All Together NOW! issue 44

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR: 450,000 READERS

COMMENDED, Niche Newspaper of the Year — Newspaper Awards 2012

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n All Together NOW! is a registered charity set up to provide a tip top news service for anyone whose life is affected by disability, longterm health condtions or age. n The charity relies entirely on support from its sponsors, advertisers and from general subscriptions and grants. n You can contact us on

Now anyone can enjoy cricket IT’S NOT often you get the chance to play cricket at Lords, especially if you have problems just walking onto the crease.

But The Lord’s Taverners have come up with a way – their unique Macquarie National Table Cricket competition.

And this year it was pupils at Wigan’s Oakfield High School who came away with the trophy

after putting up a magnificent performance to take revenge over last year’s winners, Victoria Education and Sports College, from Poole, Dorset.

Wolverhampton’s Penn Hall Outreach Group finished in third place.

Now in its 14th year, the competition involved more than 600 pupils from across the UK Table cricket, played on a table

tennis surface with specially designed bats and balls, enables young people with disabilities and special needs to enjoy cricket and represent their school on a competitive basis.

Matthew Patten, chief executive at The Lord’s Taverners, said: “We believe all young people should have access to sport and recreation, particularly those with disabilities and special needs.”

HEALING POWER: Aromatouch massage tutor Sheila Ladanowski (right) with Paula West

0151 230 0307 Who to contact Editor: Tom Dowling email: news@alltogethernow.org.uk

Advertising/sponsorship Chris Groves email: sales@alltogethernow.org.uk IT Support: Ken Almond Website: Pharos Design

NEXT EDITION: Tuesday 2 October, 2012 All Together NOW! is published by All Together Now! Ltd, The Bradbury Centre, Youens Way, Liverpool L14 2EP Registered Charity No.1106387 Company No. 5096931 Printed by Trinity Mirror NW2, Oldham

7 days a week for sight helpline SIGHTLINE Vision, the charity that supports visually impaired people, has been awarded a £192,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

The money will allow the charity to extend its evening helpline – currently Thursday to Monday – into a seven day a week service.

Sightline coordinator Eileen Green, who is registered blind herself, said: “The Lottery funding success will enable us to offer our service on a daily basis to the many people who need our help throughout the region..

“Sight loss can obviously be very traumatic to the person involved, and to the family and friends around them.

Our service can help people through a very difficult period.”

“This support can range from offering a listening ear and a befriending service to signposting callers to other organisations that can help them,” said Eileen.

New volunteers are also now needed by the charity. n Sightline helpline:

£13m boost

0800 587 2252.

A mum’s touching moments

T

HE healing power of touch has transformed family life for mum Paula West.

Paula has a six-year-old son with multiple special needs who finds it difficult to be touched – a heartbreaking situation for any parent.

But her time with her son has been transformed since she completed a course in Aromatouch, run by Knowsley council.

It’s a simple and creative massage method using essential oils. The council funds courses in

it for people who care for children with complex needs.

Paula said: “Jamie has always found it difficult to receive touch and our contact was limited to about 10 seconds at a time.

“That is so tough for a mum.

But, using the Aromatouch techniques, Jamie and I now enjoy regular 20-minute massage sessions. This is life changing for us.”

The course was run by Sheila Ladanowski, an experienced clinical aromatherapist, and funded by Knowsley council’s Short Breaks programme, set up

to help people with children who need a lot of help and support.

“A lot of the people on this course face quite stressful situations at home or at work,” said Danielle Hogan, Short Breaks development officer.

“This helps them to pin point what causes that stress and how they can deal with it.

“They also learn a lot about the healing effects of essential oils and massage and how they can use them to improve their own situations.”

CUMBRIA County Council is providing nearly £1m of funding to 43 new projects throughout the county aimed at supporting local people with mental health issues.

The funding is part of a wider investment of £13m over the next two years to tackle health inequalities and reduce demand on health and social care.

n Contact: Knowsley Short Breaks, Tel. 0151 443 5601.

All Together NOW! is exceptionally well liked by its readers.

225,000 readers DO NOT see any other local paper — The Murray Consultancy

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HALF MILLION READERS!

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

— our figures are going through the roof Hello!

IT’S great to be back -– and great to report that our distribution figures are going through the roof!

115,000 copies of our summer issue were picked up – with 100,000 papers being taken from supermarkets and hospitals.

This time we’re confident that we’ll get even more papers out and about – and increase our readership to half a million!

It’s a different and sad story, though, for other titles . . .

Disability NOW ceases publication next month – another victim of declining advertising revenues.

Scope, the charity that publishes the national magazine, says they will be providing a better online service for readers.

A BIG THANKS to all the Community Colleagues and Charity Champions at the following supermarkets for helping us to get more and more copies of All Together NOW! to customers. Other store bosses wanting to stock the paper can call us – 0151 230 0307 – and we will do the rest!

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But with more than 4 million disabled people still not on the Internet, I guess a lot are going to miss out.

Despite All Together NOW!’s success – in terms of readership figures and awards – our charity also needs more commercial support to ensure the paper’s long-term future.

But at least we can take comfort knowing that we have a small (and growing!) band of loyal sponsors who genuinely see the benefits of supporting our work.

And for this, I am extremely grateful.

I hope you like this issue – we’re back in the autumn. October 2, to be precise!

See you then.

Merseyside: Huyton; Liverpool - Hunts Cross, Breck Road, Smithdown Road; Utting Avenue.

Runcorn; Skelmersdale; Southport; St Helens; Wirral - Arrowe Park; Birkenhead; Bromborough; Ellesmere Port Birchwood Gtr Manchester: Eastlands; Harpurhey; Hulme; Stockport; Wythenshawe Merseyside: Liverpool – East Prescot Road; Woolton; Southport; Wirral – Cheshire Oaks; Neston; Prenton; Upton Preston: Flintoff Way; Penwortham: Birch Avenue Warrington: Church Street Gtr Manchester: Salford Merseyside: Formby; Liverpool – Park Road; Deysbrook Lane. Wirral - Bidston Moss, Heswall Gtr Manchester: Gorton

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Four million disabled people not online MORE than 8 million people in the UK are still not connected to the internet – and HALF are people with a disability!

Helen Milner, chief executive of UK Online Centres, said: “People with a disability make up half of the total offline population – and are one of the hardest-to-reach groups.

“The number of people who are offline is getting smaller, but not at the rate we’d hoped for.”

The newly launched Disability Specialist Network and the Into Work network are two of three initiatives set up by UK Online Centres to help people get connected.

UKOC has also launched the £1.1 million Community Hub programme, funding large scale projects that will harness technology to support community development. www.ukonlinecentres.com/joinus

National Express . . . miles ahead!

TOM DOWLING, editor

Blackpool: Highfield Road Lytham: Haven Road

N

ATIONAL Express has just celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first wheelchair accessible coach service.

And the Birmingham-based company says it is on track to have all of its coaches fitted with lifts by the end of 2013 – seven years ahead of the legal requirement.

Managing director Andrew Cleaves said: “The introduction of wheelchair lifts transformed the coach industry ten years ago – making affordable travel readily accessible to wheelchair users for the first time.

“I’m proud to announce that we’re on track to become Britain’s first fully accessible scheduled coach operator with over 90 per cent of our fleet fitted with wheelchair lifts.”

Changes to The Disability Discrimination Act in 1995 mean that all bus and coach operators must be fully accessible by 2020.

National Express also provided transport for the ParalympicsGB team at their training camp in the Algarve. n Helpline 08717 818179. n Textphone 0121 455 0086 Sounding Off -– Page 18

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PARALYMPIAN Josie Pearson (wheelchair rugby) with disability minister Maria Miller, and Andrew Cleaves at London’s Victoria Coach Station, where the first accessible coach was launched ten years ago

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MANY congratulations to Jan Lockyer for her well-deserved MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

For 30 years Jan was a senior occupational therapist at Liverpool’s Disabled Living Centre, now renamed Lifehouse and based at Brunswick Business Park.

During that time she provided a real helping hand to thousands of people affected by disability and ill-health.

Until last year, when she left the centre, Jan had her own hugely popular Helping Hand page in All Together NOW! Maybe one day we will be able to persuade her to start it again . . .

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All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

The young failed by their families THE discrimination faced by young people with mental health problems frequently comes from those closest to them.

A shock new survey found under-25s faced negative attitudes towards their illness from the very people they should be turning to for help.

Of those questioned by Time to Change – the anti-stigma health programme – 70% said friends made them feel stigmatised, while 57% said parents did, and 35% felt siblings showed a lack of understanding.

Director of Time to Change, Sue Baker, said: “This is a national tragedy.

The impact of stigma is robbing too many of their hopes for the future. They are left too afraid to turn to their families, friends and teachers, or to get support.”

Time to Change has now launched a pilot project in the West Midlands.

Activities planned for the West Midlands include a social marketing campaign, an education programme codelivered by young people with a mental illness and their parents, community events in the region, a grants fund for projects that bring young people with and without mental health problems together, and engagement with organisations in the region that work with a youth audience. n www.time-to-change.org.uk

Polio web launch THE British Polio Fellowship has launched its new website.

The charity’s chief executive, Ted Hill, said: “We want our website to become central to the UK’s polio community.

“We’re still living with the legacy of this debilitating illness today and need the support of our members and partners to raise diagnosis rates and help treat those affected by it.” n www.britishpolio.org.uk

Damning report PEOPLE with learning disabilities played a key role in producing a damning report on the care of some of society’s most vulnerable members.

The Care Quality Commission review of nearly 150 learning disabilities services, prompted by last year’s Winterbourne View scandal, has raised “very significant concerns”.

Nearly half the services inspected did not meet government standards.

Inspectors were accompanied by “Experts by Experience” – people with learning disabilities who have experience of receiving services.

One expert, Laura Broughton, said: “Some of the places I visited were not pleasing.

“I felt some people didn’t get the opportunities they should have because they couldn’t speak or because others felt their behaviour was challenging.

“I hope things will change. All people who have a learning disability have the right to good safe services, choices and a good life.”

Sinbad leading the celebration FORMER Brookside cheeky chappy Sinbad was on his best behaviour at a special parents’ presentation.

Actor Mickey Starke, who played the window cleaner in the soap, was celebrating success with the parents of children with extra needs.

They had “graduated” from a six-week course on how to get the right support to help their children.

The sessions included advice about education, rights and the latest thinking on different disabilities.

Needs must THE GRADUATES: Mickey Starke with the parents of disabled children

Care to come first in historic court ruling

ROAD TRIP: Douglas with pals Paul Tuhrim, left, and Stephen Harrison

A

LANDMARK Supreme Court judgement is set to end the postcode lottery for people needing social care.

The ruling makes it clear that councils cannot take their finances into account when assessing people’s requirements.

Described as potentially the biggest community care ruling in 15 years, it means every local authority in England and Wales may have to reconsider how it works out disabled people’s needs.

The ruling followed the case of KM v Cambridgeshire County Council, in which a blind, autistic, wheelchair user was offered a care package that he argued did not meet his needs sufficiently.

As part of the case, a leading public lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing four national charities (Sense, National Autistic Society, RNIB and Guide Dogs), sought to clarify whether a local authority can take their financial resources into consideration.

Although the court ruled against KM, the judgement has made it clear that resources are not to be taken into account when establishing the needs of disabled people.

Some councils restricted assessments on the grounds of cost and some did not, which in the past resulted in a postcode lottery for social care.

Importantly, the court also made it clear that when social care support is provided by direct payments to the individual it is “crucial” that

They were organised by the Sunrise Club, a support group in Halewood, Merseyside, run by and for the parents of disabled children.

Tammy Edwards, who’s on the Sunrise Club committee, said: “Everyone’s been empowered. We’ve shared our stories and learnt from some of the most inspirational national speakers.

“We’re now using that knowledge in our everyday lives.”

Tammy added: “Life can be difficult with a disabled child and if you don’t get support you can go into a downward spiral.” n Sunrise Club: 07771 517791

Faster calls

Douglas is a wheel hero CYCLING fanatic Douglas Silas is a man on a mission – and, like all typical All Together NOW! readers, he’s not letting his own personal health battles get in the way.

Last year, using his stylish recumbent trike, Douglas, who lives with the neurological condition Cerebellar Ataxia, rode across Israel’s Negev desert – 380km in five days.

Along the way he raised local authorities provide “a reasonable degree of detail so that a judgement can be made whether the indicative sum is too high, too low or about right”.

Yogi Amin, from Irwin Mitchell, said: “This is potentially the biggest community care ruling in 15 years.

“Each of the national charities who intervened in this case firmly believes that a person’s individual needs are the same regardless of

£40,000 for Norwood, the learning disability charity.

This year he’s already completed the LA Capital to Coast Challenge and London’s 100km Nightride.

Next up is a 400km trek across Sri Lanka in October!

And if he manages it, Douglas reckons his efforts just might result in Norwood being another £25,000 better off! where they live and have campaigned tirelessly to ensure there is complete transparency in terms of what an individual’s care needs are.”

All four charities were united in their bid to clarify a previous ruling in 1997 by the House of Lords which suggested that the resources of a local authority may be taken into account when determining the care needs of individuals.

PHONE users with hearing and speech impairments are to benefit from new proposals from Ofcom.

The communications watchdog is proposing that all UK landline and mobile providers will have to give customers access to a next generation ‘text relay’ service approved

by Ofcom.

Text relay services enable people with hearing and/or speech impairments to communicate with others through telephone or textphone equipment.

Under the current system, a relay assistant acts as an intermediary to convert speech to text and vice versa.

The proposed new services would be faster and accessible via the internet through PCs, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

340,000 people – two-thirds of All Together NOW! readers – DO NOT read any other disability or health publication — The Murray Consultancy

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Your chance to WIN a top-of-the-range

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FEAST YOUR EYES: Park’s delicious and mouth-watering Empire hamper – some contents may vary

HE countdown to Christmas has This monster hamper contains a huge started! And for one very lucky range of Christmas food and drink All Together NOW! reader it’s goodies to keep even the biggest family going to be a Christmas they will fed over the festive period. remember forever!

It’s filled with top brand confectionery, We’ve teamed up again with one of our desserts, soft drinks, beers, wines, key sponsors, Park – the UK’s number spirits, pasta, soups, vegetables, freezer one for Christmas savings – to give you a foods and the finest quality meat. fantastic chance to win their And, as an extra gift, you will also get a top-of-the-range Christmas hamper.

Christmas table runner and napkins set The Empire hamper is worth £540 – – perfect for your Christmas table. and it will be all yours if you win our For more than 45 years Park has been super competition. providing top quality hampers for Our previous Park Hamper competitions hundreds of thousands of customers have been extremely popular and we across the country.

101395-All Together Now advert_ATN 262 x 165 03/08/2012 10:24 Page 1 expect this one to be even more so!

More than 400,000 people from all over

the UK are currently saving with Park for Christmas.

Park CEO Chris Houghton said: “We are delighted to offer readers another chance to win our top-of-the-range Christmas hamper. It’s a fantastic hamper – the perfect Christmas prize for families.

“Our previous competitions in All Together NOW! have all been extremely popular. We are confident that this one will attract even more interest.”

So get your entries in now!

For more information about saving for Christmas with Park, go to: www.getpark.co.uk

ALL you have to do to stand a chance of winning your dream hamper is answer these two questions: 1) How long has Park been operating?

2) How many people are currently saving for Christmas with Park?

The first correct entry drawn out of the hat on Friday, November 9, will win the hamper.

Send your answers on the back of a postcard – telling us where you picked up your copy of All Together NOW! AND what you think of the publication – to: Park Hamper Competition, All Together NOW!, The Bradbury Centre, Youens Way, Liverpool L14 2EP. You can also enter online at

www.alltogethernow.org.uk RULES: By entering the competition you confirm that you understand and agree that the information you provide will be held on a Park Group database and that it will be shared by all companies within the Park Group. A full list of those companies is available by writing to the Data Controller, Park Group Plc, Valley Road, Birkenhead, CH41 7ED. Park Group plc shall be the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. The information you provide will be used by Park Group and any necessary third parties to provide you with the goods and services you request. Companies within the Park Group may wish to contact you for customer care purposes or to keep you informed about the latest offers, promotions, prize draws, and competitions, using post, telephone, e-mail, SMS and any other appropriate means, including new technology. If you wish to be contacted via email or SMS, please provide us with your e-mail address and/or your mobile telephone number as appropriate.If you do not wish to be contacted by any member of the Park Group for marketing purposes, please indicate this on your entry. The winning entry must agree to having a photograph taken for promotional purposes.

