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INSIDE EDITION NO: 43,140
save services
By ALEX ROSS
FYLDE coast teen-
agers have revealed
their despair over the
Firefighters dampen down the aftermath of a dramatic fire
on sand dunes in St Annes Page 4 loss of a vital service.
Advice and guidance
National News & Weather 6 service Connexions will
Opinion and Letters 10 be axed in May as part of
Television Centre pages £27m cuts by Blackpool
What’s On 34
Council.
Duke’s Diary 35 One of the main areas
Crossword, stars, Sudoku 36 where the axe has fallen is
Memory Lane 37 on youth services, leaving
Shares 38 the future of the some of
Sport 43-48 the most deprived and vul-
nerable youngsters from
COMING UP Blackpool in doubt.
The latest environmental issues on Green Page Children and volunteers
in The Gazette tomorrow and every Wednesday from Blackpool Boys and
Girls Club in Queenstown,
INTERNET TOP TEN who were put onto the club
by the service, told The Ga-
YESTERDAY’S top stories on zette about the work Con-
www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk nexions do helping young-
n Toxic cocktail killed mum, 54 sters find a direction into
work and training.
n Drama as rising tides trap 70
A petition has been
n Tormentor of comic on run from signed by thousands of
police
young people in Blackpool
n Drugs bust nets £350,000 of
to save the service and
plants
those youngsters who had
n Flash protest held in resort their lives turned around
n Clash over report into pubs by Connexions have
jumped on board.
impact
n Wenger hails Ollie’s spirit Danni Hickenbotham, 18,
organised the protest and
n DJ: We all believe
says she is scared her “sec-
n Pool go down fighting ond family” will be broken
n Five children left in squalor
up because of the cuts.
She said: “We heard
CONTACT NUMBERS about all the job cuts which
were going to happen and
General inquiries......... (0153) 400888
we found out a lot of people
News desk................................. 361865
are going to go from here.
Picture Desk............................... 3618
“My fear is if we don’t
Photosales.................................. 361867
show our support it will
Sport.......................................... 361863
shut.”
E-mail: editorial@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Stacey Robinson, 19,
Fax.............................................. 361870 from Layton, added: “Eve-
TEXT...............GAZTEXT [space] 84555 ryone in Connexions has
(If you don’t want to receive details of other
FIGHTING TALK: Connexions members with volunteer worker Danni
Hickenbotham who describes the club as her ‘second home
been there through thick
and thin and I can tell them
whatever I want. I would be
mortified if we lost this and
we were all crying when we
heard about the cuts.”
Gemma Donegan, 16,
from Grange Park, added:
“It’s really upsetting be-
cause I care for my two
brothers at home but I
have a care worker from
Connexions who helps me
out and now she won’t be
there.”
Many of the children and
teenagers said they had
found solace in the service
and many had been able to
reform their bad behaviour
and felt at home since tak-
ing part in sessions.
Daniel Taffs, 17, from
Blackpool, said: “I didn’t
have any confidence and
didn’t want to talk to any-
one but the workers at
Connexions helped me out
so much and my life has
changed because of them.”
The teenagers claim
nobody from the council
consulted them before tak-
ing away Connexions and
many have never even met
a councillor.
Rob Swarbrick, who is
taking voluntaryredundan-
cy from his job as a youth
worker a result of the cuts,
said: “We don’t know what
the Government’s plans
are but what we want to
know is their commitment
to areas like this.
“No young people
have been asked across
Blackpool about these cuts
and how they should hap-
pen – they are just happen-
ing.
“It’s a shame and a mess
and you are going to end up
with more youth crime be-
cause there are less activi-
ties.”
Work is currently being
done by Blackpool Coun-
cil to review youth serv-
ices and options to replace
Connexions are under con-
sideration.
alex.ross@
blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Resort
death
crash
biker
named
A BLACKPOOL motorcyclist
who was killed following a
horrific collision with a car
in Cumbria has been named
as Andrew Mitchell.
