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First Meeting of new RoadPeace Group - Preston,
12.1.2005
Press Release
4 January 2005
Road crash victims in Lancashire will now receive local help
& support from RoadPeace, UK's charity for road crash
victims.
This new local group's Inaugural meeting will be held on
12th January 2005, 7pm, at the Disability Information
Centre, 103-104 Church Street, Preston, and is open to everyone
concerned about road danger. Besides Lancashire RoadPeace members
attending, the national office will be represented by Brigitte
Chaudhry MBE, Founder and Amy Aeron-Thomas, Researcher.
The meeting follows the Launch of the Lancashire Group with a
conference last October at Preston County Hall, organised with
considerable help from Pannone & Partners, Personal Injury
Lawyers from Manchester, and featuring distinguished speakers,
including Prof Ian Roberts and Dr Noreen Tehrani, both patrons of
RoadPeace, and representatives from Lancashire County Council and
Lancashire Constabulary.
This is RoadPeace's third group in the North West region, after
Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and one of their ten local
groups so far in the UK.
Local groups have an important role to fulfil - by offering
personal support within a group setting, by providing a local forum
to all those concerned about road victim and road danger issues, by
developing local expertise about statutory services and agencies
and forming relevant contacts, and by raising awareness of the work
and services of RoadPeace and the RoadPeace Helpline - 0845 4500
355 - a lifeline for all those who have suffered the trauma of
bereavement or injury through a road crash.
Zoe Stow, Chair of RoadPeace, said: "In the last year, we
have seen a number of new local RoadPeace groups emerging, and a
new Thames Valley Group is to be launched on 19 January based in
Reading. This is a great opportunity to provide local mutual
support and extend our charity's work, but it also, sadly, shows
how much RoadPeace is needed."
Contacts: RoadPeace office 020 8838 5102 Margaret Highton 01695 735
315
Zoe Stow 01491 642 857 Brigitte Chaudhry 020 8964 1800 contd.
Notes to Editors:
RoadPeace is a national organisation, with headquarters in London
and 10 local groups throughout the country.
RoadPeace offers:
* dedicated support for road crash victims
RoadPeace was set up in1992 to assist people bereaved and injured
by a road crash, who had no organisation to turn to at the most
desperate time in their lives. RoadPeace's first and only national
helpline for road victims, - 0845 4500 355 - provides a lifeline
offering vital information, advice and support on 7 days a week, 12
hours each day, from someone with expertise, empathy and
understanding. This is supported by free literature written from
the victim perspective. Long-term support and friendship are
offered through mailings, local groups, annual events and many
joint acts of remembrance.
* advocacy for road crash victims
RoadPeace champions the rights of road crash victims to ensure they
receive acknowledgement and justice. To this end, RoadPeace
researches and documents the experiences of road crash victims,
using the findings to inform and influence policy makers, agencies,
the media and the public.
RoadPeace also:
* works for road danger reduction
- for real road safety, regularly highlighting specific road
danger issues, to reduce the causes of crashes. It supports its
members in their wishes and efforts to see lessons learnt from
their tragedies.
* works at international level
- through the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims, as an
active member from 1993, with road victim organisations in Europe
and beyond, the European Commission, United Nations and World
Health Organisation.
'World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims', initiated by
RoadPeace in 1993, is now globally observed and supported.
In 1896, the death of Bridget Driscoll in Britain was the first
worldwide death of a person to be killed by a car. The coroner said
he hoped such a thing would never happen again. But the road death
toll in Britain has reached close to 1 million and worldwide over
30 million.
EACH year across the world there are over 1.2 million road deaths,
and for every death 4 people are permanently disabled, 30 treated
in emergency rooms and 10 hospitalised.
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