Managing director of tyre and alignment specialists Skidmarques, Keith Playell, popped in this morning to talk about winter tyres. Keith explained that a better description is cold weather tyres, as their construction makes for better traction as well as improved stopping distances than general purpose tyres once the temperature drops below about 5 degrees, and so changing to winter tyres for the colder months can significantly improve safety on the road. Beyond selling tyres Skidmarques plays an active role in the community, and Keith also mentioned a big charity fundraiser they’ll be hosting at the Brentwood Centre in August, with lots of attractions for the whole family. Keith is a self-confessed petrolhead, and a main part of the day will be a display by the Classic Vehicle Club – if you’ve got a classic car or a modern legend that you’d like to show off Skidmarques would love to hear from you – contact details are on the website.
Click here to listen:[audio:https://www.phoenixfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Feelgood-Saturday-19-01-13-Keith-Playell4.mp3|titles=Feelgood Saturday 19 01 13 Keith Playell4]
I was also joined this morning by Gaynor Manthorpe from the Chernobyl Children’s Life Line – South Essex Link, along with the group’s new Chairman, Anthony Woodman. The Link, which we’ve featured on the show before, recently changed its name from the Billericay Link, and Gaynor reminded us that its core purpose is to give a holiday to about a dozen children living in one of the areas still badly contaminated nearly three decades after the nuclear power plant disaster. Gaynor explained that life expectancy in the parts of Ukraine and Belarus worst affected is under 50, but health experts predict that just a month in the UK away from the contamination can add up to 10 years to a child’s life! The Link urgently needs to find families in the area to host a couple of the children during their stay in June and July, and Anthony explained what would be involved. If you think you or someone you know might be able to help please contact hosting co-ordinator Kim Gavan on 01268 471335 or kimgavan@hotmail.co.uk. With the enormous health benefits for the children this is a tremendously worthwhile thing to do, and Anthony said it’s also enormously rewarding from the hosts’ point of view. With a cost of about £9,000 to bring the children to the UK the Link has a number of fundraising events through the year, one of which is a music festival which Anthony is putting together.
Phoenix FM presenter Jed Shepherd got in touch this morning to say that he recently visited Pripyat, the city where many of the power plant workers lived, as well as the site of the nuclear reactor itself:
“It’s like I time travelled back to 1986 as everything is a snapshot of what it was back then, untouched and unloved, overgrown and just plain creepy. Walking around the deserted city of Pripyat was an incredible experience, as it was a true ghost town. It was surreal and like walking through a vivid dream, one that you couldn’t escape from by waking up.
“There were discarded toys and records everywhere because they were told they would only be evacuated for 3 days! I wandered through the empty school with homework still open on desks and teddy bears face down in broken glass.
“I went into the cinema (though I shouldn’t have really as it was pretty dangerous) and it brought it home just how much like us these people were.
“I had a Geiger counter with me the whole time and kept checking the radiation levels but it got to the point where the alarm was going off all the time so I turned it off. Possibly not the brightest idea. The military checked my radiation levels at various checkpoints so I knew I was okay but I think the sense of danger just made my adrenaline pump even more. I got as close to reactor 4 (the one that went wrong) as I possibly could and saw the construction they are currently building to go over the top of it.
“I saw photos and watched a couple of documentaries while I was there about the ongoing legacy of the disaster and about how the government will only admit to some of the deaths and secondary illnesses it caused.
“I’m planning a concert over there which I know is quite strange but the authorities have said I can be the first person ever to do it so I’m taking this opportunity to teach as many people as possible that in the darkest places there can be a light.”
To listen to the interview click here:[audio:https://www.phoenixfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Feelgood-Saturday-19-01-13-CCLL3.mp3|titles=Feelgood Saturday 19 01 13 CCLL3]
To listen to the children from Belarus who popped into Phoenix during their holiday last summer click here.
