Monday 8th August 2011

It was a bumper turnout as hundreds turned out to support the second Community Fair held by Tesco at their Lockoford Lane store.


The Mayor and Mayoress of Chesterfield stayed and chatted to all the stallholders and many of the visitors to the Fair

Over thirty charities and organisations held stalls to promote their causes, and attractions such as bouncy castles and fairground rides kept the children entertained. There were also food demonstrations and face painting.



Opened by renowned local Health Campaigner Wendy Watson and attended by the Mayor of Chesterfield the event was a successful follow up to last year's event held in what was, at the time, a new store.



Organisers, Jackie (above left) and Wendy (above right) from the store were thrilled with the support on the day, "I'm over the moon! It's been fantastic and the weather has held out."


Emergency Services and Help for Heroes, climbing walls, bouncy castles, roundabouts, the Irish Colliery Band - they were all there to join in the fun.

"Today's about raising the profile and allowing the charities to network amongst each other to make the public aware of what they do. It's a great turnout - very worthwhile and fantastic. Hopefully we'll get the chance to do it again next year!"


'Fishy Feet' and 'Haribo Bear' had a swordfight with the help of Wingerworth Fencing Club

Music was provided throughout the day by the wonderful Ireland Colliery Brass Band (below) who entertained all the Community Fair visitors while raising money for various charities ...



... while DJ's Johnny 'D' and DJ Rose (both pictured left) from JR Entertainments, dressed as his 'n' hers pirates for the day and kept the Tesco shoppers informed of what was happening from the Car Park side of the fair.

They also cheered up everyone's grocery trips with plenty of 80's, 90's and noughties music!

We managed to grab a chat with some of the Charities there and turn the spotlight on what they do.

NATIONAL HEREDITARY BREAST CANCER HELPLINE

Wendy Watson (left), a local Charity Campaigner and Tesco's 'Mum of The Year' opened the event, and was also there as founder of the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline which she set up in 1996 to support women who find that they carry a gene which may give them a higher chance of developing the disease.

After cutting the ribbon, she told The Chesterfield Post how proud she was of the title and her pride in being rewarded for her tireless work as a health campaigner, "It was a big thrill, and excellent to get the recognition for the helpline I set up 15 years ago, which is still the only one in the world that deals with Hereditary Breast Cancer. We have 27 people trained up, groups across the whole of the UK and a group just set up in Northern France. We run 24 hours a day and I get 200 mails a day.

"People have a difficult decision - not just 'do I have a test?'. If they do and it says they have a 90% chance of getting Breast Cancer then they have a really difficult decision to make and you need to talk to someone who knows what difficult decisions are facing you."

The statistics are frightening, "One in every 200 women carry a gene which gives a high risk of developing Breast Cancer and, if you're found to carry that, a mastectomy is an option - others are to be screened regularly and there are drugs that are being trialled, but, the only certain way is the surgery route, but the technology is much better and the results are aesthetically pleasing."

As well as working full time in championing the helpline, Wendy has just written her first book in which she details her battle and journey. It's due out on the 16th October and already has a couple of well known names behind it, "Elton John has kindly given me permission to use the title 'I'm still standing' as my friends all say that should be my theme tune! Linda Robson ('Birds of a Feather') has written the foreword too as she was on the judging panel for the Tesco award and has written that, out of 6,000 nominations, their decision to choose me was unanimous.

"Tesco have also been great - helping me to find a publisher. It will hopefully inspire people. I've written about the comical side of it too - some of the things I've been through are amazing and I've written about how I've managed to get through them."

ABLE DISABLED

Other Charities represented were Able Disabled, a group trying to set up access for disabled people to buildings around the county. They also run a course called 'Course for Confidence' which helps disabled persons, their friends and carers to find ways of doing things they did before they became disabled.



Dawn Campion (above left) was representing the Charity and she told us "We have already done 5 buildings in Cotmanhay and Ilkeston with funding though the council. If there are buildings which need accessing by disabled people then we can look at ways to change it. We are trying to get Lottery Funding at the moment to try and get enough money to get courses up and running 12 times a year."

Dawn says that it's a huge and varied need, "Disabled people find it hard, sometimes they can't physically get past steps, or if there's loud music at a venue then a hearing impaired person may not be able to hear so it's looking at noise levels. It may be looking at lighting at venues so people don't trip. It may be people who have just become disabled and need help getting used to sticks or equipment. At the moment the Disability Act is there but it's only on paper - there's no one checking it's being implemented. Anyone who need to can contact me via our Facebook page."

SANDS CHESTERFIELD

One of the newest Charities in Chesterfield is Sands and they were there launching a new helpline today, THE CHESTERFIELD SANDS HELPLINE - 07432 387725

A national charity which deals with stillbirth and neonatal loss, the local group was set up after a group of mums who lost babies found their nearest group was in Derby.

Emma Sheppard and Nikki Whelan were representing the charity and told us, "Groups are held the first Tuesday of every month at the new fire station near B&Q, everyone in the room has lost a baby, all at different stages and it feels comfortable being around people who've been through the same.

"We're not trained counsellors but we've had some training. People can come to the group and say as much or as little as they want. If they just want to sit, they can - but we do 'one to ones' so anyone who wants to talk, can. It's for dads and families too, they need to talk as well and feel the loss as keenly as the mum."

They added that their main aim at the event was to, "Launch a helpline - people can talk on the phone which Tesco has donated. The new helpline number is 07432 387725 - If anyone needing to talk calls us, they can leave a message and we will call them back as soon as we can."

Again the numbers are scary, with Emma saying, "Nationally, 17 babies a day die, not counting the earlier miscarriages. It's hard - if you have a baby, you have a Midwife, Health Visitor, and sometimes Social Services, but if your baby dies then once you're physically well yourself, there's nothing."

The recent high profile and tragic losses of Lily Allen, Kelly Brook and Amanda Holden have highlighted the cause, say the ladies and people talk about it more, "It was a taboo subject but now friends and families see these ladies talking about it and realise that we need to talk about it."

Emma told us, "Despite undoubted changes in attitude, there is still a need to change perception and understanding around stiilbirth and neo natal deaths.

"We're not depressed - we're grieving and need some support - my babies died, my world has completely changed and I don't know how to cope with that."

Chesterfield Sands Helpline - 07432 387725

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