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Chester Zoo has been crowned the best large visitor attraction in England for 2022

The UK's largest charity zoo scooped two accolades at the prestigious Visit England Excellence Awards 2022 this week.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 10th June 2022

Chester Zoo is celebrating this week after officially been crowned the best large visitor attraction in England for 2022.

The UK’s largest charity zoo was crowned both Large Visitor Attraction of the Year and also received silver in the Resilience and Innovation category at the prestigious VisitEngland Excellence Awards that were held in Birmingham earlier this week, and was praised for its efforts in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also commended for offering visitors “a world class day out”.

Chester Zoo was representing Cheshire at the national awards this week after it automatically qualified ofd the back of two successful award wins at the Marketing Cheshire Annual Awards earlier in the year.

Bosses at the zoo say the award “means the world to us”, and has thanked all its visitors and everyone that supported it for helping it take home the coveted title.

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Speaking on the win, Jamie Christon – CEO at Chester Zoo – said: “As one of the world’s leading charity zoos, we put everything into our conservation work both here in the UK and globally.

“Our huge team live and breathe wildlife conservation, from our animal and plant care, to our scientific breakthroughs, our policy work in government, through to our education programmes that are helping people from all walks of life to learn about nature.

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Read more: Chester Zoo is having a recruitment open day and there’s over 100 jobs on offer

“We’re fighting to tackle the root causes of wildlife decline, doing whatever it takes to create a brighter future for endangered species around the world – but none of this could be possible without people coming to the zoo.

“In doing so each and every person is contributing to our incredible species-saving work and so a huge thank you goes out to everyone that has visited and supported us.

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“It means the world to us.

“This national award firmly confirms Chester Zoo as one of the must-see places to visit in the country.”

Featured Image – Chester Zoo

News

New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.

The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.

Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.

Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.

As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.

This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.

In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.

“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.

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“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.

“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”

Featured Image – Heute

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Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Louisa Tunstall

A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.

Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.

While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.

After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.

When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.

After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.

Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.

Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.

“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”

GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.

Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.

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Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.

Featured Image – GMP

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