HEALTHY LIFE ESSEXBLOG

Cris Ramis of Phoenix Health and Fitness is one of our regular contributors. We would like to congratulate Cris on Phoenix’s 5th birthday on 1st February.

Cris had just set up Phoenix Health and Fitness when we were producing the magazine Healthy Life, Mind, Body & Soul, the predecessor to www.HealthyLifeEssex.co.uk  and we have worked together ever since.

Cris says:

“What makes me different is I take a holistic approach to each client, reviewing their lifestyle, diet and current exercise plan to address all aspects of their health and fitness, and then I create a new programme and achievable goals for them – and go through it with them, every step of the way. With me you don’t get tied into a year-long contract, spend just 30 minutes with someone being shown how to work the machines and then abandoned to your fitness fate.”

Cris’s studio is based at the Seedbed Centre in Shoeburyness. Cris continued:

“The Seedbed Centre has given me a great opportunity to create my own gym and space that is flexible in terms of what I offer. Clients are able to come here for their sessions, knowing that they can totally focus without the usual distractions you’ll find in a busy gym.  It’s private and clients can feel at ease here as they don’t have to share with anyone else. I am passionate about quality and aim to show this through the service I provide to my clients – that’s why I intend to make the next five years even more successful than the first five.”

Visit www.phoenixhealthandfitness.co.uk to find out more about Cris and have a look at the following fitness articles:

CHEK your health and fitness

Fat burning and weight loss

Flabby upper arm syndrome

Getting in shape for summer

The importance of good posture

The express home workout

Slow down the ageing process

It is 2055. Pete Postlethwaite plays a lone man living in a futuristic archive of the world’s history. He muses about how humans could have disregarded the warning signs of climate danger.

Director Franny Armstrong tries to provide the hindsight that might enable us to see more clearly. Much of the film is a collection of recent news clips and reports, which are compiled to illustrate that climate change is already happening.

The film only debates the science briefly. However, I think its purpose is more to explore how, once events become politicised, inaction and competing interests can lead to disaster. It is provocative and it names guilty parties.

Is it our responsibility to take action? In the film, French mountaineer Fernand Pareau says, “when you’re in the mountains you’re roped together. The risk is the same for you as it is for me.”

It’s true that there is plenty we can do to limit our impact on the environment. But we know many of the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of green living. I feel ‘The Age of Stupid’ misses a trick by focusing on the negative aspects of human activities and the global nature of the problem. There is plenty of positive action we can take to improve our local environments, as well as erasing our past impacts.

> To search for local environmental volunteering opportunities, have a look at the Greengrid Taskforce or try the links on the University of Essex website.

> For more information about the film, which was released in March 2009: www.ageofstupid.net

New Government procedures to cut underage drinking have been welcomed with open arms by the boss of Basildon Council, Bala Mahendran. He said: “We welcome the new legislation from Government to tighten the law. We work hard throughout the year to tackle underage drinking with campaigns and initiatives, such as the current Challenge 25 scheme.” The underage drinking scheme being put into place, changes the challenge age from the current 21 to 25, with 108 retailers out of the 146 across the Basildon area having signed up so far.

As of Friday 29th January, police can now seize alcohol from youths, who are believed to be under 18. But, unlike previous legislation, the police do not have to prove the culprits intended to consume the alcohol themselves. Previously, police were only allowed to send youngsters 16 and above home, when causing trouble, but this has been dropped to the age of 10 along with the scheme. Under new measures a new offence has also been created for children under the age of 18 who can now be arrested for persistently possessing alcohol in a public place. Any shopkeepers caught selling booze to anyone under 18 twice in three months will automatically lose their licence.

This quotation was provided by Baiju Solanki of Performance Coaching and Training Ltd. www.performancecoachingandtraining.co.uk. 

” All my growth and development led me to believe that if you really do the right thing, and if you play by the rules, and if you’ve got good enough, solid judgement and common sense, that you’re going to be able to do whatever you want to do with your life.

Barbara Jordan was the first African American woman to become a Texas Congresswoman.

