Page 60 - Phonebox Magazine May 2016

Newport Pagnell and Olney Lions Club
Medical Detection Dogs
If you came to our Medical Detection Dog Awareness event at the Carlton House Club last month, you will no doubt be talking to your friends and family about your experience. The event was primarily to help this relatively new charity, which is based near Milton Keynes, to raise its pro le and that is certainly something we achieved with around 150 people attending the evening.
Rowland Butt, one of their volunteer ambassadors, gave us a short history of the charity, setting the scene for what was to follow. He outlined the work done by the dogs and the results that they are achieving, but most folks could hardly keep their eyes off the two dogs that were waiting in the sidelines for their turn. His presentation really was eye opening and was a great introduction to the demonstration that followed.
First up was Kim, from the Cancer Detection side of the charity. Kim is a young dog in training but she still had us mesmerised. Working to support research into the early detection of cancer, the aim is to assist scientists to develop alternative electronic systems which will provide cheap non- invasive testing – i.e. an electronic nose. With no alternative practical equipment available now or in the near future, the dogs are ful lling a major service to the NHS and its patients.
Currently the dogs can provide additional screening for cancers that are currently dif cult to diagnose reliably – prostate cancer being one. It is in this field that exciting developments are taking place with Milton Keynes University Hospital running a major research project that is revealing the proof necessary to convince many sceptics.
Kim amazed the audience with her ability to correctly identify the ‘cancer bearing’ sample from three other ‘clean’ samples in the lineup. The exercise was repeated a number of times with the samples being placed in different positions, yet Kim found the right one every time. Rob, her handler, even placed 4 ‘clean’ samples in the holders and Kim, not to be fooled, ignored them all and some of those sitting close to the stage swore blind that she looked at Rob as if to say – “you don’t fool me that easily”.
Our next presenters were Clair, her daughter Rebecca and dog Shirley.
Shirley is a medical alert assistance dog, 60 Phonebox Magazine | May 2016
trained by the charity to alert and support people to manage life-threatening conditions and who may have no awareness of an impending medical crisis occurring.
Using their amazing sense of smell, the dogs are trained to identify minute odour changes emitted prior to an emergency and alert the person to take the appropriate preventative action. The dogs can also get help and fetch vital medical supplies if needed.
Claire gave us an insight on how dif cult it is to live with someone suffering from an illness such as a particularly dangerous condition as Brittle Diabetes. Rebecca has had this condition all her life and was frequently passing into a life-threatening coma without warning.
The resultant frequent trips to A&E at any time during the day or night had a major impact on family life – living on a knife edge was Claire’s description.
Since Shirley came into the family, trips to hospital have stopped. She detects the subtle changes to blood sugar level before they become a problem, warning Rebecca who can do a blood test and take appropriate medication. Her schooling and family life have improved immeasurably and she gets a good night’s sleep as Shirley is ‘on duty’ 24/7. Following the event, loads of questions were thrown at our guests and we gave our audience an opportunity to make a donation to the charity which we are delighted to announce came to just over £450. This has now been ‘topped up’ by the Lions Club and a cheque for £1000 has sent to MDD to help them with their work and to thank them for a really interesting night.
An Evening with Peter Williams
This event was run by Oakley Motorcycle Club, who have supported a number of our events in the past, at the Two Brewers, so some of our members decided to return the compliment and, with pro ts from the evening being donated to the TT Riders Fund, so much the better.
In his day, Peter Williams was considered by many to be the best motorcycle road racer ever; one of that small band of sportsmen: ‘the best never to win a World Championship’. He frequently raced against such greats as Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini in Grands Prix, TT and major world races. The pinnacle of his career was when
he won the Formula 750 TT in the Isle of Man with record race and lap speeds.
His racing career came to an abrupt end in 1974 with a terrible crash at Oulton Park, but he continued to concentrate on his engineering skills with designs that had given him advantage on the racetrack and set the trends for what motorcycles are today.
The evening was a ‘Motorcyclists Dream’ with many of those attending being veteran bikers who were meeting one of their icons. Not sure if that applied to the Lions present but hey! they enjoyed themselves immensely, safe in the knowledge that they were four-wheel rather than two-wheel fans. Talking of which: make a date!
Motorama 2016
This will be taking place on and around Olney Market Place on Sunday 12th June. This is one of the many events that Olney can be proud of hosting so why not come down and see what cars we have on display. We will have many of our regulars but always have a good range of new exhibits.
Bring the kids and let them see the cars of your young days – more about this next month.
And nally
Need to get in touch with Lions? Visit our website at www.npolneylions.btck.co.uk and use our ‘Contact us’ page or drop a note to our Secretary, Bob Benbow, 43 Dinglederry, MK46 5ES.