THE Daily Post has invited Liverpool’s five cultural champions to share their impressions of the Liverpool Biennial. Over the next 10 weeks they will be visiting exhibitions and looking at the public art works that make up the city-wide festival.

Chosen from more than 100 nominations, the cultural champions are part of the City Council’s four-year plan to build on its European Capital of Culture legacy.

They will spend 12 months attending cultural events and blogging about their activities, as well as shadowing councillors and helping to raise awareness of events in their community. You can read their blog at http://liverpoolculturalchampions.wordpress.com

They are. . .

Paul Argent, representing Liverpool South

Having attended the same school as Sir Paul McCartney (Stockton Country Primary in Speke), Paul Argent’s found his life has intertwined with the fab four on quite a few occasions. His love of music can be traced back to first hearing The Beatles’ Michelle and his personal highlight as a Capital of Culture volunteer was when he met Ringo Starr during a live TV broadcast for CBS TV’s Good Morning Show. His other highlight was working with Gerry Marsden and The Proclaimers at the Mathew Street Festival.

Once a flutist in Liverpool Youth Concert Band, Paul now shares a love of George Harrison’s – the ukulele – and is a member of the Liverpool Eukulele Orchestra. An engineer buyer by day Paul is planning to acquire the skills throughout this year to champion venues supporting live music in his Mossley Hill neighbourhood and beyond.

Barbara McGrouther, representing Liverpool East

A teacher for the past 25 years in Knowsley, fluent in Spanish, an ’08 volunteer and a costume maker to her name – but Barbara’s greatest achievement was to co-establish the Liverpool Eskimo Ice Skating Club in the 1960s which ran until the city’s ice rink closed in the 1980s. Generations of young skaters would tour the world professionally and many now coach at Altrincham Ice Rink which is home to various national champions.

Walton born and a resident of Tuebrook for past 44 years, this musical-loving mother of one now hopes to use her role as a Community Cultural Champion to create a campaign to among many things bring an ice rink back to Liverpool.

Becky Smith, representing Alt Valley

By day Becky is a community support worker for the charity Key Ring – but by night she is a singer. The former Archbishop Blanche pupil is an original member of SingLive and regularly performs across the city. The 35-year-old has lived in Walton for the past seven years and is looking forward to using her role as a Cultural Champion to ‘discover all the great things that happen on my doorstep.’

An avid history lover, with a 2:1 degree in Ancient History, Becky’s great claim to fame was to live in the past – as 1st housemaid in ‘Life With The Edwardian Country House’ which was screened in 2001 on Channel 4.