MEDICS and academics have flown to an African country to help people who have been left devastated and disabled by the effects of polio.

A contingent from Nottingham University Hospitals Trust and the University of Nottingham recently returned from Uganda, where it is estimated that one in six people suffer from some form of disability – many of which are caused by polio.

Simon Dickinson, head of the orthotics department at the Queen's Medical Centre, is part of what has been termed the Uganda Polio Project, along with around 20 other medics, academics and volunteers.

They spent ten days in the country and managed to treat 700 patients.

Ahead of his trip Mr Dickinson travelled the UK with other volunteers, collecting limb braces and splints from hospitals and NHS providers, which were shipped over to Africa.

He said: "What we do changes people's lives.

"It's always an incredibly emotional experience going over to Uganda and this is the second year we have organised a trip like this."

The first time Mr Dickinson and his team visited the country was in 2012 and one of his first patients was a man who had been forced to make his own splint.

"He had made his own leg brace to be able to walk.

"It consisted of two pieces of metal held together by a piece of barbed wire, which he had cut the barbs off.

"We were able to fit him with a specially-made leg brace.

"He came to see us this year to tell us how his life had turned around – he now runs his own business."

The team set up at Mulago Hospital, Kampala.

"In stifling heat, we treated hundreds of patients, many of whom had never been treated before.

"The majority of patients suffered as a result of polio but we also dealt with major trauma patients, cerebral palsy sufferers and one patient with botulism," Mr Dickinson said.

"On the second morning, I watched in horror as a beautiful 24-year-old woman walked into clinic, bent 90 degrees at the hip and holding her knee straight with her arm.

"She obviously had polio and had never been able to walk without holding her knee straight with her hand.

"After treatment, she stood upright for the first time without needing to hold her knee. The look of astonishment and smile on her face will never leave me."

Senior orthotist Eleanor Weinberg had the idea to use braces and splints – which would otherwise be scrapped – in developing countries.

She was inspired by a conversation with Dr Trudy Owens, a developmental economist at the University of Nottingham.

Mrs Weinberg said: "I have been over to Uganda twice now. It is mentally and physically exhausting, some of the cases are quite extreme."

She added: "We could not have put this idea into practice without Simon's help."

DESPERATE situations call for desperate measures and few could dispute that the problem of litter on our streets is getting desperate.

Some may feel that a huge poster showing the face of a young man with the nose of a pig is a step too far.

Others may think it does a disservice to pigs.

Walk down any street and the chances are you'll find the leftovers of someone's takeaway in the gutter or on a grass verge.

Take a look around any football pitch after a weekend match and you'll see discarded plastic drinks bottles.

Where do the culprits think this rubbish ends up? In the cave of the Litter Fairy?

Can't they understand that some of it will disfigure the countryside they perhaps enjoy for many years to come? Don't they realise that the £1bn a year spent by councils on clearing up litter could be used instead on services struggling to survive because of cash cuts?

We hear occasionally of people being fined hundreds of pound for dropping small items like cigarette ends. Regrettably, reports of court action against those who drop bigger items of litter are few and far between.

Taking a big stick to the litter louts has its place but education is surely the best course. If it takes shocking images that make some snort with disgust, so be it.

IT was once dubbed as having the worst changing rooms in the country.

But Underwood Villa FC is now looking to the future, after unveiling new £120,000 state-of-the art facilities.

Club chairman Nigel Beer built the new pavilion in six months, with the help of his Underwood-based company Executive Home Improvements and club officials.

It replaces a Second World War hut that had been used as the club's changing rooms for more than 60 years.

Mr Beer, who has been chairman for the past decade, said: "I'm proud to leave a legacy behind. It is something that when I took over as chairman ten years ago was my ambition.

"We've gone from a 1940s tin hut with no facilities, to now having some fantastic facilities."

The new pavilion at the club's Bracken Park base includes changing rooms for home and away teams and match officials, spectator toilets, a kitchen and a multi-function room which will also be used as a classroom to aid player development.

The new facilities were officially opened by Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock..

The club received around £50,000 each from the Football Foundation and Sport England, as well as £20,000 from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund to fund the work.

Martyn Goodfellow, the club's football development officer and project manager for the pavilion scheme, said: "The transformation is phenomenal.

"We were counted by the FA as having the worst changing rooms in the country.

"Nine years ago, we had one adult and one junior football team. In 2013-14 ,we will have 14 teams from under-7s all the way through to adults.

"We also have girls' and ladies' football teams and also a hearing-impaired side.

"The new facilities give belief that Underwood is a place that people want to be now. It really gives the club a sense of belonging."

Mr Beer added: "We are eternally grateful to Sport England and the FA."