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August/September 2012

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

Singer Carly’s set for a Wonder-ful debut SINGER Carly Ryan, who shot to fame in the BBC Three TV show Autistic Superstars, has released her debut album.

Help for deaf readers ‘must be stepped up’ PUBLISHERS should do more to support deaf children to learn to read effectively, says the boss of a book store that champions deaf people’s rights.

Lauren Metcalf, manager of Action Deafness Books, told delegates at the London Book Fair: “The publishing industry is crying out for books that are inclusive and accessible to all.

“There are very few stories featuring deaf children that aren’t focused on teaching children about deafness.

“Such books don’t have to be about how ‘special’ or how ‘normal’ it is to be deaf.

“They can just be about someone who happens to be deaf but who has a really interesting time aside from that,” said Lauren.

“With the right resources, there is no reason why a deaf child should develop language or literacy skills to any lesser degree than their hearing peers.”

There are 45,000 deaf children in the UK with just one-third performing at the expected level in reading and writing at Key Stage 2. n www.actiondeafnessbooks.org.uk

Homeless shock BRAIN injury could affect almost half of homeless people and may contribute to the risk of people becoming homeless in the first place, says a study by The Disabilities Trust.

The charity’s chief executive, Barrie Oldham, said: “An estimated 100,000 people in the UK live with long term disabilities as the result of brain injury – a “silent epidemic”.

“This groundbreaking research is the first step towards a better understanding of the possible link between homelessness and brain injury.”

The research reflects the findings of a 2008 study of homeless people in Toronto, Canada, which found that 53% had sustained a brain injury. n www.thedtgroup.org

Seeing the problem A GUIDE has been created to help GPs better understand the visual problems of people with learning disabilities.

Research shows that the estimated one million adults in the UK with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely to be blind or partially sighted than the rest of the population.

In addition, people with severe or profound learning disabilities are the most likely to have serious sight problems, according to the study commissioned by eye care charity SeeAbility and the Royal National Institute for Blind People.

But they are often unable to say that their sight is affected. In some cases they can be wrongly treated for behavioural difficulties or unrelated medical issues when it is simply a case of undiagnosed sight problems. n SeeAbility: 01372 755000. www.seeability.org

The CD features a track penned by American songwriter Bryan Wells who wrote Yester-me Yester-you Yesterday for Stevie Wonder.

Wells generously offered Carly the song when they worked together at a charity event in New York.

The rest of the album, At Last, is a vibrant mix of classic standards and modern pop, with Carly covering such greats as Etta James, Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee alongside Rihanna, Winehouse and Lady GaGa tracks, delivered in her own unique style.

Other tracks covered by Carly include Sway, Rhythm is Gonna Get You, Disturbia and Summertime.

The CD, commissioned and recorded in association with The Heroes Project, is only available as a limited edition. It will also be available as a download in the autumn.

The Heroes Project is a learning disability arts development organisation offering creative opportunities to people with learning disabilities. It also provides a range of initiatives to promote inclusion within the wider community. n For advanced copies of At Last, email heroesproject@sky.com, www.heroesproject.org.uk

You too can be Prime Minister VIBRANT MIX: Carly’s debut CD release

Up to £10k to remove blocks to political life

THANKS! See also Why I Love This Paper, page 23 — editor

ROCK ON, ON, KIDS! KIDS! ROCK

T

AKING the kids to a summer concert or rock festival this year?

Don’t spoil it by damaging their ears.

The Action on Hearing Loss charity is urging parents to ensure children wear ear defenders when listening to loud music at festivals or concerts.

Exposure to noise above 85 decibels (busy roads/chain saw) over time can cause permanent hearing damage.

Lightweight ear defenders can protect children’s hearing and keep loud noises out without shutting out other ambient noises.

The charity has the hippest ear defenders giving protection from long-term damage and tinnitus.

See a full range of ear defenders (from £11.22) on www.hearingloss.org.uk/shop or call 01733 361199.

T

HE path into politics is to be made easier for disabled people with funding from £250 to £10,000 available.

A new £2.6m Government fund has been set up to help disabled people overcome barriers to becoming councillors, Police and Crime Commissioners or MPs. The money will help meet the additional costs a disabled candidate may face in standing for election, such as extra transport or signlanguage interpreters.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “The 10 million disabled people in the UK are underrepresented in public life. This is an important step towards levelling the playing field.

"This is about breaking down the physical, financial and cultural barriers that prevent many talented people from playing their part in political life.

“Encouraging disabled people to make their voices heard will not only help individuals fulfil their potential but will enrich and improve our politics at local and national level.”

The new support will first apply to the election of Police and Crime Commissioners in November this year.

Ms Featherstone added: “The arrival of Police and Crime Commissioners will be the most significant democratic reform of policing in our lifetime. I hope this fund will enable

JUST picked up your brilliant paper. The Liverpool Community Health page is an excellent way for a health trust to get its messages across to disabled people and carers. I think other trusts should follow suit — M Jones, long-retured NHS marketing exec, Wiltshire

more disabled candidates to come forward and hold the police to account.”

In addition to the fund, a new online training and development package has been tailored to disabled people who are interested in a political career.

The fund and online training are part of the Government’s Access to Elected Office Strategy which also includes paid internships for disabled candidates on the Speaker’s Parliamentary Placement scheme.

Reach 450,000 readers

Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People said: “Sadly some people still hold outdated views that disability isn’t compatible with elected office. If this misguided idea is left unchallenged, it means a huge amount of talent remains untapped and a huge amount of potential goes unfulfilled.” n www.accessTAKE ME HOME!

to-elected-officefund.org.uk

. . . 0151 230 0307

w ww.alltogethernow.org.uk www.alltogethernow.org.uk

A ugust/September 22012 012 August/September

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR RIGHT: Lynda, seated left, and Cherylee with, from left, Chris Stockton, Andrew Laycock and Ian PulestonDavies

New Brighton date for Baroness Tanni BARONESS Tanni Grey-Thompson, the multi gold medal winning Paralympian and patron of the British Paralympic Association, will be among the key speakers at a conference aimed at getting more disabled people to take up sport.

The Access MILES OF SMILES: Carers lining Association’s annual meeting and conference – taking place at The Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, on Tuesday 25 September – will be looking ‘The Legacy of the Olympic and A DVD has been launched to Paralympic Games’. celebrate an event that saw Other speakers will include Neil hundreds of carers create a Smith, head of inclusive design at Buro human rainbow across the Happold Ltd, the firm responsible for Runcorn bridge. the London 2012 Masterplan, and Last autumn, wearing caps and tJoyce Cook, managing and founding shirts in the seven colours of the director, Centre for Access to Football rainbow, carers from Runcorn and in Europe (CAFE) and chair, Level Widnes held hands, linking both Playing Field (formally National sides of the famous landmark.

Association of Disabled Supporters).

Organiser Dee Graal, n Contact, Mike Elkerton, chair, North development co-ordinator of West Region of the Access Widnes and Runcorn Cancer Association, Tel: Office 0151 201 5277; Support Group, said: “It was a secretary@accessassociation.org.uk really emotional event. There was Lifeline All Together Now 132x165 See Pages 31-32 ad_Layout 1 21/03/2012 14:58 Page 1

DVD at end of rainbow

up for the Rainbow challenge

a great buzz and so much excitement.” n Copies of the DVD are available from Dee Graal or Nicola Bashford on 0151 423 5730

A button that could save your life!

Ab-Phab . . .

CHESTER Adult Phab group have been celebrating in style.

The group, formed 23 years ago to promote social activities for people with and withour disabilities, has just received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest honour given to voluntary groups.

Lynda Hesketh, founder and chair of the group, said: “It’s been a fantastic year. Being invited to the garden party at Buckingham Palace to receive the award was an amazing

experience I will never forget.”

Members also met up with their patron, Cherylee Houston, Coronation Street’s Izzy Armstrong and her on screen father, Ian PulestonDavies, who plays Owen Armstrong, at Manchester’s Midland Hotel.

“It was a great time,” said Lynda, “and was our way of saying a big thanks to Cherylee and Ian.” n Contact Lynda Tel: 01244 678809 www.chester.phabclub.org

3,000 kids losing out on vital help www.phab.org.uk

T

HREE out of four children who are deafblind – as many as 3,000 children – are missing out by not receiving the right support because authorities are failing to identify them, says a new report.

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reaching changes for 30 years, and represent a really significant opportunity to improve provision for deafblind children and young people and all others with special educational needs or who are disabled.”

The Minister also heard The report, Supporting from a number of parents Success, from the deafblind of deafblind children who charity Sense, calls on the told her their struggles with Government to introduce a the system to get their legal requirement shared by children vital support. education, health and social PLEASE HELP: Thomas, 3, Martha Oakes (three care to identify and support years-old) is sight and who is deafblind, and his deafblind children and their hearing impaired, support worker at the parents. quadriplegic and on 24 launch of the report Speaking at the launch of the hour ventilation support. report, Gillian Morbey, the Her mum, Kim, 42, said: “The system is a charity’s chief executive, said: “We wish to baffling minefield. I’ve had to go through so ensure that all deafblind children are many different assessments carried out by identified at an early age so they don’t an array of staff – with little or no knowledge continue to miss out on critical development of Martha’s needs – just to get my daughter opportunities.” vital support. Martha spent her first two and Children & Families Minister Sarah Teather half years in hospital MP said: “The reforms we have set out are with staff who just did based on the recognition that the current not know how to system is outdated and no longer fit for TAKE ME HOME! support her as a purpose. deafblind child.”

“I believe that our reforms are the most far-

450,000 readers . . .

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

Best New Business – less than 4 years old Winner £20,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £5,000 Best Young Entrepreneur Winner £10,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £2,500 Social Enterprise or Charity making Best Social Contribution Winner £10,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £5,000 Best Entrepreneurial Charity or Social Enterprise Winner £10,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £5,000 Best Business making an Economic Contribution Winner £5,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £2,500

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

£115,000 UP FOR GRABS! C Best Individual Entrepreneur working in a Charity or Social Enterprise Winner £5,000 Runners-up (two prizes) £2,500 Against All Odds – person, business, social enterprise or charity overcoming the greatest difficulties to succeed Winner £10,000

SIMPLY THE BEST: Easy MCS team, last year’s winners of the Best New Business award

HARITIES and social entrepreneurs are being given the chance to win a slice of a £115,000 prize fund.

The Morgan Foundation Entrepreneur Awards 2012 have just been launched and offer more opportunities than ever to win one of 19 cash prizes in seven different categories.

As well as winning a valuable injection of capital into their ventures, award winners will gain access to a range of professional services to help them grow.

There’s a brand new category for ‘Best Individual Entrepreneur working in a Social Enterprise or Charity’ and other categories have been honed to distinguish between those enterprises making the best social contribution and those, which are having an economic impact in the region.

Steve Morgan OBE, founder of the Morgan Foundation, founder and chairman of Redrow, and chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, said: “In the past it’s sometimes proved difficult to compare organisations that are making either a social or economic contribution, so this year we have decided to reward both.

“We already recognise the Best New Business and the Best Young Entrepreneur under 25. Now we have introduced a new category for entrepreneurs working in the non-profit sector.

“These changes are very much in keeping with The Morgan Foundation’s ethos of making a difference to people’s lives.

“The benefits of winning one of these awards are far reaching – including a much-needed capital injection, professional help and the boost to staff morale.”

WINNING SMILES: Steve Morgan with Jean Taylor, last year’s winner of the Against All Odds award

Your chance to make a real difference to your charity . . .

Among those who know what a difference winning a Morgan Foundation Entrepreneur Award can make is Easy MCS, in Saltney, Chester, winner of last year’s ‘Best New Business’ award.

The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) supports specialists and renewable training providers and has invested their £20,000 prize in a purpose-built, outdoor training academy, where heating engineers, electrical contractors and building contractors are taught how to install the latest micro-generation technologies used to produce electricity and heat from renewable

www.mf-awards.co.uk

sources, including solar panels and heat pumps.

Thomas Farquhar, of Easy MCS – himself a runner-up in the ‘Young Entrepreneur’ category last year – said: “Winning the award was a major boost for our business. We already had plans to develop our training academy but the cash prize allowed us to get it up and running much more quickly than we envisaged.

We’re providing in-situ training, distance learning and mentoring to tradesmen from all over the country.”

Last year’s winner of the ‘Best Young Entrepreneur’ title was 22-year-old Simon

Roberts. His social enterprise venture, Roberts Recycling, on Knowsley Industrial Park, in Kirkby, Merseyside, diverts unwanted clothes and other items from landfill, and also offers employment and training.

The awards, sponsored by Redrow, are free to enter. Visit www.mf-awards.co.uk.

Entrants must be based in Merseyside, Cheshire, Shropshire, North Wales or the Wolverhampton area (see map).

A panel of independent business leaders and experts will select the finalists, who will then present in person at the final judging in October. Winners and runners-up will be announced at a gala awards dinner at Carden Park Hotel, Cheshire on Thursday, November 15.

Closing date, September 7.

Tel. 01829 782800

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GETTING ON . . .

10

All Together NOW!

WISE WINNIE . . . helps to solve some of the problems faced by older people

Q

My arthritis means that getting around is difficult and my husband is doing more of the shopping as he is now retired.

Far from this being a chore, he delights in it and I get the feeling I am not wanted on these expeditions.

The housekeeping budget is going sky high but our meal times are deteriorating.

He’s started buying all sorts of strange foodstuffs used on TV cookery programmes and while some of them are nice, others end up in the bin.

He is also coming home with new clothes that don’t suit him at all and sending the ones I like to the charity shop.

The other day he bought a pink pullover and he has taken to wearing tee-shirts with silly slogans on and trainers. At times I don’t recognise the man I married.

I’ve a suspicion he is trying to give me a make-over, too. Thank goodness I have my mail order catalogues from which I can get my own clothes. How can I get life back to normal?

August/September 2012

I find myself putting bits of paper containing words and numbers (back to front) in the most unlikely places –in a rubber glove in the duster drawer, for instance.

Now I’m tempted to make a list in code of where I’ve put them. But remembering the code could be the final straw for an addled brain.

It pays to shop around for institutions where “customer friendly” still means something.

M.J. West Lancs

Fruitful lives...

WOMEN in their 70s who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to to a study.

Researchers in the US found that the women who were most physically active and had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption were eight times more likely to survive the five-year follow-up period than the women with the lowest rates.

“A number of studies have measured the positive impact of exercise and healthy eating on life expectancy, but what makes this study unique is that we looked at these two factors together,” said Dr Emily J Nicklett, from the University of Michigan.

Big chance to follow your art I

F YOU’RE interested in the arts – and fancy experiencing, observing and researching how they approach it in other countries – this could be your opportunity.

A

It seems that you have always seen yourself as the sole shopper in your partnership and your husband has accepted this.

Now he is getting a kick from giving free rein to his own fancies.

I think your basic problem is a lack of communication. I presume you sought each others’ opinions when you chose your furniture together when you set up home, so it seems a pity there is now this gap between you.

You speak truly when you say he is not like the man you married. Of course, he isn’t. He is now retired and who can blame him for dressing more casually and comfortably and enjoying having the time to experiment with unusual foodstuffs.

Take a big step and surprise him by asking his opinion about the clothes in your catalogues!

I think he’ll be delighted, but I doubt whether you’ll like the same things. Take a bigger step and send for something of his choice. If you hate it send it back, but persevere. Over time you could realise that maybe you’ve been in a bit of a rut and your husband is bringing a new sparkle to your wardrobe.

At least the talking together might clear the air.

Life is fragile, handle with care . . .

Problem pin-pointed I AM sure many readers, including myself, sympathise with James Dunn’s sentiments in his article about the worry of not remembering passwords (“Getting On”, June/July).

Where to find a safe hiding place for them is quite a problem and the same goes for pin numbers. Nothing is more embarrassing than having a mental blackout at a supermarket check-out when paying by plastic.

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

ANY of you fancy nipping to Chorley for a wash . . ?

We couldn’t help but see the funny side of this poster in a garage window.

Hope you’re not offended!

Ten paid-for Travelling Fellowships are being awarded in the belief that the arts can play a unique role in older people’s lives, including those with dementia, and the contribution they make to society.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is awarding the Fellowships in their 2013 Arts and Older People category, and the application process has just opened.

The awards form the second year of a three-year ‘Arts and Older People’ partnership with The Baring Foundation, a funding body supporting work in this field.

Each year, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust awards over 100 Travelling Fellowships to British citizens from all walks of life and from all over the UK to gain experience abroad in a wide range of interests.

The aim is to bring back benefit and positive change to their profession and the UK as a whole.

Applications are judged on project merit, and the opportunities are available to adults of any age, gender, religion or ethnicity.

