“Bus Pieter” by Carola Van Duiven
At Transaid there is a philosophy. Access to transport improves the quality of life. A poor transport infrastructure can and does damage the health, finances and morale of the people affected. The solution is access to better training and financial aid.
Amanda@psvdrivers spoke to a representative at the CV Show earlier this year, “HRH Princess Royal basically said, ‘right, you lot in transport can help, what are you going to do?’” Perhaps Her Royal Highness was more eloquent than that but it sums up the beginnings of Transaid. HRH realised that over 25% of the Save the Children budget was being spent on transport and could be better spent if they had access to the services and skills of the transport industry.
The specialist knowledge of the Transaid members helps to build the infrastructure from within the country, rather than from a desk on the other side of the world. The network of members and their experience is the key to the project being a success. The practical approach by Transaid is what makes this scheme one of the most successful in the world.
This year, Transaid has helped to design & build a motorcycle ambulance trailer for emergency transport for pregnant women in Nigeria and is putting in place a transport management system in the Ministry of Health in Kenya to enable its vehicle fleet to reach more people. It hopes to implement a similar system in war torn Sierra Leone.
It is also developing professional driving standards in Zambia and Malawi. At the moment, driving is seen as a career of last resort than a profession, pay is low, inefficiencies make the cost of transporting for trade and industry expensive, and poor driving skills contribute to the horrific road accident rate. The ultimate aim of Transaid's work is to give people better work opportunities and to bring down the costs of freight and passenger transport to make services more available and affordable.
“Transaid has been built on the knowledge that skilled people make transport work. It’s up to us to find ways to build those skills where they’ll make the most difference and to continue to harness the skills of the best in the transport industry.”
Please take a few minutes out of your day to have a look at their website. http://www.transaid.org to see if there is anything that you can do to help.
Chernobyl Children’s Project
On April 26th 1986 an explosion happened the Nuclear plant on the borders between the Ukraine and Belarus. Tons of radioactive material was pushed into the air. 70% of these materials were blown North over the population of Belarus. Over a quarter of the country’s forests and more importantly, farmland, have been poisoned as a result of this terrible disaster. This poison will not leave the ground for over 500 years. Caesium and Strontium contaminate the rural areas of these once beautiful and thriving countries. If the land is contaminated with Plutonium the area is uninhabitable forever. Most of the towns and villages have been declared ‘Ecological Disaster Areas’. Cancer has increased in children by 100 times, diabetes, heart conditions, digestive problems and birth defects have also increased.
For more information on this cause please go to www.chernobyl-children.org.uk
Frinton Fun for the Chernobyl children
On August 9th 2006, the Children’s project and the Witham lions organised a trip to Frinton. Some of these children have never seen the sea or touched the sand, so the Lions decided it was time!
AC Ross UK LTD, a local company supplied the 3 buses to take the children from Wickham Bishops in Essex to Frinton for the day.
I spoke to Keith Plaister about the trip and asked him a few searching questions! Here is what Keith had to say….
Amanda E Smith
The Chernobyl disaster happened twenty years ago yet it is still fresh in many people's minds. How can we keep this appeal fresh so that people do not forget what these people have to live with?
Keith Plaister
The disaster at Chernobyl happened 20 years ago. Advertising the work of the Project is a continuing problem, but the presence of children on holiday locally each year does help keep the issue in some kind of limelight. They live in the southern part of Belarus, which was particularly badly affected by the disaster, and is likely to remain badly polluted by radio-activity for decades to come
AES
The trip organised to Frinton, who organised the day?
KP
It was my wife, Heike, who organised the event with help from other leaders in our Mid-Essex group, the Frinton Free Church and the Witham Lions who I believe financed the coaches.
AES
Did the children enjoy the trip? What were their thoughts about the day in general?
KP
The children come from a land-locked country, so none of them had seen, let alone bathed, in the sea, and they simply loved swimming at Frinton.
AES
Did the sun come out after the overcast start to the day?
KP
The sun came out, the tide was just right, and its ebbing allowed the children to have great fun in the sand.
AES
When and where is your next event?
