Visit to Mesothelioma UK to meet Tommy Torso (and Liz!). Lovely welcome for Kim, Lucas & Melika

Yesterday, Kim, Lucas and Melika from the Alpha Tracker asbestos team were delighted to visit our charity partner, Mesothelioma UK— an inspiring organisation that provides specialist support, information and improved care for those living with mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

It was a fascinating and educational day full of learning, collaboration and some memorable moments with “Tommy Torso”, who made quite the impression during the team’s anatomy session!

Alpha Tracker specialist Kim with Lucas & Melika (and Tommy)

The visit gave us a valuable insight into the incredible work Mesothelioma UK does — from raising awareness and funding research, to providing expert nursing support across the UK. Their passion for making a real difference shone through in every conversation.

We also had a chance to explore their headquarters, see their campaign displays, and learn more about the impact of asbestos-related disease on individuals and families. It was a moving reminder of why Alpha Tracker is so proud to support Mesothelioma UK as our chosen charity partner.

A huge thank you to the Mesothelioma UK team for such a warm welcome — and for sharing so much knowledge and inspiration with us.

You can read more about our partnership with Mesothelioma UK here on our blog and find out how Alpha Tracker is helping the asbestos industry work more safely and efficiently on our website.

Thank you to Mesothelioma UK's Liz Darlison for a fascinating, educational and inspirational afternoon

Most of the Alpha Tracker asbestos software team visited Mesothelioma UK's Loughborough HQ yesterday afternoon to meet CEO Liz Darlison and to hear about the incredible work that her team does.

Mesothelioma UK supports patients suffering from this awful asbestos-related disease as well as funding research and nursing posts across the UK.  Liz's presentation, over a generous buffet (thanks Liz!) taught us all so much about the importance of working within the asbestos industry.

We'll continue to proudly support Mesothelioma UK and the work they do.  Would you also like to support them directly?  Click here to donate or read this if you are a company working in the asbestos industry wanting to make a difference.

We're donating to Mesothelioma UK this Christmas

This year we have decided to donate to Mesothelioma UK instead of sending Christmas presents to our clients.

As you know, we specialise in asbestos software and Mesothelioma UK do incredible work to support those suffering from asbestos-related diseases.  There is a particularly personal connection for us this year as one of Robin’s friends and neighbours has been diagnosed with this terrible disease and is bravely fighting it as best he can.

We hope you’ll support our decision to make a charitable donation this year and wish you and your friends, families and colleagues a very special Christmas and a happy & healthy New Year. 

http://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/

Chair of Mesothelioma UK's CEO Liz Darlison appears at the Work and Pensions asbestos Select Committee

Last week, the Work and Pensions Committee of the House of Commons took evidence from expert witnesses relating to the Health and Safety Executive's approach to asbestos management.

Several of the witnesses were "old friends" to Start Software.  Watching the recording back this morning, I was struck by how many faces of those giving evidence I recognised and how many have used our asbestos software systems (Tracker & Alpha Tracker) over the last 20 years.

In particular, the evidence in the second half of the session was particularly compelling, especially the comments relating to schools and hospitals.  My fellow panellist on the Ethex asbestos webinar last Thursday, Mesothelioma UK CEO Liz Darlison, was one of the key speakers:

Liz Darlison at the asbestos Select Committee

You can watch all of Liz's evidence by clicking this link: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b93a9a0e-333d-43a2-a2c3-bdb5a3a19c14?in=10:25:59

Here at Start Software, we support Mesothelioma UK and encourage you to do the same.  Click here to make an online donation: https://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/donate-now/  

Would you like to use your asbestos surveying industry knowledge to make a difference to Mesothelioma UK?

Our Alpha Tracker director Robin is also an ambassador for asbestos cancer charity Mesothelioma UK.

Can you join Robin in helping Mesothelioma UK?

Robin and his colleagues at Mesothelioma UK are looking for someone from the asbestos surveying industry to help with a new corporate fundraising drive.  Might you be that person?  Have you years of experience in asbestos surveying consultancies and an address book (or LinkedIn contact list!) full of asbestos consultancy leading lights and head-honchos??

Get in touch with Robin if you have a couple of hours each month and the desire to make a difference!  

Read Mesothelioma UK's latest newsletter

The awesome team at asbestos cancer Mesothelioma UK have just published their latest newsletter.

Read it here! https://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/our-magazine/

The Alpha Tracker team are proud to support Mesothelioma UK and all of the wonderful work they do.

The Daily Mail has exposed the "Shameful failure to tackle toxic legacy of asbestos"

Congratulations to the Daily Mail for publishing this powerful piece about the shameful failure to tackle the asbestos problem here in the UK: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11182621/Shameful-failure-tackle-toxic-legacy-asbestos.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490

The Daily Mail has exposed the failure to tackle asbestos

Liz Darlison, CEO of Mesothelioma UK, and her team worked hard to get this story into the press.  

