“Its the difference between life and death, for the people who require it...”

Luke Vater, a student at Sheffield Hallam University, talks about his sponsorship cycle, to and from Amsterdam for The Sussex Air Ambulance.

At only 18, Luke has already set up a fundraiser, through sponsorship, to cycle from his hometown Forest Row, East Sussex, to Amsterdam and back. A few years back, Luke was involved in a road accident, where he was knocked off his motorbike by a Discovery. “I broke my femur, patella, thumb, and had third degree burns to the side of my foot.” As Luke was in such a bad way, the Air Ambulance was called to take him to hospital, where he had to have metal pins inserted into his leg and spent weeks on heavy painkillers, being under 24 hour supervision by nurses. Once he was able to walk down a flight of stairs unassisted, he was allowed to leave. Luke was bed-ridden for weeks, and then wheel-chair bound for 8 weeks. “During this time, I had a lot of time to think about just how short life is, or how very easily it can be!.. You should make the most of it”.
It was Luke's physiotherapist that suggested cycling would be a good source of exercise and a way to build muscle back up in his leg. Not sure whether she meant the amount he was about to do though! Luke, along with 2 other friends, planned to cycle to Dover, travel by ferry to Dunkerque, then cycle through France, Belgium, and into the Netherlands.
“I raised £1695 through the cycling fundraiser. My target is £2000, which I hope to make. I have already started thinking about another challenge fundraiser”. To get sponsorship, Luke set up a charity website, through 'Justgiving'. This site enables people to donate easily and fuss free. He has uploaded pictures, and more details about the fundraiser on this website.
The Sussex Air Ambulance, along with others, aren't funded by the Government, which means they are solely dependant on donations. On average, it costs around £1500 for them to be called out to a rescue. “The charity is important to me because its a service that saved my life. I felt like I should payback what they spent, as a way of thanking them for their service. The service is the difference between life and death, for the people who require it, and I feel it should be supported”.
As well as raising awareness, Luke has also encouraged and inspired people to dig down deep and support him through his fundraiser. Giving back, is what he has essentially done, and it definitely takes alot of effort to do that. Pretty sure whatever he does next will no doubt be another huge challenge, he definitely should be proud!
Check out Luke's charity website: www.justgiving.com/forestrowtoamsterdam

You can never have too much time to kill in an airport...

I don’t quite know what’s worse; being stuck at Charles De Gaulle airport for 3 days, or enduring the Tesco queue, which could only be described as some ordeal I no longer experienced 30 minutes ago. It must be the latter. Yes, definitely the latter. You see those Tesco aisles are so terribly depressing, with everyone having a face like you’ve just told them their dog died. Of course its not like you can leave either; what would you do without getting your food to fill your ever so ravenous face. 

Being stranded in an airport isn't so bad you know. There's plenty of ways to pass the time, i'm sure of it. From queuing at the desk for a good 11 hours, to walking round every last metre of the airport to see its full entirety.

You could pass a few minutes by trying to angle your bags so they are comfy enough to sit and sleep on. Or you could go to the toilet, even if you don't need it and have no intention on actually using it. You could visit the airport gift shops, every one of them, for the 957th time and still not buy anything but sweets to keep you remotely happy for the next 5 minutes.

You can talk to fellow stranded passengers and keep a good flow of the incorrect information you've all been given. You can keep saying you’ll never fly with the airline again, even though you probably will, and they know it too. You could go find a bar and use the remainder of your holiday money to go get pissed. Possibly take pictures of yourself, even those dog rough ones. Theres also time to look at everyone who passes you by questioning what job they do, and not knowing the answer so you decide whether you get it right or not.

You could also spend a good deal of time fantasising about putting anyone who works for the airline through some sort of pain; the people who have previously worked for them, or ever will work for them. Especially some woman who tells you you won't be getting back before Christmas Day, all in all because it's “not her problem.” Having to then laugh about it, because otherwise that fantasy, will no longer be a fantasy.

There are so many ways to kill time in an airport, its impossible to fit them all in. So it can't be that bad can it?

A perfect time to pounce?

You're out on a night out, someone comes over to you, you chat, exchange numbers, and more importantly, share Facebook details...
It's over.
Without realising it, you already know what their favourite music to listen to is, film, book, hobby, food, job, school they went to, interests, religion, friends, where they live, who they know, what they do in their spare time, likes, dislikes, if they have twitter, who they are following on twitter, what they did last friday night, if they take a good photo, if they're MARRIAGE MATERIAL?
I read in an article recently, a university undergraduate from Cheshire, was quoted saying "One of the attractions of Facebook is that you can find out so much about someone before you even date them".
That sentence itself just shows the problem. Some people may believe it saves time? Or makes the process quicker? But why do people want that?
In terms of dating, Facebook seems to be a CV for people to display in hope that they appear 'cool', or 'interesting'. Facebook is a place for people to create a false profile which they can hide behind. I'm pretty sure the term 'dating', means going out socially, to get to know one another. And I'm sure that it helps with conversation starters, if you need them, but they know you know the answer to whatever question you are going to ask. It makes people lazy, and not interested, in being interested in another person to get to know them. And as if Facebook stalking wasn't already easy enough, a few months back, an application was launched where you can get your romantic interest's relationship status updates sent straight to your inbox. The 'Breakup Notifier App, lets users select people they want to 'monitor'. Perfect, you see a fit girl you've had your eye on for a while, whose posted her relationship status to single, time to pounce. So what its been 13 seconds? She can move on. I love the tagline that's been given for the app too; "You like someone. They're in a relationship. Be the first to know when they're out of it". Dan Loewenherz, the developer of the app, said when he launched the app and it's website, within 36 hours the site has been visited more than 700,000 times, and the app had been downloaded by 40,000 people. Facebook then crushed the hearts of the stalkers on Facebook, when the social networking site suddenly disabled the popular tracking app, but not for long, as over a week later, the app was restored as it wasn't breaking any violating or privacy rules. This only encourages the way things are changing.
I guess instead of using a dating site, people use Facebook as its easier, free, and you don't have to appear like your desperately seeking a relationship, even though you secretly are. As time goes on, I don't doubt the profile layout will include a section where you write what you look for in a partner? And what's your 'type'? Until then, you Facebook stalkers will have to do the research yourselves. Tip: Look what their ex's look like. Another tip: An ex, is an ex for a reason.

AYUP

one-eyed boredom being stuck at home...