town. And they sought to set the record straight through a collective response of poetry called the St Helens Recipe which can be accessed through the borough's Cultural Partnership's Creative Industries website (www.creative-in-sthelens.org).

MPs Shaun Woodward and Dave Watts, who met the writers at St Helens Town Hall, are backing their ambassadorial visit to the European Parliament where they will meet European Cultural spokesperson Barbara O'Toole, North West MEP Terry Wynn and representatives of comparable European groups with a view to setting up a Europe-wide project. It is anticipated that this will lead to closer links with the St Helens Learning Partnership with the writers showing that the group is a good example of lifelong learning and creativity.

The creative writers have already blazed a trail for Sure Start Parr's Community Arts programme and were pivotal to the launch of the Build Your Skills project which aims to provide a range of educational, training and employment opportunities for parents and young children.

Since it was formed, the Creative Writers group, which meets weekly at Derbyshire Hill Family and Community Centre, has been a source of inspiration for many parents some of whom are now taking steps into higher education and vocational courses. Writers are currently giving recitals of their work, negotiating with publishers over the first book and many be cutting a disc for Sure Start youngsters.