MP And Lib Dems Answer Call For Blood Platelet Donors

Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert and Liberal Democrat councillors answered a call for more blood platelet donors on Friday, May 18.

Julian and the five city and county councillors supported a campaign by the NHS Blood and Transplant service to find more platelet donors for the Cambridge Blood Donor Centre.

Cambridge City Councillors, Susannah Kerr, Sarah Brown and Paul Saunders and Cambridgeshire County Councillors, Sarah Whitebread and Ian Manning joined Julian at the mobile blood unit for a one-off testing session at the Star Radio studios in Cambridge’s Mercer’s Row.

They were tested to see if they could donate platelets – tiny cells in the blood which enable clotting and help to step blood loss. These crucial supplies have only a seven day shelf-life and are used to treat patients whose bone marrow isn’t working properly, including cancer and leukaemia patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The Cambridge Blood Donor Centre, on the Addenbrooke’s Hospital site, is one of only two in the East of England to collect platelets and supplies hospitals across East Anglia.

Julian said: “This was such a simple process which took just 15 minutes but if any or all of us are able to donate platelets we will be able to help some very sick people.

“I hope more people will be encouraged to take this test because clearly with such a short shelf-life and the fact that only around one in four people will have a high enough platelet count to make a donation, supplies are needed regularly.

“None of us knows what the future holds but we could find ourselves in the position where we desperately need this service.”  

Platelet donors are encouraged to donate regularly, at least once a month and more if possible.

 Anyone aged between 17 and 65 can be tested to become a donor along with those aged between 66 and 70 who have given blood before. Those over 70 need to have given a full blood donation in the last two years.

Julian is joined by (from left) Sarah Whitebread, Paul Saunders,
Sarah Brown, Ian Manning and Susannah Kerr stand
up to be counted at the mobile blood unit

NOTE: Platelet donation is a specialised process and can only be done at a handful of centres across the country – including a donor suite at Addenbrookes Hospital. Blood group A negative donors are particularly needed, as their platelets can also be given to patients with other blood groups

Chemotherapy or radiotherapy can destroy healthy as well as diseased cells in the blood. A patient with a low platelet count may be at risk of severe bleeding problems, so they can need many transfusions over the course of their recovery period

Platelets are collected in two ways. A donation of platelets given using a machine which separates the platelets and returns the rest of the blood can give enough for three transfusions. Alternatively, the platelets from four donations of whole blood can give enough for one transfusion. It takes around one and a half hours to make a platelet donation.

Work Begins To Improve Safety For Fen Road Residents

Work has begun to improve the safety of residents living in Cambridge’s Fen Road after residents, councillors and council officers got together just weeks ago to discuss long-running issues.

Old wooden bollards at the Water Street and Water Lane junction have been replaced with metal ones in a bid to stop vandals sawing through them to get vehicle access to Fen Road.

The work was carried out by Cambridge City Council after resident Clare Blair requested the new bollards at the beginning of the year.

She said: “I am really pleased that only weeks after our well attended meeting about Fen Road we are already seeing action to improve safety for residents.”

Clare teamed up with Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton to give residents a chance to have their say on how anti-social behaviour, speeding drivers and other problems, which had plagued residents for years, could be solved.

“There is much more to be done,” added Clare, “but I am delighted to see that we have already been able to make a good start.”

Lib Dems Tackle Fen Road Problems Head On For Residents

Cambridge Liberal Democrats are tackling problems on the city’s Fen Road head on by working cross-party and with multiple agencies to find a solution for residents.

Cllr Ian Manning and resident Clare Blair took control of the issue this evening (Thursday, January 26) at a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee.

A working party has been set up which will co-ordinate the work between officers and councillors from the city council, Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambs District Council.

At the North Area Committee meeting, which was very well attended, Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet member, Ian Bates, heard directly from residents about the daily issues they experience such as anti-social driving, noise and speeding and traffic calming measures that don't work.

