Tynedale Hospice at Home and Cricket this Sunday - come along

Tynedale Cricket Club, Eilansgate, 2pm - late will see the clash of the cricketing titans:
The teams - the Valley Vikings and Guys Gladiators - will be made up of local cricketers from Tynedale [including some very good players from the Tynedale team], and several locals from Allendale, Hexham, Humshaugh, people from Tynedale Hospice and supportive local businesses such as Dipsticks .... and some star players from the Hexham Courant. And me :)

The cricket will last 2-7pm. At the same time there will be activities for the youngsters, a football stand a beer and Pimms tent, and a BBQ from 4pm provided by local businesses Flat Cap Kitchen and the Northumberland Sausage Company.

There will also be music and a raffle - with prizes donated by Slaley Hall, Tim Healy, SCA Prudhoe and Brendan Healey to name but a few.

Please do come along and support the event - there really is something for everyone. £1 entry on the gate, youngsters under 12 go free. All proceeds to a local and hugely worthwhile cause, Tynedale Hospice. My thanks in advance to the sponsors and everyone who has given up their time for this cause - I am defintely going to be praying for a sunny day in church on sunday!

Happy 150th Birthday Hexham Courant

2/8/1864 edition reprinted this week and it makes brilliant reading:

- 2 pages of local news and adverts, wrapped around 6 pages of London / British news

I have read it cover to cover and it is pure entertainment, full of colourful court reports, a parliamentary report that is robust in its criticism, but full of local interest on the governments purchase of Armstrong guns, 

It opens with a very entertaining "Town Talk" that acts as an editorial / main article to the national coverage in a style that is part Victorian Quentin Letts (of the modern day Daily Mail) and part The Spectator. 

- of the local adverts I liked:

- Robsons of Hexham prized Yellow Bullock Turnips

- Ridleys Non poisonous sheep dip - by royal letters patent

And Dr Alexander's Turkish, Galvavic and Medicated baths - all to be found at his premises in Orchard House, Corbridge.

The back page features an old style version of the Village Notes we all like so much to this day, and a brilliant report of the unexpected acquittal and sudden marriage of Mr Bewicke of Threepwood. It also makes the point that the first editor, Mr J Catherall published his paper back then on a Tuesday not as we do today. 

The paper is full of news, reports from parliament, endless court cases described in gory and pretty salacious detail, and special sections on the arts, farming, gardening and the like.

Well done to the courant for reprinting their first edition. It is a collectors item and well worth a read.

The Weekend Read: My campaign to help local Air Ambulance charities

People often forget that Air Ambulances are charities and not funded by the state. They are one of the wonders of British life.
For us in the North, The Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA) is incredibly important to Northumberland. It is the fourth emergency service.

The GNAA covers an area of 8,000 square miles. The helicopters can be anywhere in the region within fifteen minutes and this quick response provides those in need with specialist trauma doctors and paramedics. No medical response unit can match this reaction time on the ground and cover such a large area. Air Ambulances quite simply save lives. I have seen this as a jockey, as an MP and as a hiker - when I did the Pennine Way the service was called out several times - the picture is of me going over the high emptiness of High Cup Nick on the Cumbrian Border.

Yet, the GNAA is funded entirely through charitable donations. Each mission costs £2,500, because of fuel costs, medicine and other equipment. The Service responds to hundreds of call-outs a month and to satisfy this demand it requires about £4m a year in fundraising. This huge running cost is often a testing target to raiseand the GNAA is not alone. I am the chair of the All Party Group in parliamanet in support of Air Ambulances. There are many Air Ambulance charities across the UK, each one having to raise millions of pounds themselves so they can help reach patients quicker.

One clear way to ease this financial burden is to stop Air Ambulances paying VAT on fuel. Each year the GNAA, for example, pays £120,000 a year on fuel. Of this total, 20% is VAT. If stopped, the GNAA would save £24,000 – equivalent to 10 life saving missions.

Lifeboats do not pay VAT on fuel and, ever since becoming an MP, I have campaigned to fix this contradiction. Back in 2012 I led a debate where I argued that there was no difference between a lifeboat and a helicopter.
The transcript of the debate is here http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2012-07-11a.386.0&s=%28%28air+ambulance%29%29+speaker%3A24962#g386.1

After two years of hard campaigning by the GNAA and the Air Ambulance Association, The Chancellor, George Osborne in his recent Budget announced that Air Ambulances would no longerhave to pay VAT on their fuel. This was excellent news! It will have a huge impact upon the many Air Ambulance Charities across the country, but most of all here in the North East.

Two weeks ago, during Prime Minister’s Questions, I raised this issue and thanked the PM and the Chancellor for seeing the case for change and supporting the GNAA and others. 
“In 2012, 150,000 people petitioned this House to stop charitable air ambulances having to pay VAT on fuel. May I thank the Prime Minister for his actions in the 2014 Budget which will mean that more missions are flown and more lives are saved. Does he agree that this is possible only because we are using the LIBOR fines for good purposes and because we have a long-term economic plan?”

The Prime Minister replied, “My honourable. Friend is absolutely right. I pay tribute to him because he is the founder and chair of the all-party group on air ambulances. He has campaigned tirelessly on this issue, and he led a debate in the House in 2012. I am delighted about the result that was achieved in the Budget. As he says, it will lead to an expansion of the service. He is also right that you can only make these decisions if you look after the nation’s resources, control public spending, and get the deficit down—in short, if you have a long-term economic plan.”

But despite this excellent result the GNAA still needs support. There will always be a need for further fundraising and support from local volunteers. This VAT exemption does not mean the financial burden is lifted. More money is needed every year to help keep this life saving service in the air. What it does mean, however, is that money that would have otherwise been spent on fuel tax can now be used to buy more medicine and pay for more missions.

This is great news for the people of Hexham and Tynedale and I am delighted to have played my part in making this happen. I congratulate the GNAA and Air Ambulances across the UK and will continue to support them for as long as I am an MP. But as you consider your charitable donations this summer - please think of the GNAA.