Final Design has been chosen.Congratulations Benn :-)

The design that we have now chosen is this one designed by Benn Perry of the West Notts College. Slightly "tweeked" by my good friend and Co-pilot Glen Place :-).

Benn's design is now in the process of being cut ready for the application to the now bare (!) Scalett (I removed her old graphics last weekend...ooeerr!).

Many thanks to all of the students who submitted a design for the project, you should all be very proud of yourselves, and I am sure that you will all go on to be very successful in your future career's in the graphic design industry. Just remember to include this challenge in your future CV's :-).

The wheels, as mentioned earlier, are still not confirmed yet, but other than that, this is what Scarlett will look like during her stint as the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Promotional car.....

Looking Great don't you think ?

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A possible lead on the hunt for new Wheels maybe?

I popped over to Heckington today to have a chat with a guy called John who is trying to secure some new alloy wheels for the 2010 project.He has "connections" with a manufacturer (who's name will remain secret until a deal is struck!) and feels that there is a good chance of them donating a set or two to the cause.

John has a business refurbishing alloy wheels and suggested the possibility of securing some new "shoes" for Scarlett during a recent telephone conversation. Fingers crossed this foray into securing a supplier may soon turn up something good !

Halifax Bank Robbers.Take from the poor to pay the rich !

(.Published Date: 27 February 2010)

"LLOYDS' 6,000-strong army of Halifax staff in Calderdale will all get bonuses worth hundreds of pounds – despite the bank running up a massive £6.3 billion loss.

An employee on £25,000 a year can expect up to £1,000, providing performance targets are met.

The bank is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer after its takeover of HBOS.

Yet hours after announcing huge losses for the second year in a row, a spokesman revealed rank- and-file staff would be rewarded again this year".

Now,let me tell you a story................

A lady that I know was telling me about a situation that she has found herself in recently involving the Halifax Bank.

She receives about £150 per month in family allowance, and this is paid directly into her Halifax current account.She had a very modest £25 overdraft set up for those times when there is too much month left at the end of the money, and everything was going fine.

Imagine her surprise then when she received a letter from the Halifax bank advising her that because she had exceeded her £25 overdraft by £2.70 (yes, 2 pounds and seventy pence!), they were going to charge her....£5 per day until she took it down to within the pre-arranged figure of £25!. Even after she gets the figure down to £25 she is still going to be charged £1 per day until the overdraft is cleared completely.

Now I understand that the banks are a business, and I also understand that customers are made aware of possible charges, but £5 per day seems a little excessive for a £2.70 "oversight".

The bottom line of this story is that this lady is now facing a £55 bank charge in April....one third of her family allowance is going to be swallowed up by those lovely people at the Halifax.

What makes it more despicable is the fact that this is a company who have recently been bailed out of financial ruin by the humble taxpayers of the UK because THEY could not control their own finances and were responsible in part for the recent melt down of the finances of the country, and now it appears that they have found a very nice way of thanking those same tax payers by slamming them with excessively unfair charges. Also noteworthy is the fact that (by pure coincidence of course!) this is the same bank that is making a big noise about the fact that they will "reward" people who pay in £1000 per month by giving them...yes, you guessed it...£5!.

Surely this is indeed then what could be termed as a "Reverse Robin Hood" policy,taking from the poorer souls in our society and using these ill gotten gains to line the pockets of the better off,not to mention giving their staff generous bonuses!.

"Get a little extra help with the Halifax"...I somehow don't think so.

"If money is the root of all evil,then surely the banks must be the metaphorical "tree" that they are attached too......and they probably have a "branch" near you!"

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this post, please join the Facebook group and tell us your story.Follow this link to join:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4796947231

An article about this story:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/savings-and-banking/bank-charges/article.html?in_article_id=492223&in_page_id=507

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Scirocco Limo for a wedding anyone ?

Streeeeeetttttccchhhhhh........

Saw an interesting Rocco on the owners club website today.How cool is this ?......:-)

Leukaemia Charity cuts hair and raises over €30,000

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TEAMS of teachers, children and employees from various organisations raised over €30,000 for a Leukaemia charity in a sponsored head-shaving event in Nicosia yesterday.

Thirty eight people, divided into 14 teams, competed to raise the most sponsorship at the event, held the Da Capo Cafe on Makarios Avenue in aid of the Leukemia Charity Challenge4Life.

