Run the UK's
Number One Marathon for charity
THE North West Air
Ambulance Charity, The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and CLIC
Sargent have been confirmed as the associated charities for this
year's MBNA Chester Marathon. They will be joining this year's lead
charity, Cancer Research UK.
The marathon, which was this year voted the UK's Number One Marathon
of 2012, will take place on Sunday, 6 October, and runners are
encouraged to raise funds for this year's four official charities.
A record 5,000 runners are expected to take to the winding country
lanes of Cheshire and North Wales this October for the 4th annual
MBNA Chester Marathon, and organisers anticipate that they will
raise in excess of £400,000 for worthy causes.
Andy White, Joint Organiser of the MBNA Chester Marathon, from
Active Leisure Events, commented:- "It's fantastic to have
such a diverse range of charities on board for the 2013 race, and we
hope that runners and supporters will join us in backing them to
make this year the best to date for charity funds raised."
The North West Air Ambulance Charity's helicopters fly 365 days a
year, with the doctors and paramedics on board providing rapid
treatment, hospital transfers and ultimately giving the gift of time
to patients across the entire North West region each year. Since it
launched in 1999, the charity has flown over 11,000 missions across
the region.
Lynda Brislin, Chief Executive at the North West Air Ambulance
Charity said:- "We are thrilled to be an associated charity
for the MBNA Chester Marathon 2013. Our charity relies on public
support and sponsorship from fantastic events like these, in order
to raise the £4.3 million needed each year to keep our 2 air
ambulances flying and saving lives across the North West."
The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation gives help and hope to people
affected by this terrible disease. Lung Cancer is the UK's biggest
cancer killer. It is the most common cause of death from cancer for
both men and women, claiming over 33,000 lives a year.
Hayley Weaver, running events fundraiser for Roy Castle Lung Cancer
Foundation, said:- "Lung cancer is the UK's biggest cancer
killer. It is the most common cause of death from cancer for both
men and women, claiming over 33,000 lives a year. That's 1 person
every 15 minutes. Our charity gives help and hope to people affected
by this terrible disease and by supporting the charity you will be
helping to save lives and help people, by funding research,
supporting nurses & providing patient relief grants. We're asking
you to challenge your lungs in the MBNA Chester Marathon and help us
defeat lung cancer."
CLIC Sargent is the UK's leading cancer charity for
children and young people, and their families. The charity provides
clinical, practical and emotional support to help them cope with
cancer and get the most out of life. They are there from diagnosis
onwards and aim to help the whole family deal with the impact of
cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases,
bereavement.
Emma Matthews from the CLIC Sargent Running team said:- "We
are delighted to be an associated charity for the MBNA Chester
Marathon 2013. Every day, ten children and young people in the UK
hear the shocking news they have cancer. Treatment normally starts
immediately, is often given many miles from home and can last for up
to three years. CLIC Sargent depends almost entirely on voluntary
donations to fund our services for children and young people with
cancer. Every person who chooses to run for CLIC Sargent in the MBNA
Chester Marathon 2013 will be helping us to continue to provide this
vital support."
Since 2010, the MBNA Chester Marathon has enabled runners to raise
over £1 million for charity, with runners in the 2012 MBNA Chester
Marathon raising £280,000 for good causes. Andy added:- "There
is still time to enter the MBNA Chester Marathon if you haven't done
so already, with the opportunity to run for one of our official
charities. If you have already secured your place, you can still run
for charity, and you will be able to find more information on the
race website."
If you would like more information on entering the MBNA Chester
Marathon, and would like to know how you can run for a charity,
please log on to:-
chestermarathon.co.uk. |
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Data payment
crackdown
A
new crackdown on tax evasion will make information on all credit and
debit card payments to UK businesses available to HM Revenue and
Customs (HMRC) for the 1 September 2013.
The legislation that has now come into effect was introduced in the
Finance Act 2013. The Act allowing HMRC access information from the
UK's merchant acquirers; the companies that process card payment
transactions; to find out the number and value of transactions
completed by a specific trader.
No personal data identifying the card owners or card numbers will be
obtained, but this data will be used to ensure that traders have
correctly accounted for all taxes due; levelling the playing field
for all businesses.
Announced in the same week as it launches a tax evasion advertising
campaign, HMRC estimates that this information could reduce fraud by
over £50 million per annum.
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said:- "Tax
evasion and the hidden economy cost the taxpayer £9 billion a year.
While the majority of traders are honest, they may find themselves
undercut by the minority who seek to lower prices by cheating the
tax system. The Government has given HMRC nearly £1 billion to
tackle fraud and evasion, and these new powers give HMRC an extra
tool to ensure a level playing field between businesses, and also
reducing opportunities for those who try and cheat the system."
The legislation allows HMRC to obtain data on card payments to all
UK businesses for the previous 4 years. The 1st requests for the
data will be sent to merchant acquirers*
this from 1 September 2013 and and this will be an annual request.
HMRC will analyse the data using its sophisticated risking system,
Connect. This cross-references and compares the data with what the
tax authority already holds. The process will allow HMRC to identify
fraud and evasion. HMRC has worked closely with international tax
authorities; many of which have already had great success in
reducing evasion, from access to such data.
This week HMRC is launching the 2nd stage of an evasion publiCity
campaign, through a series of targeted advertisements including
radio advertising and over 3,000 billboards in public areas. The
campaign works alongside existing compliance activity such as data
collection, Taskforces and enforcement to raise awareness among
those breaking the rules that HMRC is closing in on undeclared
income.
Further information is available at:-
gov.uk/sortmytax
* An acquiring bank (or acquirer) is the bank or financial
institution that processes credit and or debit card payments for
products or services for a merchant.
easyJet announces its' summer 2014
schedule from Liverpool Airport
THE UK's largest airline easyJet, has
announced its summer 2014 schedule from Liverpool Airport to 26
destinations across Europe.
Over 3,600 flights are now on sale at on easyJet's website, enabling
passengers to secure the best fares early with more than 580,000
seats available for travel between 30 March 2014 and 15 June 2014.
Key routes for summer 2014 include popular sun
destinations to Alicante, Nice and newly introduced Larnaca as well
as City breaks to Barcelona and Krakow. The airline has also
released fares for key business routes including Paris and Madrid.
Ali Gayward, easyJet's UK commercial manager, comments:-
"Today easyJet has launched its summer schedule from Liverpool
Airport offering flights to 26 destinations between March and June
2014. When developing our flying schedule we consider many factors
including customer comments and holiday trends to ensure we're
offering the right combination of flights at a great price. easyJet
also secures access to primary airports which take people straight
to the heart of a destination to save time and money on transfers.
Key summer sun destinations from Liverpool include Larnaca and
Naples, but we've also retained traditional favorites such as
Alicante and Palma. Around 20% of easyjet customers are business
travellers so they'll be pleased to secure low cost fares on
frequent flights to cities such as Belfast and Paris."
In total easyJet now flies from 11 airports across
the UK and 9 million seats have been put on sale, across to 340
destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Russia.
Travellers looking to book their summer flights, accommodation and
transfers in one go can find a wide range of flexible and affordable
breaks from all easyJet airports on the easyJet Holidays website:-
easyJet.com/holidays or by
calling:- 0843 104 1000. |