Successful applicants will receive an average Fellowship grant of £6,000, covering travel, food, accommodation and insurance for approximately six weeks overseas.

The deadline for applications is October 2. n The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust: 020 7799 1660. www.wcmt.org.uk

SENIOR MOMENTS . . . with FRANK HARRIS

Staying in work ‘to stay young’ TWO in five people planning to retire this year would be happy to work past 65 if they had the chance.

Forty eight per cent of men and 32% of women coming up to retirement showed a desire to continue in employment after the standard retirement age.

That’s according to Prudential’s Class of 2012 study, which looks at the finances and expectations of those approaching retirement age.

The main motivation for more than two-thirds (69%) of those surveyed is a desire to remain physically healthy and mentally active, while 39% do not like the idea of just staying at home.

More than half (54%) claim that they enjoy working.

However, despite wanting to stay in work, only 13% would choose to continue to work full-time with their current employer.

More than one in 10 (11%) of entrepreneurial retirees would consider starting their own business or earn money from a hobby in order to keep working.

Five per cent would work as charity volunteers.

Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement expert at Prudential, said: “There is a new retirement reality taking shape across the UK, with thousands of people actively choosing to work past the traditional retirement age.

“The fact that so many of this year’s retirees would keep working on a parttime basis is a strong indication that, for many, working is as much about staying young at heart as it is about funding retirement.

“Those retiring at 65 will face an average of 19 years in retirement which makes the financial and social benefits of working for longer an even bigger draw for a new generation of industrious retirees.”

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

%ONmT GBƞƞ VJDTJM to bogus callers!

6NJTFE 6TJƞJTJFS JS DBƞƞJNH ON Bƞƞ DUSTOMFRS TO PROTFDT TIFMSFƞVFS GROM EOORSTFP DRJMJNBƞS Statistics show that around 20 bogus caller crimes are committed every day in the UK, but this might only be 10% of the total that actually take place as victims often feel too embarrassed to report it to the police.

Bogus callers often claim that there is an emergency and that they need to check the water supply; they will use this as an opportunity to trick themselves into customers’ homes claiming to be from United Utilities or ‘the water board’. Once inside, they will distract the homeowner while they or an accomplice helps themselves to money and valuables.

Genuine United Utilities’ employees always carry an ID card and are happy to show this to you. They will never put pressure on you to get into your home and are happy for you to phone United Utilities to check their identity. And genuine employees won’t refer to ‘the water board’ as this hasn’t existed for more than 30 years!

Bogus callers can be very persuasive, but our advice is to never feel under pressure to let someone into your home.

Need a little ExtraCare?

We offer a range of free services to help customers who: q BSF PMEFS q IBWF B EJTBCJMJUZ q IBWF B TFSJPVT JMMOFTT q IBWF TJHIU IFBSJOH PS MFBSOJOH EJGÄ DVMUJFT 0VS TFSWJDFT JODMVEF q QFSTPOBM OPUJÄ DBUJPO PG XBUFS TIVU PGGT q MBSHF QSJOU #SBJMMF BOE UBMLJOH CJMMT 8F BMTP PGGFS B GSFF QBTTXPSE TDIFNF GPS BMM PVS DVTUPNFST

To find out more call 0845 746 1100 or textphone 0808 143 1195 03/12/SD/5073

All Together NOW!

11

Beat the bogus caller p -0$, Home or away – keep all doors -0$,&%

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To help you, we operate a ‘password protection’ scheme. Joining the United Utilities password scheme is easy.

It takes just one call to 0845 746 1100. We simply need your details and your choice of password.

Then, whenever someone claiming to be from United Utilities calls at your home, you can ask them for your password.

Only a genuine visitor from United Utilities will know what it is. It’s a simple deterrent that really does work and will give you the confidence to turn people away.

Most gas, electricity and telephone companies will operate a similar scheme – see a recent bill for further details and contact numbers.

12

INDEPENDENT LIVING All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

It’s time to REACH your potential

Lottery funding for new service

CHORLEY and South Ribble’s Disability Awareness REACH event will be bigger and better than ever, say the organisers.

A NEW service dedicated to improving the lives of disabled people is to open in Runcorn.

Halton Disability Partnership, an independent organisation led and controlled by disabled people, was set up as a charity in 2010 with support from the local council.

Now five years of funding from the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Programme means HDP can open a much-needed information service in Runcorn with two part-time staff.

Co-ordinator David Atkinson was head of the children and young people charity HITS, and information and outreach officer Sue Molyneux formerly worked for Age Concern (now Age UK) in Runcorn.

The information service is due to open its doors to the public on September 1 at the HDP office at Sefton House, Public Hall Street, Runcorn.

HDP intends to work to improve quality, accessability and advice given to and to make disabled people less isolated through volunteering, group activities, forums and events. n The organisation is looking for volunteers who would like to be involved.

Tel. 01928 592405.

Mud, sweat, and tears

SUNNYSIDE UP: More than 20,000 visitors flocked to Walton Hall Gardens, Warrington

DAVE THOMPSON, chair of Warrington Disability Partnership, reports on the emtional ups and downs of Disability Awareness Day

M

UD, sweat and tears . . .

These are the words that summarise the 21st anniversary of the North West’s Disability Awareness Day (DAD).

Due to the wettest ground conditions the team have ever encountered, mud is the first word that comes to mind when describing this year’s event, and there was plenty of it.

Sweat is the second word, as everything that could be carried, had to be carried as we attempted to keep vans, lorries and pallet

trucks off the squelching ground.

And tears, when halfway through our first day on site we shut up the site huts and headed over to the nearby crematorium to attend the funeral of our friend and colleague, Dave Connor, who died only a couple of weeks before the event . . .

For 20 years, Dave had been committed to the development of Warrington Disability Partnership and was heavily involved in our work for the last decade. He championed disability sports locally and nationally and will be greatly missed.

Dave would have been really proud of how his colleagues battled to save the day from being a total washout and turning it into one of the best ever DAD events with 20,000 visitors who weren’t put off by the weather and soft ground.

There was certainly lots of pressure on the team this year, and there were times when we thought that this year’s event might be the final one, but once the mud had settled and the sun began to shine again, we were soon talking about next year . . .

A big thanks to everyone who made the event so memorable.

Make a note of the following dates: Aug 10: Disability Awareness Day, Chorley Market Place (11am-3pm). Lots of stalls, demonstrations and activities. A wide range of products, services and information available.

Aug 16: REACH Conference, Leyland Civic Centre (11am3pm). Open to anyone who wants to learn more about disability and disability awareness. Four workshops are planned: deaf awareness and communication; sailability – sailing opportunities for disabled people; adult learning services – relaxation techniques and massage; and disability awareness session delivered by Disability Equality North West).

There’s also the chance to try your hand at the mobile climbing wall.

Sep 22: Leyland Festival, Worden Park. Chance to take part in relaxation sessions such as Indian Head massage, provided by Lancashire Adult Learning Services, as well as finding out more about the service that Help Direct provide n Contact Suzie Jones at Disability Equality North West, 01772 558 863 suzie@disabilityequality.org.uk www.disability-equality.org.uk

ADVERTISE NOW — and reach 450,000 readers . .

0151 230 0307

TAKE ME HOME!

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

All Together NOW! !

13

City Pride means so much to us LIVERPOOL Pride – the city’s celebration for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture – was supported for the third consecutive year by Liverpool Community Health (LCH) NHS Trust.

WHAT A TEAM: Winners take to the stage at Liverpool Community Health (NHS) Trust’s annual awards night

Simply the BEST - and proud of it!

L

IVERPOOL’s newly elected Mayor Joe Anderson led a group of VIP guests in paying tribute to NHS staff.

The event recognised the outstanding achievements of staff at Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust – and the services they provide.

Mayor Anderson said: “I was delighted to be able to honour staff members from Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust who do an incredible job every day in caring for patients in their own home, and their local community.”

More than 200 staff and special guests attended the Olympic-themed ceremony, which opened with children from Springwood Heath Primary School and Parklands High School presenting a torch to Frances Molloy, chair of the Board, marking the partnership work between the Trust and a number of schools across Liverpool and Sefton.

The big winners on the night were staff and services from Sexual Health who walked away with four awards. So To CELEBRATION TIME: Mayor Joe Anderson with Bernie Cuthel, left, and Frances Speak won the Award for Courage, and staff from Armistead scooped the Awards Molloy. RIGHT: Parade time is always a hit at the annual Liverpool Pride festival for Community and Collaboration.

Mayor Anderson also Roll of Honour presented Bernie Cuthel, chief Award for Care: Community Diabetes Specialist Team executive of the Trust, and Award for Community: Lou Benson Frances Molloy, chair, with a Award for Courage: So to Speak framed image of the Little Girl Award for Collaboration: Ben Towell & Shelley Stoops Giant as a thank you to LCH for providing nursing staff support Award for Commitment: Liveability Team throughout the city’s Sea Learner of the Year Award: Clare Grace Odyssey Giant Spectacular Creativity & Innovation Award: Primary Care HMP weekend.

Employee of the Year Award: Andrew Jones Bernie Cuthel said: “Every day Long Service Awards: Helen Atkinson; Linda Bethell; Karen our staff are out and about in the Carr; Rosa Clarke; Patricia Edwards; Ann Kelly; Mary Sutton communities of Liverpool and Leader of the Year Award: Colette Murphy Sefton to ensure that patients Chair’s Award for Health and Wellbeing: Carole Griffith, Lisa and the public can access the Maharjan & Paul Doyle very best in local health services.

Volunteer of the Year Award: James Myles “The awards are our way of Equality & Diversity Award: Tina Davies-Taylor recognising the significant Award for Quality: Chronic Disease Management Team contribution that our staff make Team of the Year Award: Maghull Virtual Ward to the community.”

To find out more . . .

LCH’s commitment to supporting the LGBT community is well established, particularly through Armistead, a health initiative which has been providing holistic support around sexual health and wellbeing to the city’s LGBT community for over 20 years.

Armistead provides a range of support groups, drop-in services, and health promotion advice, located right in the heart of the Stanley Street Quarter.

Widely recognised for being the only North-West based NHS organisation in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers, LCH also hosts the staff network Pride in Health which supports LGBT NHS employees across Merseyside.

Bernie Cuthel, chief executive at LCH, said: “We were proud to be official partners of Liverpool Pride again this year.

“We are committed to providing high quality community healthcare services, which are inclusive to all, easily accessible and which effectively support the diverse range communities which we serve across Liverpool, Sefton and all of Merseyside.”

Throughout the Liverpool Pride festival, members of the LCH team were out and about distributing free health advice and encouraging people to sign up to become members of the NHS Trust.

Zoran Blackie, business planning manager for LCH and part of the Pride in Health team, said: “We were flying our flag on the Pride March, representing NHS staff and supporting the LGBT community.

“We also ran a Health and Wellbeing Zone, offering free and confidential health care advice from a team of NHS professionals.” n www.armisteadcentre.co.uk

visit www.liverpoolcommunityhealth.nhs.uk

All Together NOW!

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August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

MERSEYTRAVEL

Cash prizes on offer in new art competition A

RTISTS and school children across Merseyside have the chance to design a travel wallet that will go on sale to thousands of commuters on Merseytravel’s transport network.

There are two categories in this year’s Art on the Network competition – Adult (16 years and older) and a Schools’ category. Both winners will each receive £500.

Judges will be looking for designs that are clear, bold and striking.

Jim Barclay, Merseytravel interim chief executive said: “Interest in our Public Art programme seems to grow stronger each year, it has caught the public’s imagination and we’ve had a tremendous response over the past three years.

“I am looking forward to seeing the ideas that come forward this time.

“We already work closely with a number of schools through our Public Art and Community Partnership initiatives, so by introducing the schools category I hope that lots of schools will take the opportunity to get involved.”

Merseytravel has been installing public art on the transport network since 2005.

Entrants must live or be professionally based in Merseyside.

Submissions must be their own work and may not have been previously awarded a prize in any other competition. Schools can either enter with a school design or send individual designs from each pupil.

Closing date Friday 7 September www.artonthenetwork.co.uk

ALL TOGETHER NOW: From left, Councillor John Salter and Alan Stilwell (Merseytravel), Howard Farrall and Richard Hoare (Arriva), Duncan McGraw and Jeff Clayton (First)

Check out the upgrades BUS routes between Liverpool and Heswall and Liverpool, Birkenhead and Chester have been upgraded in a new move to improve services for passengers.

In what is termed a ‘Quality Partnership’ timetables have been combined and co-ordinated giving more choice to passengers.

Bus companies Arriva and First have joined forces with Merseytravel, Wirral Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council to improve and integrate services on routes 1, 3 and 401 to provide a better service between Liverpool, Ellesmere Port and Chester.

The 71/72/171/172/472 route which runs between Liverpool and Heswall has also been upgraded Service numbers 71, 72, 171 172 and 472 have combined to become the 471 and 472, and the 1, 3 and 401 have become the 1, 2 and X2 providing a daytime bus every ten minutes throughout Monday to Saturdays daytimes with 30 minute services in the evenings and either 15 minute (471/472) or 30 minute (1,2,X2) frequency on Sundays.

The Quality Partnership now also allows tickets issued by either bus company to be used on both services on these routes.

We care about the accessibility of our buildings, vehicles and information. All of our staff are trained to be courteous and considerate, particularly when our customers have special requirements.

Merseytravel is making sure that Public Transport on Merseyside is easy for everyone to use

Whether it be automatic door openers in our head office, availability of textphones for main points of contact, or producing timetables in large print, we want to make public transport easier for everyone to use.

Among our services and facilities are: U Àii V ViÃà >ÀÞ ÌÀ>Ûi v À ÛiÀ {n]äää «i « iÊ with disabilities U `iÀ ] Ü y À] >VViÃà L i LÕÃiÃ Ü V >ÀiÊ developed in partnership with our local authorities and bus companies U v À >Ì > Û>À iÌÞ v v À >Ìà V Õ` } Ì iÊ iÀÃiÞÌÀ>Ûi VViÃÃ Õ `i q V Ì> } >VViÃÃÊ ÊÊÊ`iÌ> ÃÊv ÀÊ> ÊLÕÃÊ> `ÊÀ> ÊÃÌ>Ì ÃÊ Ê iÀÃiÞà `i Textphone users can dial 18001 then 0871 200 22 33 for a text relay assisted call

0871 200 22 33 Calls costs 10p per minute from land lines, mobiles may vary

Getting better all the time!

M

ERSEYTRAVEL and the Merseyside Bus Board have been recognised for improvements to bus services across Merseyside.

The project, ‘Delivering for bus passengers on Merseyside’ has been shortlisted for the prestigious National Transport Awards 2012.

With 78% of public transport journeys in Merseyside being made by bus, the quality, reliability and coverage of the bus network is vital and work is now underway, via the Merseyside Bus Board, to develop agreements to share data between Merseytravel and bus operators across Merseyside.

The move will result in a more detailed understanding of bus patronage, ultimately extending the bus network and increasing passenger usage.

Improving bus services are the easiest and cheapest way of providing an alternative to the private car for many journeys, which in turn supports the sustainable and inclusive regeneration of Merseyside.

Some of the improvements underway are the introduction of Edge of City Centre bus priority measures, support for bus lane camera enforcement, a county wide bus shelter replacement programme, and improvements to support Statutory Quality Partnerships (SQPSs) throughout the county.

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

Mobility Roadshow on way to Telford

T

HE UK’s biggest annual event for disabled motorists is all set to take place in Telford, Shropshire next year.

For 30 years the hugely popular three-day Mobility Roadshow event has been held at various venues across the south and east of England.

Now tens of thousands of disabled motorists in the North West, North Wales and the Midlands will have a much shorter trek to the event.

Jacqui Jones, executive director of Mobility Choice, the charity that organises the event,

said: “We are very excited to be hosting the 30th anniversary Mobility Roadshow at Telford.

“We’ve had three excellent years at Peterborough Arena, a fine venue for the show, but it’s time to move on again to give visitors from other parts of the country the chance of easier access to the event.

“We are looking forward to the new opportunities that Telford offers, including allindoor exhibition space.”

For the first time in the show’s history, test drives will take place on public roads around the venue, offering visitors a more authentic

driving experience. Jaccqui added: “The innovation behind some of the robotic products we saw at this year’s Roadshow is light-years away from what was available back in 1983.

“We will have much to celebrate next year.”

The Mobility Roadshow was the first event to offer opportunities to test drive production model vehicles with a variety of adaptations, enabling people with disabilities the rare opportunity to ‘try before you buy’.

Next year’s event takes place at the Telford International Centre from June 27-29. n www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk

All Together NOW!

By George!

