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' Guide for Chnstiii^l ■ ■


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^PAGES^20tO/22 Their Christmas gifts are... latrines! i.Kf!


LATRINES may not be typical Christmas presents, but pupils at one Kibble Valley high school have raised money to have 20 dug in Ethiopian villages. Pupils a t St Augustine’s RC High


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School, Billington, have also collect­ ed money for 100 goats to go to poor families in Kenya and 40 wells to be bored in rural communities in Guatemala. In total they have raised almost


£4,000 to help people in need around the world this Christmas. At schools throughout the Ribble


Valley, pupils have been putting oth­ ers first this Christmas.


St Mary's Hall, the preparatory


school for Stonyhurst College, has launched a new charity. Children for Children. Pupils held their first pub­ lic event on IViday when they played Christmas carols at two Clitheroe supermarkets, raising several hun­ dred pounds. The pupils, aged up to 13, will


learn how to manage projects and make decisions about how the money should be used. They have created an eye-catching


logo with matchstick figures spelling out Children for Children. The charity will have a board of trustees, but the executive will con­


Workers devastated as 110 jobs are axed


by Julie Magee


STAFF at one of Clitheroe’s largest employers, 3M Health­ care Ltd, say they are “devas­ tated” after being told 110 jobs


will be shed next year. The company, formerly known as


3M Neoteclmic, released a statement about the redundancies as this news­ paper went to press last Wednesday. “The place is devastated. People are


desperately unhappy,” one employee at the Upbrooks site said.


“We’ve really pulled out all the stops


in the last couple of months, working seven days a week and weekends to meet orders and then they throw this back in our face. People feel betrayed.” This employee added that manual


workers in their late 40s to early 50s, many who had family commitments, were especially concerned about their future and whether they could secure alternative employment locally. “People also think the company


could have handled it better, consider­ ing we are coming up to Christmas.” On a positive note, the employee


went on to say that the company had been “bending over backwards” to help people and generous redundancy packages were being offered. Meanwhile, others spoke of their


upset after failing to find out about the redundancies through, official chan­ nels, instead first hearing the news from a local radio station late on Wednesday afternoon, There are currently 270 permanent


members of staff employed at the site, many who live locally, and 30 agency workers. Early retirement options are now being considered and workers


sist of children to decide on fund­ raising activities and who should benefit from the proceeds. St Augustine's outstanding effort is


part of an initiative called World Giftslaunched by CAFOD, the Catholic Fund for Overseas Develop­ ment. "No boring socks and jumpers. No pointless novelties," is the CAFOD slogan. "Instead, pre­ sents \vith a real difference.".. And, at the school's end of term


Masses on Monday, children took cardboard cut-outs of their gifts of goats, wells and latrines to the altar. Pictured are St Mary’s Hall pupils during one of their concerts, (s)


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have been asked to put their names forward for voluntary redundancy. If necessary, compulsory redundancies will then follow. A spokesman for the company said:


“Over the next four weeks we will be bringing in the local job centre as well as pension and financial information to help employees make an informed decision about whether they would wish to pursue either option.” 3M is also consulting with employ­


ees through the site’s employeeforum. The company, which manufactures valves and cans for use in Metered


Dose asthma inhalers, bla,med the redundancies on a steady decline in the demand for CFG inhalers by asthma sufferers. A spokesman added: “The restruc­


turing follows a thorough review of the current and future market for metered dose inhalers and, in particular, CFG valves, which represent the largest share of theGlitheroe product range. “Whilst 3M anticipated a steady


decline in volumes of these products as the market moves towards newer HFA propellants, recently the rate of decline has accelerated sharply.”


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