'My dad was treated like a guinea pig by the government'

By Dan Haygarth | 14/10/24

Hello,

Today’s Liverpool Daily Post leads with Liam Thorp’s feature on David Purse, an Aigburth-born nuclear test veteran.

Flight Lieutenant Purse was one of thousands of British service personnel tasked with overseeing the testing of atomic and hydrogen bombs as the British government raced to create a nuclear deterrent during the Cold War. His experiences would go on to have an enormous effect on his life and the lives of his loved ones. Liam spoke to David’s son Steve about that impact.

Elsewhere, people across the city are rallying to try and save Zoe’s Place. Myself and Katie Westwood have spoken to Scousers raising money and doing incredible things in an attempt to keep the hospice going.

In other news, Liam Thorp reports that a row is ongoing as Liverpool Council claims it agreed to write off a debt of more than ￡350,000 from a popular city wedding venue. However, that figure is disputed by the company which runs the venue.

Thanks for reading.

‘Dad told mum I was born with disabilities and it was all his fault’

When David Purse joined the Royal Air Force as a young man and was posted to Australia, he had no idea his mission could go on to affect his health and the health of his family for generations to come.

Born and raised in Aigburth, David had initially joined the Royal Navy before then getting a commission for the RAF. One of his postings was to Maralinga in South Australia in 1962. He didn't know what the mission was or much about his new home other than it would be very warm. He was a young man and was looking forward to a new adventure.

In reality, Flight Lieutenant Purse was one of thousands of British service personnel tasked with overseeing the testing of atomic and hydrogen bombs as the British government raced to create a nuclear deterrent during the Cold War. His experiences would go on to have an enormous effect on his life and the lives of his loved ones.

"He went over quite late in Maralinga's testing period", explained David's son, Steve Purse, who was born in Wirral but now lives in North Wales. "It was arguably the worst time to go, because the land that he was living on had seen seven nuclear weapons detonated on it and 593 other trials, which were some of the most toxic and polluting experiments ever done on planet earth."

"They were blowing up things like beryllium and plutonium to simulate aircraft crashes and things like that and to measure the dispersal of radiation across the desert. Of course it was much greater than anyone thought. It was a very, very radioactive area that he lived in for a year with his colleagues."

Steve added: "It was in the sand, he used to say. They ridiculously had so-called safe areas marked off with contaminated zones and uncontaminated zones, which were separated by a single strand wire fence. The sand was so fine it just blew everywhere so it was in his land rover, his clothes, his hair, his food. He said the safety defence was just lip service, it made no difference whatsoever. That sand would have been highly radioactive."

David, who died in 2015, had gone out to Australia in 1962 as a single man. He returned to the UK in 1963 and met Steve's mum a few years later. By 1973 they had two children. Steve said he rarely ever spoke about his experiences in Maralinga - but one time he did was just after Steve was born.

"I was born with disabilities and health problems that were obvious from birth", said Steve, now 50. "I was taken away from my mum for several days, she didn’t even know I was disabled until the doctors told my dad and asked him to break the news.

"Mum was sent home without me and when my dad got there, he said 'Steven has been born with disabilities and it's all my fault because I went to Australia and served with the nuclear tests’ - that was the only thing he said about it."

To read the full article, click here.

'It's the city at its best': Scousers rally to save Zoe's Place from closure

People from Liverpool and beyond are doing incredible things in an attempt to save the vital children's hospice Zoe's Place. The centre in Yew Tree Lane, West Derby, provides respite, palliative and end-of-life care for babies and children up to the age of five.

It has supported countless local families in their most difficult moments. However, staff and families of children being cared for at Zoe's Place were told on Monday that the centre would close before the end of the year and that staff would lose their jobs in 30 days.

Last week, the Liverpool ECHO joined the city-wide campaign to try to raise the required ￡5m to keep the organisation going. People from across Liverpool and beyond have been pulling out all the stops to try and raise the money that Zoe's Place needs to remain in the city. The charity says it needs ￡5 million more to build a new facility that will mean the hospice stays in the city, but with plans to close the site already underway, there are just weeks to save it.

Scousers and people from further afield have stepped up to the plate in order to raise the money. Liverpool clothing brand Montirex has raised more than ￡100,000 at the time of writing, while countless individuals, groups and businesses are doing their bit.

Ged Finnegan's daughter Kate died at the age of 13 at Alder Hey in 1998. In 2018, to mark the 20th anniversary of her passing, he began 'Kate's Coastal Walk', which has raised ￡80,000 for Zoe's Place in the years since. Though Kate had not been at Zoe's Place, he wanted to help parents going through what he had experienced.

Ged, 69, from Woolton, told the ECHO: "I saw parents in despair about their children. The idea came together that we could do something for Zoe’s Place. Since 2018 we’ve walked every year other than covid. It's gone to over 100 people taking part in the walks, which go along the Merseyside coast.”

With a matter of weeks to save Zoe's Place, Ged decided he had to do something now. He explained: "When the news of closure came out, Zoe’s rang me - they were devastated. So I went there on Friday morning, getting buckets and more t-shirts so we could do something.

