Charity and Voluntary Sector
CO: An army of dedicated young people will spend a 750,000 hours helping their communities to tackle the social problems that matter most to them under National Citizen Service 2012, the Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude announced recently.
AUK: The Care & Support Alliance, a coalition of 60 organisations representing disabled, older people and their families, has launched the first ever online interactive lobby, to support a traditional mass rally of parliament which took place on 6 March 2012.
The twobby & lobby will apply parliamentary pressure, as campaigners tell their MPs that the care system is in crisis, and that families across England urgently need funding & reform to help care for loved ones.
CRUK: More than three quarters of people asked to list possible warning signs & symptoms of cancer failed to mention pain, coughing or problems with bowels or bladder according to a Cancer Research UK report, Delay Kills.
But even when people recognised signs they thought might be serious the survey found that nearly 40% said they might delay getting symptoms checked out because they were worried what the doctor might find. And more than 25% might delay because they feared wasting the doctor’s time.
BHF: A new drug aimed at helping people with chronic heart failure has been approved for use in the UK. Ivabradine has been licensed following a study of chronic heart failure patients involving more than 6,000 people. The drug could help improve both symptoms of heart failure and a patient’s quality of life where other drugs have failed.
BIG: Communities across England are receiving funding from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to jump start detailed planning for more sustainable living. Fuel poverty, rising food prices and scarce resources are just some of the issues in the sights of BIG’s Communities Living Sustainably programme. It aims to inspire people to adapt the way they live, work & connect together to reap financial, environmental & health gains.
No 10: Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton, recently visited Clapton Girls’ Academy in Hackney to present Linklaters with the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award for its ‘Learn for Work’ programme. Through the programme employees of the law firm work with children at local schools to help develop the aspirations, skills & experience they need to fulfil their potential.
DUK: Only a fifth of young adults aged 16 to 24 with diabetes receive the recommended care checks for their condition, according to research presented at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference 2012. This poor management of diabetes in young adults increases the chance of life-threatening complications later in life: Diabetes UK are therefore urging the NHS to do more to stop young adults with diabetes falling through the gap between children’s and adult healthcare services.
DFID: Britain is to establish a new rapid response network of top UK-based businesses & charities to provide emergency relief when major international crises hit - such as floods, famines and earthquakes. The network, called the Rapid Response Facility, will mobilise life-saving support in the critical hours following a humanitarian disaster, Andrew Mitchell said recently.