Many of you remember Essex Wildlife Trusts Appeal (see news blog Nov 23, Tile Wood Appeal) launched in November to raise £50,000 by 31st January 2010 to purchase Tile Wood, a 1000 year old ancient woodland in South Essex, for wildlife and the community.

As at the close of 26th January 2010 the current total for the this Appeal is  £48,295.02 , only £1,704.98 to go for them to achieve their £50,000 total. Again a big thank you to those who donated,  it is very much appreciated. They still have 4 days to go, so please if you want to support this, either see the Healthy Life Essex article ‘Tile Wood Appeal’ or call Gene Clifton on 01621 862964 to donate by phone.

Join Meningitis Research Foundation’s (MRF) London to Paris cycle team for a four day, 290km bike ride on 30 July – 2 August 2010.

We’d love cyclists of all abilities to sign-up for the MRF team. Join us at the starting line in London’s bustling streets on the morning of 30 July. We’ll cycle through south East England to Newhaven, board a ferry to Dieppe and cycle to a hotel in northern France. For the next three days we’ll head south through beautiful French countryside to the finish line under the Eiffel Tower.

After a celebratory glass of bubbly, it’s a relaxed cycle to the Eurostar where we’ll stow our bikes and put our feet up for a well earned rest as we’re whisked back to Blightly on 2 August.

MRF member Helen Arnold cycled to Paris last summer and loved every minute. She says: “Last year’s London/Paris cycle was a wonderful opportunity for me to stay in shape, raise sponsorship for a great cause, and have a few days in sunny France to boot. I’d recommend it to anyone of any age looking for a new challenge in 2010.”

Helen continues: “We started out on Tower Bridge in the sunshine. As a city worker it was great to cycle out of London into the British countryside, and a few hours later we were riding in northern France! The final leg coming into Paris was one of the highlights of the trip – the first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower left us all elated, and riding under the Arc de Triomphe was fantastic. I believe that anyone who enjoys cycling, or just wants a challenge for the summer, should sign up.”

MRF is a cause close to Helen’s heart – her friend Matthew Jones tragically lost his life to meningitis in 1998. Spurred on by a desire to make a difference in the fight against meningitis in Matthew’s memory, Helen raised a fantastic £1,100 in sponsorship for MRF.

Meningitis Research Foundation is a national charity fighting death and disability caused by meningitis and septicaemia – diseases which affect over 3,000 people a year, killing 10% of sufferers and leaving survivors with devastating after-effects like brain damage, deafness and amputations.  We fund vital research into preventing, detecting and treating meningitis and septicaemia, raise awareness amongst the public and health professionals, and support those affected. We rely on the support of people like Helen to continue this vital work.

If you’d like to sign up for the 2010 London/Paris cycle, call our fundraising team on 01454 281814 or visit www.meningitis.org

 Friday 12 February sees the UK cinema release of compelling new Oscar-tipped documentary Food, Inc.

Frequently, it seems, profit has been given priority over human health. Food, Inc. lifts the veil on the food industry, exposing a highly mechanised underbelly all too often hidden from the consumer.

It is often hard to convince cinemas to book documentaries over Hollywood fare, but if there are displays of local demand, it is often possible to convince them to put on at least one screening – this film is of incredible importance and relevance to us ALL, so let’s make sure it gets the exposure it deserves.

To see if the film is showing near you, check the list of current confirmed screenings
www.foodincmovie.co.uk/cinemas – please note this will be updated on a regular basis, so keep checking back.

If your local cinema has NOT booked the film, be it a multiplex or a small rural independent community centre with screening facilities, contact them now and get all your friends and colleagues from the community to contact them as well! The more demand, the more likely they are to show the film!

