downsmail.co.uk SeeAbility challenge
FIVE Maidstone women with sight loss and disabilities completed the epic ‘Up at the O2’ challenge in 28 degree heat on Friday July 7. They are aiming to raise money for a sum- merhouse with sensory equipment to be built at the end of their garden. The women, Kayleigh, Lucy, Grace, Becky
and Laura, are supported to live together in a shared house by SeeAbility, a national sight loss and disability charity. A support worker or rehabilitation worker -
a specialist who teaches people with sight loss how to do everyday tasks - supported each woman on the climb. The challenge involves ascending all the
way to the top of The O2 via a walkway, suspended 52m above ground level, in full climbing gear. SeeAbility Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins, joined them on the challenge and tweeted a photo of the group at the top of the arena. SeeAbility is a UK charity sup- porting people with sight loss and multiple disabilities to live the life they choose. SeeAbility enriches the lives of people with
sight loss and multiple disabilities by provid- ing specialist support enabling as much inde- pendence in life as possible. They support
We need clean transport
FOLLOWING Green Party pressure directly on the council both at a full council meeting and in the press after we exposed central London levels of pollution in the town, councillors have agreed a draft low emission strategy . While the Greens are pleased that the council has responded to their calls they are deeply concerned that the proposals will not tackle the problem. They have criticised the strategy for its lack of commitment to monitor pollution levels and to reduce traffic, both fundemental to tackling the problem. They also criticised the length of time it took the council to respond to their requests for information. As the former Green parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and theWeald it is my opinion that teir strategy is really quite pathetic. The first and possibly biggest problem with their strategy is that there is nothing about monitoring the pollution levels. There is currently no live monitoring in Maidstone since they removed the sole
people to develop the skills and make the choices they want to enjoy a fulfilling life. SeeAbility shares their expert knowledge to raise awareness and increase access to eye care and vision services for people with learning disabilities.
monitoring station by the bridge. How do they expect to tackle a problem when they cannot even measure it? The plan fails to reduce traffic too. If anything, recent works have positively encouraged it. It is almost as if they think they can wish away the pollution while increasing the number of polluting vehicles on the road. Building more out of town houses that need cars, failing to invest in clean public transport and building wider roads will simply drive emissions higher. Their failure to even mention the number of deaths aributable to air pollution is appalling. They seem to want to keep their heads firmly in the sand. We need a radical rethink of the Local Plan with an end to out of town house building and a switch to higher density homes in the town where people do not require cars. We need to see huge investment in clean affordable public transport so people don't have to use their cars.We need monitoring and road closures when pollution hits dangerous levels. And we need them to act quickly, it has taken them six months to
The summerhouse will cost £5,580 and
you can donate to their fundraising page here:
https://www.seeability.org/fundrais- ers/climbing-the-o2 Nick Pryce SeeAbility
come up with their plan - during which time 65 people died. Stuart Jeffery, Green Party
Making use of drones
I READ with some with some interest in a recent edition of Downs Mail that Kent Police have started to use drones – or unmanned aircraft – in the force’s day-to- day duties. Perhaps the only question one might ask is: “Why didn’t they start a lot earlier?” After all, criminals use them! Properly used, drones are a practical and cost-effectiveway of performing certain functions which might not be able to be carried out by helicopters or light aircraft. One instance mentioned is the location of missing people, particularly in secluded areas or where speed and pinpoint accuracy might be needed. One would hope, however, that they do not become a cheap alternative to the use of helicopters which provide speed and the ability to cover a huge area. J Squires, via enail
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