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COMMUNITY OFFICE NEWS
GREEN MARQUEE
This was a huge success on Gala day and thanks to everyone who supported it. If you need any further information about any of the contributors please call in to the Office.
COMMUNITY FUND
We are having an open meeting on July 4th at 7p.m. at the Community Office. If you have any ideas for community projects that are concerned with promoting health, alleviating poverty and distress, improving the environment or local sustainability, please come along and see if we can help.
OPENING HOURS
Over summer we need temporary volunteers to cover holidays - if you can spare 3 hours on an odd morning or afternoon, please call in. Volunteers get free use of the internet.
ALLOTMENTS
We are steadily progressing with the help of Sedbergh School - anyone who has any knowledge of allotment affairs and would like to get involved, please call in.
BOOKS
Thank you to all those people who have donated books to the office. We now have a surplus and can't accept any more donations just now. Please call in to buy novels at 50p each, plus children's books and hobby books.
KNITTED GOODS
We are now selling knitted baby clothes, dolls, soap holders, hats and more that make great presents. They are made by local women and are sold to support St. John's Hospice so do call in and have a look.
AGE CONCERN / HOMEOPATHY
Don't forget about these clinics on Wednesday mornings - if they don't get used we will lose them so please call in with any concerns!
SEDBERGH VIDEO / DVD
Thanks to all those who have shown interest and been in touch. Due to school pressures, Tim and Catherine will be doing preliminary meetings before summer and then starting to film in September.
SLCVS
South Lakeland Council for Voluntary Services will no longer be holding a regular monthly surgery. However they are available to help community groups and can arrange to meet you at the Community Office by appointment. Please call them on 01539 742627 for any funding / volunteer / structure issues.
BATTERY RECYCLING
You can now recycle old batteries at the Community Office! If you are not yet using rechargeable batteries, please drop used disposable ones here and we will keep them out of landfill. Thank you.
APPROACHES TO FERTILITY
There are two very interesting books on the market at the moment describing how a scientific approach can be combined with traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs) to help couples with fertility problems.
Some women have difficulty becoming pregnant after a long stretch of taking a contraceptive pill. Very often oral contraceptives lead to blood deficiency (this can be felt in the pulse). In young women, particularly if there is excessive external pressure from work or study, this can lead to anxiety and panic attacks. Lowered energy is another side effect and the effect of stopping taking oral contraceptives can be, as one woman described it, like "putting down a heavy rucksack".
"Treatment of Infertility with Chinese Medicine" by Jane Lyttleton (Churchill Livingstone, 2004) approaches women's infertility through basal body temperature charts. The woman records her body temperature each day on waking and records the results on squared paper, giving a graph of the body temperature throughout each monthly cycle. Typically the graph dips slightly around day 14 (the first day of the period is day 1) and this is followed by a sharp rise over the next few days. This change in temperature indicates that ovulation has taken place and the temperature remains at the higher level until the start of the next period. These charts are used, both in China and in the west, as a cost-effective way of making a detailed analysis of a woman's cycle.
Scientific diagnostic methods give information which would not have been formerly available to Chinese medicine practitioners. The book discusses how treatment with acupuncture and herbs can help when modern methods have uncovered such irregularities as endometriosis and polycystic ovaries.
Lifang Liang, the author of the second book, "Acupuncture and IVF" (Blue Poppy 2002), trained in gynaecology and acupuncture in China, some thirty years ago, and then moved to the USA, where she now teaches gynaecology at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. Ideally before attempting to conceive, a couple would spend some months building up their state of health with good diet, exercise and, if necessary regulating the menstrual cycle. Lifang Liang describes a procedure whereby three months is devoted to health improvement, including acupuncture and herbal treatment, before IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) is attempted. She says that some couples conceive during this period and for the others, this offers an increased chance of success with IVF.
During this health improvement period acupuncture treatments are given using standard points for increasing energy, nourishing the blood, calming and relaxing, to regulate the menstrual cycle and improve the function of the ovaries. Men have treatment to improve the quality and quantity of sperm. Special treatments are given in the course of the IVF procedure to support the body's function at each stage, in particular to help the woman relax at the time of implantation. One German study showed that having acupuncture before and after implantation can significantly increase the chances of pregnancy.
Once pregnancy is established, acupuncture can be used to hold and nourish the foetus and to treat problems such as morning sickness and backache. Of course care must be taken and certain acupuncture points (the ones which could induce uterine contractions) are counter-indicated.
If you are interested in knowing more about these methods, please get in touch with me. My number is (015396) 20972. June Parker
JULY GARDENING
Does your garden have a July gap? After the first flush of flowers are over - the Peaonies, the oriental poppies and the old fashioned blue Geranium x magnificum there is always a bit of a lull in the bright colours of flowers and things look rather green for a time. I have been trying over the last few years to introduce more plants which bloom now and one of my favourites is Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum', a spine free thistle, about 4 ft in height which bears lovely deep wine red flowers. Matching it for flower colour, but shorter in height is a beautiful form of scabious Knautia macedonica which flowers from late June in my garden and foes on well into the Autumn. I have this underplanted with free flowering, low growing Viola cornuta in its blue and white forms. This seems to love the free draining (horribly stony) soil in the borders of my garden and seeds itself freely around.
