Campaigners beat lockdown blues to raise asbestos awareness

Asbestos Related Conditions – Allied Industrial Diseases(ARC-AID) is open at premises in New Street, Dudley, despite being hit by a drop in income and a lack of volunteers due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Founder Mary Law, 86, and friends took part in an awareness event by wearing blue-coloured clothes and decorating the shop with balloons.

She set up the charity following the death of her son Royston, who died from the condition 12 years ago, aged 51, to both campaign for better compensation for patients and help other families with similar experiences.

"My son Royston died of it in 2010. He served in the Falkands and then worked for a firm in Oldham. Both careers were high risk for asbestos.

"He left behind a widow and three children. The youngest were aged nine and seven, and they would have been left destitute had there been no help for them.

"I was very angry because there was no medication to help my son with his mesothelioma of the abdomen at the time. Now thankfully medication has improved and a lot of asbestos is being taken out of buildings.

"The main diseases caused by asbestosis are mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen. It causes scarring of the lung making it difficult to breathe. The only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

"I feel there should be no more passing the buck. The Government must provide funding to tackle this issue.

"We want zero tolerance. Asbestos was banned in buildings in the UK in 1999, but other countries haven't banned it and it sometimes gets here in imported products. It can be in plastic and certain adhesives if we're not careful," the campaigner from Wordsley said.

To mark Action Mesothelioma Day the volunteers gathered in Coronation Gardens off Priory Road, followed by lunch at Sofi's Cafe, of Castle Street, while children visiting the ARC-AID shop with their families were given balloons as a treat.

"It was a lovely day. It was also about raising awareness and because of lockdown we've had to concentrate on keeping our campaign platform going.

"We have managed to keep the shop open, but we do need help as we're getting older and we'd love to get more volunteers on board. We're the only shop geared towards mesothelioma awareness," she adds.

Last month the High Court awarded damages against the University of Wolverhampton, formerly Wolverhampton Polytechnic, to the family of retired photography technician Judith King who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2020, aged 79, and died last year. She worked there between 1975 and 1999.