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Bike delight on
offer for disabled kids
AN urgent appeal has been
launched to find disabled children in Merseyside who could benefit
from having a specialist adapted tricycle.
National charity, Caudwell Children, has launched the appeal to find
disabled children who would benefit from having their own specially
adapted therapy tricycle after receiving funding to help support
youngsters in the area.
Caudwell Children have received funding to help local disabled
children receive the tricycles, which can cost families between £800
and £1,500. The tricycles are individually designed to specifically
meet the needs of each disabled child and help provide
physiotherapy, build muscle tone, aid independence and promote
social inclusion through play.
However, the charity needs more applicants from the Merseyside area
to benefit from this generous offer. By launching the appeal, the
charity hopes some of the estimated 20,000 families in the region
caring for a disabled child will come forward and contact the
charity.
Caudwell Children provide family support services, equipment,
treatment and therapies for disabled children and their families. In
their 13 year history the Charity has supported thousands of
children from across the Merseyside region and now hope to expand
their services within local communities.
Trudi Beswick, Chief Executive of Caudwell Children, said:-
"We donate hundreds of these therapy tricycles to disabled children
throughout the UK each year, but we currently have no applicants in
the Merseyside area.
Disabled children get huge physical and emotional benefits from
having the specially adapted tricycles, which are each custom made
to suit the individual child's needs. As well as providing
regular exercise and physical therapy, the tricycles give children a
renewed sense of inclusion which improves self-esteem and
confidence. We would love to hear from anyone caring for a disabled
child who would like to find out more or knows their child will
benefit from such a donation."
Anyone wishing to find out more should contact Helen Brandley at
Caudwell Children on:- 01782 600854 or via
email.
All applicants will be required to meet the charity's standard
application criteria to be successful.
Join the Manchester to Liverpool
bike ride and help raise funds for children
THE NSPCC are calling on
people in Southport to get on their bikes and hit the open road for
this year's Manchester to Liverpool Bike Ride 2013.
The 39-mile bike ride on Sunday, 26 May 2013, will begin at Salford
Watersports Centre at the Quays from between 8am to 10am. Riders
will follow a flat, mostly traffic free route through Manchester via
Old Trafford and Stretford, and join the Trans-Pennine Trail through
beautiful scenery riding to Otterspool Park in Liverpool.
This year, as well as the usual 39 mile route, we have added a
fantastic new 55 mile road route for all those riders seeking a
challenge. There will be refreshments, music and fun for all when
you reach the finish line by the banks of the Mersey.
Helen Gazzola community fundraising manager for the NSPCC said:-
"The Manchester to Liverpool Bike Ride is one of the NSPCC's
biggest annual fundraising events in the north west. It is a great
way to have fun, get fitter or simply enjoy the great outdoors so we
hope many more riders will join the fun, which will hopefully mean
we'll be able to raise even more money for children and families
across the region."
A coach service run once to take riders from Liverpool to the
Manchester start line in the morning, and will return riders from
Liverpool to Manchester in the afternoon. Booking is recommended to
guarantee a seat and the cost is an additional £23 for one rider and
a bike.
Helen continued:- "The bike ride will be a fabulous day out in
the great outdoors and a valuable opportunity to help the NSPCC
raise money to support its projects and services across the North
West and across the UK, so why not think about taking part with
family, as a group of friends or maybe enter a corporate team."
The money raised from this year's cycle ride will go towards
supporting the charity's ground breaking new ChildLine Schools
Service. Particularly focused on nine to 11 year olds, the ChildLine
Schools Service aims to help them understand what abuse is,
including bullying, how to protect themselves and where to get help
and support if needed. The service is led by volunteers who are
trained to deliver safeguarding assemblies and interactive workshops
in schools. Every penny you raise will get us closer to
our goal of making sure we can deliver this vital service to every
child in the UK.
Tickets for adult riders are
priced at £17 per adult and £8 for children (8 to 16 years). Riders
under 16 must be accompanied by an adult over 18 and wear a helmet.
For more information and your fundraising pack and to book your
place on the ride please visit:-
bikeevents.com or call the
NSPCC fundraising team on:- 0844 892 0253, plus you can email:-
northwestappeals@nspcc.org.uk
if you wish! You'll receive your registration pack in the post,
along with a fundraising pack to help you get started.