Here is a step-by-step process:

i) Ring the cinema and ask for the manager.
ii) Ask if they have plans to screen the film – let them know the film is being released on Friday 12 February.
iii) List the reasons they should screen the film, ranging from the importance of the issues to the fact that the film is being hotly tipped for the Oscars this year!
iv) Mention the local demand and how you are prepared to spread the word in your area –
perhaps you are a member of a local group or organisation who could host the screening?
v) Get the manager’s e-mail address so you can send through your request again and any
specific information to the local demand – get all your friends to as well!
vi) Tell the manager to contact the film’s distributors Dogwoof for any further details or to confirm the booking – they should e-mail oli@dogwoof.com or ring 020 7833 3599.

And finally, forward this information to all your colleagues!
www.foodincmovie.co.uk

British women meet Transport Minister to ask for urgent action 

Nine thousand people told Transport Minister Sadiq Khan on Tuesday 19 January that they want Britain’s roads to be safer to cycle on. 

Female cyclists Terry Cassels from Essex and Rachael Wood from London represented women across the UK who feel prevented from cycling because they don’t feel safe enough. 

They visited the Transport Minister at the House of Commons to deliver the ‘Motion for Women’ petition - nine thousand signatures of support for the urgent need for safer cycling conditions, gathered by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.

Rachael Wood, a female cyclist in London, said:  ‘Whenever I talk to other people about cycling, particularly women, I get the same story - they just don’t feel safe enough on the roads.  That really has to change if we are to encourage more people to travel by bike.’  

The petition - backed by organisations including Mind, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Townswomen’s Guilds and Women in Rural Enterprise - was launched in September in response to research from Sustrans that showed a staggering 79 per cent of women in Britain never cycle at all. 

Not feeling safe enough was revealed as the most common reason why women won’t cycle, and most believe that more cycle lanes separated entirely from all other traffic is what’s needed to encourage more women onto their bikes.

Melissa Henry of Sustrans said: ‘Women have told us that they don’t cycle because they don’t feel safe enough.  It’s great to have all these signatures backing our call for safer cycling, but this is just the start.  Governments now have to take all these voices seriously and make changes across the country that will mean more people can choose to make everyday journeys by bike, without feeling unsafe.’ 

The petition was also presented in Wales to the National Assembly for Wales and in Edinburgh to Stewart Stevenson, Scotland’s Transport Minister.

Further information about Sustrans, including other news releases and detailed online route mapping, is available through our website: www.sustrans.org.uk

For further information, please contact Wendy Johnson 0117 915 0128

Fax: 0117 930 4149; E-mail: press@sustrans.org.uk

As many viewers are aware, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was struck on the 12th January with a colossal earthquake that measured a disastrous 7.0 magnitude. The extent of the devastation is becoming clearer day by day, but statistics are still very inaccurate but the Red Cross has estimated that around three million people have been affected by the quake.  Haiti’s worst quake in two centuries hit south of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, wrecking the presidential palace, UN HQ and other buildings.

Now, 9 days later, the recovery process has begun  but will take months, most possibly years, to recover from Haiti’s worst earthquake in two centuries.  Workers are carving out mass graves on a hillside north of Haiti’s capital, using earth-movers to bury 10,000 people in a single day. Clinics have 12-day waiting lists for patients, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps in parks and vacant lots now house an estimated 300,000 people, many in need of food, water and medical care. At least 51 sizable aftershocks have jolted the city, sending nervous Haitians fleeing repeatedly into the streets — and keeping many sleeping in the open. Quakes of magnitude 4.9 and 4.8 followed in quick succession just before noon Thursday, prompted rescue crews to briefly abandon work on precarious, ruined buildings, though there were no reports of casualties or damage.

UNICEF has sent teams from around the region and aid is getting through, but more supplies are urgently needed. The situation for Haiti was already sparse before the earthquake happened due to struggling to recover from years of violence, insecurity and massive natural disasters and this earthquake has just added pressure onto the country’s finance ten fold. Many companies and retailers are now joining with Earthquake support groups to pass off a percentage of their profits to Haiti Earthquake funds but this still is not enough. UNICEF are urgently pleading for any donations, anything from £1 to £100, anything you can spare. Please help to rectify a matter which has damaged so many families, lives, companies and overall, an already declining nation.

To donate, click this link (and follow the Haiti banner): http://www.unicef.org.uk/