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Lowton Churches Romania Appeal

Lowton Churches Romania Appeal is a charity set up by the five churches of Lowton (St Luke's, St Mary's, St Catherine's, Lane Head Methodist, Lowton Independent Methodist) after the fall of Ceauþescu in 1990. It grew from work of an aid trip arranged by the churches after knowledge of the living conditions in the country's orphanages first became widespread. The aid trip, which saw many Lowtoners travel to Romania by coach, visited an orphanage in Lugoj, west Romania. The trip was successful but barely scratched the surface of the problem and the individuals who travelled decided LCRA should be created to deliver long-term help. Initially more trips to Lugoj and elsewhere were arranged but as time has gone on the charity has grown and expanded its remit. It now has several ongoing projects in the country.

One area in which Lugoj has strong links is in the town of Sinaia. In 2000 LCRA donated an ambulance to the town's hospital in memory of James Dickinson, who travelled on many of the charity's aid trips and was just 18 when he died in 1999. In 2003, a second ambuance was donated in memory of another of the charity's workers, Carol Jones.

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James' memory lives on in Romania:

A Lowton teenager's memory will live on helping the sick and injured in the mountains of Romania. The Lowton Churches Romania Appeal, which channels its support through the Trust's Child Action International programme, has brought a fully equipped ambulance to serve a remote area of the poverty stricken country. It has been donated in memory of James Dickinson, who lost his battle against skin cancer last year. James, 19, a black belt judo instructor, had visited the country with teams from Lowton's five churches, the Wigan Youth, Service, and Rainhill High School working with children with special needs.

Whilst undergoing chemotherapy treatment he also arranged a local team to take part in a walk to raise funds for cancer research. The group purchased the ex-British Army Ambulance from Germany which was driven to Romania by James' father, John.

James' mother - Gill, a teacher in Rainhill, said: "Relationships between Romania, Lowton, and Rainhill High have been ongoing since the revolution of 1989, when our young people were initially involved in aid trips to the desperate country. Since then several cultural exchanges have taken place, culminating in our sixth skiing trip schools exchange."

Hospital and medical facilities are extremely poor in this part of Romania, as they are in the rest of the country, and although it is a beautiful mountainous area affording climbing and skiing in magnificent scenery, there are no facilities to take accident victims or the chronically ill to hospital."

"Few people own cars, so that transport to and from hospital is very difficult. The ambulance will be of immeasurable benefit to the Romanians. "James enjoyed the rigors of the mountains in both summer and winter and the ambulance in his name will be a fitting tribute to our son."

Second ambulance bound for Romania

Carol Jones from Lowton, Warrington was a tireless campaigner for the abandoned children of Romania since the fall of communism 15 years ago. In the early years she collected aid supplies from all around the area - then turned her energy and resourcefulness to fund raising for the annual camp Romania. Carol tragically died of cancer last January and as a fitting memory The Epiphany Trust decided to raise the £4000 needed to send a second ambulance to the Prahova valley so her memory will live on serving the sick and injured in the mountainous area around Sinaia and Brasov.

Carol worked as a nurse at Warrington General Hospital and was a life long member of Lowton Independent Methodist church where she acted as secretary and registrar for many years.

A close friend, Gareth, said this about her: "Carol is very much missed and all who knew her feel that the ambulance will be a fitting tribute to her memory. She used to help out a great deal at the youth club and all the kids knew her. Her support for the work in Romania would never waver; she would always put other people first.

Her daughter Amy has travelled to Romania on many occasions, is enrolled on the 2004 Camp Romania, and continues the good work of her much missed Mum.

Two years ago Lowton Churches Romania Appeal, through Child Action International drove a similar ambulance to Romania in memory of James Dickinson. After its overwhelming success, it seemed right that we should do the same for Carol.

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Also visit the website www.epiphany.org.uk

 

Ambulance for Romania

In July 2000, with lots of valuable help from voluntary groups around the area, the Lowton Churches Romania Appeal was able to send a much needed emergency ambulance to Romania. Three years later the ambulance is invaluable to Sinaia and other hospitals throughout the Prahova valley.

What has made the ambulance extra special for everyone in Lowton, was that it was donated in memory of James Dickinson, who was just nineteen when he died in 1999. James visited Romania over a dozen times during the 90’s, working with special needs children in Lugoj and enjoying skiing in the magnificent Carpathian mountains around Sinaia.

James’s ambulance is the only emergency ambulance based in that area, which serves a widely spread population of 30,000, who live each side of a 25 kilometre stretch of the Prahova valley.

Now the Lowton Churches Romania Appeal are able to obtain another identical ambulance. This is to be donated in memory of Carol Jones. Carol was a lifelong member of Lowton Independent Methodist Church, church secretary and registrar for many years and died in January last.

For over 10 years Carol was a tireless campaigner for the orphaned children of Lugoj and supporter of the many “Camp Romania” groups of mostly young people, who travel to Romania every summer, to take children from the orphanages away on holiday. She is very much missed, and all in Lowton feel that the ambulance will be a fitting tribute to her memory.

Carol Jones

Update

In October 2003 the Trust successfully donated its second ambulance to Romania. The gift was made possible by the Lowton Churches Romania Appeal and was the latest in a series of Romania help projects carried out by the Warrington based group.

After fund-raising throughout the summer, the Appeal group were able to purchase and equip an ambulance before driving it out overland to Romania. The original vehicle was left in Sinaia but medical facilities remained stretched in the town and it is now hoped the new ambulance will ease considerably the burden on local resources.

The ambulance itself was dedicated to the memory of Carol Jones, a Lowton volunteer who worked tirelessly on a number of charitable projects over the years but sadly died earlier in 2003. It was driven to the country by four volunteers from the area, Keith Macklin and Andy Hampson, both from Lowton, and father and son Don and Greg Patmore of Wigan.

Their journey saw them cover 2,600 miles in four days with overnight stops in Brussels, Linz and, once over the Romanian border, in Oradea. The engine was put through its paces during three days of motorways and autobahn driving before the suspension was given a rigorous daylong examination on the roads of Romania. It passed with flying colours and arrived in one piece – and with its drivers still on speaking terms. Apart from an argument with cashier at a toll road and a near miss with a pedestrian on a Hungarian zebra crossing, it was fairly pleasant trip. Nevertheless, they were all glad to be flying home.