Saturday, 05 July 2008

Brave the Beacons

On September 13th 2008 , twenty teams will pit their wits and fitness as they attempt to navigate the Brecon Beacons to help raise vital funds for Action Medical Research.  This is no ordinary challenge; as each team will choose to complete the route in their own way, navigating by orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing, trekking running, and/or climbing/abseiling.

 

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Kidz Stuff returns for 2008

The Kidz Stuff Festival returns to the unique venue of Leonardslee Gardens in Lower Beeding near Horsham, West Sussex in late May 2008. Last year’s first ever Kidz Stuff event was such a huge hit, with thousands of families visiting , that the organisers, Horsham Rotary Club, are making the 2008 festival even bigger. This fantastic event promises something for all the family and wil raise funds for Action Medical Research

 

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Stem Cells Treat Brittle Bones in the Womb

Action Medical Research has funded an Imperial College London study that could lead to a stem cell treatment for babies with brittle bones; before they are even born.
The team, led by Professor Nicholas Fisk, transplanted specially manipulated stem cells into 14 day old mouse fetuses that had OI. These mice had a reduction in long bone fractures of two thirds, compared with an untreated group, by the time they were twelve weeks old

 

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Close to a breakthrough in spinal cord injuries

An Action Medical Research funded project, based at the Cambridge University Centre for Brain Repair, is on the brink of a major potential breakthrough in the repair of spinal cord injuries. Professor James Fawcett’s Cambridge based team believes it is close to a clinical treatment that could allow nerve fibres to regenerate within the spinal cord and also encourage remaining nerve fibres to work more effectively.

 

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Scratching the surface of itchy skin conditions

Researchers funded by Action Medical Research may have helped unlock one of medicine’s great mysteries; why we get itchy skin!

The team’s discovery of gene abnormalities which directly cause skin itching, could in the long term help thousands of people worldwide who suffer from a severe skin disorder called primary localised cutaneous amyloidosis and may even pave the way for future treatments into other more common conditions, such as eczema.

 

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Breakthrough to Help Save Babies' Lives Worldwide

Trials are underway on a NEW heart rate monitor which could save hundreds of babies every year.

Action Medical Research, the charity that also played a crucial role in the development of ultra-sound scanning in pregnancy during the 1970’s, has funded 8 years of development work in this new monitor.

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Dining with Davina

Charity supporter Davina McCall hosted a fundraising ladies’ lunch in Southampton recently. ‘Dine with Davina’ raised more than £10,000 for the Touching Tiny Lives campaign.

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Window on the brain cure for epilepsy

A new MRI scanning technique, developed with support from Action Medical Research, could mean life-changing curative surgery for more people with epilepsy. The technique helps to pin-point the exact source of seizures in the brain and, where surgery is possible, the area may be removed.

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Making a splash for charity

Caroline Martin recently completed a challenging one-mile sponsored swim, raising more than £1,000 for Action Medical Research, after the charity funded work that helped her towards an amazing recovery from debilitating epilepsy.

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Bear-illiant!

More than 500 schools and children’s groups across the UK - and some grown-ups too - celebrated our loveable furry mascot Paddington Bear’s birthday by raising vital funds for his favourite charity.

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Trek with Tony Hadley and friends

The former Spandau Ballet frontman is looking for participants to join him and fellow ‘80s stars Martin Fry of ABC and Go West’s Richard Drummie on a fantastic fundraising trek across Costa Rica in March 2008.

Celebrities turn out for Swing Ball

Fabulous auction prizes and big band entertainment were some of the treats in store at Simply Swing!, this year's Action Medical Research fundraising ball. The event provided a top night of entertainment for over 400 supporters.

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The Sun supports launch of the Action Baby Book

The Sun newspaper, a supporter of the Stand Up for Tiny Lives campaign, has launched a new photo site, the Action Baby Book, in partnership with Action Medical Research. Parents and relatives of premature babies can upload their stories and images to the site to be added to our yearbook. This willl be delivered to the Secretary of State for Health. If you have a story that you would like to share, email your entry to babybook@action.org.uk

Another step forward in preventing premature birth

Action Medical Research has announced research findings, which offer new insight into a hormone, oxytocin, that plays a contributing factor in premature births.

New research in to teen pregnancies

A team funded by Action Medical Research are looking into whether the still growing bodies of pregnant teenagers may be putting the health of their unborn babies at risk, through a competition for nutrients.

