Your Local Independent 205

March 2026 Page 3 AD SALES 01204 478812 BOLTON Hospice sup- porters raised £209,000 in just 36 hours after taking the biggest fundraising step in its 34-year history. The charity’s ‘Make Every Moment Count’ campaign more than doubled the orig- inal £100,000 target set. Hospice supporters were hard at work donating or fundraising during the 36-hour window while ‘Matchers’ – local businesses NEWS IN BRIEF A SERVICE has been held at Ridgmont Cemetery in Horwich in memory of the adults and children who were buried in unmarked, common graves between 1928 and 1977. The service was organised by Horwich Heritage and led by Rev Nicola Butterworth with contributions from the town’s Roman Catholic and Free Churches. ORGANISERS have revealed that this year’s Westhoughton Christmas Markets will take place on Sunday November 29. WESTHOUGHTON Town Council is taking part in March’s Great British Spring Clean for the fourth-year running. In the previous three years volunteers have collected a staggering 315 bags of rubbish. THE date for applications for grant funding from Horwich Town Council has now passed. Small grants up to £500 in value are available to local groups. Making every moment count! Smashed: Hospice staff with the original £100,000 target Another Champion, Claire Bond, hiked Rivington Pike with her son and talented chef Sushma from Sushma’s Snacks ran two auctions – one for dinner for six and another for a cookery class for one. Oliver Doyle hosted a guitar set at the Hospice’s Wellbeing Hub. His dad and sister were both cared for at the hospice and he wrote a beautiful tribute “Helen’s Lullaby” for his sister. Members of the Ladybridge Mosque raised £750 which was doubled up to £1,500. Hospice staff also led from the front, getting busy with fundraising for the appeal, which also featured on local television news. Like many hospices across the country, Bolton is facing a financial crisis. It costs £7million annually to run the hospice’s services, which range from 24/7 in-pa- tient care to the specialist Hospice at Home team, flexible drop-in support ses- sions at the Wellbeing Hub, bereavement support and much more. and other organisations – pledged to match-fund the amount raised. Announcing the amount raised, a hospice spokesper- son said: “Everyone who has supported #MakingEveryMo- mentCount over the past 36 hours, everyone here at Bol- ton Hospice is lost for words at the tremendous amount you’ve raised for local families facing life-limiting illnesses! “Whether you’ve picked up the phone, donated online, brought in cash or a cheque, shared our posts, and everything in between. Thank you simply doesn’t go far enough. Bolton, give yourself a pat on the back.” The community rallied round to meet the chal- lenge. Bolton Wanderers held a bucket collection during a home match and raised £2,574.33 – which was doubled. Bella’s Bakes held a prize draw and giveaway and Deb- orah McDonald from Floral Fusion in Westhoughton sold carnations for £1 a stem. Harwood Run Cub and North Bolton Runners organ- ised fundraising runs and a Hospice Champion, Kellie Hadfield, held a Wear Your PJs to Work Day. Launch: The appeal has raised vital funds Advertiser’sannouncement HAVE you booked your sum- mer holidays yet? Many of us are looking forward to a well-deserved break but acci- dents happen even on holidays. Here are some of the typical questions I get asked: WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF HOLIDAY ACCIDENTS? You could be hurt in a road traf- fic incident, a trip or slip in the street, cut yourself in a hotel pool, get food poisoning from your hotel restaurant, be injured on a cruise liner or a boat trip or a host of other situations. IF I’M INJURED ON HOLIDAY, CAN I CLAIM COMPENSATION? Most of the time your injuries will be trivial and you will not want to take things any further. But what if you suffer a more serious Partner and personal injury specialist at Clough & Willis, Chris Macwilliam talks about accidents on holiday HOLIDAY ACCIDENTS. CANYOUCLAIM? responsible for his injury and paid him compensation for his injury, loss of earnings and for the loss of enjoyment of his holiday. IS IT DIFFERENT IF I’M INJURED ON A CRUISE OR A FLIGHT? There are international conven- tions that apply if you injured on a cruise or on an airplane. These conventions normally allow you to bring your claim in England even if the accident happened in another country. You have less time to bring your claim in these situations. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME TO BRING A CLAIM? That’s impossible to say as each case is different. However, some solicitors specialising in these claims will offer a “No Win No Fee” arrangement. ARE THERE ANY STEPS I CAN TAKE TO PROTECT MYSELF? You can do some things to reduce your risks. Always check that you have adequate holiday insurance in place before you travel. Make sure your policy covers you for repatriation and medical costs and covers all the activities you will be doing on your holiday – things such as paragliding or water skiing may be excluded. l If you are unfortunate enough to be injured whilst on holiday don’t despair. Contact us on Freephone 0800 083 0815 and book a FREE APPOINTMENT. We will take your case on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis if we think you have a claim. injury? What can you do about it? Fortunately you can usually make a claim for compensation if the accident was someone else’s fault. WHAT CAN I DO IF I’M INJURED WHEN ON A PACKAGE HOLIDAY ABROAD? If you are injured whilst on holi- day in the UK then, of course, the normal rules for claiming com- pensation apply. If the accident was someone else’s fault then you would be able to make a claim for compensation. But what happens if you are injured abroad? As a general rule, if you booked a package holiday you may be able to bring a claim in the UK against the tour operator. The tour operator will usually be responsible for all the services provided to a holidaymaker as part of the package including hotel accommodation, air travel, cruises, coach or car transfers and excursions. The tour operator cannot escape liability by simply blaming the hotel or a driver – they are responsible. For example – we acted for a school teacher who badly cut his foot on a broken pool light in a hotel swimming pool in Spain. In this case the tour operator was