A lot of the events reported in the local news don't affect young people, I know that. But sometimes there are big news stories that have an impact on everybody and over the last couple of weeks we've seen two.
First, we were told last week that the West Cumberland Hospital might lose its Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, because they can't afford to keep it opened and pay the doctors and nurses needed.
If it does close, the next closest A&E is Carlisle or Barrow depending on where in Copeland you are, and it could take over an hour to get there.
This week we have learned that Milton Studdart (ex-rugby league player from Moresby Parks) had to be taken to Carlisle because staff at WCH couldn't treat him. He had a heart attack on the way and he died.
His wife has said that if there had been a cardiologist (heart specialist) employed at WCH, Milton might well have survived, and the worry is that the more services we lose, the greater the chance that people could die needlessly.
We have also learned that the Police Station in Whitehaven may have to close as a result of cuts to the Police funding.
This could also mean a loss of experienced officers and PCSOs, which means fewer staff, and that means that vulnerable people -- such as the elderly and infirm -- are more likely to feel at risk. Thousands of people have already
signed the petition.
In other news...
Schools across the borough have recently had their Harvest festivals, and many of them have donated the food collected to foodbanks. St Bridget's School, Egremont showed off their achievements to the local press this week.
It's worth remembering that some people rely on foodbanks to keep their families fed:
North Lakes Foodbank supports around 500 people every month. Many of these people have jobs, but don't get paid enough to pay all their bills and have enough money left to put food on the table.
The Harvest collections were great, but we have to remember that there are people going hungry all the time, not just this month.
Seeing things differently...
Anybody fancy taking a bite out of this?
Looks delicious
Well, actually it looks like crap, but the instructions for creating it make it sound delicious.
Actually, this is a picture of a kitty litter cake, they're pretty popular in America and I'm definitely thinking of making one for a Hallowe'en party.
If you want to give it a try you will need:
·
Spice cake mix
·
White cake mix
·
Large bowl
·
Prepared vanilla pudding
·
Custard creams
·
Food processor
·
Green food colouring
·
New kitty litter box
·
Greaseproof paper
·
Chocolate bars (Fudge will do)
·
Metal litter scooper
·
Sheet of newspaper
Instructions
1. Bake both cake recipes in
separate pans according to directions. Cool completely before coarsely
crumbling the cakes. Mix cake crumbs together in a large bowl.
2. Mix about half of the prepared pudding into the
cake crumbs. Continue to add in small amounts of pudding until the mixture is
moist, but not soggy.
3. Crush the package of
custard creams into a fine crumb or use a food processor. Place ½ cup of the crumbs
in a small bowl and mix in several drops of food colouring. Mix in all but ¼
cup of the uncoloured crumbs into the cake and pudding mixture. The
crumbs add a sandy feel to the dessert.
4. Line the unused litter box with greaseproof paper.
Scoop the cake, pudding and cookie mixture into the litter box.
5. Warm eight to nine chocolate bars in the
oven or microwave until pliable. Shape each bars by rolling it between
clean hands and forming soft points into the blunt ends. Roll each shaped bar into the reserved uncolored cookie crumbs before adding to the top of the
cake. Sprinkle the green cookie crumbs over the finished cake.
6. Place a clean litter scooper on top of the cake to
use for serving. Set the cake litter box on top of a sheet of newspaper on the
table.
