1.
Aylesbury
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Aylesbury /ˈeɪəlzbri/ is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. In 2011, it had a population of 71,977, the town name is of Old English origin. Its first recorded name Æglesburgh is thought to mean Fort of Ægel, since earliest records there have been 57 variations of the name. Excavations in the centre in 1985 found an Iron Age hill fort dating from the early 4th century BC. Aylesbury was a market town in Anglo-Saxon times, the burial place of Saint Osgyth. The Early English parish church of St. Mary has a crypt beneath, once thought to be Anglo-Saxon, it is now recognised as being of the same period as the medieval chapel above. At the Norman conquest, the king took the manor of Aylesbury for himself, in 1450, a religious institution called the Guild of St Mary was founded in Aylesbury by John Kemp, Archbishop of York. Known popularly as the Guild of Our Lady it became a place for local dignitaries. The guild was influential in the outcome of the Wars of the Roses. Its premises at the Chantry in Church Street, Aylesbury, are still there, the plague decimated the population in 1603/4. Aylesbury-born composer, Rutland Boughton, possibly inspired by the statue of John Hampden, bourbon Street in Aylesbury is named after the king. Louiss wife, Marie Josephine of Savoy died at Hartwell in 1810 and is the only French queen to have died on English soil, the town also received international publicity in the 1963 when the culprits responsible for the ] were tried at Aylesbury Crown Court. The robbery took place at Bridego Bridge, a bridge at Ledburn. A notable institution is Aylesbury Grammar School which was founded in 1598, according to the 2011 Census, the religious groupings in Aylesbury were, Christianity, No religion, Islam, Hinduism, Other. 7% of respondents did not state their religion, Aylesbury falls into a notional geographical region known as the South Midlands. In the 2001 census the Aylesbury Urban Area had 69,021 inhabitants by the 2011 census the urban population had grown to 74,748. Distinct whole areas that have a high property price in the town are Bedgrove. Anticipated developments are expected to raise the population of Aylesbury from its current approximation of 75,000 to 100,000 between 2018 and 2023
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Health system
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There is a wide variety of health systems around the world, with as many histories and organizational structures as there are nations. In some countries, health system planning is distributed among market participants, however, health care planning has been described as often evolutionary rather than revolutionary. According to WHO, healthcare systems goals are good health for the citizens, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, progress towards them depends on how systems carry out four vital functions, provision of health care services, resource generation, financing, and stewardship. Other dimensions for the evaluation of systems include quality, efficiency, acceptability. They have also described in the United States as the five Cs, Cost, Coverage, Consistency, Complexity. Also, continuity of care is a major goal. Often health system has been defined with a reductionist perspective, for reducing it to healthcare system. In many publications, for example, both expressions are used interchangeably, the World Health Organization defines health systems as follows, A health system consists of all organizations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health. This includes efforts to influence determinants of health as well as more direct health-improving activities, a health system is therefore more than the pyramid of publicly owned facilities that deliver personal health services. It includes inter-sectoral action by staff, for example, encouraging the ministry of education to promote female education. Healthcare providers are institutions or individuals providing healthcare services and they may also work outside of direct patient care such as in a government health department or other agency, medical laboratory, or health training institution. One study based on data from the OECD concluded that all types of health care finance are compatible with an efficient health system, the study also found no relationship between financing and cost control. The term health insurance is used to describe a form of insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs. It may be provided through an insurance program, or from private insurance companies. It may be obtained on a basis or purchased by individual consumers. In each case premiums or taxes protect the insured from high or unexpected health care expenses, the benefit is typically administered by a government agency, a non-profit health fund or a corporation operating seeking to make a profit. Many government schemes also have co-payment schemes but exclusions are rare because of political pressure, the larger insurance schemes may also negotiate fees with providers
4.