Da Capo's team came first, followed by Phileleftheros newspaper in second, and the Ministry of Health in third, all raising undisclosed sums for the charity.

Health Minister Christos Patsalides and Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou also attended the event

The two-member University of Nicosia team with English teachers Katherine Fincham-Lewis and Mike Hadjimike raised almost €2000. Fincham-Lewis said "I did it because it is a really good cause, and an event like this helps to involve the kids at a grass roots level. This is much better than simply donating to a charity."

To read more click HERE to view the Cyprus Mail Website.

For more information about the charity and future challenge events, visitwww.challenges4life.org.cy

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New hope in treatment of childhood leukaemia

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Zurich researchers have found a new treatment approach which they hope will help young leukaemia patients who don’t respond to conventional therapies.

Leukaemia is a malignant disease of the blood and bone marrow, which accounts for a third of childhood cancers.

Despite great progress in leukaemia treatment, recurrence of the disease is common. Treatment in these cases is often challenging because of the resistance of the cancer cells to the drugs currently available. Modern treatment processes are still very long and hard for the affected youngsters.

The Zurich University Children’s Hospital team, led by Jean-Pierre Bourquin, conducted their research around acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most frequently occurring form, of which there are up to 70 cases a year in Switzerland and up to 1,000 cases in Europe.

“By learning in international cooperative studies how to combine available chemotherapeutic agents, we have made incredible progress with the treatment of childhood leukaemia in the last 30-40 years, so that we can now cure more than 80 per cent of cases of ALL,” Bourquin told swissinfo.ch.

“But we still have a sub-group of patients that are resistant to whatever we do for them and we urgently need new kinds of treatments.”

These can be first timers or relapsed patients, he added.

Bourquin and his group investigated a substance called obatoclax mesylate and found a positive result: it actually lowered resistance when used in conjunction with chemotherapy.

To Read more click HERE to view the swissinfo.ch website.

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Warning over possible cancer risk from stem cell therapy

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Experts fear that a Victorian man with leukaemia may be the first Australian ''infected'' with cancer after treatment at a private overseas stem cell therapy centre.

Stem cell specialists and patient support groups are calling for more public education about the dangers of such services, saying they get hundreds of calls a year from people considering using them - and the numbers are rising.

The companies advertise on the internet and via local information sessions, offering injections of foetal stem cells and stem cells extracted from the patient's spinal cord. They claim to treat conditions such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autism and spinal injury.

Private, largely unregulated clinics in Asia and Europe charge tens of thousands of dollars plus travel costs. However few have published, clinical proof of their efficacy, relying instead on slick websites and individual testimonies.

Advocacy groups for people targeted as possible clients will meet in Canberra today to discuss how to protect people from being emotionally and financially exploited.

The stem cell treatments ranged in quality and safety but very few, if any, offered genuine hope, said Dr Kirsten Herbert, a hematologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC).

''One man in Queensland paid $40,000 for a treatment [at a private German clinic] and was told he needed two or three more [visits] for a treatment that I cannot imagine, even with the most blue-sky open mind, could have helped him,'' she said.

''But they will take his money and not do anything to look after him when he leaves. If we practised a treatment like that we would be disbarred.''

Dr Herbert plans next month to investigate the case of a Victorian man being treated for leukaemia, which was diagnosed after his recent return from overseas stem cell therapy.

She said it was difficult to prove a link, but there was an international precedent: in February the journal PLoS Medicine reported the case of a teenage Israeli boy who developed brain tumours from experimental stem cell injections at a Russian clinic. Dr Herbert said cancer was a rare but possible side-effect of experimental stem cell therapy. ''Most stem cells grow in a culture that is exposed to proteins and hormones that encourage growth, and cancer is out-of-control growth, so these cells have a greater potential to cause cancer,'' she said.

Other risks included contamination from animal products used in laboratory processing of the stem cells, which could introduce Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Some clinics also instructed patients to go on medication to suppress their immune systems, with potentially dangerous side-effects. ''They don't follow these patients up,'' Dr Herbert said. ''They prescribe and wave goodbye without any duty of care.''

