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Coffee drinkers help beat meningitis
LEIGHTON woman Shirley Avery held a special 'Coffee Break' at her home, Crossing Cottage, last week.
Shirley arranged the event to help raise awareness of meningitis, its signs, symptoms and after-effects, as well as raise funds for the Meningitis Trust. She is pictured with some fellow supporters.
Coffee Break is one of the Meningitis Trust's annual fund-raising events, with hundreds of coffee gatherings held across the UK and raising more than 1 million for their valuable support services.
Shirley was inspired to host a Coffee Break after her son Tomwas rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital with Meningococcal septicaemia when he was only 25 days old. Tom spent eight days receiving treatment at the hospital.
Thankfully the disease was caught quickly and he made a full recovery. But Shirley knows how important it is to support families struggling to cope with the after-effects of meningitis, whether it is the loss of a limb or something less visible like the loss of hearing, poor concentration or behavioural problems. She found the 24-hour nurse-led helpline really useful for providing support and information following Tom's illness due to hearing problems that he was suffering.
Shirley says: “I really wanted to do something which would help make a difference and raise awareness as well as raising a staggering 330.
“I also held a raffle with prizes being donated by friends and families and of course sold lots of yummy home-made cakes.The company I work for, DaimlerChrysler Financial Services UK Ltd, will double this amount which is fantastic."
Shirley would like to thank everyone who supported and attended the event and has pledged to make it an annual diary date.
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Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -8 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