National Health Service
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The National Health Service is the name of the public health services of England, Scotland and Wales, and is commonly used to refer to those of Northern Ireland. They were established together as one of the social reforms following the Second World War on the founding principles of being comprehensive, universal. Today, each provides a range of health services, the vast majority of which are free for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom. Taken together, the four National Health Services in 2015-16 employed around 1.6 million people with a budget of £136.7 billion. For non-residents, the NHS is free at the time of use, for general practitioner, the NHS began on the Appointed Day of 5 July 1948. This put into practice Westminster legislation for England and Wales from 1946 and Scotland from 1947, when Clement Attlees Labour Party won the 1945 election he appointed Aneurin Bevan as Health Minister. Bevan then embarked upon what the historian of the NHS, Charles Webster. Three years after the founding of the NHS, Bevan resigned from the Labour government in opposition to the introduction of charges for the provision of dentures and glasses, the following year, Winston Churchills Conservative government introduced prescription charges. These charges were the first of many controversies over reforms to the NHS throughout its history, each of the UKs four nations have their own separate NHS, each with its own history. From its earliest days, the history of the NHS has shown its place in British society reflected and debated in film, TV, cartoons. However, some functions might be performed by one health service on behalf of another. There have been issues about cross-border payments, taken together, the four National Health Services in 2015-16 employed around 1.6 million people with a combined budget of £136.7 billion. In 2014 the total health sector workforce across the UK was 2,165,043 and this broke down into 1,789,586 in England,198,368 in Scotland,110,292 in Wales and 66,797 in Northern Ireland. The NHS is free at the time of use, for general practitioner and emergency treatment not including admission to hospital, people with the right to medical care in European Economic Area nations are also entitled to free treatment by using the European Health Insurance Card. Those from other countries with which the UK has reciprocal arrangements also qualify for free treatment, people not ordinarily resident in the UK are in general not entitled to free hospital treatment, with some exceptions such as refugees. People not ordinarily resident may be subject to an interview to establish their eligibility, patients who do not qualify for free treatment are asked to pay in advance, or to sign a written undertaking to pay, except for emergency treatment. The provision of treatment to non-UK-residents, formerly interpreted liberally, has been increasingly restricted. As of 2016 the surcharge was £200 per year, with exemptions and reductions in some cases, the systems are 98. 8% funded from general taxation and National Insurance contributions, plus small amounts from patient charges for some services
5.
Hospital
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A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. Specialised hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals, a teaching hospital combines assistance to people with teaching to medical students and nurses. The medical facility smaller than a hospital is called a clinic. Hospitals have a range of departments and specialist units such as cardiology, some hospitals have outpatient departments and some have chronic treatment units. Common support units include a pharmacy, pathology, and radiology, Hospitals are usually funded by the public sector, by health organisations, by health insurance companies, or by charities, including direct charitable donations. Historically, hospitals were founded and funded by religious orders, or by charitable individuals. During the Middle Ages, hospitals served different functions from modern institutions, Middle Ages hospitals were almshouses for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or hospital schools. The word hospital comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception. By metonymy the Latin word then came to mean a guest-chamber, guests lodging, hospes is thus the root for the English words host hospitality, hospice, hostel and hotel. The German word Spital shares similar roots, the grammar of the word differs slightly depending on the dialect. Some patients go to a hospital just for diagnosis, treatment, or therapy and then leave without staying overnight, while others are admitted and stay overnight or for several days or weeks or months. Hospitals usually are distinguished from other types of facilities by their ability to admit and care for inpatients whilst the others. Larger cities may have several hospitals of varying sizes and facilities, some hospitals, especially in the United States and Canada, have their own ambulance service. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. In California, district hospital refers specifically to a class of healthcare facility created shortly after World War II to address a shortage of beds in many local communities. Twenty-eight of Californias rural hospitals and 20 of its critical-access hospitals are District hospitals, Californias District hospitals are formed by local municipalities, have Boards that are individually elected by their local communities, and exist to serve local needs
6.
