Sixty people attended our Action Mesothelioma Day event at the Church in Carrs Lane, Birmingham. The picture shows the Act of Remembrance at the start of the meeting. We commemorated the more than 5,500 people who are killed each year by asbestos related diseases. At least 225 of them come from our region. We also remembered those who have died in previous years. The number of deaths each year were supposed to peak about ten years ago, but have not done so.
Asbestos in Schools
The meeting was introduced to Jilly Bermingham, who joined our team as a ‘follow-up’ worker in January. She keeps in touch with our service users and their families. Andrew Field, Lead Safety Adviser for Birmingham City Council, gave us an update about the management of asbestos in schools. Alida Coates, one of the trustees of Mesothelioma UK, updated us about that Charity’s current work and the meeting raised more than £2,000 in its support.
Annual Accounts
Neil Bishop, the manager of Asbestos Support Central England, explained how we now help to fund the regional mesothelioma nurse specialist who works with patients and clinicians across our region and who is employed by Mesothelioma UK. He also gave a brief summary of our annual accounts, which can be seen in full here on the Charity Commission website.
For the summary in chart-form which we shared in the meeting, please click on this link.