Readers' letters

BIG CLEAR OUT

Dear Ed, – Desperate to get rid of your old stuff to make way for all your Christmas gifts and January sale bargains?

Homebase in Lanark can help while also helping its charity partner – the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Big New Year Clear Out means that between January 2 and January 15 you can drop bags of old clothes into the collection point for recycling.

All kinds of textiles are accepted in bags including clothes, shoes, belts, sheets and towels.

Also being collected are old mobile phones, so if you've been treated to a new phone at Christmas or have found one in the sales, this is a perfect opportunity to recycle your old one. Phone chargers and SIM cards are not required but the battery should be included.

Just take your bagged textiles and mobile phones to the Lanark branch of Homebase in Braidfute Retail Park between January 2 and January 15 and the firm will do the rest.

Every day in the UK, six young people aged 13 to 24 are told they have cancer, and it is the number one cause of non-accidental death of young adults in the UK.

100 per cent of the money raised from selling the old clothes and phones will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust to build more specialist cancer units for young people here in Central Scotland.

The trust already has a unit in Edinburgh and two in Glasgow at the Beatson and Yorkhill but the money raised from this and other Homebase events will fund two further units at the new children's hospitals planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Find out more about the Teenage Cancer Trust at www.teenagecancertrust.org. - Yours etc.,

FRASER RUSSELL,

Homebase,

Lanark.

PENSIONERS' THANKS

Dear Ed, - As a pensioner of Law Village (and I feel sure I speak for all my fellow pensioners) may I once again, thank the officials, committee members and all the donation collectors for their unstinted

efforts on our behalf during 2010.

We, the village pensioners have enjoyed a spring social in the Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn and a summer coach outing to Kirkcaldy and Ayr, all of which were high standard events.

Unfortunately our Christmas social was cancelled due to the wintry

weather. This event will now take place on January 11, certainly an event to look forward to and an excellent start to a new year. And as before, these events can be attended by all village pensioners at no cost to themselves.

Each year, the funding for these events has been achieved by the generous donations collected each month by our dedicated band of collectors.

These funds are also supplemented by donations and assistance from the local Bowling Club, Peter Irvine Coaches and the village tradespeople all of whom deserve a special thank you for their years of support to our cause.

However, I understand that the efforts of the committee are still being hampered by a shortage of committee members and collectors and this has resulted in many problems for the committee which continues to appeal for volunteers to join the association thus reducing the workload of

the present members.

Anyone wishing to assist should contact Mary Slaven on 01698 376417 or any committee member. Any offers of help would be greatly appreciated.

The pensioners of Law Village are a privileged section of the community and I hope an adequate answer to the committee's appeal will ensure that their efforts will continue. - Yours etc.,

JOHN LEYDEN,

Lawhill Road,

Law.

CAN YOU BEAR IT?

Dear Ed, – Could you please inform the local supporters of Action Medical Research of the new research programmes in Scotland?

They suppprt the charity in so many ways, through events and charity

Paddington Bear Boxes and its only correct that they are aware of where the money is awarded to.

The charity is currently funding over 70 research projects with an investment of 9 million. In 2010 we invested in 15 new grants and one Research Training Fellowship, details of some of these are listed below:

Iron Deficiency Anaemia - developing a new supplement.

Developing a new dietary iron supplement for childrem to prevent iron deficiency anaemia.

Learning Disablilites - Identifying The Causes - using new genetic technologies to develop better ways to diagnose learning disabilities.

Stillbirth - Detecting Fetal Movement - Developing ultrasound and computing techinques to analyse fetal movement and so help prevent stillbirth.

Brain Injury in Babies - Developing computer-aided diagnosis of brain injury to improve care for infants born prematurely or term babies who have suffered a lack of oxygen at birth.

Brain Cancer in Young Children (RTF) - Infant Medulloblastoma - Investigatin brain cancer in children to improve treatment for infant medulloblastoma.

Current research projects in Scotland, now being funded thanks to generous donations from local supporters include:

Aberdeen - Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis; Aberdeen - Blindness; Edinburgh - Rett Syndrome; Edinburgh - Visual Field Assessment in Children; Glasgow - Meningitis, Septicaemia and Pneumonia - Assessing a Novel Vaccine to prevent infections including meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia caused by pneumococcus 102,037.

Once again thank you. – Yours etc.,

ACTION MEDICAL RESEARCH,

Carluke.