Emergency department
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The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center. In some countries, emergency departments have become important entry points for those without means of access to medical care. The emergency departments of most hospitals operate 24 hours a day, griswold also equipped police and fire vehicles with medical supplies and trained officers to give emergency care while en route to the hospital. Today, a hospital has its emergency department in its own section of the ground floor of the grounds. As patients can present at any time and with any complaint, triage is normally the first stage the patient passes through, and consists of a brief assessment, including a set of vital signs, and the assignment of a chief complaint. Most emergency departments have an area for this process to take place. Most patients will be assessed at triage and then passed to another area of the department, or another area of the hospital. Conversely, patients with serious conditions, such as cardiac arrest, will bypass triage altogether. The resuscitation area, commonly referred to as Trauma or Resus, is a key area in most departments, the most seriously ill or injured patients will be dealt with in this area, as it contains the equipment and staff required for dealing with immediately life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Typical resuscitation staffing involves at least one attending physician, and at least one and these personnel may be assigned to the resuscitation area for the entirety of the shift, or may be on call for resuscitation coverage. Examples of majors include chest pain, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, Advanced diagnostic testing may be conducted at this stage, including laboratory testing of blood and/or urine, ultrasonography, CT or MRI scanning. Medications appropriate to manage the condition will also be given. Depending on underlying causes of the chief complaint, he or she may be discharged home from this area or admitted to the hospital for further treatment. Patients whose condition is not immediately life-threatening will be sent to an area suitable to deal with them, such patients may still have been found to have significant problems, including fractures, dislocations, and lacerations requiring suturing. Children can present particular challenges in treatment, many hospitals have a separate area for evaluation of psychiatric problems. These are often staffed by psychiatrists and mental health nurses and social workers, there is typically at least one room for people who are actively a risk to themselves or others. Fast decisions on life-and-death cases are critical in emergency rooms. As a result, doctors face great pressures to overtest and overtreat, other common variations include emergency ward, emergency centre or emergency unit
7.
National Health Service (England)
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The National Health Service is the publicly funded national healthcare system for England and one of the four National Health Services of the United Kingdom. It is the largest and the oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world, Some services, such as emergency treatment and treatment of infectious diseases are free for everyone, including visitors. Free healthcare at the point of use comes from the principles at the founding of the National Health Service by the Labour government in 1948. Some specific NHS services do however require a financial contribution from the patient, for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions. However, these charges are often free to vulnerable or low income groups, the NHS provides the majority of healthcare in England, including primary care, in-patient care, long-term healthcare, ophthalmology, and dentistry. The National Health Service Act 1946 came into effect on 5 July 1948, private health care has continued parallel to the NHS, paid for largely by private insurance, it is used by about 8% of the population, generally as an add-on to NHS services. The NHS is largely funded from taxation with a small amount being contributed by National Insurance payments. The UK government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health, the Department of Health had a £110 billion budget in 2013-14, most of this being spent on the NHS. Sources do not always clear if they refer to the whole of the NHS or only to England. There is no unified British NHS, the National Health Service in Scotland and Northern Ireland were always separate, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into effect in April 2013, giving GP-led groups responsibility for commissioning most local NHS services. Starting in April 2013 Primary Care Trusts are being replaced by General Practitioner -led organisations called Clinical Commissioning Groups, under the new system, a new NHS Commissioning Board, called NHS England, oversees the NHS from the Department of Health. The Act has also associated with the perception of increased private provision of NHS services. NHS Trusts are responding to the Nicholson challenge which involved making £20 billion in savings across the service by 2015, Some NHS organisations are using referral management centres to help reduce inappropriate referrals in an attempt to save the NHS money. Millions of pounds have been spent for these services, 32% of which are provided by private companies, of the 211 clinical commissioning groups surveyed by the British Medical Journal in 2016,184 responded and 72 of those said they had used such schemes. Of those CCGs using these services, 14% could show savings, 12% showed no overall savings, because these services can prevent GPs from referring patients to hospitals, there are some concerns they may delay diagnosis and compromise patient safety. Dr A. J. Cronins controversial novel The Citadel, published in 1937, had fomented extensive debate about the severe inadequacies of health care. The authors innovative ideas were not only essential to the conception of the NHS, a national health service was one of the fundamental assumptions in the Beveridge Report. The Emergency Hospital Service established in 1939 gave a taste of what a National Health Service might look like, Healthcare prior to the war had been an unsatisfactory mix of private, municipal and charity schemes
8.
