The Asthma Podcast - Transcript May 2010

Luke: Welcome to the Asthma Podcast. Every month we’ll bring you news, research updates, asthma advice and ways you can support us.

May is a special month for Asthma UK. Today is World Asthma Day and we’re also running our national fundraising week Putting Asthma in the Limelight. To find out about both these events, we’re joined by Claudine from our Media & PR Team and Becky from our Community Fundraising Team.

Claude, can you tell us about World Asthma Day and what Asthma UK is doing today?

Claudine: This year we’ve focused our awareness raising work on highlighting the value of having a Personal Asthma Action Plan as we know you’re four times less likely to end up in hospital if you have one. Action plans play a key part in helping people to stay in control of their asthma, they’re completed with you with your doctor or asthma nurse and they contain details about your asthma medicines, how to tell if your symptoms are getting worse and what to do including in the case of an asthma attack and they’re available from doctors surgeries or from Asthma UK by emailing info@asthma.org.uk

We’re doing a lot of work to encourage healthcare professionals to offer them to more people with asthma. We’ve written to every surgery in the UK for example, to highlight their value. We’re also encouraging surgeries to create a display of our materials for World Asthma Day and to considering fundraising for us.

And our main news story, out today, focuses on the fact that 88% of people in the UK just aren’t confident in dealing with a child having an asthma attack, so off the back of this research we’re suggesting the general public order an Asthma Attack card to find out more about what to do and that adults and children with asthma should get a Personal Asthma Action Plan as we know this reduces the chances of having an attack.

Luke: Fantastic, and tied in with the awareness raising that’s going around World Asthma Day, we’re also running a national fundraising week which Becky is here to tell us about. Can you just give us an overview of what’s happening this week and what type of things can people do to get involved?

Becky: Hi, yes sure. Putting Asthma in the Limelight is Asthma UK’s national fundraising week which is taking place this week and will be finishing on Sunday the 9th of May. And it’s really fantastic this year we’ve got lots of people all over the country doing some really amazing fundraising for Asthma UK. We’ve got cakes sales, BBQs, a number of different dance schools, amateur dramatic groups doing different shows and performances. We’ve got people doing quiz nights, pamper days, coffee mornings and everything is themed around the colour lime so the cakes sales are having lime-themed cakes, people are wearing lime to work and getting sponsored to do so.

We’re also doing quite a lot of stuff around singing this year, we’re trying to encourage people to really put themselves in the limelight and take to the stage with the microphone and we’re hoping that lots of people will join us for the Big Sing Song all across the country today to really sing their hearts out for people with asthma.

And something that’s really amazing that’s happening this year is we’ve managed to light up the Millenium stadium in Cardiff lime green which is really iconic thing for us to have done and hopefully lots of people if you’re in Cardiff and around that area then please do try and spot the lime green stadium and it will be in aid of people with asthma.

Luke: How can people get involved this week?

Becky: Well it’s not too late for people to get involved. We’ve got fundraising packs available from our website which they can download. But they don’t have to have a fundraising pack, if they just want to do something at work this week, just give us a call – let us know what you’re doing. If we can send you anything and if its not too late then we can. The website is asthma.org.uk/limelight or you can call us on 020 7786 5012. And please for anyone who is taking part we’d really love to hear about all of your stories, send in any photos that you have and if you do send in photos you will be entered into a competition to win an amazing Kodak camcorder so please do send them in we’d love to see them.

Claudine: And if you’ve got asthma and you haven’t already been offered a Personal Asthma Action Plan then please do go in and speak to your doctor or asthma nurse and ask them for one. And do remember that you can order one from Asthma UK and take it along with you.

Luke: And all this information is on the Asthma UK website at asthma.org.uk/limelight