You can read more about Mesothelioma UK and the amazing work they do here: https://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/

MCP and Start Software helping Mesothelioma UK

You might remember that I did a 50 mile sponsored walk for the asbestos cancer charity Mesothelioma UK last year (see http://robinbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/thanks-to-you-weve-raised-more-than.html).

The charity sent their regular newsletter last week together with a thank you letter, and it was great to see our friends and Alpha Tracker users at MCP Environmental with their name in lights too for raising money for this excellent cause.

MCP raising funds for Mesothelioma UK

Thank you letter to Start Software

"The ongoing threat of Asbestos in the UK" - do join Robin and leading asbestos speakers on the Ethex webinar

Our director Robin has been invited to be a panellist on a forthcoming webinar, "The ongoing threat of Asbestos in the UK".  The webinar is being hosted by Ethex on Thursday 18 November at 4pm.

Alongside Robin are some of the leading asbestos authorities in the UK.

Dr Mavis Nye

Dr Mavis Nye is the CEO and founder of the Mavis Nye Foundation.  Hers is an incredible story of diagnosis with mesothelioma, a shocking prognosis then chemotherapy and then participation in clinical drugs trials.  Throughout all of this, Mavis has been one of the most prominent campaigners and speakers on asbestos illness in the UK and her contribution to the cause is now internationally recognised.

Liz Darlison MBE

Liz Darlison is the CEO of fundraising and campaigning charity Mesothelioma UK. Liz's career in nursing and as a clinical cancer specialist gives her a lifetime of knowledge and experience in caring for and treating patients with mesothelioma.  Her contribution to the cause was recognised in 2019 when she was awarded an MBE for services to cancer research and patient care.

Andrew Paten

Alongside Robin, Mavis & Liz will be Andrew Paten, co-founder of the UK National Asbestos Register (UKNAR), a social enterprise with a mission to make asbestos registers more available to the people that need to access them.  Technology is key, here, and Andrew & Robin will be highlighting plans to use technology in innovative ways to protect people from unnecessary and potentially deadly exposure to asbestos fibres.

Robin Bennett

Robin is a director of Start Software in the UK and Alpha Tracker Pty in Australia; both companies design, build, promote and support the Alpha Tracker asbestos software system.  Used by asbestos consultancies to locate and analyse asbestos materials, and building owners to manage their asbestos problem, Alpha Tracker has been used to record more than 50 million items of asbestos data in 4 million buildings worldwide.  

Go Blue for Meso... Go Big or Go Home!!! Tom has done his bit for Action Mesothelioma Day 2024

Our developer Tom has done his bit for Action Mesothelioma Day 2024!!! 

Two cans of blue hair spray later and Tom's lovely blond locks are now bright blue to show his support for Mesothelioma UK's annual day of action.

Blue-haired Tom supporting Action Mesothelioma Day

Action Mesothelioma Day aims to raise awareness of mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos, raise vital funds to support the research into tackling mesothelioma, and to remember and support those who have been affected by mesothelioma.

We support Mesothelioma UK as our company charity (their logo even appears on the home page of our asbestos software Alpha Tracker) and we encourage you to support them too.  "Light up blue" today in any way you can to keep people talking about this terrible disease.  Thank you!

#goblueformeso #AMD24 #asbestoawareness

Thanks to you, we've raised more than £1000 for Mesothelioma UK

Over the weekend I competed in the Long Mynd Hike, a 50 mile non-stop trek over the Shropshire hills.  Blimey it was tough!! I met people on the walk who have done it every year for more than 20 years... I literally have no idea why you would do it more than once.  19 hours on my feet was enough for me!

580 walkers start the event

One of the overnight check points

19 hours later and I'm top of Ragleth, the last hill

I decided to enter the challenge to raise money for the asbestos cancer Mesothelioma UK after a friend died of this dreadful disease in August this year.  Our Tracker family of software products has been helping asbestos surveyors to locate and manage asbestos in buildings for nearly 20 years, but I never did imagine that I'd see the impact of asbestos diseases so close to home.

Thanks to everyone who donated, we've raised more than £1000 for the asbestos cancer charity Mesothelioma UK.  If you feel able to add to this, please go to this link and give what you can: https://www.justgiving.com/robinbennett-asbestos-hike.  Thanks again.

My "Long Mynd Hike" for Mesothelioma UK makes it into print!

My copy of the Mesothelioma UK magazine has just dropped on my desk and it was a surprise to see my Long Mynd Hike story make it into print. 6 months on and my feet are still sore! 

Thanks again to everyone who supported me - it's important to me personally and us as an asbestos software business that we support asbestos cancer charities as much as we can. 

Mesothelioma UK's excellent publication

My story in amongst some really inspiring fundraising initiatives

We've added #AMD22 to our Alpha Tracker home page - supporting Mesothelioma UK's Action Mesothelioma Day for 2022

We're supporting Mesothelioma UK's Action Mesothelioma Day for 2022 by adding the Twitter feed for #AMD22 to our Alpha Tracker asbestos software home page!