Mrs Blair said: “It was great to see so many people come to voice their opinions and experiences directly to those in power. A wide range of solutions was discussed and there was a clear preference for an alternative access route out of Fen Road to provide a real solution to problems in the area."

Particularly important is the cross area working that the initiative brings.  Cllr Hazel Smith of South Cambs District commented "A solution to the issues on Fen Road will only be found by joined up working between both districts and the County Council, and I'm pleased that this will be taken on by North Area."

Cllr Manning said that the Chesterton Station project presents a real opportunity to make large scale change.
"I'm glad we're looking at really radical solutions like a different route out of Fen Road, which will divert traffic away from East Chesterton, as well as highways improvements to the Water Street/Water Lane area and better traffic calming,” he said.

Free Energy Saving Advice For Businesses

Small businesses in Cambridge are being offered free energy saving advice including how to tap into the government’s ‘green’ grants through an event promoted by the city’s Liberal Democrats.

The drop-in event will take place at the SmartLIFE Centre following a request from East Chesterton County Councillor, Ian Manning who is concerned about the problems facing small businesses across the city.

It will take place on January 16 between 8am and 11am and offers free advice to local businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

Topics covered will include:

• Skills and the government’s new Green Deal which aims to establish a framework to enable private firms to offer consumers energy efficiency improvements at no upfront cost, and recoup payments through a charge in instalments on the energy bill.
• Energy audit advice - take advantage of a free energy audit of your premises
• Water efficiency advice from Anglian Water and Cambridge Water
• Retrofitting housing
• Recycling Waste
• Green travel plan to work to save money.

Cllr Manning said: “I hope businesses will support this extremely worthwhile event which could help them to save money and cut their carbon footprints at the same time.”

MP Julian Huppert said "I'm pleased to support this event which backs up work we have been doing to support the character of Cambridge and small businesses in particular."

Cllr Sian Reid, leader of Cambridge City Council added: "Improving energy consumption can save small businesses money and ultimately give them more chance of surviving these tough economic times."

Lib Dem Campaigner Given Assurances Over Blue Badge Fears

Leading Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat campaigner, Clare Blair has received assurances that national changes to the Blue Badge system, designed to prevent fraud, will not affect existing users.

Clare contacted Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton because she was worried that existing disabled users might have to immediately changeover to new style badges leaving them without their permits.

She said: "It can take a long time to get a new or replacement badge and I was worried that the changes could have meant users having their service interrupted while the new badge was sent.

“I've received assurances that existing users won't be affected and current badges will continue until they expire. For new badge applications the process will remain exactly the same as before although new style badges will be issued. This is good news for all disabled people who rely on their badges."

The Department for Transport has launched changes to the badges to reduce the potential for fraud and misuse and to streamline administration of the scheme, which is carried out by local authorities. The move will save up to £20 million per year.

Other changes include the potential to increase the price of a badge from £2 to £10, to cover the cost of the new technology. But a decision will not be made on whether to pass this onto users until Cambridgeshire County Council’s Cabinet meets in January.

Cllr Manning said: “I know how valuable these Blue Badges are for people with limited mobility and the thought that they might lose them while the new system is rolled out can be extremely worrying.

“The assurances Clare has been given will put a lot of minds at rest.”

Liberal Democrats' Move To Attract New Councillors To Be Discussed Publicly

A move by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats to attract councillors from a wide range of backgrounds is to be discussed publicly with a view to forming a county council policy.

The group has been invited by the Tory-led administration to produce a report increasing the diversity of elected members by holding a quarter of council meetings out of office hours and organising training in the evenings.

Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance, Steve Count agreed the idea was a positive one and promised that the report and its recommendations would be presented to a public forum.

Cllr Ian Manning, who proposed a motion setting out the idea, said “I'm pleased that the Conservatives have agreed our idea is a positive one and have invited us to form the policy.

“It is particularly important that the report and recommendations are presented to a public forum – meaning it will be transparent and open.”

Cllr Sue Gymer seconded the motion explaining her reasons for wanting training out of hours.