Elaine Parker's son, Jake, 11, is due to start his fifth season with Underwood Villa when its under-12s side kicks-off the new campaign next month.

Mrs Parker, 44, of Selston, said: "The old changing rooms were really terrible.

"The showers seemed to only work when they wanted to and there was no proper running water or heating. Rain would also come in through the roof.

"The new facilities are good for the club and the whole community."

GARY Blake and his wife were bracing themselves for the benefit cuts when they came into force in April.

The couple both suffer from spina bifida and were expecting their two-bedroom Beechdale home to be deemed too large for their requirements and to be clobbered by the so-called "bedroom tax".

The changes meant that Mr and Mrs Blake had their housing benefit cut by 14 per cent and would have to make up the shortfall themselves.

As a result, they now find themselves £128 in arrears to their housing provider, Nottingham City Homes.

Mr Blake, 47, said: "Everyone knew it was coming and that they'd have to find the money, but it doesn't make it any easier.

"In our case, we felt as if we needed the two bedrooms, as both me and my wife are disabled, so we applied to the council for help in paying the charge.

"It was a lot of hassle but eventually the council saw that we needed the two bedrooms in our house and shouldn't have to pay."

Their arrears are set to be cleared with help from discretionary housing payments (DHP) – a pot of council cash used to help those struggling to pay.

Mr Blake added: "A lot of people just won't know if they can get DHP and are just sitting ignoring the problem.

"There's going to be massive problems if it keeps building."

And the problems are already stacking up for Nottingham City Homes.

More than half of its 29,000 households owe rent and the level of arrears has grown by £700,000 in the three months from April to June to hit £2.33 million.

City councillor Dave Liversidge said: "The figures do appear troubling, and this will mean the level of service will probably drop – repairs might not be done as quickly for example.

"We will continue to lobby for the bedroom tax to be repealed to prevent these problems from getting worse."

The Government has said the housing benefit changes were necessary to bring down the welfare bill and has given councils money to deal with those in need.

Nottingham City Council was given £696,031 for this fund and could have topped it up to £1.74 million from its own money but chose not to do so.

Deputy leader Councillor Graham Chapman said: "This would be taxpayers' money, so any extra money we added to DHP would have come out of another budget or seen an increase in council tax, neither of which we'd like to happen."

A spokeswoman for NCH said it had taken on five new members of staff to advise tenants on budgets and direct debits following the benefit changes.

She added that payment plans were discussed with tenants in arrears and aimed to make sure they paid off any rent owed.

NCH also has a special team in the rents section which chases former tenants for any rent they owe.

Have you been affected by the changes to the benefit system? E-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk

A MUM is worried her son won't be able to start school until weeks into the new term.

Fozia Syed is appealing against a city council decision not to grant her four-year-old son, Yusuf, a place at Welbeck Primary, in The Meadows.

Yusuf is one of more than 200 children due to start reception year in less than four weeks' time who are yet to be found a place.

Mrs Syed, of The Meadows, had hoped the fact that Yusuf attends the school's nursery would count in his favour and was shocked to be turned down.

She now fears the appeal won't be heard in time for her son to be found a school by the first day of the new term.

"I was disappointed when he wasn't given a place," she said. "I had a right of appeal, so I decided to use that.

"But I'm not sure whether that will be heard until well into September, after the term has started."

By law, children don't have to start school until the term after their fifth birthday.

But the city council likes to have children start in September to help with continuity.

Mrs Syed is keen that Yusuf starts then as well.

She applied only to Welbeck in spite of parents being able to select up to six schools on their application forms.

She said: "I wanted to try to get him into Welbeck as he has difficulty coping with change. I didn't want to unsettle him.

"If I don't win the appeal, I'll have to look elsewhere but I don't know where that could be."

The Post revealed earlier this week that 234 children in Nottingham due to start school this year were still to be found places – even though only 47 places were available.

The city council is in talks with schools in the hope that some can take on children above their capacity, while ensuring class sizes are kept to a maximum of 30.

Some children may be found places in county schools.

However, the council admits that around 100 children with no place could still be in limbo come the start of term.

Nick Lee, the city's acting head of school improvement, admitted there was a major problem but added: "We are working very hard to ensure children have a place.

"This includes some schools which are yet to be expanded taking on more children."

Mrs Syed is one of many parents who applied after the deadline and listed only one preference. The council had advised parents to apply early and list six preferences. But many parents were so keen to get their child into one school that they did not heed the warning.

One 25-year-old mother spoken to by the Post made only two choices for her son.

She said: "I don't want him going to just any school. As a parent, I should have the right to have a say where he goes and I want him in a good school."

A MUSIC venue is launching its own festival after being inspired by Nottingham's booming home-grown music scene.