Happy Mondays!

There are just over 16,000 reasons for the team at Action Medical research to be happy about Mondays - because that is the total in £s of the funds raised on our behalf so far by Monday, the charity-focused lottery.

Cycling mad …

The ‘Barking Badgers’ group, headed by Tesco’s Tim Mason, took on another cycling challenge in support of Action Medical Research, scaling the heights of the Sierra Nevada mountains, following the route of the La Vuelta cycle race in Spain. The group hopes to raise £70,000, which will fund the first year of a research project into preventing childhood blindness.

Robots that help youngsters to help themselves

An Action Medical Research team is using a special robot arm to help children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (also known as dyspraxia). Often misunderstood, children with this disorder can struggle with everyday tasks like writing or tying shoelaces.

Cyclists brave Dartmoor rain for Action

Over 200 riders took place in our first ever Dartmoor Challenge sponsored bike ride. Despite heavy rain and difficult terrain, the cyclists braved the challenge to complete a successful fundraising event for Action Medical Research.

VT Shipbuilding steps out with Davina

Staff at VT Shipbuilding are pulling on their trainers and getting into practice before they take part in Davina’s Day Out a mass sponsored walk in Portsmouth, for the second year in a row on Sunday 9th July.

Castle Riders make 100-mile history

More than 430 guests enjoyed a spectacular night at the Park Lane Hilton on Thursday, 20th April 2006 and the event looks set to have raised over £92,000 for our Touching Tiny Lives Campaign.

Glorious Molly!

Well done to all of those who ran Sunday's Flora London Marathon on our behalf, especially Molly, our 20-person millipede, which made it round the 26.2 mile course in an awesome 5 hours 49 minutes and 5 seconds.

monday: the charities lottery

At last - a reason to love Mondays. From April 20th Brits can take part in a fairer weekly lottery. One that means they are 27 times more likely to win a jackpot than with The National Lottery.

Brenda's story

Brenda Dickinson, 84, has plenty to smile about. The cycle ride that she initiated in 1982 celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Over the years, the Big 100 ride, as it was then, became the Action 100 cycle ride, and the ride has expanded its reach, attracting riders from as far away as Canada.

Rugby star to tackle Castle ride

Northampton Saints rising star Ben Jones has registered for this year' s first ever Castle Bike Ride, the fundraising event for the charity Action Medical Research.

Millipede Marathon Madness

Dr Amy Robb is one of twenty runners donning a millipede costume when she takes part in the Flora London Marathon in two weeks' time raising funds for our Touching Tiny Lives Campaign.

Folic Acid Campaign update

We have updated the campaign information to take into account new developments including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) draft report which recommends the mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.

Bristol Evening Post supporting Action 100

The organisers of the Action 100 Bike Ride are delighted to announced that the Bristol Evening Post has agreed to be our media partner during this, our Silver Jubilee year.

Diabetes sufferers to benefit from research

Diabetes sufferers have been given new hope in a groundbreaking study that has found causes of a condition that can lead to lower limb loss.

Comedy Store event announced

Top comedians Stewart Lee and John Moloney have agreed to perform a set at the Comedy Store on 19th June 2006 to help raise awareness of the need for more research into preventing pregnancy complications and premature birth.

Baby experts desperate for funding

The UK's top baby experts are calling on the Government to double its funding into research to stop premature birth and pregnancy complications.

West Kent DJ's Sign Up For Castle Ride

Popular KMFM DJ's James Dean and Emma Leigh have announced their participation in this years Castle Bike Ride a 100-mile route that encompasses six castles in the Kent region on Sunday May 7th.

Clear CT scans for patients with metal implants

Pictures from CT scanners have helped bone surgeons make huge improvements in the outcome of operations. But metal implants, such as plates and screws, inserted during surgery render subsequent scans useless by obscuring the detail. Researchers hope to find a way to see both the metal and bone more clearly.

Is better diagnosis the key to preventing blindness in premature babies?

Some 60,000 people around the world have been blinded soon after birth by a disease called retinopathy of prematurity. Difficulties with diagnosis mean babies are still losing their sight unnecessarily. Researchers are developing a straightforward screening tool, which could help save the sight of babies worldwide.

The many faces of bronchiolitis

Each year in the UK, around 20,000 babies and young children are admitted to hospital with severe bronchiolitis yet there is no specific treatment.