The financial and emotional risks to patients were just as great, Dr Herbert said. ''Most likely, the treatment you are going to receive is not going to work.'' It was important not to demonise people who sought these cures, but instead to help them find the right advice.

Patient advocacy groups are meeting stem cell experts in Canberra today to discuss a co-ordinated approach to public education on overseas experimental treatments.

The ASCC is about to release a patient handbook to help people critically analyse stem cell treatments. It has a list of questions to ask before signing up.

Source: The Age.com.au © 2009 Fairfax Digital (23/11/09)

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Risks 'taken' in illegal cord blood collections

Parents, hospitals and private firms are being warned over risky and illegal collections of umbilical cord blood.

The Human Tissue Authority said if proper guidelines were not followed samples may be contaminated and safety compromised on maternity wards.
The regulator has received reports of untrained and unlicensed people taking the blood - with one sample even obtained in a hospital car park. The blood is sought because of its potential role in combating disease. It is a rich source of stem cells, which are used to help treat diseases such as leukaemia.

But some believe the potential of stem cells goes much further. Stem cells can been used to create many different types of tissue and, in theory, could be used to repair and replace damaged organs as well as treating diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to cancer.
Due to the growing interest in the issue, the HTA started regulating cord blood collection in July 2008. Since then its routine monitoring of sample collection has raised some worrying findings, according to the regulator.

To read the full story click HERE to visit the BBC Health Website.

But what is Cord Blood and how is it used?Watch this to find out :-)





Liquid Gold ? Oh no, this is far more precious than that.
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Joel by mum Ann Spence

The story of Joel Spence, by his mother Anne.

Jan 1st 2005 was when my husband, family and I got told that Joel had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Joel was so very poorly at this point, and we didn’t know whether to cry with relief because at last we knew something was wrong with him, he was rushed to Queen’s medical centre.

Weeks before diagnosis, my local GP had repeatedly told us Joel just had a virus but I knew something was seriously wrong with him. None of the doctors would believe me then, and nor did I realise I would be thinking “my child now has cancer”
I always remember thinking to myself I would wake up in a short while, and that it was all a dream, but sadly later that day we were going to be another number on a children’s oncology ward. As we entered the ward I remember seeing a little boy about 4-5 years old. He was sat on a bike rigged up to a machine giving him medicine; he had no hair and a sick bowl in one hand, but the most amazing smile I have ever seen.

Later that day the doctors said about what would happen from now on, regarding Joel’s treatment. We were in shock at how long it would be. There would be more than 3 years’ worth of treatment for my little boy to go through, with chemotherapy every day until the day the treatments ends.
The doctors asked me if I had any questions and the only thing I asked was if his hair was going to fall out. Now looking back I feel silly for not asking things like “will he be ok?” or “will he die?” But no, I asked “will his hair fall out?” We were told it would but not to worry has it would take a few months. I looked at Joel fast asleep, in a big bed with him so tiny and held his hand. I cried a cry unlike any other I have ever cried in my life. It was similar to when you’re a child with snot and everything flowing with it because I was so scared. No-one could make this better or go away, and no one could really tell us at that point Joel was going to be ok. It was overwhelming.

Time went on, and Joel did his nasty chemo suffering infection after infection, but by the end of 2005 we were told Joel was in remission!!! What a great Christmas we had. 2006 was a fabulous year; he was back at school, his hair was back, and the fact he looked like every child at school other than having a set of wiggles and a wiggly bag around his neck we was great!

In May 2007, Joel became so lifeless again with bad heads and being sick all the time. We spent May, June and July in QMC then on July 13th we were told the cancer was back in his spinal fluid, but not his bone marrow; that was clear.
Joel had to go through more chemo, which was much nastier then the first lot of chemo and this made Joel tremendously ill. His bowels stopped working, he couldn’t eat or drink for weeks, and he was on morphine all the time by pump, yet despite this he always had a smile on his face.
As we were in hospital for so long, Joel made lots of friends there, (Reesey, Stephie, Will, Carrie) and we suddenly found we had a new family. Joel called it his hospital family, as he was there more than he was at home.
His brother and sister stayed at weekends and Mondays – Friday was Joel and me. We formed a very special bond as we were together 24/7, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Joel’s sense of humour came out every day and made me and everyone around him laugh. He had nicknames for people on the ward which he made up but we laughed so much about it. He would call one of his nurses “Minty” has her surname was Lamb; and the “Don’t know” doctors, because if he asked them when he was going home they would say “Oh, I don’t know Joel” .