Just 15-years-old and he’s driving! p16-17

Specialist insurance for disabled drivers Mobility scooter insurance Adapted vehicle insurance Disabled driver insurance

At Chartwell, our experience and knowledge of the disabled driver sector means that we are able to offer a wide range of policies that are tailored to meet your needs.

We are part of the Adrian Flux family which means we can offer over 200 car insurance schemes and a competitive quote for almost any car in almost any situation.

WAV insurance

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modifications/adaptions

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Chartwell Insurance is a trading name of Adrian Flux Insurance Services. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. * Drivers under the age of 25 are required to be specifically named on the policy.

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All Together NOW!

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August/September 2012

'EV MRWYVERGI

George takes the wheel – aged 15!

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If you’re disabled driver you can drive a better deal with Fish Insurance.

As the UK’s leading disability and Independent Living insurance specialist, we know a disabled driver is a safer driver.

IT’S BEEN an amazing and busy few weeks for 15-year-old George Coppen.

That’s why you can enjoy savings of up to 35% and take advantage of car insurance specifically designed for disabled drivers, including wheelchair accessible and specially adapted vehicles.

An Olympic Torchbearer, George (pictured) was one of several hundred young people from the across the UK who had their first driving experience at the latest Get Going Live! driving day at Donington Park.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” said George, from Derby, who got the chance to drive from his own wheelchair.

The Get Going Live! experience is for young people with disabilities and anyone newly disabled.

Young disabled people can gain a driving licence at 16, a year ahead of those who are not disabled.

Apart from sampling up to 20 adapted cars, there was plenty of advice on the best car and adaptations to suit individual needs. n www.getgoingnow.org

So if you are disabled or drive for a disabled person, whether the vehicle is modified or not you can put the brakes on costly car insurance!

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S EEENSORICLES R F G S VEH

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ENEFIT cuts could cost the economy £650 million a year and lose the Government £80 million in taxes because of the impact on the car industry.

By 2016, up to 280,000 fewer disabled people are likely to be claiming the enhanced mobility element of personal independence payment (PIP), the planned replacement for disability living allowance, says a new report.

And disabled people will only be eligible to lease a ca through the Motability scheme if they receive the PIP enhanced mobility element According to Reversing from Recovery: The Hidden Costs of Welfare Reform, that will mean a 17% reduction in the number of people eligible for a Motability vehicle, which could see 31,450 new car sales lost every year by 2016.

The report says that translates into a loss to the economy of £342 million a year from industries linked t Motability, and a loss of £79 million a year in taxes from those industries, as well as more than 3,500 fewer jobs The research – commissioned by the WeareSpartacus campaign – warns that disabled people forced to quit their jobs when they have to hand their Motability cars back could see another £324

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ernow.org.uk

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August/September 2012

New report warns cuts will impact on car industry, jobs total and tax revenue

by JOHN PRING

million lost to the economy. These figures would mean that the Government’s planned savings from paying the higher rate of mobility support to fewer people could be outweighed by the cost to the wider economy.

These costs could be even higher than the report’s estimates as they do not include the extra public sector spending likely to be needed through disabled people losing their independence and requiring more social care and health support.

The report is partly based on research that was commissioned in 2010 by Motability to assess the

contribution made by the scheme to the UK economy and the impact of having a Motability car on disabled people’s lives.

Jane Young, an independent disability consultant, who co-authored the new report, said: “It’s not just disabled people who will lose out under the Government’s welfare reform plans.

“Changing from DLA to PIP means fewer people qualifying for Motability cars to the tune of about 31,000 fewer vehicles a year.

“Less demand means fewer jobs for the car manufacturing industry, a lower contribution to GDP and the exchequer, and a knock on effect on the availability of cars in the second-hand market, which also contributes to the econony.”

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has dismissed the new report’s findings, and said it did not believe its planned savings on DLA spending could be outweighed by the cost to the wider economy.

Because only a third of working-age recipients of the higher rate mobility component of DLA are Motability customers, DWP said that “even with a reduction in the overall caseload of those receiving enhanced mobility under PIP, Motability will still have plenty of opportunities to increase their share of the market”.

17

All Together NOW!

EASY DOES IT: Constables’ Renault Kangoo conversion

Safe and sound . . .

SAFETY does not need to be sacrificed for affordability - that’s the message from Constables Mobility who have slashed their prices to prove it.

Wheelchair-users eligible to receive a car through the Motability scheme can now buy a sled-tested wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) with a Motability Advance Payment from £490.

Other finance options are available,

too, and, as a special August offer, Constables have reduced the Advance Payment on their sled-tested Automatic Kangoos to just £195!

The move follows concerns from wheelchair-users that the sled-testing campaign being run by Disabled Motoring UK and supported by Constables Readers wanting to support the campaign should visit: www.sledgetesting.co.uk/petition.html

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All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

OPINION

L

OCAL authorities have a legal obligation to provide social care support to their disabled residents.

Time’s right for a

National Care Service

But their budgets are not being increased in proportion to the demand and as a consequence other budgets might need to be raided.

This is surely a ridiculous situation.

The provision of social care affects us all. As we reach our 70s and 80s disability will be part of all our lives. It makes sense to plan for those days.

Now is the time to create a National Care Service. Most disabled people do not require expensive services but a small number do and this can place disproportionate financial pressure on their local authority.

Could we not have a scheme whereby local authorities meet an agreed amount of the social care cost of an individual and anything above that amount is met by central government?

We could then also implement the Dilnott proposals that each person who is self funding will be required to pay no more than £35,000 towards their care costs and for people with assets of less than £100,000 to pay nothing.

In July the Government did publish new proposals but avoided saying how the means test and rationing would be applied. Without these figures the proposals lack substance.

Providing high-quality social care for disabled people is a challenge HE Law Commission is consulting on from which the whether the regulations governing taxis Government should not should be changed. hide.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of taxis.

If they do they will incur The first is the traditional black Hackney cab that additional costs against can be hailed on the street in Britain’s major cities. other parts of the public Minicabs are usually saloon cars or people carriers purse such as hospitals and cannot be hailed on the street but must be and other health booked in advance. They are usually less provision. expensive to use than the hackney cabs.

Health and social care Some argue that most of the regulations should needs to be provided be abolished and that minicabs should also be free hand-in-hand because to tout for passengers on the streets, at railway that way produces better stations, hotels etc. results at lower costs.

This, the argument continues, would lead to lower Let there be no more taxi fares and as a result everybody would be delay because the happy. But this argument ignores the major Association of Directors contribution Hackney cabs make in promoting the of Adult Social Care is mobility of disabled people. right when it says that In the 1970s there was not a single taxi in the UK unless we act now all that could accommodate someone seated in a local public services will wheelchair. I was part of a small group of people in be under threat. the 1980s that decided to change that.

SOUNDING OFF! with Sir Bert Massie

SAVE THE CAB! T

Today, all Hackney cabs are accessible to wheelchair-users. Not so, though, minicabs.

But if minicabs are to be allowed to tout for hire on the streets is a difficult to see how the hackney cab business is sustainable.

A new London style taxi cost over £35,000. A minicab driver can use a vehicle costing less than £10,000 and has no obligation to provide facilities for disabled people.

Rather than introducing changes that could damage the black taxi trade and the mobility of disabled people it would be far better to offer tax concessions to black cab owners in exchange for greater obligations – such as being required to pick up disabled people rather than driving past them!

(I find in London some cab drivers seem to be blind because they do not see disabled people hailing them, or pretend they are deaf so they cannot hear us shouting TAXI!) There is a saying that we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone. Let us not risk losing the Hackney cab and making the lives of those who rely on them more difficult.

If National Express can do it, why not the others . . ?

A

LL coaches in the UK must be accessible to disabled people by the year 2020.

Some coach operators argued that this date was too ambitious – but not National Express.

This company has just announced plans to make all its coaches accessible by the end of next year, and already 90% are!

Instead of seeing access as a burden, National Express saw it as a business opportunity that would enable them to carry as many passengers as possible.

This is excellent news for disabled people, including wheelchair users.

Travelling by coach is usually much less expensive than travelling by rail. But for disabled people the cost can be brought down even further by using a disabled person’s coach-card which grants onethird off the normal standard fare.

Wheelchair users are asked to let National Express know at least 36 hours in advance of when they would like to travel.

This will ensure that assistance is

available. The telephone number is 0871 781 8179 (option 4). The telephone line is open 8am-8pm 7days a week.

While it is right to congratulate National Express on making their coaches accessible seven years before the deadline it’s also right to ask why other companies are not able to follow their example.

The serious battle to make public transport accessible for disabled people started in 1980. Disabled people can hardly be accused of impatience.

YOUR LETTERS

Is this why we don’t take up sport . . ?

I WAS especially interested in your back page article (June-July issue) which stated how few disabled people partake in sports.

I would very much like to hazard an educated guess for this low number (which did not seem to have occurred to Dame Tanni Grey Thompson); could it be that any disabled person who, like myself, is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, is absolutely petrified of partaking in any sport for fear of losing our benefits.

The current Government’s attitude to disability can be summed up thus: we are all scroungers.

Their thinking is that if someone who claims DLA is fit enough to do sports then they are fit enough to look after themselves in the free market, get a job and remove themselves from the ranks of those despicable scroungers.

Their attitude to the vulnerable seems to boil down to: If you can’t contribute financially to this country then we do not want to know. You are a drain on our national resources. Now go away and fend for yourselves.

I am using a pseudonym and sent it from a fictitious email address - I daren’t use my real name.

Peter Mason, somewhere in the North West

Unneccessary steps I AM totally dependent on my mobility scooter to get about and, along with many more citizens, I have had to accept being excluded from many properties because of bad planning in the past.

I don’t, however, appreciate new areas planned and constructed to make life difficult for disabled people and parents with push chairs – like these pictures I have taken of the new development at New Brighton clearly demonstrate.

Carl Leckey, Merseyside

Blue badge parking REGARDING Sir Bert Massie’s article about blue badge parking. Not all disabled people with a blue badge have a visible disability – and the lady getting out of that car could have easily been me!

I am 49 years old and have CMT, a deteriorating disease, which means I have no sensory feedback in the bottom of my legs or feet or my lower arms and hands, hence causing deterioration in the muscles and tendons causing ongoing deformity.

I need a disabled space as I am unable to get my legs out of the car – unless I can open the door enough to swing my legs out due to the restriction of my calipers (hidden under long trousers).

The other thing people cannot see is that I have very poor balance and I am prone to falls, unable to carry shopping.

June from Liverpool EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE: Sir Bert fully understands there are people with hidden disabilities who need to use disabled parking bays (he helped to write the legislation that provides). He was just commenting on the abuse of the scheme by non-disabled people.

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

All Together NOW!

Time for closure

19

EDUCATION . . . TRAINING . . . JOBS . . . EDUCATION . . . TRAINING . . .

P

LANS to axe 36 Remploy factories have been backed by an organisation which champions jobs and independence for disabled people.

Breakthrough UK made its stand as disabled workers were preparing to go on strike in a bid to save their jobs.

They claim sheltered employment like Remploy is “an out of date concept” which “isolates people by segregating them and preventing their integration into the wider world of work”.

Breakthrough UK has been at the cutting edge of tackling discrimination and removing barriers to disabled

Charity backs Remploy axe

people’s representation in society by promoting both employment and independence for 15 years.

The organisation, with offices in Manchester and Liverpool, decided to speak out in favour of the Government’s proposals after being asked to put its name to campaigns to reverse the plans.

The Government announced in March that the 36 factories, which provide sheltered employment for 1,500 disabled people, would close by

the autumn unless they were taken over.

The announcement came in response to a recent review that found the average subsidy for each job in a Remploy factory was £25,000, and that the money could achieve more if spent helping disabled people find and retain jobs in the mainstream labour market.

Michele Scattergood, Breakthrough UK’s acting chief executive, said: “We believe that reform is required so that the individual requirements of disabled people can continue to be met according to their needs in the 21st Century.”

SPEAKING OUT: Breakthrough (Turn to Page 20) chief Michelle Scattergood

Roy Turnham FD Inclusive Sport Development student and member of the 2012 GB Paralympic Team

Foundation Degree Inclusive Sport Development Inclusive Sport Development Foundation Degree is a 3 year, part time, Higher Education course accredited by Liverpool John Moores University and delivered at Greenbank College.As well as being a standalone degree qualification, the course also offers an opportunity to progress onto the final year of Liverpool John Moores University’s BA (Hons) Degree in Sport Development with Inclusion.

As an Equal Opportunities University we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities.

Students are eligible for a Student Loan

want to know more? contact: 0151 231 5340 email: ecl-recruitment@ljmu.ac.uk or visit our website: www.ljmu.ac.uk

BREAKTHROUGH UK’s stance won’t go down well with Remploy workers or union bosses.

GMB national secretary, Phil Davies, said: “GMB is very angry with the Government.

“To close these factories that employs disabled people in the present economic climate is a sentence to life of unemployment and poverty.”

Kevin Hepworth, Unite national officer, added: “By taking strike action the Remploy workers are trying to avoid their certain destiny of being chucked on the economic scrapheap.

“They deserve the support of all trade unionists and the public in Britain.”

Another route to Higher Education

AVE YOU always thought that a degree is out of your reach?

H

Flexible course could be ideal

Too expensive? Too difficult? Not enough time to spare?

FD Inclusive Sport Development – accredited

by Liverpool John Moores University and studied at Greenbank College – offers another way.

You don’t need to have done A Levels. As long as you can demonstrate appropriate sport development or coaching experience and an ability to study at Level 3 or above* then you can apply for a place.

It’s part-time over three years – one day per week for lectures and tutorials – so you can fit it in with other commitments such as work, sporting or family commitments, etc. It’s ideal.

Roy Turnham, who is a current student and a member of the 2012 GB Paralympic Team as a blind footballer, said: “I needed

part-time study to fit around my sporting and music commitments. I picked Greenbank due to the inclusive environment, smaller classroom numbers and increased contact time with lecturers.

“It’s a great place to study and it allows me to undertake my training using the excellent facilities at Greenbank Sports Academy.

“I want to use the academic knowledge that I have gained to support Sport and Activities for the Visually Impaired at SAVI North West.’

Course modules include: n The organisation and

principles of Sport Development n Practical Coaching n Exercise and Health n Sport and Social Inclusion n A work-based research project n Management, Marketing and Media of Sport Oon successful completion of the course you will have the option to progress to the final year of Liverpool John Moores University’s BA (Hons) Degree in Sport Development with Inclusion.

Students on the course are eligible to apply for a Student Loan and the course costs £50 per credit.

There are still a few places left for September but you’ll need to get in touch soon. *Terms and conditions apply – ask for details

Contact: 0151 231 5340 email: ecl-recruitment@ljmu.ac.uk or visit our website: www.ljmu.ac.uk or www.greenbankcollege.org.uk/sports-foundationdegree. Apply online at http://activeweb2.ljmu.ac.uk/universalApplicationForm /enquiryform.aspx

20

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

RIGHTS . . . EDUCATION . . . TRAINING . . .

EDUCATION . . . TRAINING . . . JOBS . . .R

TAKE ME HOME!

More to gain work skills Y

OUNG disabled jobseekers on work experience will be able to get extra support to help them into mainstream placements for the first time.

We reach 450,000 readers across the North West CALL 0151 230 0307

From autumn they will qualify for the Government’s Access to Work scheme, which provides more than £100m to help disabled people into mainstream work by providing specially adapted equipment, support workers and interpreters.

Until now, the scheme has only been available to those in paid work, but the Government says it will now be extended to those doing work experience too.

This will mean more young disabled people can take up one of the 100,000 work experience places being offered by the Government each year to help them gain job skills.

The move follows a review by Liz

Extra support for jobseekers Sayce, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, who produced a series of recommendations on how to use the protected £320m budget for disability employment programmes differently.

The Government has accepted all her recommendations.

Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People, said: “We know work experience can make all the difference for young people out there looking for work and it is just the same for a young disabled person.”

Following the Sayce review, the Government has invested an extra £15 million in Access to Work to help another 8,000 disabled people in employment.

(continued frm page 19) Ms Scattergood added: “There needs to be a negotiated solution which safeguards Remploy workers and remains true to the principles of the disabled people’s movement.

“While Breakthrough UK is unable to support a call to keep the Remploy factories open, we are keen to join with organisations to campaign for a good outcome, for the Remploy workers in particular, and for

the wider population of disabled people in general.

“This is a chance for the disabled people’s movement to fit the Remploy issue into a long-term strategy which addresses the discriminatory policies and practices that keep disabled people’s employment levels so low.

“Currently only 48% of disabled people are in work compared with 78% of nondisabled people.”

Guild strikes gold...

