Bournemouth Airport able to apply for up to £8m for bounce back

Bournemouth Airport is among six airports in the south west eligible to apply for a government grant worth up to £8m each.

The Airport and Ground Operators Support Scheme aims to protect jobs and the local economy.

It will help commercial airports across England to cover losses on costs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

They include airfield operations, contracted services such as airfield and runway maintenance, and business rate bills.

The six airports in the south west which could benefit are Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, St Mary’s (Isles of Scilly), Land’s End and Newquay.

Airports and ground handlers can apply via gov.uk and, if successful, should receive funding by the end of the financial year.

The scheme, which follows the government’s extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, is open for applications until February 21.

The investment will support airports following the introduction of international travel restrictions designed to protect public health and prevent the spread of Covid-19 as the government continues to roll out its vaccination programme.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “A thriving aviation industry has been central to the success of this country.

“While we recognise the testing conditions airports are currently facing as a result of the pandemic, I believe the sector will be ready to bounce back once restrictions are lifted.”

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Insurance broker provides fundraising boost to Cheers4Chester 

Bournemouth-based insurance broker Gallagher has donated funding towards a life-changing operation for a four-year-old boy.

Cheers4Chester was set up in 2019 by Ben and Sam Walton to raise money for surgery in the USA for their son Chester.

He was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy as a baby.

Quadriplegic cerebral palsy is a developmental disorder, caused by damage to the brain, preventing the normal development of motor function in all four limbs.

As a result of his condition, Chester suffers from spasticity which prevents him from being able to stand or walk unaided, and is a full time wheelchair user.

Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, which has already changed the lives of thousands of children across the world, works by permanently removing the spasticity in the patient’s muscles, in order to relieve stiffness, improve mobility and reduce pain levels.

The £500 donation for Cheers4Chester was awarded through Gallagher’s Community Fund, a nationwide initiative which invites colleagues to nominate UK charities to receive vital funding for projects.

It will go towards Chester’s surgery, which is scheduled to take place in the USA this year, and will also help to fund his post-surgery rehabilitation programme, involving private physiotherapy and strength and conditioning training.

Erica Bowles, who nominated Cheers4Chester and is based at Gallagher’s Bournemouth office, said: “Giving back to local good causes is a vital part of our role as a community broker.

“We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to play a part in helping Cheers4Chester reach its fundraising total for this revolutionary procedure.

“It will help to enhance Chester’s quality of life significantly.”

Ben Walton, Chester’s father, from Verwood, said: “This is incredibly generous of Gallagher and we can’t thank them enough for choosing to support us.

“We are currently gearing up to travel to the US this month (February) – travel restrictions permitting of course – for Chester’s surgery.

“Only a year ago this felt like a pipe dream given the astronomical cost of the procedure, but thanks to amazing supporters such as Gallagher we are close to making Chester’s dream a reality.

“Once we are back in the UK in April, the hard work will continue with several years of intensive rehabilitation, which will give Chester the best chance possible of one day taking steps of his own.”

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‘Leave the world Lusher than we found it’

Lush UK and Ireland has launched Bring It Back.

The new packaging returns scheme allows customers to bring back any full-sized Lush plastic packaging for recycling.

It’s part of the Dorset-based company’s mission to ‘Leave the world Lusher than we found it’.

For each plastic Lush item returned, customers will receive a 50p deposit to spend on their Lush basket that day.

The returned packaging will then be sent to the Greenhub, Lush’s UK recycling hub.

The packaging is processed and then sent to UK partners to be remoulded into new black Lush pots or used as industry feedstock material.

Rowena Bird, pictured left, Lush Co-founder and Product Inventor, said: “We are the difference in the cosmetic industry.

“We have the ideas and the passion.

“It’s then about making those ideas a reality by getting everyone to join in.

“Let’s put some positivity into plastic.

“After all it’s not plastic that’s the baddy.

“We’re the baddies when we don’t reduce, reuse and recycle it.”

The Lush Greenhub is in Poole.

The Bring It Back scheme will join Lush’s pre-existing fresh face mask scheme allowing customers to bring back five items of Lush plastic packaging in exchange for a fresh mask.

The existing scheme saw more than 500,000 pots come back to Lush’s Greenhub each year.

Lush also offers a Knot Swap scheme.

Customers can return their Lush labelled Knot Wraps – Lush’s reusable alternative to traditional gift wrap – in exchange for 50 per cent off another Knot Wrap of the same size.