Ludwig Guttmann
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Sir Ludwig Poppa Guttmann CBE FRS was a German-born British neurologist who established the Paralympic Games in England. Ludwig Guttmann, the eldest child of the family, was born in Tost, within Upper Silesia and his family moved when he was three years old to the Silesia city of Königshütte. Guttman first encountered a patient with a spinal injury in 1917. The patient was a miner who later died of sepsis. Guttman started his studies in April 1918 at the University of Breslau. He transferred to the University of Freiburg in 1919 and received his Doctorate of Medicine in 1924, by 1933, Guttmann was considered the top neurosurgeon in Germany. Following the violent attacks on Jewish people and properties during Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938, the following day he justified his decision on a case-by-case basis with the Gestapo. Out of 64 admissions,60 patients were saved from arrest, in early 1939, Guttmann and his family left Germany because of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. An opportunity for escape arose when the Nazis provided him with a visa, Guttmann was scheduled to return to Germany via London, where the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics arranged for him to remain in the UK. He arrived with his wife Else Samuel Guttmann and two children, a son, Dennis and daughter, Eva aged 6 in Oxford, England, CARA, which negotiated with the British Home Office on their behalf, gave Guttmann and his family £250 to help settle in Oxford. Guttmann continued his spinal injury research at the Nuffield Department of Neurosurgery in the Radcliffe Infirmary, for the first few weeks after arrival the family resided in the Masters Lodge of Balliol College until they moved into a small semi-detached house in Lonsdale Road. Both children were offered places by the headmistress of Greycotes School. The family were members of the Oxford Jewish community, and Eva remembers becoming friendly with Miriam Margolyes, the Jewish community in Oxford was growing rapidly as a result of the influx of displaced academic Jews from Europe. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Guttmann and his family stayed in the home of Lord Lindsay, CARA Councillor, in September 1943 the British government asked Guttmann to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. When the centre opened on 1 February 1944, Guttmann was appointed its director, Guttmann became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom in 1945. He organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games for disabled persons on 28 July 1948, Guttmann used the term paraplegic games for national games held in order to encourage his patients to take part. This came to be known as the Paralympics, which later became the Parallel Games. By 1952, more than 130 international competitors had entered the Stoke Mandeville Games, as the annual event continued to grow, the ethos and efforts by all those involved started to impress the organisers of the Olympic Games and members of the international community
9.
Paralympic Games
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There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee, the Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types and these categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was an amputee and could shoot left-handed. The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Dr. Guttmans aim was to create a sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were again at the same location in 1952. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games. There have been milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960,400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the year as the Olympic Games. The Games were initially only to athletes in wheelchairs, at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries, the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city and this set a precedent that was followed in 1992,1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in 2001, and was extended through 2020
10.
Wenlock and Mandeville
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Wenlock and Mandeville were the official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London. They were created by Iris, a London-based creative agency, the mascots were unveiled on 19 May 2010, marking the second time that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. According to the storyline, they were formed from the last girder of the Olympic Stadium. Their skins are made of polished steel allowing them to reflect the personalities and appearances of the people they meet. Their one eye is a camera and on their heads are yellow lights symbolizing those of a London Taxi. Wenlock’s name is inspired by Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England, the five friendship rings on his wrists correspond to the five Olympic rings, and three points on his head represent the three places on the podium. The pattern on his body symbolises the world coming to London. Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1948, Stoke Mandeville Hospital organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games, considered to be the precursor to the Paralympics. The three spikes on Mandevilles helmet represent the Paralympic Agitos and this was followed by a sequel, Adventures on a Rainbow, which was released on 1 March 2011. The video featured guest appearances from Olympic athletes, Phillips Idowu, Shanaze Reade and Tom Daley as well as Paralympic athletes, Ellie Simmonds and these were followed by Rainbow Rescue and Rainbow to the Games. The official theme song, On a Rainbow, was written by McFlys Tom Fletcher, the mascots featured in an Olympic-themed comic strip in The Beano, starting in issue 3601. The strip, written by Ryan C, gavan and drawn by Nigel Parkinson, ran until the Olympics began in July 2012. Creative Review said Both are clearly of the digital age, and we have to say, we think they look rather good. However, others were critical, with one columnist claiming that the pair were the product of a drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek. Others have compared the mascots to Izzy, the mascot of the 1996 Summer Olympics, still others have remarked that the pair resemble Kang and Kodos from The Simpsons. However it has found that children of the target audience find the duo appealing. Media critic James Bridle has observed that the characters huge eyes make them fitting mascots for London, the mascots were available to make appearances at schools and community events around the host nation. The then Chair of the London Assembly Baroness Dee Doocey raised the issue of the fees and she suggested only the richest of schools would be able to afford the appearances
11.