When skin cells behave badly

Tooth loss and chronic wounds that don't heal properly are just two of the problems that can result when the cells covering the gum or skin, called epithelial cells, behave abnormally. Researchers hope to reveal what's going wrong at a molecular level, with the ultimate aim of developing new treatments.

Water on the brain: towards the first ever drug treatment

Babies who are born very prematurely are at high risk of bleeds to the brain, which can result in hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Researchers are searching for the first ever safe, effective drug therapy.

John Prestwich RIP

We received some tragic news this week about John Prestwich who featured on the front cover of the last issue of Touching Lives, the charities magazine. Sadly, John who had been in hospital since Christmas passed away on Monday afternoon.

Progesterone could save babies

Action Medical Research has announced details of a new study that could see progesterone being used to stop babies from being born too soon.

Lost World Trek

Top celebrity fundraiser for Action Medical Research Tony Hadley is currently trekking in Venezuela with fellow musicians Martin Fry and Richard Drummie to help raise funds for the charity.

To the ends of the earth

This year three of our supporters have come up with something really different, raising money for Action Medical Research by racing to the North Pole!

Baby bloggers inspire media frenzy!

In December we wished happy birthday to Edmund & Aubrey Holdcroft our 'baby bloggers' little knowing the media storm they would face in the run up to the new year.

Grant Crawley's challenge of a lifetime

Intrepid cyclist Grant Crawley is one of the first to sign up for our Action 100, Bristol to London bike challenge, despite suffering from a rare and debilitating condition which affects his mobility.

Beyond the call

We all try to do what we can for charity, but Kent based doctor David Smithard really does give his body and mind to the cause.

Transplant kids bring home the medals

Great news from our friends at Birmingham Children's Hospital whose team have just had their most successful year at the British Transplant Games winning a staggering 27 gold, 22 silver and 15 bronze medals in a variety of track, field and swimming events.

Happy birthday Edmund & Aubrey

Happy birthday to two very special little boys. Born at 25 weeks and 4 days the twins have had an amazing first year which we have been following on the website.

Betty Parsons’ 90th Birthday Celebration

Betty Parsons has earned her place in medical history by teaching women "relaxation for childbirth and for life." Over 20,000 people have benefited from her words of wisdom including members of the Royal family and many well-known personalities from the arts.

New hope for babies too small to feed

It is vital that tiny babies have the right nutrition to grow but for some their digestive system is so immature that it has not had the chance to develop fully.

Couch potato kids - Osteoporosis link

A new study has found that walking to school and putting fresh fruit and vegetables on school dinner menus will help to protect youngsters from osteoporosis in old-age.

Baby brains could hold the key to damage recovery

An exciting new Action Medical Research project is to research the way that a child can compensate for brain damage by switching functions to different parts of the brain.

Tracking down the culprits in premature labour

An Action Medical Research team at Imperial College, London thinks they may have tracked down one of the reasons why about 8,000 babies are born prematurely every year in the UK.

Charity welcomes launch of BNF for Children

Action Medical Research has welcomed the launch on the 20th September 2005 of the British National Formulary for Children calling it a 'fantastic step forward'.

Hope for children with inherited blindness disease

A pioneering new Action Medical Research study, based at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College, London, is hoping to prevent children from losing their sight.

Is snoring linked to small babies?

Can a woman's lack of oxygen during sleep affect the health of her unborn baby? Action Medical Research scientists in Nottingham are currently working on finding some answers to a very common problem.

UCL doctor scoops top award

Talented Dr Tracey Graves has been given a Research Training Fellowship of £113,841 by the charity to study a genetic cause of epilepsy.

Bluetooth could save stroke victims

Action Medical Research has said that one of its talented young researchers is working on a brain scanner that could revolutionise stroke care.

Cycle Show supporting Action Medical Research

The UK's premier cycling exhibition signs up to support Action Medical Research.

Research Training Fellowship awarded to young doctor

Talented Dr Sally Johnson, who grew up in Horsham in West Sussex, has been given a Research Training Fellowship of £131,633 by the charity to study one of the causes of devastating kidney failure in children.

New study into pre-eclampsia

A new Action Medical Research study is hoping to discover the causes of pre-eclampsia - a serious but very common condition that affects one in ten pregnant women.

Top Award to Young Edinburgh Doctor

A young Edinburgh doctor has been awarded a prestigious grant from Action Medical Research so he can begin his career in research.