Alpha Tracker's home page with a new #AMD22 dashboard

Go to https://twitter.com/hashtag/AMD22?src=hashtag_click to follow the Twitter feed yourself!  And do support Meso UK's campaign - it really helps sufferers of this terrible disease.

From the Palace of Westminster to Mesothelioma UK's HQ - the portrait of Mavis & Ray Nye is on the move again

Our Alpha Tracker director Robin and UKNAR's Andrew Paten were on the road on Thursday moving the beautiful portrait painting of asbestos campaigners Mavis & Ray Nye.

For the last few months, it has been hanging in the Palace of Westminster, in Sir Stephen Timms' office.  Sir Stephen has taken an active interest in asbestos policy in the UK since become the Chairman of the Work & Pension Committee in the previous government.

The portrait of Mavis & Ray with Sir Stephen

The next location is going to be Mesothelioma UK's Loughborough's HQ so we had to start the process of moving the picture from London to the Midlands.

Andrew & Robin boxed it up, took it out of Portcullis House, then headed off.

Andrew outside Portcullis House

Robin waiting for a taxi (which didn't arrive)

... perhaps a bus?

It had to be a Tube!

The painting is now waiting in a safe London space waiting for the courier to collect and deliver to Meso UK to be proudly displayed and seen by many more asbestos campaigners and nurses.

Ever wonder how important being asbestos-safe actually is? Read about a day in the life of Jo Hargrave, Clinical Nurse Specialist

We can all get blasé about working in and around the asbestos industry.  

Developing software for the asbestos industry (we have been market leaders for nearly 20 years now - see here) puts us at a distance from the people working directly with the material or those affected by it. We very rarely come into contact with asbestos and almost never meet sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.

This is why our connection with Mesothelioma UK is so important.  They support patients, families, and even provide nurses to deliver treatment and support on the ground.  

Jo Hargrave, Clinical Nurse Specialist

I spotted this blog post on the Meso UK website about "Meso Jo" Hargrave, Clinical Nurse Specialist.  It's absolutely worth a read to understand how she and her colleagues help patients day-to-day.  NHS staff working with Mesothelioma are delivering invaluable patient care in difficult circumstances and with limited resources.  We support all that Jo and other nurses working nationwide are doing.

The whole Alpha Tracker asbestos software development team is visiting Mesothelioma UK HQ on Monday to learn more about what they do and to see how we can help them to deliver the services they provide.  We're looking forward to it!

Tomorrow is Action Mesothelioma Day #AMD20

Action Mesothelioma Day is held annually on the first Friday of July.  This year, it is being held tomorrow (3 July 2020) with hashtag #AMD20.  Hundreds of people up and down the UK will be joining (virtually, in most cases) to raise awareness and share their stories about Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

As a company, we support Mesothelioma UK and the work they do.  We have been working in the asbestos industry creating and supplying asbestos software Tracker and Alpha Tracker for nearly 20 years and many staff have personal links to people affected by asbestos-related diseases. 

If you would like to support the event yourself, click this link to download a poster for your workplace https://www.ukata.org.uk/documents/293/AMD_Poster_2020_1.pdf

Elaine, Kim & Catherine at Mesothelioma UK's Ladies' Lunch to celebrate International Womens' Day

Elaine, Kim & Catherine are all in Manchester to support Mesothelioma UK's Ladies' Lunch charity event.

Great event, Meso UK!  Thanks for the invitation

The event is being held today to coincide with International Women's Day.  There are not enough women working in asbestos!

Zac and Kim at the races! Great afternoon spent supporting Mesothelioma UK

We were delighted to support Mesothelioma UK's first Race Day at Leicester Racecourse.  Meso UK has long been Alpha Tracker's nominated charity - they do such an incredible job supporting people with asbestos-related disease.

Some photos from the event

In terms of the gambling, Kim said it was "up and down" whereas Zac and his girlfriend Alicia seemed to back a series of winners!  Great fun, great cause, bring on the next one!

There's lots going on during Global Asbestos Awareness Week. Help us to spread the news

April 1-7 2023 has been designated Global Asbestos Awareness Week.

Two organisations we support have been posting to raise awareness.

We're doing our bit to publicise Global Asbestos Awareness Week

Read NORAC's post here: https://norac.org.uk/global-asbestos-awareness-week/

Read Mesothelioma UK's post here: https://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/dontletthedustsettle/

Interesting and important article "Mesothelioma and COVID-19"

Alpha Tracker user Midlands Asbestos Solutions has posted an important and interesting article about Mesothelioma & COVID-19 and what Coronavirus means to sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.

Here at Start Software we've been a supporter of the charity Mesothelioma UK for some time now (see https://blog.start-software.com/search?q=mesothelioma) and we know, from personal experience, the terrible impact that this disease has.

Take a look at MAS's article here: https://www.midlandsasbestossolutions.co.uk/news/mesothelioma-and-covid-19-the-risks-and-similarities/