Chipping in to help struggling families
DUO’S FOOD BANK CHALLENGE
A CHIP shop has been handing out free hot meals to families who are struggling during the pandemic.
Seaham Chippy’s manager Michelle Gray launched the scheme after seeing a woman on Facebook saying she was struggling to buy food.
Wanting to help, the mum-of-three contacted the woman offering her a free hot meal every day until she got paid.
After seeing first-hand how people are struggling to put food on the table, he chippy is now reaching out.
After posting her gesture online, Michelle has been overwhelmed by the response of generous people in her community wanting to buy meals for families in need. The chippy is offering a range of free meals including any of their lunchtime specials which will be available to collect or be delivered.
The shop is also planning to start to donate hampers with cheese, milk, potatoes, tins of beans, eggs and butter alongside hot meals to further support families.
Michelle, 31, said: “I know a lot of hardworking people who have worked all their lives and have never struggled who have lost their jobs, homes and forced to close their businesses as a result of the pandemic.
“It’s heartbreaking.”
If you would like to buy a family a meal or are a family who needs extra support contact Seaham Chippy on their Facebook page or call them on 0191 581 5287.
HOLIDAYMAKERS planning to jet off from Newcastle Airport may have to rethink their travel plans in the future because of the threat posed by climate change.
Scientists from Newcastle University have modelled the risk of disruption to flight routes as a result of increasing flood risk from rising sea levels.
They discovered even a modest sea level rise, triggered by increasing global temperatures, would place 100 airports below sea level by 2100.
Among the airports at risk are Amsterdam Schiphol and Ioannis Kapodistrias International on Corfu, both flight destinations from Newcastle Airport, while closer to home London City is also under threat.
Other airports in Europe which face being submerged include Venice Marco Polo and Pisa International in Italy, Rotterdam in Holland and Bremen in Germany.
For global travellers, Laguardia in New York, Newark Liberty in New Jersey, Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans, and Dunedin in New Zealand are among those which risk being submerged by rising sea levels.
Many of the rest are found in China, the Solomon Islands and in Southeast Asia.
Prof Richard Dawson and Aaron Yesudian of Newcastle University’s School of Engineering analysed the location of more than 14,000 airports around the world and their exposure to storm surges for current and future sea level.
The researchers also studied airports’ pre-covid-19 connectivity and aircraft traffic, and their current level of flood protection.
They found that 269 airports are at risk of coastal flooding now. A temperature rise of 2C – consistent with the Paris Agreement – would lead to 100 airports being below sea level and 364 airports at risk of flooding.
If global mean temperature rise exceeds this then as many as 572 airports will be at risk by 2100, leading to major disruptions without appropriate adaptation.
The team developed a global ranking of airports at risk from sea level rise, which considers both the likelihood of flooding from extreme sea levels, level of flood protection, and the impacts of flight disruption.
Prof Dawson said: “These coastal airports are disproportionately important to the global airline network, and by 2100 between 10 and 20% of all routes will be at risk of disruption.
“Sea level rise therefore poses a serious risk to global passenger and freight movements, with considerable cost of damage and disruption. Moreover, some airports, for example
in low-lying islands, play critical roles in providing economic, social and medical lifelines”
Adaptation options for coastal airports include increased flood protection, raising land and relocation.
Prof Dawson added: “The cost of adaptation will be modest in the context of global infrastructure expenditure. However, in some locations the rate of sea level rise, limited economic resources or space for alternative locations will make some airports unviable.”
However we seems to be safe in the North East. Prof Dawson said: “Newcastle Airport is approximately 81 metres above mean sea level and therefore definitely not at risk of coastal flooding now or under the worst case climate change scenario considered in the analysis.”
HORRIFIED to learn that some families don’t have enough to eat, these kind-hearted sisters were determined to do something to help.
After learning about food banks at school, little Tilly and Grace Taylor leapt into action to raise money, planning an entire community fete to support Gateshead Food Bank.
Despite their young age – Tilly is seven and Grace is five – the Blaydon pair spearheaded the planning of the event, approaching local businesses themselves to ask for raffle prizes.
But the philanthropic duo were devastated last year when, just two weeks before the event was booked, the first country-wide lockdown was announced, putting all their plans on hold.
But not even a pandemic could prevent this unstoppable pair from helping those in need.
They came up with a new plan, this time coming up with “lockdown challenges” they could complete from home in exchange for sponsorship money, with all the cash going to Gateshead Food Bank.
Tilly pledged to learn all her times tables up to 12 off by heart, while
Grace launched an
2,000 cartwheels.
Their fundraising page raised £250 in its first two days, and their total now stands at £425.
Mum Kalli, 34, dad Paul, 42, say they’re “super proud” of their daughters, who had made all the plans themselves.
Kalli said: “I remember back in October 2019 Tilly went to bed really upset, she said to me ‘it’s not fair’ and I was thinking, ‘oh, here we go’ and then she said: ‘some people in this world don’t have enough money to buy food and some children don’t
attempt
to do have any toys, and I want to raise some money to buy things for them’ – that’s how it started.”
Tilly said: “We just want people to have a little bit of a happier life, to have a little bit more food so that they can afford to get nice things that they want as well.”