THE Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham has been commended at the NUS Awards for its commitment to improving access.

Now in their fifth year, the NUS Awards highlight the achievements of students’ unions from across the UK. Over the past year, the Guild has launched a new disability

policy and has made a commitment to accessibility in its long term strategic plan.

Recommendations have also been put forward to improve access to the library and sports facilities.

Disabled students’ officer, Jennifer Kirk, said: “I feel the Guild has made some fantastic steps forward this year for accessibility and inclusivity.”

Record numbers saying ‘I OU!’

RECORD numbers of disabled students are taking qualifications with the Open University, which allows learners to study at home.

Disabled students registering for courses with the OU have shot up from 12,263 in May 2011 to 14,883 in May 2012 – an increase of 21%.

The figure has been rising steadily in recent years, in part due to efforts to encourage students to disclose their disability.

Carol Doran, head of disabled student services, said: “This is an important increase, not only because it shows the OU is continuing to be successful in attracting disabled students, but also that individuals feel comfortable in disclosing a disability to us.

“OU study is attractive to disabled people because they can study at their own pace and fit it around their other commitments and personal circumstances.”

Positive goal Corinna Murray, 37, graduated in law from the OU this year despite conditions including fibromyalgia, ME, Addison’s disease, which cause her severe pain, fatigue and muscle weakness.

Corinna said: “I went from walking 10-15 miles a day with my dog to being confined to a bed or wheelchair and sleeping 14-16 hours a day. When you are unable to work, the days become very long.

“I became depressed as a result, but the difference when I began my studies was enormous. It gave me something to fill my time that was worthwhile and gave me a positive goal.”

Reach 450,000 readers . . .

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

. . . EDUCATION . . . TRAINING . . . JOBS

A real winning formula

WINNING TEAM: From left, Jackie Manning, Matthew Hughson, Phil Ratcliff, Alan Brierley, Emile Di Marco and Joe Fenlon

T

OP sports coaching has won top recognition for Liverpool Community College.

Good practice and leadership in sports courses offered at the £35m Learning Exchange Centre earned the college the special accreditation.

The Sports Leadership Academy status was presented by Sport Leaders UK – the national training and awarding body, Jackie Manning, head of section for Tourism and Sport, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the college and it demonstrates the commitment of our staff

to achieve excellence in our sports provision and beyond to ensure all our students achieve.

“To be recognised as a beacon of leadership will help us to continue to develop and expand our work with external partners, community groups and local schools.”

A special plaque was presented to the college at the state-of-the-art Learning Centre, in Roscoe Street, to mark the accolade.

It was handed over by Alan Brierley from Sports Leaders UK. Sports staff and students were joined by pupils from Mosspits Lane Primary School, Merseyside Sports

Partnership, Greenbank Sports Academy and Soccer Kidz to help celebrate the achievement.

Liverpool Community College is now one of only a handful of colleges with the Sports Leadership Academy status in the North-West.

Sports Leaders UK delivers a range of awards and qualifications that equip people with the skills and motivation to create and run sporting activities in the community.

Each year 200,000 young people train to be sports leaders by taking part in Sports Leaders UK courses, the majority through schools, colleges and universities.

Training will help thousands

A

NEW online training course for teachers, parents and carers of children with cochlear implants has been set up by the University of Nottingham and the Ear Foundation.

More than 80,000 people from all over the world are fitted with cochlear implants.

Sue Archbold, chief executive of the Ear Foundation, said: “Deafness in childhood and adulthood has a devastating effect on language and communication developments.

“Today we have the best possible hearing technologies likes cochlear implants which transform opportunities for deaf children.

“These online resources will help thousands of children and their families round the world.”

Free for anybody to use, the resources include: an overview of cochlear implantation; the impact of deafness on communication and language; the challenges of using technology at home and school; maximising the benefit of the technology in education; monitoring progress and the family role in language learning. nwww.earfoundation.org.uk

. . . call 0151 230 0307

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All Together NOW!

21

All Together NOW!

22

August/September 2012

Count those calories out

C

HOICE is an important part of how we live our lives and feel in control of our lives.

We all make choices - some may turn out good, some not so good - but it’s important we have options available to us.

This hold true for healthcare choices too.

I was consequently very pleased to hear that Liverpool Community Alcohol Service (which celebrates its first birthday this month) has been making an array of community-based treatment services and specialist medical care available to people at a place of their choice right across the city, so it’s convenient from home or work.

As a result of this choice around 1,600 people living with alcohol problems have been able to benefit from new accessible services during the past twelve months.

Similarly, our Alcohol Services Knowsley (ASK) team have just held a successful open day at their Huyton base where the users of a range of treatment and support services reiterated that choice is a key element of our approach to improving health and wellbeing.

From September we will be asking people across the Mersey Care patch to make some different choices. This is around how our organisation will go forward as a new body within the NHS family to become a Foundation Trust.

Foundation Trusts are not-for-profit public bodies that provide free health services based on the founding principle of need and not an ability to pay.

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

by Beatrice Fraenkel chair, Mersey Care NHS In preparation for this we established a Members’ Council in January made up of elected representatives from across various community and stakeholder groups. A three-month public consultation gets underway next month and the Members’ Council will take part in this ensuring there is a continuing strengthening of links with their constituencies who elected them and the Trust.

May I ask all readers who have an interest in any aspect of our services, whether learning disability, addiction services, brain injuries, dementia or any other aspect of the care we deliver to join in and respond to our consultation?

More information is available at public consultation events (see our advert below) or via www.merseycare.nhs.uk

join in

OUR PUBLIC MEETINGS

Mersey Care NHS Trust is conducting a public consultation on becoming a foundation trust and you are invited to Join in...

Mersey Care provides a range of mental health and learning disability services for adults, serving a population of around one million in Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby, in addition to some regional and national services.

Your views on Mersey Care’s future working arrangements, priorities and membership are important and we want to hear them.

The Trust is consulting widely with all stakeholders and you are invited to our public meetings – dates and venues are listed here.

No need to book but it would be helpful if you could let us know for seating purposes and if you have any special needs please let us know on the phone number below?

Everyone who attends will receive a Mersey Care goody bag – we hope to see you there!

TUESDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER AT 12 NOON - AINTREE RACECOURSE, Ormskirk Road, Aintree, Liverpool, L9 5AS THURSDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER AT 6PM - RAMADA PLAZA HOTEL, The Waterfront Promenade, Southport, PR9 0DZ THURSDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER AT 6PM - LIVERPOOL TOWN HALL, High Street, Liverpool, L2 3SW MONDAY, 15 OCTOBER AT 6PM - HUYTON SUITE Civic Way, Poplar Walk, Huyton, L36 9GD WEDNESDAY, 7 NOVEMBER AT 6PM - KUUMBA IMANI CENTRE, 4 Princes Road, Liverpool, L8 1TH

If you want to find our more about the consultation contact us on 0151 472 4594 or log onto our website www.merseycare.nhs.uk

WANT to get a better idea of how many calories you are burning up when walking the dog, going to the gym, taking a swim, or simply pottering around during the day?

Then check out a new online physical activity calculator that’s been set up by the British Heart Foundation.

The calculator, which is available at bhf.org.uk/calories, is an innovative way to measure the number of calories you burn throughout the day.

Physical activity guidelines suggest adults should aim to exercise daily and in total should be clocking up at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity every week.

Current statistics show just over a third of UK men (39%) and only 29% of women meet the Government’s recommendations for physical activity.

Matt Parsons, Project Manager at the BHF said: “Our new calorie counter is a great way to show people that all activity counts – from daily chores to more intense activity like running or cycling.

“This isn’t about counting every calorie you eat, it’s about realising the wider benefits of exercise for your heart health.

“Our website is jam-packed with resources and information to help you lead a healthier lifestyle. Small changes can make a big difference.”

A WATCHFUL EYE: On those most at risk from LVD

A lifesaver is unveiled T

HOUSANDS of people could be spared the stress and high risk of an emergency hospital admission after a heart attack, a who’s who of UK healthcare has heard.

The results of a pioneering study – which will allow thousands to live longer, better quality lives and save on massive treatment costs – were unveiled at Commissioning 2012, an annual get-together of 3,000 healthcare movers and shakers.

A system of identifying those likely to suffer a hidden sign of impending heart failure has been devised by a team involving Birmingham University, a GP practice,

social enterprise Mytime Health and data storage company MSDi. Their work will allow many to avoid the prospect of ending up housebound on oxygen with an increasingly limited quality of life.

Using technology and community health work they pinpointed those patients most at risk of a Left Ventricular Dysfunction (LVD), a common, but often hidden, precursor to heart failure.

“The outward signs of heart failure normally include swollen ankles, breathlessness and fatigue, but LVD is often not detectable and the definitive test for it is an echocardiogram,” said Paul Westerby of Mytime Health.

“Heart failure is very

expensive in terms of its damage to quality and quantity of life, as well as being very costly to the NHS, mainly through emergency hospital admissions, which are often the way in which people with previously undiagnosed heart failure are detected.

“Better medical management in the community via relatively inexpensive medication, combined with closer monitoring, can save people ending up housebound on oxygen with an increasingly limited quality of life.

“We are here to urge health commissioners to take forward this work across the country, reducing unnecessary suffering, saving lives and avoiding needless financial cost.”

Reach 450,000 readers

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

GLAUCOMA . . .

All Together NOW!

DYSTONIA . . .

By ANN FERGUSON

by JANE HEWERTSON

GLAUCOMA is the name given to a group of conditions in which the optic nerve suffers damage.

It is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide - 4.5 million people globally are blind because of it.

But with early treatment damage to vision can be minimised.

Usually, the cause is raised pressure in the eye - often detected by opticians in routine eye tests.Sight is lost from the off-centre parts of the field of vision, so is often left undetected.

Glaucoma can be inherited. My own father had glaucoma and I was aware that I, too, might develop the condition. The routine test was done and I was referred to the hospital and have been having treatment (eye drops) ever since.

Fortunately, there are now Glaucoma Support Groups in Bolton, Chorley, Liverpool, Manchester and Southport.

For information about the Southport group call me on 01704 543395. For the Bolton group call Mr D Meacher on 01204 651792. www.glaucoma-association.com

DYSTONIA is the term for uncontrollable and sometimes painful muscle spasms caused by incorrect signals from the brain.

About 70,000 people in the UK have the condition - and many more remain undiagnosed.

Amazingly, many GP’s are still unfamiliar with the condition.

There are many types of dystonia, but most commonly, it starts in adult life - usually over the age of 40.

These ‘Focal’ dystonias generally affect only one part of the body, such as the eyes, neck, hand, mouth, jaw or vocal cords.

If it develops in childhood, it tends to affect multiple parts of the body.

There is no cure – but treatments are available, many of which are successful. But these depend particularly on the type of dystonia and age of onset.

The Dystonia Society is working hard to raise awareness of the condition. For more information, call the Helpline 0845 458 6322 or visit www.dystonia.org.uk

‘A beacon of hope’ - that’s Jackie

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Presenting Jackie Rotheram with the Women Achieving prize, at the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards, comic Pauline Daniels said Jackie was “a beacon of hope for hundreds of disabled women”.

Thirty years ago doctors did not

marathons and the days were not long enough for all the things she wanted to do.

But the crash, in which Jackie was a passenger in a car hit by a fire engine, changed everything.

For the next three weeks she was on a ventilator, barely conscious for eight weeks and not expected to live.

But her Matron at Mill Road Hospital promised that her job would be waiting for her – “that was my beacon,” says Jackie.

She achieved her goal of walking again in a limited way

Guess what’s berry good for you?

EATING lots of blueberries and strawberries could help keep our brains in good working order, according to an American study.

The fruits contain high levels of flavonoids – compounds found in plants that generally have powerful antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties.

Experts believe stress and inflammation contribute to cognitive impairment and that

increasing consumption of flavonoids could mitigate the harmful effects. Researchers found women who had higher berry intake delayed cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years.

Dr Dr Elizabeth Devore, at Harvard Medical School, said: “Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults.”

Team up with us NOW!

‘

EVERYONE remembers the joke about goldfish having a memory span of three seconds. Well, except for goldfish perhaps!

So it’s no surprise to learn that colleagues chuckled when biologist Hazel Sive suggested they use fish to study human brain disorders.

But her work at Massachusetts Institute of Technologywith zebrafish embryos has been so successful it should now help ongoing efforts to develop successful treatments for autism.

Fish cannot display symptoms of autism, schizophrenia or other human brain disorders.

However, the team of American biologists has shown that zebrafish can be a useful tool for studying the genes that contribute to such disorders.

All Together NOW! is a must read – especially in waiting rooms. I found my visit to the eye clinic at St Helens hospital was more bearable by being able to read and digest your terrific and very informative newspaper.

The information must help so many people who are otherwise unaware of services and help available.

I think putting the paper in hospital waiting rooms really hits the spot as many older outpatients are unable to get out and about so are missing out on vital services and information that might help them in so many ways.

Keep up the good work and lots of luck for your continued success.

George McDonald, Prescot

Despite having to deal with own health issues, Jackie Rotherham is helping disabled mumsto-be all over the country

expect Jackie to survive a car accident.

If she did live, her family was told, a massive stroke caused by the head injury would leave her severely brain damaged for life.

But Jackie did survive and after 12 months in a wheelchair and two years of intensive therapy, she began picking up the pieces of her shattered life - and helping others.

Back in May 1982, Jackie had a job she was passionate about as a midwife at Mill Road Hospital, Liverpool. She played hockey, ran

MEDICAL NOTES Zebrafish earning boffins their stripes

Why I love this paper

INSPIRATION:

WOMAN who fought back after a horrific car crash that nearly killed her to help disabled mumsto-be received special recognition at a top awards event.

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and returned to work in 1984.

Her injuries prevented her returning to her former role but led to a different path, with the result that Jackie is now credited with transforming the care of women with disabilities before, during and after pregnancy, and putting the issue on the national agenda.

She is now a specialist midwife at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, providing one-to-one assistance in parenting with disabilities - a role that earned her an award for outstanding achievement.

“I would never have achieved half of what I have done if tragedy had not changed the course of my life,” says Jackie, who has also proved doctors wrong on another front - being the proud mum of two teenage daughters!

“I must also acknowledge Liverpool Women’s Hospital who have made my vision and passion a reality. It is an honour to do what I do.”

0151 230 0307

Less tea, vicar . . .

MEN who are heavy tea drinkers may be more likely to develop prostate cancer, according to research from scientists at the University of Glasgow.

The study tracked the health of more than 6,000 male volunteers over a period of 37 years and discovered that those who drank more than seven cups of tea per day had a 50% higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared with non-tea drinkers or those drinking less than four cups per day.

Dr Kashif Shafique, who led the research, said: “Most previous research has shown either no relationship with prostate cancer for black tea or some preventive effect of green tea. We don’t know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway.

“We found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, be non alcohol-drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels.

“However, we did adjust for these differences in our analysis and still found that men who drank the most tea were at greater risk of prostate cancer.”

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All Together NOW!

One advert goes a long, long way

Tel: 0151 230 0307

August/September 2012

E! E HOM TAKE M

BOX OFFICE SENSATION!

Aug 6-11: Grease. Llandudno Venue Cymru. Smash-hit musical.

Aug 7: Ollie Wiva Twist. Manchester Lowry. Oliver Twist set in modern day Salford.

Aug 9-11: Into the Woods. Manchester Lowry. Stephen Sondheim’s musical.

Aug 10: Hue & Cry. Sale Waterside Arts Centre. Singer-songwriter duo.

Aug 11: Joe McElderry. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. X-Factor winner live in concert.

Aug 11: Roy Orbison and friends.

Southport Floral Hall. Tribute to Roy Orbison and his contemporaries.

Aug 12: McFly. Rhyl Pavilion. The hit boy band behind Five Colours in her Hair.

Aug 13: An Evening of Classical. St Helens Theatre Royal. An evening of classical-themed entertainment.

Aug 16-18: Annie. Liverpool Empire. Hit musical.

Aug 18: Milkshake! Live. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Kids’ favourite TV programme live on stage.

Aug 18: Gino D’Acampo. Port Sunlight Gladstone Theatre. Q&A style evening with the celebrity chef.

Aug 21-23: Angelina Ballerina - The Mousical! Liverpool Empire. The children’s favourite starring in a musical.

Aug 21: Houghton Weavers. Southport Floral Hall. Comedy and folk group.

Aug 24: Paul Zerdin - Puppet Master.

New Brighton Floral Pavilion.

Internationally acclaimed ventriloquist.

Aug 25: Richard Thompson. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. One of the world’s greatest ever guitarists.

Aug 25: Paul Zerdin. Rhyl Pavilion.