2012 Summer Olympics
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It took place in London and to a lesser extent across the United Kingdom from 25 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, the stage in womens football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated, London is the first and only city thus far to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability, the main focus was a new 200-hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford, East London. The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid, the Games received widespread acclaim for their organisation, with the volunteers, the British military and public enthusiasm praised particularly highly. During the Games, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, so that every currently eligible country has sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games. Womens boxing was included for the first time, thus the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors and these were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several world and Olympic records were set at the games. Furthermore, the focus on sporting legacy and post-games venue sustainability was seen as a blueprint for future Olympics. On 18 May 2004, as a result of a technical evaluation. All five submitted their candidate files by 19 November 2004 and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February, throughout the process, Paris was widely seen as the favourite, particularly as this was its third bid in recent years. London was initially seen as lagging behind Paris by a considerable margin and its position began to improve after the appointment of Lord Coe as the new head of London 2012 on 19 May 2004. In late August 2004, reports predicted a tie between London and Paris, on 6 June 2005, the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. They did not contain any scores or rankings, but the report for Paris was considered the most positive, London was close behind, having closed most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004. New York and Madrid also received positive evaluations. On 1 July 2005, when asked who would win, Jacques Rogge said, but my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, on 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York, the final two contenders were London and Paris
12.
2012 Summer Paralympics
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They were the first-ever organized sporting event for disabled athletes, and served as a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games. Stoke Mandeville also co-hosted the 1984 Summer Paralympics with Long Island, New York, after its original host, at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, the rights to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to London. As with the Olympics, the 2012 Summer Paralympics were overseen by LOCOG, LOCOG was responsible for overseeing the staging of the games, while the ODA dealt with infrastructure and venues. The Government Olympic Executive within the Department for Culture, Media, the GOE reported through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics Hugh Robertson. It focused on oversight of the Games, cross-programme management and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy, the 2012 Summer Paralympics used many of the same venues as the 2012 Summer Olympics, along with two new locations such as Eton Manor for wheelchair tennis and Brands Hatch for road cycling. Londons purpose-built Olympic venues and facilities, including the Olympic Village itself, were designed to be accessible as possible so they could accommodate the Paralympics. Some venues also contained additional accessible seating areas during the Paralympics, transport for London operated the Paralympic Route Network to facilitate road traffic between venues and facilities. The network provided 8.7 miles of lanes specifically reserved for Paralympic athletes, TfL continued to operate its Get Ahead of the Games website during the Paralympics, which provided updates and advice for commuters during the Games. Prior to the Games, concerns were raised by TfL commissioner Peter Hendy that Londons transportation system might not be able to handle the Paralympics adequately, Sevenoaks railway station was designated as the preferred station for spectators travelling to watch the cycling at Brands Hatch. Organisers chose Sevenoaks over the closer Swanley railway station because of its existing step-free access and excellent transport links, whilst organisers did not believe that Swanley would be able to have wheelchair lifts installed by the start of the Paralympics, the station finished their installation by early August 2012. The formal handover occurred during the ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. This was followed by a presentation by Britain, which was similar to its presentation during the Olympics closing ceremony. It featured urban dance group ZooNation, the Royal Ballet, and Candoco, a double-decker bus drove around the stadium, guided by Ade Adepitan, to music composed by Philip Sheppard. The top of the bus was open and folded down to show a privet hedge featuring London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Eye. Cherisse Osei, drummer for Mika, and Sam Hegedus then performed, before the top of the bus folded up into its original form, both the Paralympic and Olympic flags were formally raised outside of Londons City Hall on 26 September 2008. British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Chris Holmes raised the Paralympic flag, on 8 September 2011 Trafalgar Square staged International Paralympic Day, hosted by Rick Edwards, Ade Adepitan and Iwan Thomas, to coincide with a visit to London by representatives of the IPC. The event celebrated the Paralympic Games, showcasing and demonstrating the 20 sports that would feature during the Games and it also featured appearances by Paralympic athletes Oscar Pistorius, Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred, and the unveiling of a bronze statue of Pistorius by Ben Dearnley. British Prime Minister David Cameron and Londons mayor Boris Johnson also appeared, two days later on 10 September, supermarket chain Sainsburys and Channel 4 presented Sainsburys Super Saturday, a family event at Clapham Common
13.