KP
The Frinton trip was the last event in this year's holiday apart from their final party on Thursday. They were taken back to Gatwick for their flight and long coach journey of 5 hours to their home town in southern Belarus on Friday. Next year's holiday will begin to be organised at our next meeting - open to anyone interested in helping - at Wickham Bishops Church extension at 8pm on Thurs 5th October.
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AES
How can people donate to this worthy cause?
KP
Financial help is always welcome, of course. It will cost £7000 to bring 16 children over next year.
Cheques can be made payable to Chernobyl Children's Project (UK) and sent to me at
The Rectory, Sandon, Chelmsford, CM2 7SQ.
AES
Is there anything, apart from donations, that people can do to help the Children's project?
KP
Anyone interested in helping with either hosting, leading an event, or helping to raise funds would have their offer received with gratitude. They could telephone me - 01245 472262 - or email keithplaister@hotmail.com
AES
Thank you for talking to PSVDrivers Keith, I hope I can come down next year and take some more fantastic pictures.
KP
Thank you very much for your interest and support.
So that was Keith Plaister, and as he says, anyone willing to give their time and effort to help this incredibly worthwhile cause just let him know, or you can email Amanda@psvdrivers.com adding the header Children’s Project.
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Fair Play for Children
None of us like to think about our children needing hospice care. It is every parents nightmare to find out that their child is suffering from a terminal illness but for some families this is an every day reality. Fair Play For Children is a website dedicated to raising awareness to get the best hospice care for these children; the majority of their support comes from public. A very small and unpredictable amount of Government help is received but it is not enough to keep these places open and providing the care these children so desperately need.
We at psvdrivers support their campaign and ask you to do the same. They are NOT asking for money, just support, and there are several ways you can do this. These suggestions are from an email sent to me by Louise Rodwell, associate Director for the Fair Play scheme.
Fair Play Pledge Postcards: Making a difference by mail
Fair Play are able to send you two pledge postcard designs. Simply tick the box, stick on a stamp, and pop in a post box. Potential ways to distribute these postcards include:
- To friends, family and members of your local community
- At company events or internally to all your colleagues
- Displaying at your local shop, post office, sports club or anywhere else you feel is appropriate
If you feel you are able to distribute pledge postcards, please send a request to the
Fair Play team on 020 8939 2490 or email info@fairplayforchildren.org.uk.
Distribute the Fair Play email alert
The Fair Play email alert is a quick and easy way of telling your friends, workmates and family about the campaign and directing them to ‘click’ and show their support on our website, www.fairplayforchildren.org.uk
Simply send the email with a click of a button to all those in your address book!
More Fair Play online opportunities
Encouraging everyone to ‘click and pledge’ their support for Fair Play is critical to the success of the campaign. To make this even easier to do, the Fair Play team has developed a website banner and email boilerplate, both of which can be utilised on your own website and emails, or that of your workplace.
Easy-to-use instructions for both Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Express systems are available, so please contact the Fair Play team if you are interested in supporting us in this way.
Write to your local MP
Raising issues with your local MP is a good way of generating a change in government priorities, and ultimately policy. Perhaps you could write a letter to your local MP on behalf of the Fair Play for Children’s Hospices campaign, to highlight the need for sustained, long-term government funding of children’s hospices. Please visit www.parliament.co.uk to find the contact details of your local MP.
Get in touch with your local children’s hospice
A number of local children’s hospices will be undertaking targeted regional Fair Play campaigns. You could get in touch with your local children’s hospice to offer your support. Please contact the Fair Play Helpline on 020 8939 2490 or email info@fairplayforchildren.org.uk for details of a regional Fair Play campaign nearest to you.
Involve your workmates and become a Fair Play corporate partner
As a Fair Play corporate partner your company’s logo, with a link through to your website, will appear on the ‘Campaign Champions’ page of the Fair Play website (www.fairplayforchildren.org.uk). Additionally, we will acknowledge your support in our monthly campaign newsletter, Fair Exchange.
I plan to hand out postcards at the next major rally I attend, and so could you! Get your fellow drivers, friends and family involved. Choose a local hospice to raise money for and let the Fair team know. Help them to help the thousands of families that are affected each year. It is small things that make the biggest differences.
Amanda Smith PSVDrivers.COM