Internationally acclaimed ventriloquist.

Aug 26: Let’s Hang On. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. The music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Aug 28-Sept 1: Dandy Dick.

Manchester Opera House. 19th century comedy being performed for the first time in 40 years.

Aug 28-Sept 1: Dreamboats and Petticoats. Southport Floral Hall.

Featuring classic rock ‘n’ roll hits.

Aug 29-Sept 1: Evita. St Helens Theatre Royal. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical.

Sept 1: Vive la Cabaret. Manchester Lowry. Dazzling variety show.

Sept 1: The City of Chester Male Voice Choir in Concert. Port Sunlight Gladstone Theatre. Choral performance.

Sept 1: Shakatak. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Vanguards of UK soul-funk.

Sept 2: Joe Longthorne. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. One of the most dynamic entertainers in show business.

Sept 2: Mick Miller and Jimmy Cricket. Manchester Lowry.

Stand-up comedy.

Sept 3-8: The Haunting. Manchester Lowry. Adaptation of Dickens’s Ghost Stories.

Sept 3-22: Our Country’s Good. Bolton Octagon. Play about Australia’s first ever theatre production.

Sept 4: ELO Experience. Southport Floral Hall. All the hits of the Electric Light Orchestra.

Sept 4: Church of the 80% Sincerity. St Helens Citadel. One man story of his shame to self-acceptance.

Sept 4: Jim Jefferies.

Manchester Opera House. Standup comedy.

Sept 4-8: Talking Heads. The Brindley, Runcorn. Comedy.

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

LEE RIDLEY can’t speak -– but he can make people laugh.

And if you don’t laugh, then there’s something wrong with you, not him!

Lee – aka Lost Voice Guy – has cerebral palsy, but it’s not stopped him reaching for his dream of becoming a stand-up comedian!

He’s appeared on BBC Breakfast and is now set for world-famous Edinburgh Fringe.Next up, he will be at Ramsbottom Civic Hall on Thursday September 6. n Tickets, £8 in advance, from 0161 761 2216 www.lostvoiceguy.com

Go Go on, on, treat treat yourself Sept 4-9: The Fawlty Towers Dining Experience. Manchester Lowry. An interactive performance revolving around a three course meal.

Sept 5: Beating Berlusconi. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Based on the true story of the man who sat next to the former Italian premier at the famous Liverpool v AC Milan Champions’ League Final of 2005.

Sept 5-16: You Once Said Yes. Manchester Lowry. Immersive, awardwinning production.

Sept 6-8: Othello. Port Sunlight Gladstone Theatre. Shakespeare’s classic.

Sept 6-8: The Tin Ring. Manchester Lowry. The story of one of a handful of Holocaust survivors still alive today.

Sept 6-8: Calendar Girls. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. The musical that inspired the film.

Sept 8: One Night of Elvis.

Southport Floral Hall. Featuring Europe’s most successful Elvis tribute, Lee ‘Memphis’ King.

Sept 9: A Feast of Gilbert and Sullivan.

New Brighton Floral Pavilion. The best scenes from a smorgasbord of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals.

Sept 9: Danny Bhoy. Manchester

Lowry. Stand-up comedian.

Sept 11-13: Calendar Girls. Port Sunlight Gladstone Theatre. The musical.

Sept 11-22: Legally Blonde! The Musical. Manchester Opera House.

Musical based on the hit film.

Sept 12: The Good Old Days of Music Hall and Variety. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. A variety show not to be missed.

Sept 13-16: Shirley Valentine. St Helens Theatre Royal. Pauline Daniels in Willy Russell’s musical.

Sept 14: Giddy Goat - Stand up for St. David’s. Llandudno Venue Cymru. Stand-up comedy gala night.

Sept 14: Andrew Lawrence. The Brindley, Runcorn. Stand-up comedy.

Sept 14: Karen Carpenter - Voice of the Heart. New Brighton Floral Pavilion.

Tribute to the Carpenters.

Sept 14-Oct 6: The Alchemist. Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. Ben Jonson’s 17th century satirical farce. AUDIO DESCRIBED Oct 4, CAPTIONED Oct 6.

Sept 15: Jake and Elwood. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Tribute to the Blues Brothers.

Promote your shows to 450,000

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

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FINELY TUNED: Dame Evelyn Glennie set to perform DaDFest

ORLD renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie returns to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall as part of DaDaFest 2012, the disability and deaf Arts festival.

Dame Evelyn, who became almost completely deaf by the age of 12, will perform a number of contemporary and classical music works for percussion including ‘Clapping Music’ by Steve Reich, ‘Rhythmic Caprice’ by Leigh Howard Stevens and her own arrangement of ‘Libertango’ by Piazolla.

In the second part of the evening, she will give a talk on what being a musician means to her, how her career as a musician has developed and how she learned to feel sound in order to become a professional musician, followed by a question and answer session.

Ruth Gould, chief executive of DaDaFest, said: “Evelyn is both an inspiration and a pioneer in the fields of music, bringing classical and contemporary percussion and deaf culture into the mainstream.” n An Evening with Evelyn Glennie, Saturday August 18, 7.30pm. Tickets: £20 - £27.50. Tel 0151 709 3789 www.dadafest.com

Them bones, them bones, them old bones

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HAT do an X-ray of Sigmund Freud’s head and Florence Nightingale’s pet tortoise, Jimmy, have in common?

Both form part of a special celebration of that vital hard tissue without which we would all be just a puddle of skin and guts – bone.

Showing at London’s Florence Nightingale Museum until August 31, Bone features live performances and demonstrations by artists, dancers, carvers and forensic archaeologists.

Cutting edge medical bone imaging and a modern-day apothecary jar showing the effects of syphilis on bone are also on display.

The exhibition, on the site of St Thomas’ Hospital, at parking level, is fully accessible, with a loop system and subtitles on all films for deaf and hearing impaired visitors. www.florence-nightingale.co.uk

Sept 15: The Best of Buzz Comedy.

Sale Waterside Arts Centre.

Sept 15: Sounds of Philadelphia and Motown. Southport Floral Hall. Over two hours of hits.

Sept 15: The Solid Air Band. The Brindley, Runcorn. John Martyn tribute band.

Sept 15: Albert Lee & Hogan’s Heroes. St Helens Citadel. Celebrating 50 years in music.

Sept 17-22: Chicago. Stoke Regent Theatre. Classic musical.

Sept 18: Alan Davies - Life is Pain.

Manchester Palace Theatre. Standup comedy.

Sept 18-22: Horrible Histories - The Terrible Tudors. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Bestselling children’s book series brought to the stage.

Sept 18-29: Starlight Express. Llandudno Venue Cymru. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fantastic futuristic musical.

Sept 19-22: Horrible Histories - The Vile Victorians. New Brighton Floral Pavilion.

Best-selling children’s book series brought to the stage.

Sept 20: Ricky Tomlinson’s Royle Variety. Liverpool Empire. The Royle Family star presents a variety show.

Sept 20: Big Pop and Laughter Show. The Brindley, Runcorn. Variety

Bone up before you go . . .

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Books Guide for carers n Relative Matters by Chris Moon-Willems,

Bookshaker, Amazon, £18.95 A NEW practical guide to navigating the complicated health and care system is the work of someone who’s been there and done it herself.

Chris Moon-Willems is an expert in elderly care and has personal experience of finding her way round the system on behalf of her parents.

Her easy-to-digest guide to health and care options includes valuable advice and sections on such things as deciding between homecare and care homes, and stretching finances through creative budgeting.

Chris says the current system offers little or no help for older people arranging care if they have over £23,250 of personal savings.

Chris was at the forefront of social and health care transformation as her parents were two of the first people in the UK to have a personal budget using a direct payment from Social Services.

n Babies are born with more than 300 bones in their

body. As we grow into adults, some of the bones grow together – an adult skeleton has 206 bones n Bones are alive! They are growing, living tissue. Bones are constantly renewed throughout our lives through a process called resorption. When children are little, their skeletons renew themselves every two years! n Bones are actually hollow – the inside of a bone is filled with bone marrow, which is then protected by the hard, outer surface of the bone. n The smallest bone is in the ear. It is called the stirrup bone and is the size of half a grain of rice. The biggest the femur or thighbonebone – is in the leg. n The strongest bone in the skeleton is the jawbone.

show from Billy Butler and Wally Scott.

Sept 21: The World’s Best Michael Jackson Tribute. The Brindley, Runcorn. Fantastic tribute to the King of pop.

Sept 21: An Evening of Burlesque.

Manchester Palace Theatre. Racy entertainment.

Sept 21-22: The Wedding Singer. St Helens Theatre Royal. Based on the hit Hollywood film.

Sept 21-Oct 13: Macbeth. Liverpool Royal Court. A modern retelling of the story of literature’s greatest King slayer.

Sept 21-Oct 13: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Liverpool Royal Court. A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s most imaginative play.

Sept 22: A Night with Ricky Hatton. Rhyl Pavilion. Q&A session with anecdotes from the man himself.

Sept 22: The Bohemians. Sale Waterside Arts Centre. Queen tribute act.

Sept 22: Autumn Celebrity Concert. The Brindley, Runcorn. Highfield Male Voice Choir plus guests.

Sept 22: Julian Cope. St Helens Citadel.

Singer, poet, occultist and photographer.

Sept 22: Helen O’Brien - Bronagh’s Big Weekend. The Brindley, Runcorn. A hilarious one-woman play.

Sept 22-23: Catfish Therapy. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. New psychological thriller

from Ian Moores.

Sept 23: Alan Davies - Life is Pain.

Liverpool Empire. Stand-up comedy.

Sept 25-27: Rolling Back the Years.

The Brindley, Runcorn. Sensational nostalgia show.

Sept 25-29: David Copperfield. New Brighton Floral Pavilion. Dickens’s classic.

Sept 25-29: Madame Butterfly. Manchester Palace Theatre. Puccini’s opera.

Sept 25-Oct 6: Sister Act! Manchester Opera House. Based on the movie of the same name.

Sept 28: Jack Dee. Liverpool Empire.

Stand-up comedy.

Sept 29: The Illegal Eagles. Liverpool Empire. Tribute act to the Eagles.

Sept 29: The Buddy Holly Show. Bolton Octagon. UK’s number one Buddy Holly tribute.

Sept 30: Jason Byrne. Liverpool Empire. Stand-up comedy.

Oct 3: The Sensational 60s Experience. Liverpool Empire. Featuring the music of the 60s.

Oct 4: Tonight’s the Night. Liverpool Empire. Variety show.

Oct 6: Ross Noble - Mindbender. Liverpool Empire. Stand-up comedy.

readers. Call us . . . 0151 230 0307

TAKE ME HOME!

‘Wheelchair dad’ n My Dad is Different, by Wendy Desmet,

published by AuthorHouse, £12.66 IN HER illustrated children’s book Wendy Desmet presents an educational and love-filled story designed to teach young children that disabled parents are different from other parents, but that doesn’t make them any less loving or less of a parent.

When their son Josh was born, Wendy and her disabled husband, Michael, began to plan how they would deal with Josh’s inevitable questions about his father’s wheelchair.

“When Josh was three I read the story to him,” says Wendy, “and he enjoyed reading about himself and his Dad. We emphasised that although his Dad couldn’t kick a ball, he was still loved very much and that there will be other things that he and his Dad could do together.”

Harriet’s story n From Harriet with Love,

by Kit and John Davis, published by Y Lolfa, £9.99 HARRIET Davis suffered from a rare degenerative metabolic disease, and lived for just 11 years.

Seaside holidays, in the company of family and friends, were a source of great joy to her, and in 1992 the Harriet Davis Seaside Holiday Trust for Disabled Children was established as a tribute to her shining and indomitable spirit.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Trust, Harriet’s parents, Kit and John, have launched their book which tells Harriet’s story. All proceeds from the publication will be donated to the Trust

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All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

WIN! WIN! WIN! Ten ‘Bizarre Beauty’ packs to be won NOW for something completely different for your windowsill or conservator – an amazing collection of six exotic and unusual houseplants we have dubbed Bizarre Beauties.

You can win one of 10 of these collections, worth £20 each. They come with full cultural directions from the family firm of Dibleys Nurseries at Llanelidan, near Ruthin, in North Wales, winner of 100-plus gold medals at Chelsea and other top shows.

The Bizarre Beauties are: n Alsobia dianthiflora, velvety leaves and pure white, fringed flowers on small plants which send out runners and quickly spread. n Nematanthus Christmas Holly, known as the clog plant

for its beak-shaped red and yellow flowers. nCodonatanthus Tambourine, a trailing plant with pink

flowers shading to cream.

To enter the competition, answer this question: What colour are the flowers of Alsobia dianthiflora?

Send your entry with your name and address on a postcard or sealed envelope, stating where you picked up your copy of All Together Now!, to: Bizarre Beauties Competition, All Together NOW!, The Bradbury Centre, Youens Way, Liverpool L14 2EP, to arrive by Friday, September 21. You can also enter online at www.alltogethernow.org.uk For more details of the Bizarre Beauties and the full range of Dibleys’ houseplants go to www.dibleys.com

Our patio secrets – by the bagful!

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AG after bag of compost is bought from spring to autumn as gardeners plant up the containers they hope will decorate their patios for months on end.

How long their flowers actually flourish will depend largely on whether they buy the best mixture for the job.

The term “compost” is generally used too vaguely in the gardening pages and on TV and radio. In fact, different kinds are needed for different plants.

Compost producers don’t always help, simply labelling many of their products as “multi-purpose” or “universal” and giving no information about the fertiliser content.

So here are five tips to guide you through the compost maze: 1. Don’t assume “multi-purpose” really means what it says. Such composts should be adequate for sowing seeds in pots and for short-term displays such as summer hanging baskets but not for long term or special plants. If plant food details are on the bag, remember nitrogen (N) promotes leaf growth, potassium (K) flower and fruit formation and phosphorus (P) root development.

2. Composts made mostly of peat are warmer than soil-based types but dry out quicker and sometimes have lower levels of nutrient so that means more frequent watering and feeding – peat alone contains no worthwhile nutrient.

3. Loam-based composts made to special formulae by members of the John Innes Manufacturers’ Association (JIMA) are best for many uses in trays, pots and other containers – indoors or out. They often cost more but are worth it because the bags tell you what you’re getting and they include ‘trace TAKE ME HOME! elements’ – small amounts of key plant

PRIZE PLANTS – alsobia and nematanthus

for its pouch-shaped blooms which are bright red. n Begonia Escargot, a foliage plant with swirled leaves of olive green and silver, up to 30cm (1ft) long. n Begonia Flo Belle Moseley, long purplish leaves like angels’ wings, spotted pink, and rich rose-pink blooms. n Impatiens niamniamensis, nicknamed the parrot plant

How to make your own compost . . .

MARK out an area 1.8m (6ft) wide and 90cm (3ft) deep, and fix up wide-mesh wire for stacking the ingredients against.

Make it 90cm high in the shape of a capital letter E. This makes two compost areas with the fronts open.

TIP all soft vegetable waste from the garden and kitchen on to one area as it becomes available, avoiding woody or diseased material and weeds which have flowered. Sprinkle plenty of soil between layers. Water the heap in the unlikely event of prolonged dry weather.

WHEN the heap reaches a yard high, turn it into the second area and cover the compost with an old carpet or polythene sheet. Start a new heap in the first area.

The turned heap will be ready for use when the consistency is like fine soil.

foods. They are: seed compost, for most seeds and cuttings; potting compost No 1, for most young plants in small pots and many vegetable seeds; No 2, for most container plants and for bulking up such flowers as carnations and chrysanthemums, as well as greenhouse crops like tomatoes; No 3, for final potting of those grown in No 2,

HELPING HANDS

TOP TIPS

TAKE 15cm (6in) cuttings of lavender in August from stems that have not flowered. Trim them below a leaf-joint, strip off all leaves except four to six at the top.

Make a V-trench in a shady spot and insert the cuttings to two-thirds of their length.

In heavy soil, fill the trench first with a gritty mixture such as cuttings compost.

Keep slightly moist. They should root within two months.

PRUNE shrubs that flowered earlier in summer, such as philadelphus (mock orange) and weigela. But don’t prune bushes grown for their berries, like pyracantha.

REMOVE from ponds dying blooms and leaves of water lilies and other plants. If allowed to rot, they will use up oxygen needed by fish.

FLOURISHING: Petunias growing in quality compost

plus large foliage plants and shrubs such as skimmia, often used as a centrepiece in containers; and Ericaceous – see below. The seven official producers are on JIMA’s website.

4. If growing plants such as azaleas, camellias or summer-flowering heathers, look for “acid-lover” or “ericaceous” compost.