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Schools say
let's 'GO 20' for safer streets for kids at start of UN
Global Road Safety Week
AT the start of the UN's
Global Road Safety Week 6 May to 12 May 2013, which urges action to
protect pedestrians, UK schools are calling for steps to enable kids
to walk in their area without being endangered; adding to growing
calls for all our communities to 'GO 20' by switching
to 20mph limits.
A survey by the charity Brake and Hampson Hughes Solicitors of 500
UK primary schools reveals teachers are deeply concerned about
pupils' ability to walk or cycle to school safely. So much so that
77% feel compelled to actively campaign to make local roads safer
for kids.
92% of schools think local roads need to be made safer for children
to walk and cycle and 81% want 20mph limits around the school and on
routes connecting the school with local homes. Only 12% of schools
say they already have 20mph limits.
During Global Road Safety Week, Brake, alongside a GO 20 coalition
of 11 charities, is calling for steps to enable children to walk or
cycle without fear or threat from fast traffic:-
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The government to work towards 20mph being the norm in all our
communities.
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More local authorities to implement 20mph limits
across towns, cities and villages, alongside other measures like
safe pavements, paths and crossings,
Also drivers to pledge to GO 20 or
below around homes, schools and shops.
Every day in the UK, 12 children are run over and hurt when walking
or cycling to or from school and 2 of these children are killed or
suffer serious, sometimes life-long, injuries. Death on the road is
the biggest non-medical killer of school aged children in the UK,
greater than drowning, falls or accidental poisoning combined.
Across the globe, traffic kills more 5 to 14 year olds than malaria,
diarrhoea and HIV and Aids. Road danger is also a major barrier to
kids' mobility and health; many UK parents do not let children walk
and cycle to school because of fear of fast traffic.
Julie Townsend, Brake's deputy chief executive, said:-
"Schools know what's important for kids, and they are telling us
road safety is a massive issue for them. It's telling that so many
schools are actively campaigning for safer streets, showing there's
a lot more we can do to protect children's right to walk and cycle
safely. It's not acceptable that children continue to be hurt and
killed daily on our roads, and it's a sad state of affairs that many
are prevented from walking or cycling because of traffic danger. One
of the best ways to protect kids on foot and bike is to slow maximum
traffic speeds to 20mph around homes, schools and shops, to create a
safe haven for walking and cycling. 'GOing 20' makes our
communities nicer places to be, enables people of all ages to get
out and about on foot and bike, improves health, and saves lives. As
the UN's Global Road Safety Week kicks off, we are appealing to
government, local authorities and drivers around the UK to put
children's safety and wellbeing first, and GO 20."
Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said:- "We want to see
safe roads which meet the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and
motorists - that is why we want to see all Councils looking at
whether 20 mph speed limits could help improve safety on their
roads, particularly near schools and residential areas. Speed limits
should be set by Councils based on their local knowledge and the
views of the local community, but to help Councils further we have
provided an online toolkit and new guidance to help them make the
best decisions for their area."
Lisa Pearson, marketing and business development manager at Hampson
Hughes Solicitors said:- "It is incredibly important for
Hampson Hughes Solicitors to be able to support Brake and the GO 20
campaign, as well as being involved in positively affecting the
safety of the country's school children. Unfortunately we are well
aware of the consequences of road traffic collisions, particularly
those involving children being run over, through our personal injury
law service and the clients we represent through this. We know how
important road safety is and Hampson Hughes Solicitors is keen to
see the 20mph speed limit implemented to areas around schools, homes
and shops – we are confident that this reduction in driving speed
will result in safer roads and a reduction in serious injuries and
fatalities for our children and our communities."
Caroline Tyson, head of school, London Fields Primary School,
Hackney, said:- "We are delighted to support Brake and the GO
20 campaign. We were so pleased to get a 20mph limit and other road
safety measures installed in our area, and we have seen an increase
in children cycling to school as a result. But there are so many
more schools around the country battling for basic measures to
protect children on foot and bike. Reducing the speed of the traffic
can only help to further encourage children and families to walk and
cycle which, along with other awareness-raising initiatives we run
at school, helps to build a better community."
Cllr Feryal Demirci, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for
Neighbourhoods, said:- "I am delighted to welcome Brake to
Hackney where the Council's commitment to safe roads for cyclists
and pedestrians has seen all residential streets in the borough
become 20mph limits. Alongside free cycle training for school
children, awareness training for drivers, and safety-led road
planning, this measure is helping to save lives and encourage even
more parents and children in Hackney to walk and cycle."
Anyone can pledge their support for safer walking and cycling at
go20.org. |