A few years ago I bought three Alstromaria plants from a specialist grower. All named after royal princesses and queens, they have spread slowly to form neat clumps bearing salmon pink, rose pink and rich deep red flowers. Alstromerias are often available by mail order from non specialist nursery catalogues but this is one plant that I always like to see before I buy it. The yellow and orange flowered forms are often those supplied by mail order catalogues and they will quickly become thugs which rampage around the borders, squashing all in their wake and flowering for only a very short time.
Elaine Horne
SEDBERGH YFC
The field day took place on Saturday 20th May near Ulverston. It started off wet and miserable but the clouds lifted and it stayed dry for most of the day.
The wet start didn't dampen the spirits at all and despite it clashing with the gala a good turn out from Sedbergh's members was present.
The girls, otherwise known as 'Top Tuggers' came 1st in tug of war and go through to the northern area field day on the 24th June - Good luck girls!
Emma Middleton, Rachel Bainbridge and Katie May came 3rd in Cookery - they had to prepare a 4 course meal for 2 people in one hour.
Emma Rowlinson once again goes through with her flower arranging to Stoneleigh later this year. Sam Whitehead came 1st with judging fox hounds - we didn't expect anything less!
Valerie Capstick came 1st in girls stock judging. David Goad came 1st in junior sheep stock judging. Patrick Booth came 3rd in junior beef stock judging. Johnathon Harper got a silver trophy for winning junior craft. Carol's carrot cake came 1st (you know who you are!)
At the end of the day Sedbergh came 5th out of 9 clubs, a great result of which wouldn't be possible without the dedication of our members and support from our president, advisory members and of course all the mums, dads, grandparents and whoever else we rope in to help out. We also managed to walk away with trophy's including most improved small club, and girls stock judging.
After returning home for a quick change it was back over to Ulverston for the 'night do' where all members could once again breathe a sigh of relief - here's to next year!!!!
Young Farmers will quieten off now over the summer months as the schools break up and holidays begin, however we still will meet some Wednesday evenings for a game of rounders.
In July we are hoping to host a tug of war competition for both male and female teams, look out for the posters. In August there'll be the AGM, and at some point we are hoping to have a dinner dance with presentation evening.
Valerie would like to say a big thank you to all members who made 2006 field day such a big success for Sedbergh.
Congratulations goes to Suzanne Escolme and Emma Rowlinson on passing their driving tests.
Thank you once again to everyone that supported us recently with our 'Spot the dog' competition. We managed to make a total of £200.00 for club funds. The winners were as follows :
1st - James Postlethwaite, Howgill
2nd - Peter Mason
3rd - Mike Bames, Penrith NFU
If anyone has any queries please contact Valerie on 21032.
SEDBERGH SCHOOL
Quartet of awards for Sedbergh Pupils and staff
Three Sedbergh School pupils have received notification of three very different awards they have won in the last few days.
Helena Lightbody, from Cheshire, received notification from Peterhouse College Cambridge that she has won the Perutz prize for best AS level science essay in the country. Helena chose the essay title "Nanotechnology - Grey goo or great leap forward", which apparently in layman's terms means 'the study of really, really small things' . The national competition was hosted by Peterhouse College, Cambridge and was entered by all the L6 Oxbridge candidates at Sedbergh. A delighted Helena plans to spend her £500 prize on a trip to Venice.
George Dawson from Ilkley, currently in Year 11 has won a prestigious Arkwright Scholarship for Design and Technology.
The Arkwright Trust was founded in 1990 and supports young people during their A level years by awarding scholarships to support the purchase of materials and books. The student carries the status of "Arkwright Scholar" into university.
The presentation of the award to George will be held on Friday October 27th at the Institute of Engineering Technology in London.
The third award was won by Fred Strachan (Year 11) from Thorner near Leeds. This award goes by the name of "The Japan-Eu mutual understanding scholarship programme" and is only awarded to grand-children of Prisoners of War held in Japan during the Second World War. The Japanese Embassy in each EU country awards one award each year for a student to spend five weeks in Japan. Fred's achievement was all the more remarkable as he was the only UK student who applied for the award who was not a Japanese speaker.
The last award was received not by a pupil but a member of staff. The Good Schools Guide award certificates each year for the best A level results for boys and girls. Jim Fisher, Geology Master received a certificate for achieving the best boys A level Geology results in all the UK Independent Schools.
The photograph shows the three pupils with the Headmaster Christopher Hirst.
Left to Right: Fred Strachan, George Dawson, Headmaster Christopher Hirst, Helena Lightbody.
For further information, contact Richard Witt Marketing Director on 015396 22218 or marketing@sedberghschool.org
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