IN BRIEF
BANGLADESH FLOOD
VICTIMS RECEIVE
£20,000 FROM CHESHIRE
FREEMASONS WIRRAL MAN STEPPING UP
TO RAISE AWARENESS OF
DIABETES
Thousands of people whose lives have been devastated
by flooding in Bangladesh will be given urgently-needed
humanitarian assistance, thanks to a grant of £20,000
from Cheshire Freemasons. A man from Prenton is taking on the One Million Step
Challenge for Diabetes UK after being diagnosed with
Type 2 diabetes.
The floods have affected more than 7.5 million people, including 114
known to have lost their lives. An estimated 600,000 houses have been
damaged or destroyed, with damage to 6,640km of roads and other
vital infrastructure, with hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops
lost.
The £20,000 grant will provide vital supplies for the many thousands
of displaced people; including blankets, mosquito nets, water buckets
and personal hygiene products, which will be distributed in Kurigram
District, which has been hit especially hard by this disaster.
The grant comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which
is funded by freemasons, their families and friends, from across
England and Wales.
Rose Caldwell, Chief Executive of Plan International UK, said: "We’re
hugely grateful for this generous contribution to Plan International’s
disaster response in Bangladesh.
"These funds will make an enormous difference to hundreds of
families affected by the devastating floods and help them get back on
their feet by providing urgent essentials like hygiene products, water
buckets and mosquito nets."
Stephen Blank, Head of Cheshire Freemasons said: "Sadly, many
people have died and hundreds of thousands more have been
displaced by these terrible floods.
"I’m very pleased that freemasonry is able to move so quickly to
provide this essential funding for Plan International UK who are
providing rapid support to those worst affected by this disaster."
Steve Spence, 51, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes just three
months ago, is taking part in the challenge to help get fitter and to raise
awareness of preventing Type 2 diabetes.
Steve, a software engineer at Denholm Global Logistics in Liverpool,
said: "I found out I had Type 2 diabetes after a routine health check.
Before my diagnosis, I knew I was at increased risk of Type 2 but didn’t
really take it seriously. If I knew then, what I know now I would have
taken it much more seriously and done all I could to prevent myself
from developing diabetes. I hope that by raising awareness of the
condition, I can help others at risk or affected by diabetes, as well as
getting fitter myself."
The event invites people to push themselves out of their comfort zone,
by taking one million steps over three months and getting sponsored
for every stride. It will take Steve at least 10,000 steps a day to reach
his million.
Steve has already completed 619,000 steps and says that although he
sits at a desk for most of the day at work, he has found other ways, such
as walking before work and on his lunchbreak to help increase his step
count. People with Type 2 diabetes don’t produce enough insulin or
the insulin they produce doesn’t work properly. Around 90 per cent of
the 3.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2. There are
almost 1 million more people living with Type 2 diabetes, who don’t
know they have it because they haven’t been diagnosed, they might
get Type 2 diabetes because of their family history, age and ethnic
background puts them at increased risk. They are also more likely to
get Type 2 diabetes if they are overweight. Type 2 diabetes is treated
with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition, tablets
and/or insulin can be required.
To sponsor Steve visit: https://step.everydayhero.com/uk/steve-16
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