Letters - April 17, 2020

It was deserted.

This virus which we are informed came from a “bat in China” has brought death and sadness to many and also completely ruined business for Blackpool and every other seaside resort in the United Kingdom.

This lost business will be hard to win back and there may be many bankruptcies to come. Blackpool Council and local tax payers own the Tower and Winter Gardens and many of the car and coach parks... how much was lost over Easter?

Coronavirus will be beaten and surely now is the time for planning to relaunch Blackpool to regain its title as the ‘Number 1 Resort’ in the UK.

I vividly remember the VE day celebrations just after the war.

The Government need reminding that tourism is a very real industry offering employment to thousands of people. If Blackpool does not speak up, then who will?

I would suggest that Government must be urged to consider a series of new Bank Holidays to celebrate the coming ‘Victory over Coronavirus’. These new holidays could be called VC Days.

Our holiday industry should be now be planning for the revival with offers such as kids free etc. Let’s get ready for a party!

Getting back to near normal will be a very hard task but with imaginative plans being prepared now Blackpool will prevail.

Barry Morris MBE

Blackpool

Virus

Vulnerable adults being ‘abandoned’

I am a care worker employed by a company looking after vulnerable adults in Lancashire with learning difficulties.

These adults sometimes can’t process information normally and have difficulties with behaviour.

They can’t be left alone to manage their lives and there are many support workers like me employed in Lancashire by private companies paid for by the local authorities.

At this time of fear due to the situation with the virus these vulnerable adults are having their care cut by Lancashire County Council. Vulnerable adults are having their hours cut by the council and as a result they are being left alone to fend for themselves.

I know of many vulnerable adults who are being abandoned by the council in Lytham, Cleveleys, Blackpool and Lancashire.

This has got to stop before someone gets hurt.

Name and address supplied

Appeal

I’m writing to ask a favour from you in these very difficult times. I work closely with the blood cancer charity DKMS, who recruit blood stem cell donors to help people with blood cancer.

This charity is close to my heart. Last year, my six-year old nephew Finley was diagnosed with JMML (juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia), a rare and aggressive form of childhood

leukaemia, affecting around one to two children out of a million each year. He needed to find his ‘genetic twin’ who could be his lifesaving blood stem cell donor, so I got involved with DKMS’s work.

Since Covid-19 arrived in the UK, the number of people coming forward to register as donors has substantially dropped. This will impact significantly on people with blood cancer now, and in the near future. Their lives will be at great risk if more people don’t come forward now.

More than ever, we need people to register as potential life savers.

While most of us are at home and dealing with the necessary adjustments, we can only begin to understand the challenge of a patient with blood cancer. Building on the outbreaks of great kindness in our communities, can I ask one thing of you? Go to dkms.org.uk and order your home swab kit. You don’t have to go near a GP or hospital and the kit will be sent to you. Just swab the inside of your mouth and when you’re out buying your essentials, pop it in a post box and DKMS will do the rest.

I know we are all thinking about our own health at the moment but there aren’t any risks to your own health by swabbing and you could be a potential life saver in the future. The Covid - 19 crisis has shown us all just how precious our health is and for people with blood cancer, it is even more fragile. So please, if you’re between 17 and 55 and in general good health, take the first step to register as a blood stem cell donor by ordering your home swab kit at dkms.org.uk.

Al Murray

Comedian