The Maze, in Mansfield Road, hopes thousands of people will turn out for the first-ever appearance of Amazement, at Nottingham Racecourse, Colwick, next month.

The two-day festival of musical talent has already made a statement by booking 90s indie band Space to headline a long list of local bands.

And three local charities will benefit from the proceeds of the weekend.

Gaz Peacham, manager of The Maze, said: "We wanted to do something a bit bigger - and, with the economic climate, we wanted something fun and communal.

"There's lots of publicity around the Nottingham music scene at the moment.

"So we are kind of taking The Maze out into the world."

All profits from the event will go to homelessness charity Framework, the NG7 Foodbank and the Lee Bonsall Memorial Fund.

The fund is in honour of soldier Lee, 24, a veteran originally from Warsop, who had served in Afghanistan.

He was found hanged at his South Wales home in March.

His family believe his death was partly caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and have campaigned to raise awareness of the problem.

His brother, Dan Booth, of Mapperley, is in the north Notts folk rock group Ferocious Dog, along with Lee's dad Ken Bonsall.

The group will play Amazement on the Sunday.

Dan, 33, of Kent Road, said: "The music scene in Nottingham has really taken off over the last couple of years. It's hard to put your finger on why, there's just a lot of talent around.

"We're really pleased the festival is backing the fund because it helps to keep Lee's name alive – we don't want what happened to him to happen to anyone else."

The fund donates money to charitable groups in Lee's name, including the Joint Forces Alliance, Mansfield, which supports force veterans with training and accommodation.

Amazement will run on Saturday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8, and will feature four stages of music plus a funfair, face-painting, market stalls and street performers.

Space headline on Saturday, with a host of Notts groups, including hip hop act the Afterdark Movement and the Establishment, also playing.

Leicester group the Splitters headline Sunday, with Notts groups including Ferocious Dog also playing that day.

Tickets are £20 for the whole weekend, £15 for just Saturday or £10 for just Sunday.

To find out more, visit amazementfestival.com.

Are you planning a charity event? E-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk

A FARMER who allowed people to dump waste on his land without a proper permit has been fined £2,000.

Simon Plowright, of Top Farm, Barton in Fabis, was sentenced at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,561.61 in costs, along with a £15 victim surcharge, for allowing others to use his farm as a tipping ground for various waste types.

The charge was brought by the Environment Agency.

After being alerted to suspicious activities at Top Farm by officers of Rushcliffe Borough Council, the agency worked with the council and carried out covert surveillance of Plowright's land in August 2012.

Officers from the agency discovered that up to eight individuals entered the farm with commercial vehicles and deposited various types of waste, including construction and demolition waste, and green waste.

When officers entered the site they saw other items had been dumped, including soil, bricks, plastic sheeting, fungicide containers, paper and electrical items. Speaking after the case, an agency spokesman said: "Illegal waste sites have the potential to cause serious pollution incidents or harm human health, and this prosecution demonstrates that we take waste crime seriously."

In mitigation, it was said that Plowright entered a prompt guilty plea and informed the court that he would take action to remove the waste from his farm.

THE rising cost of parking has prompted workers at large Nottingham firms to seek roads to leave their cars for free.

Nottingham City Council has announced plans to introduce on-street parking fees to deter commuters from using residential streets instead of official car parks and encourage more workers to use public transport.

The council is looking to implement fees in The Meadows, Sherwood and Basford, which serve as alternative parking for the city centre, City Hospital and New College Nottingham, respectively.

Drivers would pay between £1.50 and £2 a day to park on specific streets, which the council is still in the process of selecting, based on reports of problems from residents, police and traffic wardens.

"This has been an issue for years," said Steve Hunt, traffic manager for the council.

"Is it not reasonable that drivers should pay a similar amount to park in town to what bus users would pay?"

The council could now implement parking charges on streets where residents are complaining about a lack of space as an alternative to yellow lines. Mr Hunt added: "We want to use this method as it would be a useful way to reduce issues without stopping parking altogether. balance."

Since the Workplace Parking Levy was introduced, commuters have complained that added costs – one space now costs a company £334 a year – have been transferred to them.

"There's a commercial market for city centre parking and many places offer discounts to workers," Mr Hunt argued.

Residents in the affected areas would receive a free parking permit, paid for by the small profits expected to be made from the schemes after running costs.

Cheryl Connolly, head of communications at New College Nottingham, which has had to charge staff and students to park since the WPL was introduced, said: "We have been working with Nottingham City Council and local residents to minimise the impact of the parking levy and we welcome this move, which will help to ensure residents can park freely and safely in the community."

Conservative councillors in the city say the plans could harm businesses and residential areas.

