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JAMES'S SUCCESS IN THE LONDON MARATHON FOR THE PARKINSON'S DISEASE SOCIETY
JAMES Knight and Catherine Gibson from Liverpool completed the 2005 Flora London Marathon on Sunday 17 April to raise vital funds for the Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS).
James and Catherine joined the 180-strong PDS marathon team in covering the 26.2 gruelling miles, cheered on by supporters and PDS staff. He completed the course in 3.48 and raised £2000 and she did it in 4 hours 14and has raised approximately £2500 in sponsorship to enable the charity to continue supporting people living with Parkinson's and to finance essential research.
The 2005 Flora London Marathon coincided with the end of Parkinson's Awareness Week, 11-17 April 2005. This year the theme of the week was 'For every age, and at every stage', highlighting that no matter who you are, if your life is affected by Parkinson's the PDS is there to support you.
Parkinson's is a progressive, neurological disorder and can affect anyone at any time. Approximately 120,000 people in the UK have Parkinson's, 1 in 500 of the general population. 1 in 20 people diagnosed is under the age of 40.
NORTH WEST AIR AMBULANCE APPEALS FOR SKILLED WORKERS
THE North West Air Ambulance (NWAA) is set to open its first charity shop in Tulketh Street, Southport, the town described as "Paris of the North" and is appealing for skilled workers to help them add the "boutique style". Plasterers, electricians, joiners and plumbers are needed for their skills and expertise to turn the premises into a fine shop in time for a grand opening in the Summer.
Jackie Northover, charity assistant chief executive said:- "We are appealing for skilled workers to step forward and donate their time and expertise to help us get the shop up and running. The North West Air Ambulance is the only regional medical air emergency service and as a registered charity it receives no mainstream funding. At a cost of just under £1 million a year to maintain, our task is huge to keep this vital service going and the shop will become a fundamental element in our fundraising."
If you have the necessary skills and can spare some time to help this very worthy cause, please call the North West Air Ambulance on 0151 527 2511.
Covering Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria, the NWAA receives no mainstream funding to cover its region of 5,500 square miles and a residential population of 7 million people. The NWAA covers all major motorway incidents, all serious accidents including horse riding, ruby and motor cycling, serious road accidents and incidents in areas that have poor and restricted road access including golf courses, fells, woods or beaches. On average the NWAA is called out 4 times a day, rising up to 10 in the summer.
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Letters To The Editor:-
"Restrict the sports of angling and shooting."
Dear Sir, "In 2001 the Labour Party Manifesto promised not to "restrict the sports of angling and shooting". The new Labour Manifesto published last week contains no such assurances, but does pledge to bring forward further legislation to "tighten the law on air
guns".
Rather than being based on any evidence that it could stem the increasing problem of rising gun crime, such a move smacks of wanting to be seen to be
"tackling the issue". As with other knee-jerk legislation, the only people who will be affected are those who already behave in a legitimate and responsible manner. The criminals will continue to be criminals.
We urge Labour to shore-up rural confidence by making clear its support for all shooting and angling. It still has the chance to do so during this campaign, although how it can promise to promote shooting whilst at the same time restricting it remains to be seen.
We are promised a 'rural mini-manifesto', but relegating rural issues to a side-show is unlikely to make people in the countryside feel any less like second-class citizens. Labour needs to explain why, when there are 23,000 words in the Labour Manifesto, only 320 are devoted to rural communities."
Simon Hart, Countryside Alliance
STUDENTS EDGE AHEAD TO SUCCESS
A NEW centre to provide specialist study skills advice for students was launched at Edge Hill’s Ormskirk Campus last week. The Edge Ahead Centre is a focal point for people to access a wide range of integrated learning and skills services, including tailored support for those with Dyslexia and Dyspraxia and technical support through the use of multi-sensory software packages.
Sue Williams, Skills Development Manager at Edge Hill was delighted to welcome Liverpool City Council representative, Collette O’Brien, to the launch event. Collette’s work in schools across Merseyside contributed towards the bid for Liverpool to become the first Dyslexic Friendly City. Sue said:-
"Collette was keen to see how Edge Hill is supporting students both in terms of dyslexia and other learning differences. We hope to explore ways in which we can get involved with these projects across Merseyside and work collaboratively to enhance the learning experiences of people with Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia."
The Edge Ahead centre is the first port of call for any student who may have a different learning style. Staff are on hand to assess students and advise on the best study techniques to promote independent learning.
Elizabeth Jane Holmes is a third year drama and English student at Edge Hill. As a dyslexic student Elizabeth has benefited from specialist support in drafting assignments. "My main difficulties are in constructing written work and with sentence structure. I have used the software package Inspiration to help me to plan my essays before I begin to write them. And in terms of sentence structure the Read and Write programme helps you to highlight sentences read out by the computer. Listening to your work rather than relying on your own reading really helps you to pick out your mistakes."
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