The 44-year-old, of Stanley
Park Close, Marton, was pro-
nounced dead at the scene of
the crash, which happened on
the A684 near to the village
hall at Garsdale, Sedbergh,
on Saturday.
Mr Mitchell’s silver 900cc
Honda Motorcycle was in-
volved in a collision with a
dark green Volvo V70 estate
shortly after 2.30pm.
Despite the efforts of para-
medics, air ambulance crews
and a local doctor, they were
unable to save him.
Arrested
The driver of the Volvo,
a 74-year-old woman from
Lincolnshire and a passenger,
a 72-year-old man escaped un-
hurt.
The woman was arrested on
suspicion of causing death by
driving without due care and
attention and taken to Kendal
Police Station.
She has been released on
bail until June 30 while fur-
ther inquiries into the inci-
dent take place.
The A684 remained closed
until 8pm while police col-
lision investigators carried
out investigation work at the
scene.
An inquest is expected to
be opened at South Cumbria
coroner’s office in the next
couple of days.
Mr Mitchell’s family have
been informed of his tragic
death and are currently
being supported by specially-
trained police officers in the
resort.

Mum tells of first son’s fight for life

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St Annes....................... (0153) 7436
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84555
n FROM PAGE ONE
The condition caused little Char-
lie’s skin to go yellow, his stomach
to swell and his blood sugar levels
to rise to dangerous levels.
He became so sick his bones
started to break as he was not pro-
ducing enough calcium to develop
properly.
Mum Lucy, of Blackpool Old Road,
described the first few months of
Charlie’s life as “horrific”.
She told The Gazette: “We didn’t
know anything was wrong as I had
a great pregnancy and all the scans
had come back OK.
“When Charlie was born he
seemed to have trouble breathing
and was making a grunting noise
so he was taken to the special care
unit.
“I was so scared because this was
my first child and I knew this wasn’t
how things were meant to go.
“It was the longest wait of my life,
we kept asking what was happening
but no-one could really tell us any-
thing.
“All we knew was after the first
few hours his jaundice levels should
have dropped but Charlie’s kept ris-
ing.”
After a week in Blackpool Vic-
toria Hospital, Charlie, now eight-
months-old, was transferred to a
specialist ward in Birmingham.
Lucy, 27 and Charlie’s dad, Ben,
28, then had to wait an agonising
four weeks for the first diagnosis.
She said: “It was just one scan and
investigation after another, it was
so nerve-racking.
“First of all we were told he had a
very rare condition to do with bile
salt which is produced by the liver.
“But when he took the medicine
for it his stomach started to swell
up and he was sent for a biopsy of
the liver.
“Something went wrong with the
biopsy and he ended up in intensive
care – it was such a shock to see him
on the ward, we were really panick-
ing.
“Following a further urine sam-
ple doctors said they had ruled out
cancer and he would need a liver
transplant.”
Five weeks later Charlie under-
went a successful transplant and
was released from hospital just be-
fore Christmas.
He has now passed the critical
three month stage during which
time the patient may reject the do-
nated organ.
And Lucy said she couldn’t have
handled the ordeal if it had not been
for medical staff and those at Ronald
McDonald House in Birmingham.
She added: “I just want to say a
big thank you to all the staff who
looked after him, especially at Ron-
ald McDonald House.
“They provided us with some-
where to stay, it was a brilliant fa-
cility which without I don’t think
we would have coped.
“You get to speak to other parents
going through the same thing which
helps in so many ways.”
Ronald McDonald House Chari-
ties (RMHC) is an independent
charity which provides free “home
away from home” accommodation
in hospitals.
Dr Peter Curtis, consultant pae-
diatrician and clinical director for
child health at Blackpool Teaching
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
said: “We’re delighted Charlie has
made such good progress and is do-
ing so well and we wish him all the
best for the future.
“His condition was particularly
serious when he was born as it was
so rare.”
carla.george@
blackpoolgazette.co.uk