|
Community
Who needs extended licensing hours? Doctors warn of tanning danger Apple Day – 21 October! Esther Maycock – the deaf footballer whose Christian faith guides her life WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY
Who needs extended licensing hours?
It is only a matters of weeks now before the law change permitting extended licensing hours comes into force [November] and the Church has added its voice to those opposing the change.
A spokesman for the Church of England recently confirmed that it “shares fully the serious concerns about the relaxation of the laws expressed by the police, judges and the medical profession.
“We cannot see how extending licensing hours through the night will help to reduce the high levels of alcohol abuse and binge drinking in this country, particularly among young people. It can only result in people drinking more and for longer.
“Often it is the Church which finds itself working with the victims of alcohol abuse and their families, and we are very concerned that these reforms will do nothing to improve their situation.”
While the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) welcomes the new powers given to the police by the Licensing Act, such as Drink Banning Orders, it also considers the hours extension unhelpful. Chris Allison, ACPO spokesman on licensing, says they have concerns “given the culture of excessive drinking that already pervades our society. However, we are never going to solve this problem through enforcement alone, as that only deals with symptom and not the cause. Meanwhile, the police service will have to divert more and more resources to deal with the increasing levels of drunken thuggery that blight our cities, towns and villages.”
Alcohol Concern, the national charity that helps people who become alcohol-dependent, agrees that a more punitive stance needs to sit side by side with one that encourages responsible behaviour. “This is only possible through raising awareness of the negative impact of excessive consumption, informing people about safe drinking and encouraging people to question their own drinking patterns,” said a spokesman.
The Government estimates that alcohol-related crime costs the UK£7.3 billion per year in terms of policing, prevention services, processing offenders through the criminal justice system and human costs incurred by victims of crime. One in five violent crimes takes place in or around pubs and clubs.
It is to be hoped that local authorities will make full use of their powers to refuse applications for hours extension which they think are against the public interest.
Doctors warn of tanning danger
The high incidence of skin damage caused by excessive sunbathing (or the use of sun beds in salons) is causing concern amongst health professionals. If you love the sun, were sunbathing all last summer, and enjoyed the tan that went with it, you could be at risk.
Mild sunburn which soon clears up is nothing to worry about. The thing to watch for is red or dark, scaly, patches or nodules that tend to appear on the backs of a persistent sunbather's hands or arms, or on heads that have not been adequately protected from the sun. Sometimes mistaken for eczema, this is probably solar keratosis and the lesions could potentially undergo malignant change over time. Most do not, but they can be painlessly removed and it is worth asking your GP to take a look.
Small lesions can be treated by freezing (this is usually done at the surgery). Sometimes affected skin is scraped off. Chemical peels can be used but may be painful and make the skin more sensitive. A new and simple treatment is a gel, marketed as Solarase and only available on prescription, which is often used as an adjunct to freezing. The active ingredients are the same as those in some gels used to treat rheumatism. Their value in treating sun-damage lesions was discovered by accident; it was noticed that when tennis players relieved painful joints with an anti-rheumatic gel, the scaly patches on their skin also cleared up! Research showed that this was not a coincidence.
So don't ignore those scaly patches. Have them checked out, just in case.
Apple Day – 21 October!
Editor: If you live in an apple-growing area, or have cider-lovers among your readers, you may want to remind them that it is Apple Day on 21 October. There is a web-site dedicated to it: www.commonground.org.uk/Apple_Day.html where you can get details of various events around the country. You might want to combine this with telling your readers of any cider-trails in your area.
Esther Maycock – the deaf footballer whose Christian faith guides her life
Esther Maycock loves football – nothing unusual about that. Esther is also deaf, which is a something of a challenge. Earlier this year, Esther's dream came true when she was selected to play for the GB football team in the Deaflympics in Melbourne in January 2005.
The Deaflympics is a sports event of some significance, with over 3000 athletes and officials from 75 nations participating. It has been on the calendar since 1924, the year Eric Liddell won his Olympic gold medal. There is also a Deaflymplic Winter Games – next one in 2007 in Salt Lake City.
Unlike other games for athletes with disabilities – such as the Paralympics and the Special Olympics, which are all directed by non-disabled officials, the Deaflympics are run by deaf people for deaf athletes.
Esther summed up the experience like this: “I had trained very hard over the last six months and I thank God that he protected me from injury and fulfilled my dreams with a bronze medal! It was a wonderful experience playing for my country, as well as doing my best for God”
How does Esther feel about being deaf? Does she blame God? “I don't really ever blame God for my deafness. I did blame God to start with for the knee injury I got when someone tackled me during a football match, just because I love sport and football so much. I don't think about my deafness as much as when I was younger. I thank God for being deaf and knowing him in my life, because I am able to show other people, whether they are hearing or deaf, how the Lord sees me through the difficult and the good times. As a deaf person I am able to communicate to deaf people in sign language so that they too can hear the gospel, and also help hearing people understand how to communicate with deaf people.
“Sometimes being deaf is frustrating, but not as much as before I became a Christian. Jesus has helped me to come to accept my deafness and healed my emotions and bad experiences. I look ahead in a positive way and particularly like the Bible verse; 'Forgetting the past and straining towards what is ahead...' Phil 3:13b.
“God gives me the patience to push through the difficult times and overcome my frustrations in communicating. I know that I am not alone and that God is with me wherever I go. When I became a Christian, I was given the verse 'Don't be afraid or discouraged, because I the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go' - and I still keep it as my favourite verse today”.
By Stuart Weir of Christians in Sport (www.christiansinsport.org.uk)
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY
When is it? Monday, October 10th
What is it? It is a day to highlight the worldwide problem of mental illness.
Why does it matter?
Mental ill health is a major global concern. According to the World Health Organisation it is projected to reach 15% of the global burden of disease by the year 2020, by which time depression will disable many more people than AIDS, traffic accidents, heart diseases and war combined.
Too often, people who are mentally ill are shunned by others who are afraid of them, or isolated from the community for their own protection. Even now, some mentally ill people, in countries such as India and Ghana, may be kept in chains and denied their basic human rights. Throughout the centuries, people have been feared and mocked, or even regarded as evil spirits. Such was the attitude when Jesus was on earth. He recognised their isolation, spoke to them without fear, and was able to calm their troubled spirits. We pray for that same healing influence now, on all who suffer from sickness of the mind and for those who have become victims of mentally disturbed people.
A charity called BasicNeeds is helping the mentally ill in developing countries. BasicNeeds works specifically with mentally ill people in developing countries, where there is a clear link between poverty and mental illness. The first essential is for people to be seen by a mental health professional, ensuring that they get the right medication – an opportunity that many have never had before, because they live in isolated areas and are too poor to travel. BasicNeeds and its local partners organise rural health clinics, where mentally ill people can be diagnosed and treated locally by visiting psychiatrists.
BasicNeeds also helps provide employment opportunities, so that once stabilised, mentally ill people can contribute to the family income, for instance through horticultural projects, and begin to overcome the stigma that their illness attracts. Many others, once treated, are able to return to their former jobs. This has a knock-on benefit for carers, many of whom are children, and for other family members.
This month, please remember in your prayers mentally ill people worldwide and those who are working to help them.
(Further information on the work of BasicNeeds can be obtained from Jane Cox, BasicNeeds, 158A Parade, Leamington Spa, Warks. CV32 4AE. Tel: 01926 330101. Email: jane.cox@basicneeds.org.uk Website: www.basicneeds.org.uk)
|