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Famous faces give babies a helping hand for Tommy’s, the baby
charity
CELEBRITY
yummy mummies Penny Lancaster Stewart and Atomic Kitten’s Natasha
Hamilton, are backing the latest campaign from Tommy’s, the baby
charity.
Launching this March
(2008) is ‘Give Babies a Helping Hand’, that will be raising money to fund vital research into the causes and
prevention of premature birth.
Around 50,000 babies are born too soon in the UK each year, putting
them at risk of serious long term medical problems, such as cerebral
palsy, blindness, deafness or lung disease. Affecting over 100,000
families each year, Tommy’s is dedicated to reducing the number of
people affected by pregnancy complications.
Singer and mum of 2 young boys, Natasha Hamilton commented:-
“My youngest son Harry was born a couple of weeks early, which gave
me just a glimpse of what some parents go through when a baby is
born prematurely.
I am so thankful that both of my boys are
completely healthy, but my experiences have really made me
appreciate that not every family is as lucky as we have been.
That’s why I’m doing all I can to support Tommy’s Give Babies a
Helping Hand. By raising money into researching ways to prevent
premature birth, I’m hoping that more families will be able to enjoy
the amazing experience of having a healthy baby.”
To combat the problem of prematurity head on, Tommy’s is asking the
British public to support its ‘Give Babies a Helping Hand’
campaign, by buying their fantastic new t-shirt and pin badges,
AVAILABLE IN LIVERPOOL, MULLINGAR AND ST HELENS NEW LOOK STORES NOW
and throughout spring. With all proceeds going to the charity,
it is hoped that from these sales and personal donations, that the
campaign will be able to raise over £100,000.
Modelled exclusively for Tommy’s by Natasha Hamilton (pictured
above), the funky t-shirt will not only look fiendishly fashionable,
but at a fantastically affordable £12 each, they also provide an
easy way to help save babies’ lives. A matching ‘Bag for Life’
will also be on sale for £5. All monies raised from sales of the
t-shirt and bag will be used to fund Tommy’s vital research and
information programmes, designed to give babies the best chance of
being born healthy.
Also supporting the campaign is mother of 1 Penny Lancaster Stewart
(image below), who has modelled Tommy’s glitteringly gorgeous pin
badges in purple, red, gold, and blue, which will also be available
in all New Look stores. At only £1 each, giving babies a helping
hand really couldn’t be easier.
To find your local
New Look store, or to purchase a t-shirt online, visit
www.newlook.co.uk.
Jane Brewin, Chief Executive of Tommy’s commented:- “Premature
birth is an incredibly serious problem in this country, as we
currently have the highest rate of pre-term birth in all of Western
Europe.
Every parent-to-be wants the best for their baby, and ‘Give
Babies a Helping Hand’ is about providing an easy way for people to
really make a difference to these families’ lives.
We are massively
grateful for the support New Look is giving us to help achieve our
goals.”
Anyone who would like to find out more about Tommy’s, or donate to
‘Give
Babies a Helping Hand’ can log on to
www.tommys.org or call
08707 70 70 70.
Photography on this
report taken by:- Seb Winter @ Sarah Daw |
OLD
MAPS REVEAL ANCIENT TREASURE OF TREES
HISTORICAL
maps are helping to find and protect Merseyside’s ancient trees. The
evocative maps, showing details from towns, villages and countryside
from 1843 to 1893, have been added to the Ancient Tree Hunt website,
run by the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation
charity.
To show the history behind today’s landscape, the Ancient Tree Hunt
teamed up with Landmark Information Group, home of the UK’s largest
digital archive with nearly a million historical Ordnance Survey
maps from the 1840s. On the Ancient Tree Hunt website, these old
maps are overlaid with the current road network so woods, copses,
parkland, buildings and streets that existed in the past can be
located.
While historical maps reveal the loss of ancient trees and woodland
on the landscape, happily they can also be used to trace and record
survivors. Ancient tree hunters can navigate their way around the UK
as it was up to 160 years ago, just after the arrival of the
railways. They are urged to look for surviving ancient trees on the
boundaries of parks and estates, which may have shifted over time.
Ancient trees – those with the saggiest, fattest trunks – are living
relics, some are incredibly old. The Trust believes the UK has more
of them than any other country in Northern Europe, but their
locations are unknown, so it is asking members of the public to join
the Ancient Tree Hunt, recording trees they find at
www.ancienttreehunt.org.uk.
One of Merseyside’s most remarkable old trees is a massive yew with
a 9 metre girth found in a churchyard in Eastham, Wirral. Yews often
pre-date the churches next to them, as they were associated with
having spiritual properties. The site of an established yew tree was
considered a good site for a church. Do any readers recognise other
ancient trees still standing from the old map? The Ancient
Tree Hunt aims to record at least 100,000 surviving ancient trees
throughout the UK by 2011. More than 4,000 ancient trees have been
recorded and verified since the launch of the project 6 months ago
“These wonderful maps are helping us identify some of the best
places to search for remaining ancient trees,” says Nikki
Williams, project manager for the Ancient Tree Hunt. “People
joining the Ancient Tree Hunt can step back in time to see former
landscapes of parks, gardens and tree-lined avenues – all strong
clues to follow up to find surviving ancient trees as well as a
fascinating glimpse of local history. As the trees get older,
they develop holes, nooks and crannies providing perfect homes for
insects, bats and birds, including rare and threatened species, so
groups of ancient trees are extremely important wildlife habitats.
The old maps show us exactly where larger concentrations of trees
once stood,” she said. “We can use this information to
target searches for remaining clusters of ancient trees.”
Richmond Crowhurst, Public Sector and Data Sales Manager of Landmark
Information Group said:- “This is one of the more unusual
applications for our 1:10 560 scale digital maps, but we’re
delighted they are proving to be so useful in tracing surviving
pieces of living history across the UK.”
WHICH WAY IS NORTH?
OUTDOOR and
extreme sports are hugely fashionable right now but it seems that
research just out from outdoors fanatics The Ordnance Survey
Outdoors Show has revealed the shocking fact that 94% of us, when
challenged, could not point North.
Brits have made a history for themselves sailing out to discover new
worlds and fishing for food but now it seems we have become so
reliant on modern technology that we would be totally useless
without it. What’s more, 52% admitted they had been lost in
their own city in the last month, 68% blaming their satellite
navigation system. When questioned some people actually admitted
that they were guilty of using their GPRS or Sat Nav when they
already knew where they were going – surely a recipe for disaster.
The online survey of 2,973 British citizens also found that 62% of
our fellow countrymen could not say which countries made up the UK.
The majority of voters were unsure as to whether Ireland was
included – some stating that both the Republic and Northern Ireland
were in fact included, others leaving out both all together.
The top 5 regions with the least sense of direction are:-
Liverpool and Merseyside 99% of Liverpudlians could not point to the
direction North
London 97%
Glasgow 94%
Birmingham 94%
Manchester 91%
Victoria Barrett, Consumer Marketing Manager from Great Britain’s
national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey comments:- “It is a
frightening thought that as a nation we don’t really have our
bearings anymore, we did think that most people would be able to
place themselves in their surroundings and work out where North was
relative to them. However it seems that we have forgotten how to get
about with or without a map."
Geraldine Reeve, Marketing Manager for the Ordnance Survey Outdoors
Show comments:- “It’s amazing that we can climb Everest, jump
out of aeroplanes and explore caves under the sea but when it comes
to knowing about the country we live in, Brits are apparently
clueless.”
For more information about map reading and some top tips as to how
to get started visit
www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk.
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