Joel took everything in his stride, even when he had to go to radiotherapy he made a laugh and a joke about it. He would run in the room, try and jump on the bed, and asked to get clipped in his face mask saying “can you hurry up please I want my tea?”
His hair came out again but this time he made a laugh and a joke about it, he called it his magic hair as one day it was there and the next it was gone “see mom it is magic!” he would say.

In March we got told he was in remission again, and we would have to do another 2 years of treatment. I felt we could do this because he was well and thought “let’s keep fighting”
In April, we were walking to the car after school when Joel said “mum, my legs really hurt a lot and I can’t walk anymore” I knew then what it was and took him in to QMC that night.
They gave him an x-ray and found nothing, but an MRI scan which showed everything and he also had a lumbar puncture. Our worst fears were confirmed, it was back. This time it was more aggressive and nastier than ever and our only chance was for him to have a bone marrow transplant.
We as a family got tested, but sadly none of us were a match, so we had to look on the Anthony Nolan register, and we thank God that some kind person joined the register that was a 100% match. From there we thought he was at last going to beat this, but on September 28th we found out Joel was not in remission from his bone marrow transplant.
This meant there was nothing they could do for Joel, so that weekend, the whole family brought forward Christmas, and his 7th birthday as well. We had everything for Christmas; the tree, trimmings, Santa, a snow machine, the works. We wanted to make sure neither Joel nor us would ever forget. For his birthday we had a disco with all his friends and a fire engine ride for him.

On October 29th Joel went into hospital as his face had dropped on one side and he was in so much pain. We just couldn’t control the pain. In hospital they made the pain go away and he spent his last weeks drawing, painting and being funny. Joel died on the 10th November 2008, after a very painful day.
Since he has been gone we have started in his memory, JoinforJoel with the Anthony Nolan trust, and we get people to join the bone marrow register so hopefully there will always be a match for someone if they need it! I have done this because I know someone, somewhere, was willing to help save my son by being on this register

xxxxxxxx Joel Harvey Picker-Spence 17-12-01 until 10-11-08 xxxxxxxxxxx

Story lifted from the Be Child Cancer Aware Website.Click HERE to view.

Rest in Peace Little Man.

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AJUDAR O AFONSO - HELP AFONSO - 救救 AFONSO - AYUDA AFONSO

Afonso is 6 years old, he has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

O Afonso tem 6 anos, tem leucemia e precisa de um transplante de medula.

Be a donor / seja dador:

http://www.bmdw.org/index.php?id=addresses_members&n

o_cache=1

http://saveafonso.com/bonemarrowdonation.html

Please, for Afonso and many kids like him, do something amazing and become a bone marrow donor ...you may be the only person that is able to give the greatest gift of all, the gift of life, but unless you register, who will know ?

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Want to Recycle your phone? Sell it to me then !

Watching the telly this afternoon I was intrigued to see yet another company hoping to tempt you to sell your mobile phone for them...for not much money !

The company, "mobilephonexchange.co.uk", suggested that people may want to part with their "old" mobile in return for either cash or vouchers. So, to satisfy my curiosity, I logged on to their site and had a gander.

The conclusion? Well, take a look at these prices offered for a selection of popular phones, then decide for yourself!

Sony W302. 2 megapixal camera,bluetooth,MP3.Bought mine August 2009 for £59.Offer= £5 (or a £5 voucher)

Sony W395 2 megapixal camera,slide phone,MP3,Bluetooth.Cost £60 in 2009...offer= £9 (or £10 voucher)

HTC s620 1.3 Megapixal camera,Wi-Fi,Bluetooth,MP3.Cost new 2008 £189.Offer£17 (or £19 voucher)

So, if you want to let companies such as this buy your moby for nowt, drop me a line and i will give you £5 more than their offer for the same thing....simples !

By the way, don't be fooled by the "Green" or "Eco" labels on these sites, they are all FOR PROFIT companies and are after getting your phones to sell for a handsome profit.

Just as a footnote, always check every phone buying site for their offers, because the difference in prices is quite remarkable.For example:

Sony W302 offer 1 £5. Offer 2 £25.26 !

