Motorists causing stress on the roads
PRINCE Harry’s campaign to end the stigma around mental health was born out of a car crash. Some 500,000 people have been killed in car crashes in the UK since the first pedestrian was killed in 1896.
Some 90 per cent of cycling casualties are caused solely by driver error. Millions of people fear cycling because they fear being killed. Why swap a cosy ‘padded steel shell’ for a polystyrene helmet?
The stress of walking, cycling and driving on UK roads, not least on the school run, should not be underestimated. The mental health bill for the NHS caused by road traffic casualties, congestion and ‘parking wars,’ must be astronomical.
Furthermore, Britain has the worst-congested roads in Europe. Experts have warned it will cost the UK economy more than £300bn over the next 16 years. It would surely make sense to have a petition to ‘introduce compulsory practical cycle training (Bikeability) as an integral part of the driving test. Allan Ramsay, Radcliffe
You can help save lives
THIS is an open letter to all ladies who, in the last few years, had the wonderful sense to give your umbilical cord blood to the charity ANTHONY NOLAN so they can use the stem cells inside to save someone else’s life from blood cancers like leukaemia.
They can also be used to carry on the fantastic research that is going on with interesting results into illnesses like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, etc.
Do you know 167 lives were saved last year by mothers giving their cord blood to this charity? For more details visit anthonynolan.org.uk. Mr David S Ball
Peace back in city centre
THE Friends of Manchester Peace Garden welcome the unveiling of the blue plaque to John Dalton outside the Ape and Apple (M.E.N. April 13).
It is the first of the memorials to be replaced from the former Peace Gardens in St Peter’s Square which were removed in order to build the new Metrolink line.
The much-loved Messenger of Peace sculpture and several commemorative plaques have been in storage since 2012. Sir Richard Leese announced in October that the Peace Garden would be relocated to Lincoln Square and the Friends are submitting ideas to the city council for making it a regenerated, welcoming place for all people to reflect on issues of conflict and peace.
We look forward to the restoration of the Messenger of Peace to the city centre in the same area as the Lincoln statue commemorates Manchester’s contribution to the campaign against slavery, just one of many elements towards creating a more peaceful world.
Lincoln Square also contains the Princess Diana memorial which recognizes her work leading to the International Treaty to ban antipersonnel landmines, which led to the Manchester-based Mines Advisory Group sharing the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Friends of Manchester Peace Garden
Pep has some work to do
WHEN analysing City’s season, two words come to mind – Roberto Mancini.
Pep Guardiola, the £15m-per-year man, started with five of Bobby Manc’s team in the FA Cup semifinal and two others were on the bench.
The men at the top, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, got the man they wanted – Guardiola. I hope they can explain to owner Sheikh Mansour why the football side of the club is going backwards.
Mancini finished second in the Premier League and took us to an FA Cup final – and got the sack! He did that knowing from Christmas of his last season that Manuel Pellegrini was getting his job!
What does fighting for a Premier League top-four place, losing a Cup semi-final and reaching only the last 16 in the Champions League get Pep?
A £250m war chest – better spend it wisely. Alan Carlisle, Swinton