2020-04-08_Daily_Express

8 Daily Express Wednesday, April 8, 2020

CORONAVIRUS:

STARS STEP UP

COMMENT

IAIN FOULKES

Cancer Research UK

By Giles Sheldrick

Chief Reporter

THE VIRUS

IN BRIEF

THE Arts Society, one of the UK’s

leading arts education charities,

has announced a series of free online

lectures, film screenings and live

Q&As aimed at over-70s in lockdown.

The programme, called The Arts

Society Connected, starts next

Tuesday with a lecture on Velazquez’s

mysterious painting Las Meninas.

Florian Schweizer, chief executive,

said: “The Arts Society normally

offers hundreds of live lectures every

month and plays an important part in

the lives of our 90,000 members.

“Our new platform, online lectures

and online meetings make a vital

contribution to engage with people

instructed to stay at home.”

Lectures will be uploaded

fortnightly on Tuesdays at 11am.

A FATHER has been fined £

after his teenage son continued to

flout the lockdown regulations.

Sgt Stephen Pursglove of West

Midlands Police said the youth had

been out with friends on four

occasions in Walsall and was abusive

to officers when challenged.

“His father was spoken to after the

first incident,” said Sgt Pursglove.

“Despite this he has failed to

prevent his son going out and

associating with others.

“This left us with no option but to

issue a fine. If the youth again

associates with others the fine will be

doubled – and could reach £960.

“While the vast majority of people

are doing as they are asked it is a pity

we now have to put ourselves at risk

dealing with those who do not.”

A FURIOUS police force has hit

out after finding adverts for 300

Lake District homes to rent –

advertising themselves as “great

places to self-isolate”. The outcry

came as

another five

Covid-

victims were

reported to

have died at

Cumbria’s

two NHS

trusts,

bringing the

total in the Lake District and

surrounding area to 105.

Andy Slattery, Cumbria Police

Assistant Chief Constable, fumed:

“Clearly people who are coming to

the Lake District who don’t live

locally are travelling unnecessarily.”

PEOPLE having to work from

home because of the lockdown

are drinking more booze, eating less

healthily and suffering from sleep

problems, a survey shows.

More than half also reported new

aches and pains,

especially in their

neck, shoulder and

back. One in five

admitted an

increase in alcohol

consumption, and

one in three said

their diet was

worse in a poll of

500 people by think tank the Institute

of Employment Rights.

Most also reported getting less

sleep due to worry. The IES said:

“Employers are still responsible for

their staff’s wellbeing.”

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CHARITIES forced to their

knees by coronavirus curbs

made a plea for emergency

action yesterday, as the lock-

down drains millions from

their coffers.

Their cry for help came as

Cancer Research UK (CRUK),

one of Britain’s biggest charities,

was forced to slash research

budgets by £44million as its vital

cash dries up.

In total 26 MPs from all

parties have now signed a letter

to Prime Minister Boris Johnson

and Chancellor Rishi Sunak

calling for an “emergency hard-

ship fund” for Britain’s silent

army of life-savers.

UK charities face a £4billion

funding black hole and many are

likely to go to the wall because

of restrictions on movement and

their ability to raise money.

CRUK has had to shut 600

shops which provided £109mil-

lion last year, while popular

events like Race for Life, which

have raised more than £547mil-

lion over 20 years, are unlikely

to take place. The upshot is a

devastating blow to hundreds of

institutes, research projects and

grants, all of which rely on a

steady stream of funding.

Iain Foulkes, CRUK’s execu-

tive director of research and

innovation, said: “Cancer

Research UK funds nearly 50

per cent of the [cancer] research

in the UK.

“Making cuts to research fund-

ing is the most difficult decision

we have had to make.

“Ultimately, it is our research

that delivers benefit to people

affected by cancer and this

remains our first priority.” The

national financial emergency is

being felt by organisations large

and small.

Only a quarter have reserves

to see them through until

mid-June and many have put

staff on extended leave of

absence. Karl Wilding, chief

executive of the National

Council for Voluntary

Organisations (NCVO), said:

“Furlough means standing down

staff at exactly the time when

you want them to step up.

“Charities are facing a real

crunch with more pressure on

the services they offer, at the

same time as losing out on

fundraising income.

“This is something that is

affecting all charities, large

and small, and they urgently

need answers.”

On such charity, Brain Tumour

THE Covid-19 crisis is taking

life at a rate and scale not

seen for generations, while the

unprecedented measures to

control it are hitting the

whole economy. Charities are

no exception.

At Cancer Research UK, the

necessary response to the

pandemic has, unfortunately,

hindered our researchers’

ability to carry on in the lab,

and vitally, our ability to

fundraise to support them. We

expect our fundraising to fall

by at least 20-25 per cent as a

result – around £120million.

Like all charities, we have

reserves, but we would burn

through them quickly if we

didn’t act.

These are uncharted waters.

We’re reducing costs as much

as possible and freezing

recruitment.

Our board has taken a 20 per

cent pay cut and we’re looking

to do similar with staff

salaries, while making

substantial use of the

Government’s furlough

scheme. But these steps are

live-streamed on US TV networks,

then adapted and shown on BBC One

on Sunday April 19. Times have not

yet been confirmed.

The BBC programme also features

exclusive UK performances and

interviews with healthcare workers.

Others expected to appear include

David Beckham, John Legend, Lizzo,

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Idris

Elba and his wife Sabrina, who had

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Green light for world to show gratitude...Lady Gaga

A STELLAR line-up will join some of

music’s biggest names at Lady

Gaga’s benefit concert for the

world’s heroic health workers.

Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney,

Stevie Wonder, Billie Eilish and

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin are

supporting the One World: Together

at Home event on Saturday April 18.

Lady Gaga, 34, is curating the

global broadcast to thank the

healthcare workers fighting the

coronavirus pandemic.

Saying the concert would

“celebrate and encourage the power

of the human spirit”, she told health

workers: “What you are doing is

putting yourself in harm’s way to

help the world and we all salute you.”

The singer, along with the group

Global Citizen, has already raised

£28million for the World Health

Organization’s Covid-19 Solidarity

Response Fund in the last week.

The concert, hosted by talk show

presenters Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy

Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, will be