David Deardon joins Marathon Fundraising in aid of AKIN

We are proud to announce that our Consultant General Surgeon and Managing Director, David Deardon has joined the AKIN Sierra Leone (Association for Kids In Need) a well known local Gibraltar charity and Ibex insurance to help raise money for the UK based charity - “Street Child of Sierra Leone” (www.street-child.co.uk). 

Please see the Press Release below for all the details of the marathon event. We would be very grateful if anyone wanted to support David in running in this event, please go to the website below and type in David Deardon. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/IbexAkinKilnSLMarathon 

The AKIN Sierra Leone Team!

The AKIN-IBEX Sierra Leone Team!

David (2nd from right) and the AKIN team filling boxes with books, toys and school provisions for the school children of Sierra Leone.

Marathon fundraising by AKIN supporters and Ibex staff

Members of the well known local charity AKIN Sierra Leone (Association for Kids In Need – www.akincharity.org) and staff at Ibex Insurance have joined forces in an ambitious fundraising project to raise funds for UK charity “Street Child of Sierra Leone” (www.street-child.co.uk) who have organised a marathon event in Sierra Leone.

The group is made up of six AKIN supporters and six Ibex staff members and they will take part in a combination of long distance running events on the 9^th June in Sierra Leone. The team have set a target of raising at least £15,000!! So far they have organised a bingo night and quiz nights and have raised £11,000 through events and online donations. The team has also organised a 12 hour treadmill marathon and a raffle for the 26^th May and hope that with these two events and more online donations they will achieve the target and go beyond!

They will travel to Sierra Leone on the 2^nd June and will be there for 10 days, visiting a number of schools which have been refurbished or built with funds raised by AKIN in Gibraltar and will also be visiting new school projects for consideration during 2012.

The main running events are a full marathon event (42kms) and a half marathon event (21kms) which will be run along mainly packed mud roads. The runners will have to contend with high humidity, hilly and uneven ground, temperatures in the high 20’s and the possibility of tropical rain making the course even more difficult!

Jimmy Bruzon, AKIN’s Sierra Leone project coordinator who was in Sierra Leone in 2006 says: “Going back to Sierra Leone will be a dream come true. It will be fantastic to see the impact that our school refurbishment projects have had on the communities which we have supported over the last few years. It will give us a wonderful opportunity to identify new school projects and to raise awareness and much needed funds. I would like to thank the people of Gibraltar for their generosity during recent years and ask them to continue to support the school projects, together we are making a huge difference to many needy communities. The running event will be important, it is not about the running though, its more important than that.”

The AKIN team is made up of Alan Hernandez, David Deardon, Harry Pallas, Jimmy Bruzon, Mark Dellipiani and Lloyd Devincenzi. The Ibex team is made up of Alicia Torrecilla Cortes, David Whitmore, Elainne Perez, Lianne Gilbert, Phil Langley and Richard Hill.    

Each member of the team will pay their own travel costs in full in order that every penny raised goes towards the ambitious target of £15,000.

Donations can be made at the Ibex Insurance office in Irish Town or via the web at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/IbexAkinKilnSLMarathon

If you would like more information on how to support AKIN in Sierra Leone please contact Jimmy Bruzon on 57631000, e-mail jimbruzon@hotmail.com or contact AKIN via the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/IbexAkinKilnSLMarathon or website www.akincharity.org

 

The British Surgical Clinic and Medilink in the Press!

The Costa Link Magazine were kind enough to print this editorial article for us via our colleagues Medilink in their April 2012 edition. 

 

Easter Closing days

Due to the Easter Holidays, the clinic will be closed on the following days.

Spain - 5th & 6th April
Gibraltar - 6th & 9th April

For any queries during this time, please send an email to info@thebritishsurgicalclinic.com

Enjoy the Easter Break!
The BSC team

The British Surgical Clinic renews its support of Postively Pink for 2012.

We are delighted to announce that we have renewed our support of this fantastic charity for 2012. The screening campaign begins in the summer and there are some fantastic fund raising events being held throughout the year as well. 

We'll keep you posted!

Keep healthy,

The BSC team.

Positively Pink’s 2011 screening campaign closes on a High

Written by David Donaldson from Medicare Nursing Services.