5. If you have the space, save money by making your own compost from garden and kitchen vegetable waste, avoiding woody or diseased material. Once the material has decayed and is sieved, appropriate amounts of fertiliser can be added for different purposes from sowing to planting up tubs.

FRUIT: Control mildew on the tips of gooseberry bush shoots by pruning off the affected parts. If cherry or plum trees need pruning, do it now in a dry spell to minimise the risk of silver leaf infection.

WATER tomatoes regularly.

Splitting and blossom-end rot are caused by irregular watering.

The use of peat in gardening has been cut heavily to save Britain’s lowland raised peat bogs, habitat of rare flowers and insects but it is still extracted in Ireland and mainland Europe. John Innes composts contain some peat – for texture, not plant food because peat contains none.

Moorland Gold peat brand does no environmental harm because it is filtered from the public water supply on the Pennines.

Peat-free mixtures are increasingly effective. Two out of three best buys in a recent compost survey by Which Gardening? magazine were peat-free.

Disabled and need advice on gardening? Contact national charity THRIVE. Tel. 0118 988 5688. www.thrive.org.uk or www.carryongardening.org.uk

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

August/September 2012

All Together NOW!

27

Beach huts for all THE UK’s first beach huts designed specifically for people with disabilities are available for hire at Bournemouth’s multi-award winning Boscombe seafront.

The new huts are capable of accommodating up to four wheelchair users.

Other features include: fully accessible public toilet, featuring internal shower unit; electric mobility scooter charging point; improved accessible parking bays; wooden beach access trackway; ‘Changing Places’ facility incorporating change bed, toilet, sink, shower and ceiling-mounted tracking hoist.

Beach access wheelchairs are also available. n Contact Boscombe Beach Office on 01202 451773.

THE HOT SEAT G

OOD news for anyone planning a Virgin holiday to the Caribbean...

The disabled-friendly travel company has arranged to have special beach wheelchairs at selected hotels in Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.

Not only are the chairs great for dealing with soft sand, they are pretty good for getting you into the ocean!

Wheelchair-user Nicola Davis, who works for Virgin, came up with the idea after visiting the Caribbean last year.

“I have used beach wheelchairs in Florida for many years and then I travelled to the Caribbean and found out that none of the hotels offered them.

“I really missed being able to spend time on the beach with my children and realised that many people were missing out on one of

the most important parts of a Caribbean holiday.”

The chairs were developed in partnership with Aqua Creek Products and have been getting rave reviews from the first customers to use them.

Virgin Holidays’ awardwinning special assistance team offers a dedicated service for disabled and limited mobility customers.

Brochures highlight accommodation that is best suited for wheelchair access. Holidaymakers with reduced mobility can book accessible transfers, adapted vehicle hire and medical equipment hire.

The team also provides theme park and excursions accessibility information to help customers plan ahead. n Virgin Holidays helpline: 0844 557 3998.

Email special.assistance @virginholidays.com

IRTON HOUSE FARM Airports getting into gear

Holiday Breaks in the Lakes near Keswick Self catering apartments for 2-6 people.

Specially designed with the wheelchair in mind. No steps. Beautiful views in a superb location. Friendly owners in residence. Open all year.

For a colour brochure

Tel: 01768 776380 www.disabled-holiday.net email: joan@irtonhousefarm.co.uk

Book now!

STAND by for better service at UK airports... new guidelines have been produced to help the travel industry provide a “smooth airport experience” for passengers with reduced mobility.

ABTA and the CAA hope their guidelines will make it easier for everyone – passengers, travel companies and airports.

Under European law, all passengers who are disabled or have difficulty moving around can receive assistance when they fly, free of charge.

Sandra Webber, CAA director of consumer support, said: “Travelling if

you have restricted mobility can be especially challenging and stressful.

“But if people with reduced mobility find that they are not receiving their rights, they can contact the CAA who will look into the problems and may take up their complaints with the airline or airport concerned.” n NEW toilet facilities for air passengers who need the help of a carer have been installed at Birmingham Airport.

Changing Places toilets provide more space and have additional equipment, including a heightadjustable, adult-sized changing bench and hoist.

with RUSSELL GRANT ARIES (March 21st - April 20th) An August party turns out to be the most glittering social occasion of the season so be sure to attend.

Suppress your rebellious instincts. A close relationship starts to feel oppressive around end of September.

TAURUS (April 21st - May 21st) Bow to an authority figure’s expertise. Take the initiative with a loved one and get ready to make a personal sacrifice for them. Help from an unseen source arrives mid September, as does romance GEMINI (May 22nd - June 21st) The New Moon on the 17th prompts you to sign up for an art class, giving you an outlet for your imagination.

Launch a home improvement project towards the end of August - and be ready to take an impromptu trip in the second week of September.

CANCER (June 22nd - July 23rd) You won’t be able to charm your way out of a relationship problem in mid-August. September’s New Moon on the 16th is ideal for signing up for a class or taking a business course. An award or promotion will be given to you in the waning days of the month.

LEO (July 24th - August 23rd) Your best friend, lover or business partner is about to do something extraordinarily generous on your behalf.

The final days of August brings in money from an inheritance, legal settlement, or dividend. A legal decision will be rendered in your favour as September turns to October.

VIRGO (August 24th - September 23rd) A power struggle erupts between you and a friend at mid-month; one of you will have to give here. Your services will be in great demand throughout early September, but make certain not to let a friend manipulate you into making a loan.

LIBRA (September 24th - October 23rd) The first days of August turn out to be the most romantic of the entire year. But an emotional breakthrough occurs after sifting through family photos at the end of the month. The end of September is perfect for signing a contract.

SCORPIO (October 24th - November 22nd) August is perfect for closing a property deal or moving to a new home. A legal decision will be made in your favour. Listen to a friend’s advice in the opening days of September, even if it rubs you the wrong way. You’ll see exciting results from a health regimen as September turns to October.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23rd - December 21st) The beginning of August brings exciting news about a creative project. A lover or business partner expands your horizons and there maybe some money coming your way at the end of the month to finance a dream. A surprise wedding or pregnancy is very good news as September draws to a close.

CAPRICORN (December 22nd - January 20th) You get a sizable payment in the early days of August.

Make more time for friends and try to take a short trip for pleasure in the closing days of August. During mid September your best friend or lover will also share some of their financial good fortune with you.

AQUARIUS (January 21st - February 19th) August allows you to show off your intellectual talents to a receptive audience. You could get a big cheque in the closing days of the month – and during mid September there’s news of an inheritance, dividend, or insurance payment coming your way.

PISCES (February 20th - March 20th) Take some time off to indulge your spiritual side. The 7th begins a wonderfully romantic period for you but be realistic about your expectations of a friend, lover, or business partner. A surprising source of income falls into TAKE ME HOME! your lap in September.

225,000 of our readers DON’T read ANY other newspaper!

All Together NOW!

28

August/September 2012

The Accumulator Quiz

STARSPOT CROSSWORD Can you find the celebrity name hidden in this Starspot Crossword? Complete the crossword in the normal way then make a note of the letters contained in all the squares which are marked with shaded stars. These letters will make an anagram of the name you are looking for.

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One expected to lose (8) Shrub (4) Card game (3) Cartridge (8) Anger (4) Postpone (5) Power of speech (5) Lecherous look (4) Part of a telephone (8) Lawbreaker (8) Weapons (4) Remit (anag.) (5) Like the yellow part of an egg (5) Twelve inches (4) Very friendly (8) Shelter (3) At liberty (4) Abstinent (8)

Each question has four possible answers and is worth from one to 15 points. Circle your chosen answers and keep a record of your points total. Maximum total points 120.

QUESTION 1 – for 1 point: What name is given to a kitchen utensil for slicing vegetables?

A Harp B Banjo C Mandolin D Triangle

QUESTION 10 – for 10 points: How many countries share a border with Iraq?

A Three B Four C Five D Six QUESTION 11 – for 11 points: Which chancellor of the exchequer introduced Premium Bonds in his 1956 budget?

A Harold Macmillan B Rab Butler C Peter Thorneycroft D Derick Heathcoat-Amory

QUESTION 2 – for 2 points: Which London bridge can be raised to allow shipping to pass through?

A Chelsea Bridge B QE II Bridge C Battersea Bridge D Tower Bridge QUESTION 3 – for 3 points: Which traditional pantomime often features Robin Hood and Maid Marian?

A Mother Goose B Jack And The Beanstalk C Babes In The Wood D Puss In Boots

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7

QUESTION 12 – for 12 points: Which fruit is distilled to make kirsch liqueur ?

A Plum B Cherry C Raspberry D Redcurrant

Professor Robert Winston. See Question 7

QUESTION 4 – for 4 points: Which fish can be jellied, smoked or stewed?

A Salmon B Herring C Eel D Mackerel

Ark builder (4) Christian festival (6) Be indecisive (6) Mirth (4) Russian wolfhound (6) Consolation (6) Choose for office (5) Jeans fabric (5) Reimburse (5) Animal doctor (3) Dentine (5) Rub out (5) Conifer (3) Severity (6) Courage (6) Detest (6) With hands on hips (6) Regimen (4) Sicilian volcano (4)

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

QUESTION 5 – for 5 points: What name is given to the fourth Sunday in Lent?

A Palm Sunday B Mothering Sunday C Whit Sunday D Fathers’ Day

QUESTION 13 – for 13 points: In the novel 1984, what did Winston fear in Room 101?

A Water B Blindness C Rats D Insanity

QUESTION 7 – for 7 points: Which instrument did Professor Robert Winston learn to play in the TV series Play It Again?

A Violin B Tuba C Double bass D Saxophone

QUESTION 14 – for 14 points: Who says, in a play by William Shakespeare: “The better part of valour is discretion”?

A Falstaff B Henry IV C Julius Caesar D Macbeth

QUESTION 8 – for 8 points: In which sport might a flying mare be seen?

A Gymnastics B Skiing C Wrestling D Trampolining

QUESTION 15 – for 15 points: Which astronomer discovered a supernova in 1572 and made a comprehensive star catalogue?

A Tycho Brahe B Johannes Kepler C Isaac Newton D Charles Messier

QUESTION 9 – for 9 points: In what position is Cape Verde in relation to the continent of Africa?

A The most northern point B The most southern point C The most eastern point D The most western point

QUESTION 6 – for 6 points: Which river enters the sea at Spurn Head?

A Humber B Thames C Severn D Tyne

SUDOKU

KAKURO

THERE is just one simple rule in Sudoku. Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9, and so must each 3 x 3 box. This is a logic puzzle, and you should not have to guess.

EASY

DIFFICULT

4 9 6 8 4 5 3 9 7 4 9 8 3 3 9 6 8 6 4 7 5 1 5 5 9 7 2

4 5 4 5 1

2 6 3 8

4 6

4 6 9 3

2 8 1

4 1 5

6 8

3

8 1 6

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2 7

FILL in the blank squares in the grid with numbers so that each horizontal or vertical line adds up to the total given in the box either to the left or above it.

Horizontal totals are given in the top right corners of the shaded boxes; vertical totals in the bottom left corners.

You can use the numbers 1 to 9, but may not use the same number more than once in any run. The number may be used again, however, in the same row or column but as part of another run.

MEDIUM 15

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SAY THAT AGAIN . . .

‘

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes — Winston Churchill

‘

By the time you’re 80 yearsold you’ve learned everything. You just have to remember it— George Burns

‘

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that you count. It’s the life in your years —Abraham Lincoln

‘

Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are — Muhammed Ali

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

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ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ EACH number in our Cross Code grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. You have three letters in the control grid to start you off.

Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters should go in the missing squares.

As you get the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and control grid. Check off the alphabetical list of letters as you identify them.

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MISSING LINK Each pair of words has a missing word between them that acts as a link to both (e.g. FRONT – DOOR – MAT). The initial letters of the six answers (reading downwards) will spell out a Middle Eastern country.

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UP CHARGE OUT BROWN

262 241 156 742 772

3. Fashion designers 247 478 426 134 671 515 243 733 531 743 122 734 616 279 178 153 261 728 514 285 712 626 124 263 515 371 266 726

527 773 268 843 277

267 638 416 776 783

6. Independent schools 467 366 786 861 427 124 278 374 687 313 162 583 761 723 539 753 367 841 944 844 786 931 526 246 416 267 684 4

769 866 126 381 275

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HARD

Can you place the six dominoes (right) into the grid below in such a way that the number of spots in all four rows across and all four rows down totals 13?

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SPOT CHECK

Starting from the central shaded letter, move one letter at a time (up, down, right or left, but not diagonally) to find 23 words used in the phonetic alphabet.

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PATHWORDS

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PLAY

Spaces and any punctuation marks are represented by 1.

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5. Bathroom items 336 825 135 677 661 352 663 512 174 693 714 351 281 336 367 268 718 793 518 668 172 967

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4. Trees 233 271 569 162 231 726 138 225 124 724

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717 147 516 671 675

2. Insects 772 946 416 268 471 576 224 133 284 928 233 853 172 677 466 287 819 663 967 612 538 174 583 734 741 647 413 59

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1. Classical music 843 136 871 732 766 433 716 291 723 359 293 194 554 261 835 837 887 316 874 213 843 176 925 134 739 712 653 76

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Telephone dialling pads combine several letters on one key. Here we have encoded several sets of words or items by using numbers rather than letters. Then we have divided them into groups of three characters and run all the names one after another to make your task a little more difficult. Can you crack the codes?

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DIALLING CODES

CROSS CODE 3

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

WORD WIZARD

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Here is an unusual word with three definitions, only one of which is correct. Can you identify the right definition?

C

E D

DICKCISSEL

F

1) A sparrowlike North American songbird with a black and white throat and bright yellow breast;

In which year did all three of these significant historical events take place?

1. London’s Tate Modern art gallery opens. A nearby new bridge across the Thames is closed a week later for safety reasons.

2. Queen Elizabeth the Queen celebrates her 100th birthday.

2) A gazelle that stands on its hind legs to graze on leaves;

Mother

3. A rare conjunction occurs between the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon.

Add the given letter to the first word to make a new word.

Clue: Part of flower used to snare wild animal.

3) A fringed collar worn by noblewomen in the Tudor period.

WAS IT? a) 1998; b) 1999; c) 2000; d) 2001; e) 2002.

______ +P=P______

ALL THE ANSWERS Pathwords: Oscar; Romeo; Zulu; Bravo; Quebec; Tango; Echo; Papa; Sierra; Kilo; Delta; Charlie; India; Whisky; Hotel; Lima; Yankee; Victor; Mike; Alpha; Juliet; Foxtrot; Uniform.

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SUDOKU DIFFICULT

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ADVERTISE HERE 0151 230 0307

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Accumulator Quiz 1 – C; 2 – D; 3 – C; 4 – C; 5 – B; 6 – A; 7 – D; 8 – C; 9 – D; 10 – D; 11 – A; 12 – B; 13 – C; 14 – A; 15 – A. Starspot Crossword Across – 1 Underdog; 6 Bush; 8 Loo; 9 Cassette; 10 Rile; 12 Defer; 14 Voice; 17 Leer; 18 Receiver; 20 Criminal; 24 Arms; 25 Timer; 26 Yolky; 29 Foot; 30 Intimate; 31 Lee; 32 Free; 33 Teetotal.

Down – 2 Noah; 3 Easter; 4 Dither; 5 Glee; 6 Borzoi; 7 Solace; 11 Elect; 12 Denim; 13 Repay; 14 Vet; 15 Ivory; 16 Erase; 19 Fir; 21 Rigour; 22 Mettle; 23 Loathe; 24 Akimbo; 27 Diet; 28 Etna.

Star Name: FABIO CAPELLO

Word Wizard No 1 is correct. A dickcissel is a bird.

Dialling Codes 1. The Four Seasons; Sheep May Safely Graze; William Tell Overture; Music For The Royal Fireworks; Bolero.

2. praying mantis; cockroach; deathwatch beetle; scorpion; locust; woodworm; cricket; silverfish; Spanish fly.

3. Christian Dior; Karl Lagerfeld; Pierre Cardin; Mary Quant; JeanPaul Gaultier; Coco Chanel; Jasper Conran.

4. cedar; sycamore; willow; oak; elder; spruce; sandalwood; teak; eucalyptus; walnut; birch; elm;

apple; yew; may.

5. dental floss; shampoo; flannel; cabinet; showel gel; bath mat; deodorant; mirror; towel; toothpaste; razor.

6. Gordonstoun; Harrow; Charterhouse; Eton; Malvern; Radley; Ampleforth; Whitgift; Stowe; Lancing; Marlborough.

Spot Check A = 6; B = 5; C = 2; D = 1; E = 4; F = 3.