Stoke Mandeville
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Stoke Mandeville is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district 3 miles to the south-east of Aylesbury in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Although a separate parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area. According to the Census Report the area of parish is 1,460 acres. The village was recorded as Stoches in the Domesday Book of 1086. The suffix Mandeville was first recorded in 1284 when the manor was listed as being in the hands of the powerful Norman de Mandeville family, the former medieval parish church on the outskirts of the village was condemned in the mid 20th Century and was demolished in January 1966. Stoke Mandeville was also the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games, the Games, which were held eight times at Stoke Mandeville, were the inspiration for the first Paralympic Games, also called The Stoke Mandeville Games, which were organised in Rome in 1960. The wheelchair aspects of the 1984 Paralympics were also held in the village, the London 2012 Summer Paralympics mascot, Mandeville, was named after the village due to its legacy with the Games. On 13 May 2000, the new Stoke Mandeville Millennium sign was unveiled and it stands on a small brick plinth on the green outside the primary school. The sign shows aspects of life over the centuries. Arriva service 50 serves the area on Station Road, as do services 164 and 300 - which stops in the centre of the village, Stoke Mandeville Combined School is a mixed community school which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has approximately 220 pupils and it also has a hearing impaired department, which currently helps up to 15 children through their school day. Stoke Mandeville Stadium Stoke Mandeville Combined School website Stoke Mandeville Guide
14.
1948 Summer Olympics
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The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin, the 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and then for Helsinki, the 1944 Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the occasion that London had hosted the Olympic Games. The 1948 games were the first of two summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström, the event came to be known as the Austerity Games, because of the economic climate and post-war rationing. No new venues were built for the games, and athletes were housed in existing accommodation in the Wembley area instead of an Olympic Village, as were the 1936 Games and the subsequent 1952 Games. A record 59 nations were represented by 4,104 athletes,3,714 men and 390 women, germany and Japan were refused permission to participate, the USSR was invited but chose not to send any athletes. The United States team won the most total medals,84, the host nation won 23 medals, three of them gold. One of the performers at the Games was Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen. Dubbed The Flying Housewife, the 30-year-old mother of two won four medals in athletics. In the decathlon, American Bob Mathias became the youngest male ever to win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 17, the most individual medals were won by Veikko Huhtanen of Finland who took three golds, a silver and a bronze in mens gymnastics. In June 1939, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1944 Olympic Summer Games to London, ahead of Rome, Detroit, Budapest, Lausanne, Helsinki, Montreal, World War II stopped the plans and the Games were cancelled so London again stood as a candidate for 1948. Britain almost handed the 1948 games to the USA due to financial and rationing problems. The official report of the London Olympics shows that there was no case of London being pressed to run the Games against its will. As a result, a committee was set up by the British Olympic Council to work out in some detail the possibility of holding the Games. After several meetings they recommended to the council that the Lord Mayor of London should be invited to apply for the allocation of the Games in 1948. In March 1946 the IOC, through a vote, gave the summer Games to London. London was selected ahead of Baltimore, Minneapolis, Lausanne, Los Angeles, London, which had previously hosted the 1908 Summer Olympics, became the second city to host the Olympics twice, Paris hosted the event in 1900 and 1924. It became the first city to host the Olympics for the time when London hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics. E
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Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
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1960 Summer Paralympics
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They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. The term Paralympic Games was approved by the International Olympic Committee first in 1984, the Games were held in Rome, Italy from September 18 to 25,1960, with the 1960 Summer Olympics. The only disability included in these Paralympics was spinal cord injury, there were about 400 athletes, from 23 countries. As there were no more than three athletes or teams per event, every athlete was guaranteed a medal upon completing his or her event, archery Athletics Dartchery Snooker Swimming Table tennis Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Italy, is highlighted, the number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC. The information from the International Paralympic Committee website is based on sources which does not present all information from earlier games, such as relay
