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Businessman and ex-resident helps work of vital mobility charity by Julie Magee


julie.magee@jpress.co.uk Twitter@clithadvertiser


A former Ciitheroe man has donated£10,000worthofkit to a charity in the town which provideswheelchairsand mobility scooters to residents and visitors.


Ribble Valley Shopmobility, which was set up by Simon O’Rourke in 2007 and loans mobility equipment to those who need to get around.the town from its Lowergate base, was running dangerously low instock. This was until former Rib-


blesdale High School pupil Spencer Coe, who is managing director of Scoota Mart, which has 10 branches throughout the North West and its head office at Preston, heard about the charity’s dilemma and got in touch with Simon. Spencer, who lived in Ciit­


heroe until his mid-20s, but now lives atHoghton, went on todonatefourmobilityscoot-. ers and one manual wheel­ chair. He is also restoring the: charity’s tattered old kit and has offered to provide the charity with ongoing mainte­ nance and support. “I thought it was really sad


th.at a charity which is run by volunteers giving freely of their time had found itself in this situation,” said Spencer. The charity, which has sev­ en volunteers in total, only had


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Novice Nick smashes London marathon in under four hours


A keen cyclist from Clithe- roe who swapped his bike for running shoes complet­ ed the London Marathon on Sunday in underfour hours. And novice runner Nick


Owen (40), of Henthorn Road, Ciitheroe, who began running last April, has so far- raised £2,174 for the charity Headway East Northants, based in Irthlingborough. . . This charitable organisa­


tion provides support and services to those individu­ als, family members and car­ ers affected by an acquired brain injury. Nick, who works at Ciit­


heroe Light Engineering, said: “Well after a full year and 567 miles of training I finally got the feeling of run­ ning down the Mall at the end of a challenge which was the reason for the doing the London Marathon. “While running round


£ § - Spencer (left) with Ribble ValleyShopmobility'sSinion(centre)and Chris Dillon, ScootaMart general manager.(s) A?) 5 A' ■


three working mobility scoot­ ers left available alongside three wheelchairs with most of the remaining stock tied up in long-term loans. . The situation had got so


bad that Simon, who has used a wheelchair for the last 11 years, had been forced to loan' out his own and use a broken one instead so that others can get around the town with ease. The dad-of-two, who lias


served on Ciitheroe Town Council since 2010, said: “We


have people who come from all over the country to Ciitheroe and say that they could only come because we are here. “It’s a nightmare for a carer


to push a wheelchair around this town because it is so hilly. “Attracting more people to


the town is good for business and tourism, but this char­ ity also provides the means for people with disabilities to have more freedom and inde-' pendence.” He added: “It just shows


how much demand there is for the service as the donated mobility scooters and wheel­ chair went out of the shop


just 10 minutes after they had been dropped off! All the vol­ unteers are very grateful for Spencer’s help. It just shows there are still people out there kind enough to help.” Ribble ValleyShopmobility


does not charge for registra­ tion or the use of its equip­ ment. The charity just asks for a small donation.


the Cutty Sark and over Tower Bridge it sent a shiv­ er down my spine with the amount of people cheering and giving their support which was truly unbeliev­ able and something I will treasure for the rest of my life.” He added: “No words


could ever explain what an amazing feeling finally run­ ning up the Mall felt like having dreamt about it and thinking about it on every training run. Finally get­ ting to do it made all them nights of winter training, shin splints, ice baths defi­ nitely seem worth it. “I felt good and even man­


aged to do a jump and heel kicker at the half way point on the Tower bridge to en-


m Nick Owen does his heel kick.(s)


tertain the crowds, but then struggled from mile 20 with cramp.”


Nick, who was cheered


along by hisfianceeMichelle and his step son Nathan, fin­


ished in 11,107 position out of 37,675 finishers with a time of three hours and 51 min­ utes. He added that he is really


happy with the time he com­ pleted the race in and can’t thank everybody enough for their support, messages and donations. Donations can still be


made by visiting: http:// uk. virginmoneygiving, com and searching for Nick Owen’s page. Everybody that donates


will have their name en­ tered into a raffle to win two weekend tickets, kindly do­ nated by Silverstone racing Circuit to either the British touring car championship on September 26th-27th or the British Superbike Cham­ pionship on October3rd-4th 2015.


Rivers Trust nets £371k grant Spiroflow ‘company of year’


Ribble Rivers Trust is cel­ ebrating the award of an ini­ tial £371,500 development grant from the Heritage Lot- teryFundforaproject entitled “Ribble Life Together”. The project aims to achieve


ahealthierwaterenvironment forthebenefitofpeoplewith- in the Ribble Catchment.by improving its patural herit­


age, and will be delivered in partnershipwithotherorgan- isations from United Utilities to the Forestry Commission. Healthy watercourses and


the land surrounding them provide many important ben­ efits such as reduced flood risk and clean bathing wa­ ters, but according to recent assessment, two thirds of wa­


tercourses are failing to meet a good ecological status. The Ribble Rivers Trust believes that by working together with local partners to undertake activities that improve the catchment and attract and protect tourism, the project will help to create and safe­ guard jobs giving a significant boost to the local economy.


Ciitheroe based Spiroflow has beaten off stiff competi­ tion to win the prestigious SHAPA Company of the Year Award.


The company is a leading


manufacturer of conveying andweighingsystemswhich


areusedby companies world­ wide and has already had a busy year which has seen


the opening of its new state- of-the-art technology centre,


just half-a-mile from its head office in Ciitheroe. In addi­ tion to carrying out a unique level of testing on manufac­ turing materials, the centre allows clients to run a full scale machine trial before they choose whether or not to invest in the technology.


Spiroflow reported a 35%


increase in sales between 2011 and 2014 and is on target for a further 20% increase in 2015. This growth has allowed for investment in infrastruc­ ture, namely IT, Health and Safety and training as well as taking on more staff and the expansion of their prestig­ ious apprenticeship scheme.


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