Sony W395 Offer 1 £9.Offer 2 £20.09 !

HTC S620 Offer 1 £17.Offer 2 £8.34 !

You have been warned :-)

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Boxer Scott Moises faced his toughest fight - leukaemia.

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Scott Moises is an aspiring boxer, a young man determined to carve out a niche for himself in the toughest and most uncompromising of sports, where blood, sweat and tears are part of everyday life.

But Scott Moises isn't your average young hopeful, dreaming of making it as King of the Ring.

The 22-year-old from Costessey is way above average because he's already beaten one of the biggest battles of them all - leukaemia.

Seven years ago his life was hanging by a thread. He lay in the Addenbrooke's Hospital children's cancer unit, his dream of one day stepping into the ring as a professional in tatters.

Five weeks in hospital was followed by two years of intense chemotherapy and another year recovering.

But as his body flickered back to life, so did the dream, and today Scott Moises is a six-foot-plus lightweight boxer who is proving to be an inspiration to those around him - and those who are suffering from the same debilitating illness.

To read the full story click HERE for the EDP24 Website.

Inspirational Jamie dies of leukaemia

Tributes have been paid to a brave 29-year-old who lost his battle with leukaemia.

Jamie Harris, from Woodview, Renishaw, was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease after suffering flu-like symptoms in September last year and sadly died in the early hours of Saturday after contracting pneumonia.

Friends and family said he fought leukaemia with a "strong and determined attitude."

The former Eckington School pupil described as having "the biggest heart of anyone you could ever meet" had worked for Lincoln Electrics for several years and had recently been promoted.

His mum Susan Powell said: "God truly blessed me when he gave me Jamie. My wonderful son touched so many people's lives and hearts in his short life and I am so very proud of him."

His dad Kevan Harris said: "He was an inspiration to all, from the day he was born to the day he left us. He wasn't just my son, but he was my best friend."

Sister Nikki said: "Jamie was an inspiration to all and the most amazing person I have ever had the privilege to meet. I'm so proud he was my brother."

Jamie also leaves behind two other sisters Natalie and Ashley and nieces Lola and Asha Harper.

His funeral takes place on Friday at 12pm at Renishaw Church. His family are asking for family flowers only and donations to the Anthony Nolan

Researchers convert human blood cells into leukaemia stem cells

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Report from the Asian News International brought to you by the Hindustan Times.

Washington, April 27 -- Cancer researchers at Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) have developed a method to convert normal human blood cells into 'human' leukaemia stem cells.

The converted cells, when transplanted into special mice that permit the growth of human cells, can replicate the entire disease process from the very moment it begins.

"Most human leukaemia research involves studying a patient's diseased cells or a cell line grown from those cells. However, since cancer takes many months or years to develop, just studying the cells at the end of the process does not let you know what…

The full-text version of this article will be available soon on HighBeam Business.

Researchers may have found cause of Leukaemia

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A new study may shed light into why leukemia, one of the deadliest cancers, develops in the first place.

Although leukemia is one of the best studied cancers, the cause of some types is still poorly understood, but experts in the US say a new method may make it possible for healthcare experts to discover why the disease forms.

Specialists at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania said that a newly-found mutation in acute myeloid leukemia patients could account for half of the remaining cases of adult acute leukemia which have no known origin.

Senior author Dr Craig Thompson, director of the facility, said the molecular biology of leukemia has been studied for the last 20 years and experts thought they had found most of the common genes for it.

"Now we're able to point to a distinct type of mutation for half of the remaining leukemia’s for which we didn't know the cause and between one-quarter and one-third of leukemia’s in older patients.

Every year more than 7,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia in the UK, or around 19 people every day, making it the tenth most common cancer, with more than 4,200 new cases diagnosed in 2006 alone.

The new findings, published this week in Cancer Cell, suggest that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients have increased levels of a molecule called 2HG.

AML is a quick-moving, deadly cancer that starts in the bone marrow and soon moves into the blood, and the specialists found that increased amounts of 2HG stem from a mutation in one of two related metabolic enzymes, IDH1 or IDH2.

Dr Thompson commented: "If we're able to block tumours from producing 2HG, perhaps we would be able to stop the patient's leukemia."

Story found via articlebliss .Click HERE to see their website.