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Diana, Princess of Wales
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Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Diana was born into a family of British nobility with royal ancestry and was the child and third daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp. She grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, in 1975, after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer, she became known as Lady Diana Spencer. She came to prominence in February 1981 when her engagement to Prince Charles was announced and her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981, held at St Pauls Cathedral, reached a global television audience of over 750 million people. While married, Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, the marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were then respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and she was celebrated for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She was involved with dozens of charities including Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. Media attention and public mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, Diana was born on 1 July 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the Spencer family has been closely allied with the British Royal Family for several generations. Both of Dianas grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on 30 August 1961, Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, with wealthy commoners as godparents. Diana had three siblings, Sarah, Jane, and Charles and her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born. The desire for an added strain to the Spencers marriage. Diana grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, the Spencers leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with Princes Andrew, Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced. Her mother later had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969, Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents separation in 1967, but during that years Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let Diana return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards he won custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Ruth Roche, in 1972, Lord Althorp began a relationship with Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and Dame Barbara Cartland. They married at Caxton Hall, London in 1976, as an upper-class child at the time, Diana was first educated under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen. She began her education at Silfield Private School in Gayton, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Diss
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Private finance initiative
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The private finance initiative is a way of creating public–private partnerships by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital. PFI has also used simply to place a great amount of debt off-balance-sheet. PFI has been controversial in the UK, the National Audit Office felt in 2003 that it provided good value for money overall, however, more recently the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee found that PFI should be brought on balance sheet. The Treasury should remove any perverse incentives unrelated to value for money by ensuring that PFI is not used to circumvent departmental budget limits and it should also ask the OBR to include PFI liabilities in future assessments of the fiscal rules. It is a sub-set of a broader procurement approach termed Public Private Partnership, a public sector authority signs a contract with a private sector consortium, technically known as a Special Purpose Vehicle. This consortium is typically formed for the purpose of providing the PFI. It is owned by a number of private investors, usually including a construction company and a service provider. The consortiums funding will be used to build the facility and to undertake maintenance, once the contract is operational, the SPV may be used as a conduit for contract amendment discussions between the customer and the facility operator. SPVs often charge fees for this go-between service, PFI contracts are typically for 25–30 years, although contracts less than 20 years or more than 40 years exist, they are considerably less common. During the period of the contract the consortium will provide certain services, the consortium is paid for the work over the course of the contract on a no service no fee performance basis. The public authority will design an output specification which is a document setting out what the consortium is expected to achieve, If the consortium fails to meet any of the agreed standards it should lose an element of its payment until standards improve. In most termination cases the public sector is required to repay the debt, in practice, termination is considered a last resort only. Many steps have been taken over the years to standardise the form of PFI contracts to ensure public interests are better protected, the main contract is between the public sector authority and the Topco. Requirements then flow down from the Topco to the Capco and Opco via secondary contracts, further requirements then flow down to subcontractors, again with contracts to match. Often the main subcontractors are companies with the shareholders as the Topco. Prior to the crisis of 2007–2010, large PFI projects were funded through the sale of bonds and/or senior debt. Since the crisis, funding by senior debt has more common. Smaller PFI projects — the majority by number — have typically always been funded directly by banks in the form of senior debt, refinancing of PFI deals is common
