by Matthew | Nov 1, 2007 | News
It’s not many more weeks now until the next Children’s Heart Week in February 2008. Children’s Heart Week 2007 was a great event for the Association with many local schools supporting us and around 500 children taking part in balloon launches and other fundraising and awareness activities.
Parklands High School, Chorley, raised £1,255.00; Highfields Primary School, Chorley, raised £125.00; Euxton Primary School, Chorley, raised £100.00; Christ Church Primary, Aughton, raised £418.74; St. John’s Primary, Southport, raised £298.00; Marshside Primary, Southport, raised £240.26; Crossens Nursery School, Southport, raised £74.67. See the Liverpool branch Autumn newsletter (CHA40-0011) for photos and to see what else the Association has been up to.
by Matthew | Apr 22, 2006 | News
February 12th 2006 saw the beginning of Children’s Heart Week. The www.childrens-heart-fed.org.uk and its member groups, including the Children’s Heart Association organised a week of exciting events to raise awareness and funds to support the needs of heart children and their families.
You can read more in our feature here.
by Matthew | Dec 1, 2005 | News
Members of the Association joined each other at Jodrell Bank observatory near Mancheser on the 12th November. It was a very enjoyable day.
It was cold but bright and sunny on Saturday, 12th November for our Children’s Heart Association trip to Jodrell Bank. The attraction here is the radio telescope and the visitor centre.
We met just after 11a.m. and looked around the small gift shop and the hands-on exhibition area. The displays included feeling the weight of baked beans cans on Jupiter, the Moon and the Earth and also drawing lines in a star shape by looking at it in a mirror. For the adults the science was explained and it was of interest on several levels.
Our f
irst arranged event was a talk by Eric. This took place outside so it was rather cool but Eric gave a very lively performance and kept us all amused. We were near the giant telescope and heard how Bernard Lovell (later Sir Bernard) had it built and tracked the first Russian rockets into space. It led the way then and today it is still at the forefront of space exploration following a refit.
Then it was inside to the 3D theatre where we went on a voyage to Mars. Wearing our special glasses we travelled through space and then flew close to the surface of Mars. Our guide pointed out the volcanic area in the north and a vast canyon that runs around much of the planet. Finally we landed at our space hotel on Mars. Again Eric was on hand and it was obvious that he loves entertaining visitors with facts and figures about the stars and planets.
By now we were all feeling quite hungry and ready for lunch in the Space Café. All the food is freshly cooked so we had to wait a while but there was a good choice of dishes and everyone was happy with their chosen meal: especially Jennifer Picton, who took great delight in biting the heads off her turkey dinosaurs! We sat and chatted for a while and then went outside for a walk.
We followed the path that goes partly round the telescope and were interested to see it being manoeuvred into a different position by a technician in a building nearby. He also receives all the information from the telescope. Birds of prey settle in the frame that supports the telescope and fly out to catch pigeons. We saw a kestrel flying around with a pigeon in its talons and Jordan took a photo of it. Finally we went to the children’s play area and the arboretum before ending our visit to Jodrell Bank.
Carol Shaw
If you would like to know more about the Jodrell Bank Observatory, please visit its website at www.jb.man.ac.uk.
by Matthew | Feb 1, 2005 | News
In the end, the Manchester Christmas Party did not go ahead. However, instead the Association organised a trip to the Lowry Theatre to see a pantomime. A great time was had by all.
by Matthew | Nov 1, 2004 | News
One rainy Sunday morning last September, around a dozen members of the Association joined Gill Hitchen as volunteer marshals at the Rossendale Valley Motor Bike Show.
We had been told to expect a lot of bikes but in the event ‘a lot’ was the greatest understatement I have come across in a long time. Thousands of bikes turned up (in spite of the rain) from all parts of the North West and far beyond. Our group was based at Winfields car park at Haslingdon. Our role to make sure the ride-in to Rawtenstall assembled safely before setting off en masse. In the event, the parade into Rawtenstall took nearly 25 minutes to pass – an awful lot of bikes.
Police estimated 50,000 people packed into Rawtenstall itself and had a great time enjoying in the afternoon sunshine all the bands, displays, stalls and events. If you want a much more comprehensive description of aspects of the Show, their website ‘www.rossendale-bikeshow.co.uk’ is well worth a look.
