A LOCAL coroner has been elected president of the Coroners' Society and intends to use his new role to raise funds for a charity project in cyclone-hit Burma, reports Matthew Connolly.
Ian Smith, coroner for South and East Cumbria, was chosen to head the society at its annual conference in Brussels, and he plans to do a ten-day sponsored walk form Alston to Barrow on May 17.
One of the three charities he aims to support is an educational project in Burma set up by Scottish luxury travel company Pandaw River Cruises. The other two beneficiaries are Furness Mountain Rescue Team and Smile, a third-world charity for children with cleft palettes.
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Mr Smith, 58, who lives in Newby Bridge, says he wanted to do more than be a guest speaker in his role as president. "Local coroners' societies invite the president to talk and be entertained, but I thought I'd use my year in the role to focus on these charities."
He aims to raise £10,000 with his sponsored walk, much of which he hopes will go to Burma, where Pandaw is sponsoring the building of schools and clinics in Mandalay, on the Irrawaddy River 400 miles north of Rangoon. Mr Smith says the project seems still to be operating despite the cyclone.
"It's quite a tragic event, but they sent me an email on Saturday after the cyclone, saying that things were bad in Rangoon but not as bad further up the river. They said their staff were all safe. Some homes were damaged but the boats were OK."
He got involved with Pandaw after a holiday in Burma. "I found the country and people delightful. "In Mandalay I was told that it would take £1,500 to build a school, and I thought, my God, how easy it would be to help when we'd spend £1,500 on a holiday without thinking about it.'
"I know about tourism taxes going to the government but we thought that to have some contact with the people was a plus. I felt a genuine benefit in keeping links open rather than just standing back and waiting until the country has resolved its problems."
Mr Smith expects his 70-mile sponsored walk, stretching from Alston to Barrow via Cross Fell, High Street, Ambleside, Coniston and Ulverston, to take ten days.
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