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Alfred McAlpine
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Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britains motorways. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008, Alfred McAlpine was one of the sons of Concrete Bob McAlpine and he ran the operations of Sir Robert McAlpine in the north west of England. Under a non-compete agreement with its parent company, Sir Alfred McAlpine confined itself to civil engineering. After the death of its founder, his son Jimmie McAlpine became chairman, the company floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1958 under the name Marchwiel Holdings, only changing its public name to Alfred McAlpine PLC in 1985. This followed the decision in 1983 to end the agreement with Robert McAlpine allowing the firm to expand geographically. McAlpines status as an engineer was enhanced during the 1960s by its participation in the motorway building programme. There had been some limited diversification, including the purchase of Penrhyn Quarry, as the civil engineering market declined in the 1970s, McAlpine sought to diversify further into private housebuilding. Acquisitions included Price Brothers in 1978, Frank Sandersons Finlas in 1982, investments had also been made in the US housing industry. By the end of the 1980s, private housebuilding was contributing the major part of group profits, in 1985, Jimmie retired, and handed over chairmanship of the company to his son Robert James Bobby McAlpine. In 1991 Bobby brought in a chief executive, resigning as chairman in 1992. Under new management, there was further concentration on private housebuilding, including the acquisition of Raine Industries, by the late 1990s, McAlpine was building over 4,000 houses a year and was one of the industry’s top ten. However, there was increasing speculation over the future of the Company and, in 2001, in 2001, it acquired Kennedy Utility Management for £52m. In 2002, it acquired Stiell, a management and information technology network systems business. In February 2008, Carillion acquired Alfred McAlpine for £572m and it had three business streams, Business Services, facilities management, information systems, asset management and health and safety management. Infrastructure Services, maintenance, renewal and development services to utility operators in the gas, electricity, water and telecoms sectors and it also owned Alfred McAlpine Slate, which was the worlds largest producer of natural slate. The Road to Success, Alfred McAlpine 1935 -1985
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Sodexo
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Sodexo is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Sodexo is one of the worlds largest multinational corporations, with 420,000 employees that represent 130 nationalities and are present on 34,000 sites in 80 countries. For fiscal year 2010 revenues reached 15.3 billion euros, revenues by region represent 38% in North America, 37% in Continental Europe, 8% in the UK and Ireland, and 17% elsewhere. The company was launched in 1966 by Pierre Bellon in Marseille, France, initially serving company restaurants, today Sodexo is on the Fortune Global 500 list and the second largest employer among all French multi-national corporations. Throughout the 1970s, the expanded in France and internationally, first in Belgium, then Africa. After an initial public offering on the Paris Bourse in 1983, in 2000 Sodexho Alliance became the leader in remote site management after a merger with Universal Ogden Services. In 1998, Sodexho merged with Marriott Management Services, at the one of the largest food services companies in North America. Included in the merger was a change to Sodexho Marriott Services. The merger helped the company one of the largest food services providers in America. In 2002, Sodexho was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, in 2005, Michel Landel was appointed Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Pierre Bellon, who continues as Chairman of the Board of Directors. The initiative includes an agreement and the formation of SodexhoMAGIC, LLC. Since September 2007, its United States operations have been headed by President and CEO George Chavel, in 2007, Sodexho launched its catering arm in United Kingdom schools, using the brand name For you. In August 2009, Sodexo acquired the in-home care services company, Comfort Keepers provides non-medical, in-home care for adults and seniors. It is a franchise system with locally owned and operated franchise offices. The company was launched in 1998, Comfort Keepers franchises are located throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. As of June 2016, Comfort Keepers had 500 franchisees running 750 offices in the United States, Comfort Keepers was named by INC. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing franchise systems in the United States in 2007. In 2016, Comfort Keepers was ranked number seven by Forbes as a Top Franchise to Buy in the lowest investment category, the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity is the leading assessment of diversity management in corporate America and globally. In 2010, Sodexo ranked number one, according to the report, Sodexo has led every other company in its ability to implement measure and assess strong internal diversity initiatives