"After the allowances debate, I thought long and hard about what would make it easier to get working mums like myself to become councillors. I voted against because it was the wrong amount at the wrong time. In addition a small pay rise would make no difference to me personally but being able to get training outside of working hours would make it a lot easier to mix my council duties with my employment.

“I am pleased to see that a report would be coming back to a public meeting like Cabinet or council.

Lib Dems Call For Evening Meetings To Attract New Councillors

In a bid to attract a diverse range of people to stand for election to Cambridgeshire County Council, the Liberal Democrats are calling for some meetings to be held in the evenings.

They want to see a shift away from meetings being held exclusively in the daytime which are often difficult to attend for those in full-time work. And they believe holding some in the early evening would give more people the chance to stand for election as councillors.

A motion calling for support for the idea will be proposed to Cambridgeshire County Council members on December 7 by Councillor Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton in Cambridge.

It calls for two of the full council meetings and 25 per cent of each of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings to be held outside standard working hours which are defined as 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

And it says councillors should be given the opportunity to take part in training outside standard working hours.

Cllr Manning said: “At the moment, it can be extremely difficult for anyone with a full-time job or other daytime responsibilities to commit to attending meetings during the day. I have to take unpaid leave on occasion from my job to do so.

“This means that we can only attract those people who don’t have to work full-time or have commitments that are extremely flexible. By switching some meetings to the evening I think we will be able to attract a wider range of people and our councillors will be a better reflection of society generally.”

Cllr Sue Gymer, who represents Cottenham, Histon and Impington said: “Many of our present councillors run their own businesses or have part-time jobs or flexible commitments allowing them to work round council business. But this is not the norm for the majority of working people. How can working people be expected to participate if the first step is to take the day off work?

 “We want to encourage people from all ages and all backgrounds who have an interest in representing their communities to stand for election and that is not going to happen unless we hold our meetings at a time when they are able to attend.”

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat Leader, Kilian Bourke said: "We fully accept the importance of attracting a wider range of people to stand to be councillors, but felt that the Conservative proposal to give councillors a 25 per cent pay rise was totally inappropriate at this time.

“We feel that the same could be achieved by shifting some of our daytime meetings to the evenings.  That is why we are putting forward this proposal and I hope the Conservatives will support it."

Lib Dems Act To Help Families Plagued By Speeding Drivers

Speeding drivers and inadequate traffic calming measures have made life a misery for families living on a Cambridge road.

For years residents of Fen Road, East Chesterton have been plagued by cars racing along the road and heavy lorries bouncing across the speed bumps.

Now the city’s Liberal Democrats have scrutinised the issue and come up with a number of ideas to solve the problem.

They are taking their findings to Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on Thursday (November 24) and again in January to give residents the chance to have their say.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton and campaigner, Clare Blair who lives in the ward have set out their ideas in a document which will be presented to the committee.

And it has been endorsed by Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert, who represented East Chesterton on the county council for eight years.

Ian said: “This has been a blight on our ward for a long time. In order to fix the problem, we are asking the whole area committee and all parties to support our push for solutions.”

Julian said: “Families living in this road have been plagued by speeding drivers for many years and traffic calming measures have failed to address the problem.

“I applaud Ian and Clare on the work that has gone into this document. I hope residents will take this opportunity to make their views known so that a solution can be found quickly.”

A year ago, at Clare’s request Cambridgeshire County Council highways officers drew up a scheme to improve traffic calming measures and prevent cars mounting grass verges to avoid speed bumps.

The scheme could cost around £150,000 and it is hoped this could be funded from the Northern Area Corridor Transport Plan.

Clare said: “This is certainly the most important highways issue affecting East Chesterton.

“Yet despite raising this issue with officers and the county council Cabinet for many years, no solution has been acted upon.”

Other solutions suggested in the document prepared by Ian and Clare include:

• an alternative route out of Fen Road to remove lorry traffic;
• minor environmental improvements;
• a footpath over the railway crossing to allow children to walk to school rather than be driven.

PDF attachment with the plans is available here.