"I thought what could we do in the next 30 days? So on October 19, we're going to walk from the Pier Head with a banner, a drum, get a lot of people, walk up Castle Street, into town, walk down to Primark. We'll have people out with charity buckets, then we’ll go on.

"Get them all back and then we’re walking to Zoe’s Place. We’re just going to try to meander our way through Liverpool - it’s about a two hour walk.

"Once we get to Zoe's Place, we'll hand over the money we've collected. The idea is to raise money and raise awareness, hopefully it contributes.

"We want to mobilise people. It's been amazing to see how the city has reacted. All I have wanted to do is keep Kate's memory alive and do something positive. Hopefully this can help."

Coffee and sandwich shop Derek's, owned by Scousers Ethan Woodroofe and Adam Taylor, are offering people a chance to win a year's worth of coffee and sandwiches if they enter a raffle in aid of Zoe's Place. A ￡5 donation through their JustGiving page enters you into the draw.

The shop can be found on Allerton Road and on College Road in Crosby. About the raffle, Ethan, 28, told the ECHO: "We needed to use our community. Derek's has a great community - people rave about the sandwiches and they are fantastic, but the best thing about the Derek's community is they are so loyal and every time we do something like this, people love it and they get involved and they always try to help others.

"Everyone has come together, thrown a fiver in. Everyone we've spoken to has thrown a fiver in, everyone is looking at how they can help. I thought this was a cool way to do it, to give back a nice reward as well. It's a chance to win something."

He added: "It's the age-old thing that every Scouser says - but it's true. We do all get behind a cause worth fighting for - the whole city turns up in force. We've seen it again now. It's amazing.

"A lot of people are doing stuff now, it's unbelievable. Independent businesses are giving stuff away and leveraging their own communities that they've grown over the past few years and offering free stuff. People are giving away coffee and a year's supply of things. I think people are just looking at what they've got and the pull they've got and leveraging it in the right way. We're saying, let's all get together and do what we can.

"It's boss to see everyone together doing stuff, it's such a nice thing to see. It's the city at its best."

To read the full article, click here.

Row as council claims it wrote off ￡350k owed from wedding venue

Liverpool Council claims it agreed to write off a debt of more than ￡350,000 from a popular city wedding venue. In a cabinet report in July, the council disclosed plans to write off a debt of ￡357,582.69 for the Isla Gladstone wedding and event space in Stanley Park. That figure is disputed by the company which runs the venue, reports Liam Thorp.

In a Revenue and Capital Financial Monitoring Report discussed at a council cabinet meeting on July 16, a number of issues relating to debt being written off were discussed.

The report stated: "The debts included in this report relate to debt that has been pursued as far as possible and a write off of the debt is a last resort once all other avenues have been exhausted. The Financial Regulations require cabinet approval to cease recovery action for all debts which exceed ￡100,000." The matter was previously reported on by The Liverpool Post.

The report was seeking approval to write off a debt of ￡357,582.69 for the Isla Gladstone, which trades as T.I.G.C Ltd. In the report, the council said it had taken 'a number of steps to recover the outstanding debt.'

The report stated these attempts included payment requests to T.I.G.C Ltd, payment request reminders sent to the company and the holding of several meetings with the company and their solicitor regarding the debts. Following this, the council report said court approved mediation was undertaken between the local authority and the business.

The cabinet report states: "It was decided that should the debt progress to court, the likely outcome would be the recovery of 50% of the outstanding debt. Both the Council’s survey and legal teams and T.I.G.C Ltd. legal advisor were aware of this possible outcome. To reduce further loss to the Council and protracted legal action a 50% settlement has been proposed."

But the ECHO understands the business disputes the idea the council wrote off the debts and also maintains the sum in question is less than the figure reported in the council documents. The business' position is that it had been paying rent and utilities to the council from the start of its tenancy in 2009 but that in 2018 the local authority ceased raising invoices. From that point T.I.G.C Ltd and its solicitors repeatedly asked the council for invoices and details of charges, but received none.

In 2023 the venue then received a large number of backdated invoices, including it is claimed, for utilities that had been paid by the council but not invoiced to the business, claiming that many of these were inaccurate. The invoices also covered the period of time during which the venue was closed due to pandemic restrictions.

Mediation took place in May of this year where T.I.G.C and the council went through the invoices to identify those charges that were legitimate. The business disputes the idea that the council wrote off the business's debts as the only invoices that are to be credited were agreed by both parties to be inaccurate.

The company said the settlement agreement is confidential but insists that the sum is less than the 50% figure stated in council documents. The ECHO understands that T.I.G.C Ltd has agreed to pay all legitimate costs, in agreed instalments.

A city council spokesperson said: “We can’t discuss individual cases. However, where money is owed to the council we will take all necessary steps to try and recover it in order to help us fund essential services.”

Gemma McGowan, managing director of The Isla Gladstone, said: “As a long-standing tenant of the city and contributor to its cultural heritage, we have worked closely with the Council and reached an agreement earlier this year regarding our legitimate costs. We look forward to the Council’s continued support as we welcome more people to experience our iconic venue.”

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