Grace added: “We’re doing really well, I’ve already done 2,000 cartwheels so I’m going to do 1,000 more. Tilly only has the six, seven, eight and 12 times tables left to learn so I want to challenge her to do her 100 times tables next!”
Gateshead Food Bank project manager Jackie Beeley said: “Tilly and Grace have been so sweet, they are lovely little girls and I know their family must be so proud.
“We are incredibly busy at the moment, and all the money that’s donated goes straight into running the food bank. It’s a real community effort, and that’s what we love so much about the girls doing this.
“We are really grateful to them.” To donate to Tilly and Grace’s appeal for Gateshead Food Bank, visit: https://uk.gf.me/v/c/gfm/tillyand-graces-lockdown-challenge
A SHAMELESS thief snatched a crate of gin then tried to escape through a supermarket’s fire exit.
Brazen Michael Gregg walked into an Aldi store and grabbed the bottles of booze, worth £250, and two packets of sweets.
But the 37-year-old quickly drew the attention of staff and was followed by a deputy manager as he made his way through the shop.
Gregg then tried to make a dash for it through the store’s fire exit, setting off alarms in the process, a court heard.
However, he was stopped in his tracks by the deputy manager and detained while the police were called.
Now, Gregg, of Ashleigh Road, Denton, in Newcastle, has been fined £100 after he appeared in custody at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to one count of theft.
Sentencing him, District Judge Paul Currer said: “You have pleaded guilty, which is to your credit.
“It’s concerning you were apparently so desperate you thought you would take a whole crate of gin. That indicates you have difficulties in relation to alcohol or financial problems.”
The court was told that Gregg entered Aldi, on Stamfordham Road, in Newcastle, at around 12.30pm on February 16.
The deputy manager of the store soon spotted him after he was told by colleagues that there was a man acting suspiciously.
Prosecutor, Robert Lawson, said: “He saw a male carrying a bag and a crate of gin and some Haribo Starmix sweets, worth £250.
“The deputy manager saw the defendant then kick the push bar on the fire exit. The doors opened, causing the alarm to sound.
“The deputy manager took hold of the defendant’s arm and another colleague also helped restrain him and take him back into the shop.”
The court heard that Gregg had “several” previous convictions, the most recent being from December last year.
Alanna Wesencraft, defending, said Gregg had spent nearly 24 hours in custody since being arrested for the offence.
She added: “It’s an unsophisticated theft. He goes into the store, selects items and attempts to leave.
“There’s no loss to the store as the goods are recovered.
“In the past, Mr Gregg has had a number of difficulties but he’s trying to see a way forward and is hoping to get work.”
Gregg was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.
Many military personnel have come together to help speed up the vaccination programme, and 27-year-old Calum Macleod of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is just one of them. He was called upon by GMC (General Medical Council) Scotland to help set up sites in Glasgow that will be vaccinating more than 1,000 people each day.
“We at the Scots DG have been tasked with identifying and validating vaccination centres, and getting them up and running,” says Calum. “We’re doing anything from helping to lay flooring, to moving chairs and tables around. We’ve been on task now for just under two weeks.
When we take off the uniform at night we’re just regular people, and we want to get back to normal – going to the pub and seeing friends
“We’ve got 11 teams operational across Scotland,” he explains. “I’ve got eight people in my team in Glasgow, plus a reserve back in Leuchars. NHS Scotland has scouted out the key sites, and we go in with a checklist that involves assessing things like how big the car park is, and whether there’s enough space for the centre – to set out the number of vaccination cells that they want. Then there are issues like, where can we put the vaccination fridges? Is there good ventilation – not only in the hall, but in the room to keep the fridges cool?”
Each person involved in the vaccination programme has valuable skills to bring to the project, and their determination to work together and make a difference really shows.
“Every single organisation, whether that be NHS Scotland, the military, the local authorities or the contractors is bringing its own expertise,” says Calum. “The Army brings organisational capacity and a can-do attitude. It’s a vast effort by everyone involved. Then we’re helping to think outside the box; the Scots DG has had some experience working with this sort of military aid to civil authorities, as we were deployed earlier in the pandemic to construct mobile testing units.
“It was actually a similar situation there, where we would be given a site and then had to transform it from being in a car park or something like that into an actual operational centre where people could be tested. These have now been taken over by the Scotland Ambulance Service.”
MOVING FAST
And as the vaccination programme has shown so far, speed is of the essence – and with more than 10 million people across the UK already having received their first dose, things are moving fast.
“A large centre, like most of the ones in Glasgow that I’ve been working on, will handle 1,818 people per day – someone has really done the maths! I know some of the other guys have been working on extra-large ones whose capacity is even greater,” says Calum, who stresses how proud he is to be doing something for people in Scotland. “I’m from the local area so it feels really good to be getting these vaccinations out. A lot of my soldiers are also really happy and motivated to be helping communities across Scotland.”
Calum is well aware of the impor - tance of his and his team members’ efforts in helping everyone be able to return to normality.
“When we take off the uniform at night, we’re just regular people, and like everyone else we want to get back to our everyday lives – going to the pub at weekends, meeting friends in restaurants or parks,” he says.
“Partners and families have all been affected by this, so we just want to get everything back on track, and we’re more than happy to do our bit.”