On the field, Marcus Rashford still has plenty to play for.
Aged just 22, the Manchester United star probably has at least a decade’s worth of football ahead of him.
Ample time, you’d imagine, to pick up honours that have so far eluded him.
Premier League, Champions League, and even World Cup Winners’ medals will all be on his agenda. Football has so many prizes to offer Rashford in the exciting years ahead.
But outside of sport, it seems there’s very little else for him to win.
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The striker’s ongoing campaign to end food poverty – which allowed thousands of children to claim free school meal vouchers throughout the summer holidays in the coronavirus pandemic – has seen him earn a place on the cover of British Vogue (for the magazine’s Activism Now edition); an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester; and an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2020.
But Rashford now has the task of finding some more room within his rapidly diminishing shelf space.
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The striker has been listed as a trophy recipient in the upcoming Pride of Britain Awards: with Special Recognition.
Rashford is being given the prestigious honour for his continued fight to end child poverty – which has stepped up to a new level this month and captured the imagination of the British public.
The England star’s new campaign, which calls on the government to expand free school meals and increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to at least £4.25 per week, was voted down in the House of Commons last week.
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But Rashford has already forced Downing Street into one u-turn this year and is hoping to do so again – claiming he is ‘not going anywhere’; with the government coming under increasing pressure to review the request.
Captain Tom Moore will also be celebrated at the Pride of Britain Awards
Rashford, who relied on free school dinners when he was growing up in Manchester, will be one of three Manchester winners at the 2020 Pride of Britain awards.
The others are Dena Murphy – a 92-year-old who has helped 300 ex-offender’s complete community service orders by teaching them allotment gardening – and Child of Courage Emmie Narayn-Nicholas who set up Emmie’s Kitchen after spending 100 nights at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Captain Tom Moore will also be celebrated at the ceremony – after the 99-year-old army veteran raised £27 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden.
The Pride of Britain Awards will be broadcast on November 1 on ITV 1.
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NHS launches new AI and robot cancer detection pilot offering ‘glimpse into future’
Emily Sergeant
The NHS has launched a ‘trailblazing’ new AI and robot pilot to help spot cancers sooner.
Patients who are facing suspected lung cancer could get answers sooner under the new pilot that makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic technology to help doctors reach hard-to-detect cancers earlier, and all without with fewer tests too.
At the moment, patients are faced with weeks of repeat scans and procedures to come to a diagnosis.
But this could soon be replaced with a single, half-hour cancer biopsy – reducing prolonged uncertainty, and avoiding more invasive surgery.
According to the NHS, the new approach uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous, before a robotic camera is then used to guide biopsy tools through the airways with much greater precision than standard techniques.
A new NHS pilot using AI and robotic technology will help doctors reach hard-to-detect lung cancers earlier.
Weeks of scans and procedures could be replaced with a single biopsy, reducing uncertainty and avoiding more invasive surgery.
The robot can reach nodules as small as 6mm – which is around the size of a grain of rice – that are hidden deep in the lung and are often deemed too risky or difficult to access using existing methods, and once AI has highlighted higher-risk areas, doctors can then take a precise tissue sample, which is sent to specialist laboratories and reviewed by expert cancer teams to confirm or rule out cancer.
The NHS’s top cancer doctor hailed the pilot – which is currently being carried out at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – as ‘a glimpse of the future of cancer detection’.
“Waiting to find out if you might have cancer is incredibly stressful for patients and their families,” admitted Professor Peter Johnson, who is NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer.
The NHS has launched a new AI and robot cancer detection pilot that’s offering a ‘glimpse into future’ / Credit: rawpixel
“Our lung cancer screening programme means that we are picking up more cancers at an early stage than ever, and by bringing AI and robotics together in this trailblazing NHS pilot, we’re bringing in the very latest technology to give clinicians a clearer look inside the lungs and support faster, more accurate biopsies.
“This is a glimpse of the future of cancer detection.
“Innovation like this is exactly how we can help diagnose more cancers faster, so treatment can be most effective, and why the NHS continues to lead the way in bringing new technology safely into frontline care.”
If successful, the pilot will help the NHS to generate evidence to develop a national commissioning policy for robotic bronchoscopy.
It will also support more consistent access to the technology across the NHS in future.
Featured Image – Tima Miroshnichenko (via Pexels)
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Chester Zoo announces new spring date for its popular running event to help UK wildlife
Emily Sergeant
Chester Zoo has announced that its popular Run For Nature is back again this year, and this time, there’s a new spring edition.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo seen success with this event in the past few years, with thousands of runners signing up for one of the North West’s most unique athletic experiences and all funds raised going towards efforts to protect highly-endangered giraffes in Africa.
This year though, the much-loved event’s focus brings conservation ‘a little closer to home’ and will protect some of the UK’s most threatened species instead – with all funds helping to safeguard hedgehogs, kingfishers, otters, harvest mice, and more.
It comes as the UK is currently considered one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.
Participants will first get to wind through the zoo and enjoy glimpses of elephants, lemurs, and other incredible species along the way, before heading out into the picturesque Cheshire countryside.
Adults can choose from a 10K or 5K route, while younger runners are invited to take part in a one-mile ‘Zoom’ race, open to children aged four-15, which takes place entirely within the zoo’s incredible 130-acre grounds.
All runners will receive free entry to the zoo for the rest of the day as part of their registration, along with a 25% discount for friends and family who come along to show support.
Chester Zoo’s popular 10K charity run is returns with a new spring date / Credit: Chester Zoo
Lorraine Jubb, who is the Fundraising Lead at Chester Zoo, called the Run For Nature a ‘really special event’.
“In previous years, runners have already supported conservation efforts for Asian elephants, Eastern black rhinos and Northern giraffe,” she explained. This springtime though, we’re turning our attention much closer to home in the UK, and to the wildlife we share our gardens, parks and countryside with.
“With one in six species now at risk of extinction in the UK, every runner will be playing a vital role in helping us protect animals and supporting our growing nature recovery work across right across Cheshire.
The Manc -
26th October 2020 
