Luxembourg links are celebrated
MARGARET THATCHER once said there was no such thing as society and surveys these days tend to agree.
Community spirit may be on the wane in modern Britain – but one place it has clearly not forsaken is the seaside town of Hornsea.
When the axe descended on the town’s minor injuries unit (MIU) last month – meaning a half-hour drive to the nearest urgent care centre in Beverley – locals people began rallying round.
Today a team of enthusiastic volunteers will don white tabards for the launch of Hornsea First Aid Centre, in the car park of the local Tesco, just in time for the summer influx of holidaymakers.
Retired midwife Rosie Bullard came up with the idea and even she has been a bit taken aback by the sheer outpouring of goodwill.
She said: “There is tremendous community spirit here. When it came up about closing the MIUs, the banks (the town’s remaining banks close next month) and the bus depot, I thought there is a lot of us around, what a waste of expertise, let’s set up a first aid centre.
“We started conception on February 9 with delivery on May 9 – three months from beginning to end.”
The last few days has seen a whirlwind of activity – training for the volunteers, who include a gardener, chartered accountant and a retail manager – and finishing touches to the mobile unit.
Mrs Bullard expects there to be lulls and busy periods: “We will be treating strains and sprains, grazes, bruises and stings.
“We are by the sea, so there will be things like weaverfish and jellyfish, and we will deal with bleeding – but nothing catastrophic.”
St Nicholas Church paid for the mobile unit from a company in Brandesburton, while Hornsea Biker Event, which runs a motorbike event in August, organised transportation. Self-employed builder Christopher Adams has been busy building a ramp for pushchairs and wheelchairs and putting up security bars in its windows. And Hull-based Yorkshire Medical Services also stepped in – a director’s grandparents run a local pub and wanted to help.
Mother of seven Elizabeth Adams is sure the first-aiders will come in handy: “My son broke his arm, the other broke his jaw on the skate park – the Cottage Hospital knew us on first-name terms I think! I think it is a great idea.”
Mayor Anne Padgett felt “utter dismay” at the plans to close the MIU. More than 25,000 people signed 21 petitions against the proposals by East Riding Clinical Commissioning Group, with many concerned about how they would get to the new urgent care centres, which have replaced three MIUs, including Hornsea.
It seems concerns were well placed, with rural bus services feeling the impact of cuts to subsidies. The 246 Sunday service from Hornsea to Beverley service has just been axed. Coun Padgett said many older people did not have a car: “How are people going to manage unless you have someone who can drive you, or a very good neighbour? Taxis are so expensive. It is so short-sighted. I really don’t know what would have happened if Rosie hadn’t come up with this idea.”
Students and staff from the University of Sheffield are celebrating their friendship with Luxembourg this month as part of an exhibition on its strong ties with the UK.
The exhibition highlights the historical, economic, cultural and community links between the two countries.
Sheffield is the only university in the world outside of Luxembourg to offer degrees focused on Luxembourg studies and where people can learn Luxembourgish, one of the country’s three official languages, from scratch.