We looked up some of the things being celebrated this month. We don't know who decides what's on the list but these are some of our favourites for this month......
1) Breast Cancer Awareness month - we think this is important because some people suffer with it and we should all check to make sure we don't have any lumps, both men and women. If we check and catch any problems sooner rather than later it is easier to cure and get better.
2) World Blindness Awareness month and also World Sight Day on 13th October - some people are born blind and sometimes it comes later. We think it must be really difficult if you can't see and it is a good thing to try and get people thinking about what problems it can cause. Karen Morrey says: "I wear glasses and have regular eye checks to make sure I don't have any problems. Jean Clarke says "a lot of people can't see as much as they get older." Ricky Foster has had an operation to have a cataract removed and says "it is a bit confusing and scary not to be able to see properly." We all discussed that we're lucky to live in Britain where we can have eye tests and operations when we need them as some people in other countries go blind when they wouldn't if they lived here. It's good to try and raise awareness and money to help with cures.
3) October is also the month for The Big Draw - the campaign is for everyone to join in and have a go at drawing - we thought that it was a great idea - watch this space for some of our drawings when we get our scanner working!
4) World Arthritis Day was the 12 October.
Jean Clarke says "I've got it in my knee, it is awful when I walk on it as it aches. I need time and patience as it takes me time when I am walking. My niece has it in her hands too.
Nicola Daffurn says "My mum has it in her back and legs, I help her out with housework aty home and she can't lift really heavy things."
Charlotte is volunteering with us today and she is only 16. She says: "I have arthritis too and I struggle with long walks and people don;t understand because I'm so young - more people should be aware that it can happen at any age. My hands and legs hurt as the joints swell up and get really sore." That reallay made us think as some of us didn't realise that young people can suffer with arthritis too.
Barry Williams says: "I've got it at the bottom of my legs and it makes me unsteady on my feet. I need a bit of extra support as it makes me anxious."
Karen Morrey says: "My mum and dad both have it - mum has it in her hands and it annoys her as it hurts when she does the gardening."
5) 12th October was also the International Day for Natural Disaster Prevention. It is a day to make people think about reducing the damage disasters can cause by being ready and prepared. We talked about how a lot of disasters are man made, like oil spills and plane crashes but the natural disasters are things like earthquakes and volcanoes. We don;t really get those much in Britain, though we do get floods and snow sometimes. We thought it was good to get people thinking about emergency plans and what we could do to help. We looked it up and our last earthquale was on 21st August this year in Scotland and was only a little one compared to what happens overseas. We thought it must be really scary and horrible to be in a big earthquake. Northwich has had a lot of floods in the past and the sides of the river have been built up a bit so it won't happen so often now.....
6) Sunday 16th October was World Food Day. In this country we pretty much always have enough to eat but we found out on the web that over 800 million people go to bed every night hungry. In the UK there are 62 million people, so thats well over the ten times every one in the whole of Great Britain - that's a lot of people and we thought that we must be careful not to waste any food.
7) And staying with Food - it was National Curry Week from 9th - 15th October. We chatted about what our favourite curries were - Nicky Daffurn likes chicken korma with potatoes at home, Ricky and Barry said curry is a bit too hot for them and Mary Cuthell who popped in from Dane Walk to see us likes fish and salad better. The rest of us are all curry fans though - Vanessa Pennington has takeaway every Wednesday and it its curry likes chicken curry and rice. Karen Platt's takeaway night is Saturday and she likes lamb curry with rice. Karen Morrey likes green thai beef curry or blackbean curry and rice and says the Cheshire Tandoori gets 20/10 when she goes out for meals there with her family. High praise indeed!
Jean Clarke likes chicken korma and rice at home, Tim likes Asda chicken curries with rice, Ashley likes a nice lamb bhuna with half chips and half rice and says the Vamasaki in Lostock do really nice lamb chops. Charlotte, our volunteer likes chicken tikka and rice and also thinks the Vamasaki does fantastic meals. And Jackie likes Lamb Rogan Josh and rice and loves going to the Ganges restaurant in Sandbach as they're always really friendly and the food is delicious.
Right - that's it for now on what we think of National Days, Weeks and Months
Bye from the Blog team, watch this space as we'll keep you posted on what other dates are coming up soon.....
On Wednesday 26th October Chris Bebbington's Get Out More Disco is going to be a spooooooky Halloween fancy dress competition - there will be prizes for the best costumes - so all you witches, wizrds, ghosts, pumpkins, bats, mummies and skeletons - get ready to party! For more details see Chris Bebbington. Usual entry fee applies.
