Dowding Solicitors Limited

Heritage Weekend9th and 10th September

St Peter’s Church, Thornton will be open during the weekend of 9th and 10th September to visitors.

Come and explore our lovely Grade 1, historical church for yourselves.

There is no charge though refreshments will be available to purchase

The church will be open as follows:

• Saturday - from 10 am to 5pm

• Sunday - from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Ride & Stride Saturday 9th September

RIDE AND STRIDE raises money through sponsorship for your chosen church and Leicester and Leicestershire’s Historic Churches Preservation Trust.

You may walk, ride or drive to some of the 400 churches and chapels open 9th September, St Peter’s church, Thornton is one of them.

Contact Shirley for sponsorship forms, a list of churches taking part and more information on 01530 230 422.

Went into a pub and asked if they did hot chocolate. The barman said “I’ll give it a go. It started with a kiss….”

Gambling addiction, also known as pathological gambling or gambling disorder, is something that can affect people from all walks of life. What starts as a harmless hobby can quickly turn into an obsession, with serious consequences on players’ relationships, work, finances and mental health.

So, how exactly does gambling affect the brain?

The allure of gambling lies in the potential for rewards. In a similar way to drugs and alcohol, gambling stimulates the brain’s reward system, which is primarily concerned with immediate gains. Each ‘win’ triggers a release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter that makes you feel excited. It doesn’t take long for your brain to connect that sensation with the act of gambling. After a while, the brain begins to build up a tolerance for dopamine, pushing gamblers to take bigger risks to achieve the same high.

Interestingly, our bodies even produce this neurological response when we lose. This is in part a clever design of many modern gambling websites and machines. For example, many machines will light up and make sounds even when a player has lost money, disguising losses as wins. This means that once the thrill of the moment takes over, it can be difficult to know when it’s time to stop playing.

When you factor in this cognitive distortion, not to mention humans’ natural desire for material possessions, it’s no wonder gambling is as addictive – and as dangerous – as tobacco, drugs and alcohol. This raises the question: why is gambling treated so differently by the media? Unlike cigarettes and alcohol, which face strict regulations and bans on advertising, the gambling industry enjoys relatively lenient restrictions. One potential reason for this is the illusion of gambling as a personal choice. Unlike

COFFEE is good for you

IF YOU LIKE COFFEE, then this is good news: it seems that coffee is quite good for you. For one thing, coffee contains chemicals called polyphenols, which protect against inflammation in the body and which repair damage to cells.

substances that directly harm the body, gambling addiction is often seen as a behavioural problem, placing the burden of responsibility on the individual. Then there’s the enormous revenue generated by the gambling industry, which makes it difficult to implement stricter regulations that could damage its profitability. Fortunately, although gambling addiction can be difficult to tackle, there is help at hand. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with the financial and/or health implications of gambling, you can reach out to the following support groups:

GambleAware

GambleAware provides information, a 24/7 helpline and online chat to help people make informed decisions about their gambling, and show them where to go for further support.

GamCare

GamCare runs the 24/7 National Gambling Helpline and also offers face-to-face counselling.

The National Centre for Behavioural Addictions

If you live in England or Wales, are aged 13 or over, and have complex problems related to gambling, you can refer yourself to the National Problem Gambling Clinic.

NHS Northern/Southern Gambling Service

The NHS Gambling Service provides specialist addiction therapy in the north and south of England.

Gamblers Anonymous

Gamblers Anonymous runs local support groups that use the same 12-step approach to recovery from addiction as Alcoholics Anonymous. There are also support groups for friends and family.

One study, known as the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (Epic), found that people who drank more coffee were less vulnerable to a range of chronic illnesses. Another study, at the University of Verona, found that it can help prevent a toxic protein called tau from clumping together – which might help in fighting Alzheimer’s.

Coffee drinkers have also been found to have different species of bacteria in their gut microbiomes, compared with non-coffee drinkers. This is believed to be one of the strongest protective factors against colorectal cancers.

Harvard University recommends two to five cups of coffee daily, and the NHS recommends that no more than about two and a half cups of coffee are consumed in one sitting, and no more than five cups per day.

Portion creep

BET YOU didn’t notice this, but dinner plates have got bigger.

In the 1950s, a dinner plate measured 25cm across; now the usual is 28cm. And take a look at those very old wine glasses in the charity shops: our grandparents served wine in what looks like liqueur glasses to us now. These days, many wineglasses seem to hold nearly half a bottle….