Opposition leader Georgina Culley said the problems with on-street parking were due to the council's "misguided" WPL. "We are seeing car parking displaced from the car parks of schools and businesses onto residential streets and it is causing chaos," she said. "Simply charging for people to park in these streets isn't going to solve the problem, it's just going to move it elsewhere yet again."

Staff of the City Hospital, in Sherwood, have been using the nearby residential areas to avoid the costs of the car park.

A hospital spokesman said: "We believe NHS money should be spent on treating patients. We do our best to be a good neighbour by encouraging staff and visitors to use our car parks. We encourage patients, visitors and staff to use the free park-and-ride Medilink bus service near to the hospital, with buses every ten minutes and spaces for 1,000 cars."

THE Meadows is just a hop, skip and jump from Nottingham city centre.

Many residents choose not to drive because they live within walking distance of the city and have plenty of amenities on their doorstep. Yet they find their streets are full to the brim of commuters' vehicles.

Vic Homiak, 66, of Bruce Close, says the area is crammed with cars from 8am until 6pm.

"We have signs outside our house that say 'Two hours maximum stay' but they might as well not be there. People are here all day long and no one says anything."

Mr Homiak fears that emergency services might not be able to get past when the area is so packed with commuters' parked cars.

"It's the Workplace Parking Levy that has caused it all," he added. "That's obviously why people are using the streets round us. It's too expensive for them to park in town."

Jack Willis, 21, agrees. He visits The Meadows often to see his son.

Mr Willis, of Clifton, said: "Whenever I come here, it's the same cars, and they are here in work hours. One of my friends parks her car here and walks to work – it's too expensive in town."

Navdeep Singh, owner of Bridgeway Fish Bar, at the Bridgeway Centre, in The Meadows, said: "We sometimes struggle to get a parking space and we have a special permit for working here. Sometimes we even have to block people in."

He said parking in The Meadows should be for the people who live and work there and thinks the commuters' presence affects local trade.

"They should be parking in town if they work in town. A lot of employers can afford to pay the levy and they shouldn't be making their workers fork out," he added.

NOTTINGHAM City Hospital is one of the city's largest employers with 6,000 members of staff.

The hospital, in Sherwood, has to cater for the transport needs of patients and visitors as well as workers, many of whom park nearby to avoid parking fees.

Full-time monthly parking fees for staff will go up from £22.50 to £25 in 2014. They already rose by £2.50 in May after two and a half years at £20.

Money raised from the parking goes towards funding the Medilink bus service. The hospital says that if fees weren't so high, it would need to take money away from treatment.

Mrs Naz Khan, 44, lives on nearby Covedale Road and can understand why staff use the residential streets close by.

"I don't believe that people should have to pay to go to work," she said. "So I don't blame them for it, even though it's very inconvenient for everyone who lives on the street."

She added that a lot of the people who used the roads were nurses who had had their pay frozen and students working for free.

"They do a really important job and we shouldn't penalise them for it," she said. "They already pay road tax and insurance."

Two nurses, who did not wish to be named, feel the parking situation is a problem.

"First of all it's hard to get a permit," said one, who parks on the street. "It's not out of choice that we park there but out of necessity. There's no public transport from where I live, so I have to drive – and I couldn't afford the fees anyway."

Another nurse, who pays £22.50 per month to have her car within the walls, added: "The quality of the car park isn't very good. It floods and in the winter it's like an ice-skating rink.

"Most of the space isn't even marked out – it's a 'free for all'."

She added that a lot of her colleagues chose to park on the street and she felt it was unfair to charge them to do that.

CONTROVERSY has surrounded residential parking in Basford since the Workplace Parking Levy was introduced last year.

Basford Hall, a campus of New College Nottingham which opened in 1969, is situated in Stockhill Lane close to a residential estate including Ladbrooke Crescent, Winrow Gardens and Shirebrook Close.

Residents are concerned about students and staff parking on their roads, blocking driveways and causing dangerous obstructions, but many think charging fees would only move the problem elsewhere.

NCN says it is forced to charge the students and staff to park on site to pay the WPL costs.

Chris Morris, 57, of Ladbrooke Crescent, said: "It's a nightmare when the college is open."

Mr Morris said that although many residents were heavily inconvenienced by the parking issues, he did not blame the students.

"People who are trying to educate themselves and make a better life are being punished, which doesn't make any sense to me.

"The only way to solve it is to stop charging the students who don't have much money. A lot of the time the college car park is only about 60 per cent full but the roads are jam-packed."

His neighbour Debra Hancock, 46, said: "I don't think charging them to park here will work. All it will do is move the traffic down to the next road."

Mrs Hancock, who has attended council meetings about the issue, agrees that students should not be paying to park at the college.

She added: "Students don't earn a lot of money. They will find somewhere else to park, unless the council puts double yellow lines everywhere."