The Asthma Podcast - Transcript June 2009

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

This month, find out how your child could take part in a Kick-Asthma holiday this summer. Also we reflect on another hugely successful London marathon for the Asthma UK team and look forward to more exciting events coming up later in the year. Finally we have details of a new online video appeal, which highlights the serious impact that asthma can have on people’s lives.

---

Luke: This summer over 200 children with asthma will take part in our Kick-Asthma holidays, which are happening throughout the UK. To find out more we’re joined by our Children and Young People’s manager Jenny Parry. Can you tell us a bit about the benefits of Kick-Asthma holidays and who can go on them?

Jenny: Yes, the holidays are activity-based holidays for children and young people with asthma aged 6-17. They’re held all over the UK and they can get involved in activities such as treasure hunts, rock climbing, ten-pin bowling, archery - a whole host of activities.

Luke: We’ve had some great feedback about the holidays in the past haven’t we? What are the benefits for children and young people with asthma?

Jenny: Well firstly they’re a great chance for children to come along and learn more about their condition and how to manage it. They’re also a great opportunity to meet other children with asthma and talk about their experiences and share stories around their medication, those sort of things. They’re also a great chance to get involved in new and exciting activities that they may not have done before in their school. And hopefully it’s a great break for parents and a respite for them. Hopefully children are coming home feeling more confident about themselves and their condition and how to manage it.

Luke: How are they looked after during the holidays?

Jenny: The holidays are run by trained volunteers and expert healthcare professionals and they’re there throughout the week supervising activities and all medication. All volunteers are also CRB checked.

Luke: And we still have places available this year haven’t we? Where can people sign up?

Jenny: Yeah we’ve got holidays running throughout July and August and there are still places left in the holidays in Wales, Northern Ireland and Cumbria. And to find out more and to get some information sent they can phone the Supporter and Information Team on 0800 121 62 55 or find more information on our website at asthma.org.uk/holidays

---

Luke: If the London Marathon has inspired you to get fit and active this year, Asthma UK has several events that you can get involved with. To find out more we’re joined by Francine Heggie from our Events Team. Francine, this year’s Marathon was a great success, wasn’t it?

Francine: Yes, it was a fantastic year for us. The weather was fantastic, so we had lots of supporters coming out to cheer on our runners and we had 314 people running for Asthma UK who have raised about £340,000 so far. We’re well on our way to raising our target of £450,000, which is amazing! So thank you and congratulations to everyone who ran for us this year. We’ve already got lots of applications coming for next year as well.

Luke: If a marathon might be a bit too much for some people, we’ve got plenty of other options, haven’t we?

Francine: Yes, we have two great half marathons coming up in the autumn. The first is the Royal Parks Half Marathon in London on 11 October. We ask fundraisers to raise about £350 for this event and we have about 500 places. So there’s lots of space on the team and the race takes in a lot of London hotspots, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. It’s a beautiful route through four of London’s Royal Parks and it’s a really fun and nice day out for the family.

There’s also the Great North Run, which takes place in Newcastle on 20 September. We have around 300 runners on the team and we ask people to raise around £350. If anyone wants to sin up you can visit asthma.org.uk and register online for those.

Luke: Running for the Asthma UK team people get a great deal of support, don’t they?

Francine: Yes, we try and make people feel that they’re not going through the training and fundraising process alone. It’s very much a team atmosphere and we give people access to online forums, so that they can get in touch with other runners on the team. We also send out an Asthma UK fundraising pack and running vest, so when you’re out and about plodding the streets everyone can see who you’re running for – and hopefully you’ll see some other Asthma UK runners out on the route as well and give each other a wave. We’re always at the end of the phone if you have any queries or worries at all about either the training or the fundraising and we try and make sure that people have all the materials they need along the way.

---

Luke: Asthma UK has launched a new appeal highlighting the seriousness of asthma and the importance of people’s donations in helping us fund research into the condition. To find out more we’re joined by Lucy Ellwood-Russell from our Direct Marketing Team. Can you tell us why we’ve decided to launch this campaign, and why now?

Lucy: Well we launched this video campaign to tackle complacency around asthma. 5.4 million people in the UK have asthma, for some people their symptoms may be quite mild but for 500,000 people their asthma is so severe that current medicines just don’t work.

Luke: Can you tell us about one of the people we feature on the video?

Lucy: One of these people is Beverly Morley and Beverly is currently at the maximum dosage on her current medication. There’s absolutely no alternative for her to move on to if her symptoms were to get worse. For the past 19 years she’s had to rely on a syringe pump which is permanently connected to her stomach and it pumps medicines into her body 24 hours a day. If the pump breaks down she needs to get to hospital immediately, so her asthma is so severe that her son has had to resuscitate her on numerous occasions. Now this is exactly why it’s so vital to share stories like Beverly’s with as many people across the UK as possible.

Luke: And of course its not just individuals that are affected by asthma is it, families and friends are also affected.

Lucy: Laura Pearson, who fundraises for Asthma UK, tells us in one of our other videos how her world was turned upside down following the loss of her sister. Kerry’s asthma attack came totally out of the blue and was totally unexpected. And from that evening on, Laura has looked after Kerry’s son Ryan who also has asthma.  We hope that this campaign spreads awareness of the reality of living with asthma and inspires people to donate to Asthma UK, to help us keep on making a difference.

Luke: And finally where can people go and view the videos?

Lucy: Listeners can see Beverly and Laura speak in their own words about living with asthma on the Asthma UK website at asthma.org.uk/lifeandbreath and you can also check out the videos by searching for ‘Asthma UK Life and Breath’ on YouTube and Facebook.