Positively Pink in conjunction with its sponsors see this year’s Free Breast screening programme come to an end on Thursday 27th October 2011.
2011 has seen the 1st Gold Standard screening programme here on the Costa del Sol, this has been possible with the support of the sponsors and the dedication of Dr Deardon of the British Surgical Clinical and the Nurses at Clinica Medicare in La Cala, who have given their time free of charge to the charity and this worthwhile cause.
The uniqueness of this year’s screening programme ensures that all 418 women who have attended have accessed a comprehensive screening process that has included a consultation, physical examination and health education as well as a mammogram or ultrasound or in some cases both. This has been provided to all of these ladies completely free of charge and the direct costs for the mammograms and ultrasounds have been met by Positively Pink.
Lorraine Palmer the founder of Positively Pink, the Mijas based charity is dedicated to raising the funds to ensure that she can continue to offer a free screening programme in the years to come. Her amazing energy and passion for this charity is driven by her belief that “Prevention and early detection” is essential in combating this horrible disease.
1 in 9 women will be affected by Breast Cancer in their lifetime and advances in medicine means that more and more women are surviving and beating this disease. This is why early detection and education is essential.
Lorraine’s wish is that Positively Pink could provide the free breast screening all year, but the length of the programme is dictated by the funds available to the charity. The main fundraising event is held every October at the fabulous El Oceano Hotel and this year’s Pink Ball was as always an amazing evening. Lorraine and her supporters managed to raise €14,000 in just 4 hours... an incredible achievement in the current financial climate.
Clinica Medicare and Medilink in conjunction with its preferred partners have compiled a comprehensive brochure titled “What every women needs to know” this is your free guide to breast self examination and this will be available to all ladies throughout the year and can be collected from Clinica Medicare in La Cala. Self examination should be a key part of a women’s monthly routine, you need to know what feels normal for you and when to seek further advice, 8 out of 10 breast lumps are found by women themselves.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported this years Free Screening programme but in particular a big Thank you to the British Surgical Clinic, Dr Deardon, Clinica Medicare, Gavin, Bridget & Karen and to the Hospital Group and Medilink for their sponsorship.

Book your Breast Screening appointment soon to avoid disappointment!

We are delighted to say that the Positively Pink Breast Screening campaign is going phenomenally well, we are booked up with ladies till nearly the end of August. 

Don't delay, book your appointment now to avoid disappointment as we only have a limited number of spaces this year. 

Call Medicare on 952 835 776.

Breast Cancer and Obesity- an interesting article from the BBC

20 July 2011 Last updated at 02:10 GMT

Obesity 'leading driver' of breast cancer

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

The growth of certain cancers is fuelled by hormones

Continue reading the main story

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Obesity is the biggest driving force behind the most common form of breast cancer in older women, say researchers.

Alcohol and then cigarettes are the next largest culprits, according to Cancer Research UK.
One in eight women in the UK develop breast cancer in their lifetime, data shows, and the majority of these tumours are "hormone sensitive" meaning their growth is fuelled by hormones.
Too much stored fat in the body raises the level of these "sex" hormones.
Studies show that post-menopausal women with high levels of oestrogen and testosterone have between two and three times the risk of breast cancer than women with the lowest levels.
Experts have known for some time that factors that influence hormone levels - like pregnancy, the oral contraceptive pill and the menopause - can change a woman's breast cancer risk.
This latest work, published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggests obesity should go at the top of this list, not least because it is a lifestyle factor that women can have some control over.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing alcohol consumption are key to reducing breast cancer risk”

Dr Julie Sharp Cancer Research UK

The Oxford University team, funded by Cancer Research UK, studied the health records of nearly 6,300 post-menopausal women, looking for factors that might explain why some developed hormone sensitive breast cancer when others did not.

A woman's weight had the greatest bearing on a woman's sex hormone levels, shortly followed by smoking and alcohol consumption.
Women who are overweight or obese - meaning they have a body mass index of 25 or more - had high levels of hormones like oestrogen and progesterone.
So too did women who drank more than two and a half units of alcohol a day or smoked more than 15 cigarettes daily.
Experts say women should be made aware of these modifiable risk factors.
Dr Julie Sharp, of Cancer Research UK, said: "This is an important study as it helps to show how alcohol and weight can influence hormone levels. Understanding their role in breast cancer is vital and this analysis sheds light on how they could affect breast cancer risk.
"We know that the risk of the disease can be affected by family history and getting older, but there are also things women can do help reduce the risk of the disease. Maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing alcohol consumption are key to reducing breast cancer risk."