Missing Link jet; out; ring; depth; act; nut.

Country: Jordan.

Make a Date The year was 2000.

Transformer Anther + P = Panther.

REACH 450,000 READERS . . .

TAKE ME HOME!

30

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

Anglesey honour for Ken

SHOPMOBILITY n ALTRINCHAM. Tel 0161 929 1714 n ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE. Tel 0161 339 9500 n BARROW. Tel 01229 434039 n BIRKENHEAD. Tel 0151 647 6162 n BLACKBURN AND DARWEN. Tel 01254 690566 or 07757 502217 n BLACKPOOL. Tel 01253 349 427 n BOLTON. Tel 01204 392946 n BURY. Tel 0161 764 9966 n CARLISLE. Tel 01228 625950 n CHESTER. Tel 01244 312626 n CHORLEY. Tel 01257 260 888 n COLWYN BAY. Tel 01492 533822 n CREWE. Tel 01270 580 031 n ELLESMERE PORT. Tel 0151 355 1420 n KENDAL. Tel 01539 740 933 n LEIGH, Wigan. Tel 01942 777 985 n LIVERPOOL. Tel 0151 707 0877 n MANCHESTER Trafford Centre. Tel 0161 747 2684 n MANCHESTER Arndale Centre. Tel 0161 839 4060 n NELSON. Tel 01282 692 502 n NORTHWICH, Vale Royal Tel 01606 288820 n ORMSKIRK, West Lancashire Tel 01695 570055 n OSWESTRY. Tel 01691 656882 n PENRITH. Tel 01768 895 438 n PRESTON. Tel 01772 204 667 n RHYL. Tel 01745 350665 n ROCHDALE. Tel 01706 865 986 n RUNCORN, Halton Lea Tel 01928 716971 n SHREWSBURY. Tel 01743 236900 n SOUTHPORT. Tel 0151 288 6885 n ST HELENS. Tel 01744 613 388 n STOCKPORT. Tel 0161 666 1100 n WARRINGTON. Tel 01925 240064 n WARRINGTON. Birchwood Tel 01925 822 411 n WIGAN. Tel 01942 776 070 n WINSFORD. Tel 01606 557550 n WREXHAM. Tel 01978 312390 MIDLANDS n BIRMINGHAM. Snow Hill Railway Station. Tel 0121 236 8980. Level 2, Centre Car Park, Bullring. Tel 0121 616 2942 n STAFFORD. Tel 01785 619456 n STOKE ON TRENT. Tel 01782 233333 n SUTTON COLDFIELD. Tel 0121 355 1112 n TAMWORTH. Tel, 01827 709392 n WALSALL. Tel 01922 650781 n WEST BROMWICH: Sandwell. Tel 0121 553 1943 n WOLVERHAMPTON. Tel 01902 556021

TWENTY years ago Ken Roberts and his wife, June, founded a disability group from their living room in Dwyran, Anglesey.

Since then Taran has gone from strength to strength – and has just won a major £220,000 Lottery grant!

Ken may no longer be at the helm, but he remains a great CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs Margaret inspiration for Taran.

Francis, of Vincent Drive, Chester, To mark their who was the lucky winner from appreciation, Taran has hundreds of entries to our made Ken an honorary RainPerfect gardening competition. life president.

Mrs Francis wins a super Plaid AM for Ynys Môn, RainPerfect system, worth £115, Ieuan Wyn Jones, said: courtesy of Two Wests & Elliot.

“Ken’s vision helped to Mrs Francis writes: create opportunities for “All Together NOW! is an excellent people with disabilities to read, with interesting articles and access education, provides the kind of news and opportunities for information we need. I got my copy work,and to give them a at the Countess of Chester Hospital.” WINNER:RainPerfect system voice in the community.”

Time to splash out for our winner!

HELP AT THE END OF A PHONE n ANGLESEY:

TARAN Tel 01407 721933 n BLACKPOOL Disability Information and Support.

Tel 01253 472 202.

Textphone 01253 476 450 n CHESHIRE CIL Tel 01606 782760 n CHESTER Dial House Tel 01244 345655 n DENBIGHSHIRE Tel 01745 354445 n ELLESMERE PORT DICE Tel 0151 355 1420 n HALTON Disability Service Tel 01928 717222 n KNOWSLEY DISABILITY CONCERN. 0151 480 4090 n LANCASTER DISC Tel 01524 34411 n LIVERPOOL Association of Disabled People. Tel 0151 263 8366. Text 0151 260 4076 n MERSEYSIDE Coalition of Inclusive Living.

Tel 0151 260 4001 n NEUROSUPPORT Centre Tel 0151 298 2999 n MANCHESTER (GTR) Coalition of Disabled People Tel 0161-273 5154 n MOLD Flintshire Disability Tel 01352 755546 n NELSON: Pendle Pakistan Welfare Association.

Tel 01282 603 616 n PRESTON DISC: Tel 01772 558 863.

Textphone 01772 204 787 n RHYL Tel 01745 350665 n STOCKPORT: Disability Stockport. 0161 480 7248

n WARRINGTON

Disability Partnership. 01925 240064 n WIRRAL WIRED Tel 0151 670 1500 n WEST LANCS HELPLINE Freefone 0800 220676 n ST HELENS DASH Tel 01744 453053 n WREXHAM Tel 01978 262955 MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM Disability Resource Centre Tel 0121 789 7365 Disabled People’s Network Solihull Tel 0121 788 1544 STOKE: Disability Solutions Tel 01782 683800 WOLVERHAMPTON Elder and Disabled Group Tel 01902 448552 ORGANISATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND n ACCRINGTON Tel 01254 233332 n BARROW Tel 01229 820698 n BIRMINGHAM Action for Blind Tel 0121 665 4200 n BLACKBURN Tel 0125 554143 n BLACKPOOL Tel 01253 792600 n BURY Tel 0161 763 7014 n BURNLEY Tel 01282 438507 n CARLISLE: Action for Blind People Tel 01228 595121 CHESHIRE & N WALES: Vision Support. Tel 01244 381515 n CUMBRIA (West) Tel 01946 592474 n CUMBRIA (Sth Lakeland)

Tel 01539 726613 DOGS Tel 0118 983 5555 n HENSHAW’S 0161 872 1234 Tel 0151 227 1226 n LIVERPOOL: Bradbury Fields.Tel 0151 221 0888: Action for Bind Tel 0151 298 3222 n MANCHESTER: Action for Blind Tel 0161 787 9252 n PRESTON: Action for Blind People Tel 01772 320550 n OLDHAM Tel 0161 682 8019 n ROSSENDALE Tel 01706 873256 n SIGHTLINE (North West) Tel 0800 587 2252 n WIGAN Tel 01942 242891 n WIRRAL Tel 0151 652 8877 n GUIDE

ORGANISATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF n BIRMINGHAM Institute for Deaf Tel 0121 246 6101 n CHESHIRE Deaf Society Tel 01606 47831 n CUMBRIA Deaf Society Tel 01228 606434 n LANCASHIRE (EAST) Deaf Society Tel 01282 839180 n MANCHESTER Deaf Centre Tel 0161 273 3415 n MERSEYSIDE Society for Deaf Tel 0151 228 0888 n ST HELENS: Deafness Resource Centre Tel 01744 23887 n WOLVERHAMPTON Centre for Deaf Tel 01902 420904 n N WALES Deaf Association, Tel 01492 542235

0

CARERS’ CENTRES

n ACCRINGTON Tel 01254 387 444 n BLACKBURN with DARWEN Tel 01254 688 www.bwdcarers.org n BLACKPOOL Blackpool Borough Council, Tel 01253 477 716 n CUMBRIA Carlisle.

Tel 01228 542 156 Penrith.

Tel 01768 890 280 Barrow-in-Furness.

Tel 01229 822 822 Kendal.

Tel 01539 732 927 Whitehaven, Tel 01946 592 223 n CHESHIRE Helpline: 0800 085 0307 n KNOWSLEY Tel 0151 549 1412 n LANCASTER Tel 01524 66475 n LIVERPOOL Tel 0151 705 2307 n MANCHESTER Tel 0161 835 2995 n MORECAMBE Tel 01524 833456 n PRESTON Tel 01772 200173 n RUNCORN Tel 01928 580182 n WIDNES Tel 0151 257 9673 n SALFORD Tel 0161 833 0217 n SEFTON Tel 0151 288 6060 n ST HELENS Tel 01744 675 615 n STOCKPORT Tel 0161 456 2808 n WARRINGTON Tel 01925 644 212 n WEST LANCS Tel 01695 711243 n WIGAN & LEIGH Tel 01942 683711 MIDLANDS n BIRMINGHAM Tel 0121 675 8000 n SOLIHULL Tel 0121 788 1143 n WALSALL Tel 01922 610 810 NORTH WALES n ANGLESEY Tel 01248 722828 n BANGOR Tel 01248 370 797 n CONWY Tel 01492 533714 n DENBIGHSHIRE: NEWCIS, Tel: 0845 603 3187 n DOLGELLAU Tel 01341 421167 n FLINTSHIRE: NEWCIS, Tel: 01352 751436 n WREXHAM: NEWCIS, Tel: 01978 310414.

Email your news to us at news@allltogethernow.org .uk

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

Bouncing with beans!

31

YOUR DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE TO THE 2012 PARALYMPICS ALL THE DATES, ALL THE ACTION

Here’s a good tip STAR wheelchair racer Nikki Emerson (pictured) is backing a new free guide that helps disabled people to take up sport.

Get Into Sport, published

by Leonard Cheshire Disability, helps people to choose a sport that is right for them – and gives tips on where to begin with their training.

Nikki said: “A few years ago I didn’t know exactly what sports I wanted to do or how to get started.

“Your goals might not be focused on winning medals, but sport and exercise can enhance your life in many different ways.”

Sarah Ball, at Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: “The number of disabled people taking part in sport is alarmingly low. This is largely because there is almost no information out there about the kinds of sport they can take part in, or support to help them get started.”

The guide can be downloaded from www.lcdisability.org/sport.

All Together NOW!

August/September 2012

Top that, say blind climbers

MARK Allen was full of beans when he claimed European gold and silver at table tennis – coffee beans, that is!

Mark, from Widnes, Cheshire, scored his double success in Holland despite having only 25% lung capacity and undergoing a knee operation 10 days before the event.

The Halton Table Tennis Club player was only touch and go for the tournament after the operation to remove inflammation from his knee.

But he was able to compete with the help of painkillers and strong coffee to counteract the drowsiness they caused!

The 40-year-old, who has cystic fibrosis and diabetes, took gold in the singles and silver in the doubles at the European Heart and Lung Transplant Games in Apeldoorn.

Stay ahead of the game

Now they’re set to reach new heights in Paris

B

LIND climbers took the British Para Climbing Championships by storm, winning four of the six medals awarded in London.

UP THE WALL: From left, clockwise: Jayne Massey, Marla Hornbrook, Joe Corner and Reanne Racktoo. Centre, Sam Bate-Johnson with guide dog, Rosie, and Andy Coltart

Sam Bate-Johnson, 17, from Southport and Reanne Racktoo, 15, from Bury, collected gold and silver, respectively, giving them a UK ranking of 2nd and 3rd behind the Para Climbing Champion, Fran Brown, 27, from London.

All three will now compete for the GB Climbing Team at the World Para Climbing Championships in Paris in September.

Andy Coltart, coach at the Liverpool-based OnThisRoc club, said: “We are very proud of the whole team and what they have achieved this year.

“We have received so much help and support since we started the club last year.”

If you would like to support the team contact Andy by email at andy@onthisroc.co.uk

Champion displays CHESHIRE Academy champion gymnasts Victoria Perez and Omar Haddad retained their titles at the British Gymnastics NDP Sports Acrobatics championships.

There was more success for Omar at the Northern Region Special Olympics where he picked up another seven golds.

In the Under 16 category, Sophie Hughes won four golds and a silver, while Elizabeth Cooper came away with five golds in the over 16 years category.

The female level 2 competition turned out to be a three-way competition between Academy gymnasts Felicity Martin, Tracey Jones, and Kirsty Robertson.

All three scored over 64 points with Felicity collecting an impressive 70.5 points to win the ‘All Round’ gold.

Tracey took silver and Kirsty claimed bronze.

The male gymnasts did equally well. In the under 12 group, the competition between Daniel Hughes and Joseph Dutton was especially close with Daniel winning the ‘All Round’ gold and Joseph taking silver – less than a single point behind. Bradley, the youngest of the three, gained bronze.

Billy Tew won seven straight golds (under 16), while veteran Neil Jones collected four golds.

. . . www.alltogethernow.org.uk

All Together NOW!

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August/September 2012

www.alltogethernow.org.uk

4,200 elite athletes from 165 countries set to invade the capital BLADE RUNNERS: ParalympicGB sprinters Jonathan Peacock, centre, and Richard Whitehead with Leeper Blake (USA) at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester earlier this year

GAME ON!

YOUR DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE TO THE GAMES p31

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ORTH West basketballers will play a key part in ParalympicGB’s bid for glory.

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TAND BY for the world’s biggest and best ever sporting event for disabled athletes . . .

The London 2012 Paralympic Games are about to send pulses racing as 4,200 athletes from 165 countries prepare for battle.

Lord Coe, chair of the organising committee for the Games, said: “The Paralympic Games are coming home and I’m confident that the whole country will get behind them.

“People will have the chance to see sport like never before, with world class athletes who challenge the notion of disability.

“It’s a huge opportunity for Paralympic sport to become part of the nation’s consciousness and finally, it will be a moment of extraordinary pride. A fitting end to what promises to be an amazing summer.”

Brothers in arms

LIVERPOOL brothers Mark, left, and Dan Powell follow in their dad’s (Terry) footsteps when they line up with the blind judo team

And big hopes are on Merseyside star and veteran of three Games Jon Pollock, who has recently returned to the squad after a shoulder injury.

Head coach Murray Treseder said: “We believe we have selected the strongest possible team to bring success in London 2012.

“There is one significant change to the team that won the European Championships with Jon Pollock’s inclusion after a nine month absence.

“We have been pleased with the progress we have made in the last few months and we know we have a lot of going for us.

TOP FORM: Jon Pollock ready for action “It’s also great to include four players in the squad who will be making their Paralympic debut in Ian Sagar, Dan Highcock, Gaz Choudhry and Matt Sealy.”

The men’s team has ambitions to win their third successive podium place, having already won bronze medals in Athens and Beijing.

The men’s full squad comprises: Abdi Jama (Liverpool); Matt Byrne (Nottingham); Peter Finbow (Dewsbury); Matt Sealy (Maidenhead); Ade Orogbemi (Liverpool); Jonathan Pollock (Wigan); Jon Hall (Chesterfield); Ian Sagar (Barnsley); Simon Munn (Peacehaven); Gaz Choudhry (Ealing); Terry Bywater (Cleveland); Dan Highcock (Liverpool) Meanwhile, Sarah McPhee (Preston) and Laurie Williams (Altrincham) are included in the women’s squad.

Gold in their sights – region’s athletes all set for London glory ARCHERY John Stubbs (Warrington); Richard Hennahane (Ellesmere Port); Danielle Brown (Telford); Leigh Walmsley (Warrington) ATHLETICS Men: Ola Abidogun (Bolton); Graeme Ballard (Chorley); Mickey Bushell (Telford); David Devine (Liverpool)

Women: Bev Jones (Shotton); Shelly Woods (Blackpool) CYCLING Men: Jon Allan Butterworth (Sale); Jody Cundy (Manchester); Neil Fachie (Altrincham) with Barney Storey (Disley); Anthony Kappes (Chapel-en-le-Frith) with Craig Maclean (Wilmslow); Rik Waddon (Chorley)

Women: Aileen McGlynn (Manchester) with Helen Scott (Halesowen); Sarah Storey (Stockport); Lora Turnham (Altrincham) EQUESTRIAN Lee Pearson (Staffordshire) FOOTBALL 7-a-side: George Fletcher (Everton); Matt Dimbylow (Northwich); Michael

Barker (Everton) 5-a-side: Darren Harris (Wolverhampton); Roy Turnham (Everton) SWIMMING Gemma Almond (Shrewsbury); Jack Bridge (Preston); Sean Fraser (Manchester); Heather Frederiksen (Leigh); Rhiannon Henry (Manchester); Natalie Jones

(Chorley); Daniel Pepper (Stockport); Natalie Massey (Stockport); Matthew Walker (Stockport); Louise Watkin (Leigh); Thomas Young (Manchester) TABLE TENNIS Victoria Bramley (Wolverhampton); Scott Robertson (Mancot) WHEELCHAIR TENNIS Jamie Burdekin (Liverpool)