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OPERATION REACH OUT
is our theme for 2010 and as well as holding various activities throughout the Province we have planned an Allergy
Awareness Week from 13-18 September and we hope everyone will try to participate in some way to help raise awareness.
Having a special week dedicated to raising awareness
of serious or potentially life threatening food allergies will help to create greater understanding
with the general public, and help others who haven’t heard of Allergy N I to know that we are here to help.
We are planning a media campaign as well as stands in various shopping centres throughout the Province.
We have enclosed the 2010 Year Plan but will keep you informed about further activities taking place during that
week.
Belfast Marathon Monday 3 May 2010
Need motivation to get the inches off and improve your fitness???
We are
hoping to have a record number of
people involved in this year’s marathon which is a great way to raise much needed funds and also awareness.
Last year over £3000 was raised and this year we plan to double that figure.
Will you help us achieve this for your
charity?
There are categories for everyone. You don’t
have to be an athlete. Most of us (children & adults) do the Fun Run, but mainly walk the 3 miles,
walking together from the City Hall to Ormeau Park. Other more energetic types do the Marathon Walk with
a choice of 2 distances either 9 or 26.2 miles. There are relay teams for 2-5 people to cover the longer
distance or you can be super fit and run the full Marathon. There is also the wheelchair
marathon so something for everyone.
We’ll provide
the Allergy N I red t-shirts and sponsor forms. All you need to do is register on the event website www.belfastcitymarathon.com before Friday 26 March then email Lisa on ljplz123@googlemail.com and she will forward your t-shirt and sponsor form.
Your registration fees can be refunded from the sponsor money you raise.
T-Shirt
Sponsor/Sponsors
We anticipate
the cost of T shirts for this year will be around £1000 and would welcome any business who would be willing to donate
either the full amount or part of it. It could also be shared between several sponsors.
This is a great way to advertise your business as the marathon is
viewed my thousands of people and attracts vast media coverage.
Please contact Maureen to discuss this further.
Volunteering
Allergy N I is growing and developing in order
to provide for the needs of all of our members and we therefore need to greatly increase our income to support this expansion.
One way of doing this is to establish fund raising groups throughout Northern Ireland and beyond as we have members
in various parts of this island.
Would you be interested in setting up or being part of a group in your area?
To find out more or if you would like to put your name forward
please contact Maureen.
COLLECTIONS / PROMOTIONAL STANDS
We would appreciate if you could spare an
hour or 2 to help cover the following:
Fri 19 Feb Sainsburys
Forestside, Belfast (Collection)
10am-9pm
Tue 16 Mar Community Health
Fair, Corrs Corner Hotel (Stand) 10am-4.30pm
Fri
21 May Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Bangor (Collection & Stand)
10am-9pm
Sat 3 July Sainsburys Coleraine
(Collection)
10am-7pm
Sat 10 July Tesco Knocknagoney (Collection)
10am-9pm
Fri 17 Sep Castle Centre, Antrim (Collection & Stand)
10am-8pm
Sat 18 Sep Sainsburys, Carrickfergus (Collection)
11am-8pm
Halloween Party Saturday 16 October 2010
2pm-4.30pm, W5, Belfast
Volunteers needed to help
decorate both rooms, set out food, serve tea & coffee, assist on stall selling cards and books.
If you would like to volunteer for any of these - please contact
Maureen.
Piriton Syrup
Last year Glaxo Smith Kline the manufacturers of Piriton Syrup
were interested in finding out if sachets of the syrup would be beneficial to their customers. A number
of members did contact them and recently I enquired if there had been any decision made. Their
Consumer Dept advised that this had been considered and possibly would be available in the future but a definite decision
has not been made.
I
have again passed on our support for the sachets as they would be a lot less cumbersome than the bottles and much easier for
everyone, especially teenagers to carry around with them. Perhaps if all of our members made a point of
contacting this company it may help to raise the issue again and highlight the need for sachets.
www.piriton.co.uk Tel: 020 8047 2700
or write to GSK UK Ltd,
980 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9GS
Eating
Out
Sarah, one of our members, whose
child is egg allergic has informed us of good service she received in both TGI Fridays and Frankie &
Benny’s restaurants at Victoria Square, Belfast. She explained to the staff about the allergy and
asked them to check that the food she was going to order was safe, which they did. She felt she was listened
to and having been in both restaurants on several occasions, her child has eaten safely.
She also stayed for short breaks at Days Hotel,
Pentagon Roundabout, Derby (overlooking Derby County Cricket Ground and one hours drive from Cadbury World, Birmingham)
and was amazed at the understanding and care taken by the hotel staff who made sure
that the potatoes, vegetables and chicken that he ate for dinner were all cooked separately to avoid contamination and ensured
that it was kept separate from egg products.
Have you had a good experience either eating out, staying in a hotel, booking a holiday,
using a children’s party venue, etc? Let us know and we’ll include it in the next newsletter.
Product Alert: Neills Flour
We have just heard from this company that their
flour is not suitable for people with a dairy allergy as it may contain Casein. They are currently carrying
out tests and if they cannot resolve the problem have agreed to highlight this on their packaging. I have
asked the company to keep us informed.
School Transport
A few months ago one of
our members highlighted the difficulty her nut allergic child was experiencing with school transport due to the possibility
of other pupils eating peanuts and other nuts, and the driver not being trained to administer an Epipen. I
consulted with various people and found that while some boards have a policy others deal with this on an individual basis.
Given the structural changes with the five education
boards combining into one, known as ESAIT (Education & Schools Authority Implementation Team), I contacted their designated
Director Patricia Mellon, stressing the need for one policy and greater understanding of the issues effecting allergic children
and their families. Patricia expressed her concern and agreed to look into this in January when she took
up her post. I will keep you informed of any progress.
If
you have had similar experiences I would be interested to hear from you as it may help to strengthen the case and give us
a fuller picture of the numbers of allergic children affected.
FOCUS
ON ..... DUST MITE ALLERGY
If
you or your child have been diagnosed with House Dust Mite allergy you may find the following tips helpful:
Reduce dampness in the home
Open windows in bedroom, bathroom & kitchen, avoid drying clothes indoors, air bedding
Prevent build up of dust
Regularly clean surfaces and
window blinds with damp cloth, vacuum mattress every 2 weeks
High
temperature washing (minimum 60°C)
Wash bedding at this temperature
at least every 2 weeks, regularly wash curtains
Bedding and
soft toys
Replace
pillows every 6 months unless they have special covers, cover all mattresses, duvets & pillows with micro-porous membrane
covers, keep toys away from bed, place soft toys monthly in freezer for 6 hours
Carpets
Replace
carpets with alternative flooring, use cotton rugs that can be washed at 60°C
High efficiency filter vacuum
cleaners
Consider
buying this type of vacuum cleaner and use regularly on floors, carpets, soft toys & furnishings
Replace
furnishings
Replace
woven fabric covered chairs and sofas with cane, canvas, leather-like and leather covered furnishings
If
you would like a House Dust Mite Fact Sheet please contact us .............
(Information provided by British
Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology www.bsaci.org)
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