His presence was more than a gesture of support — it was a powerful acknowledgement of the challenges faced by women living with endometriosis and the urgent need for better education, understanding, and early diagnosis.

For too long, endometriosis has been a condition spoken about quietly, often misunderstood, and frequently dismissed. Our mission has always been clear: to empower women with knowledge, to ensure they feel heard, and to promote education that leads to earlier recognition and improved care. Andy Burnham’s attendance helped amplify that mission at a crucial moment.

During the session, he listened closely to the lived experiences of women who have battled years of pain, delayed diagnoses, and barriers within the healthcare system. His engagement demonstrated a genuine commitment to understanding the realities of endometriosis and the impact it has on women’s lives, careers, families, and wellbeing.

His support also helped shine a brighter light on the importance of community-led education. When leaders stand alongside us, they help break down stigma and encourage wider conversations — in homes, workplaces, schools, and healthcare settings. That is how change begins: with awareness, with understanding, and with the courage to speak openly about women’s health.

Andy Burnham’s attendance in 2022 remains a significant moment for our charity. It strengthened our resolve to continue empowering women with the knowledge they deserve and to keep pushing for a future where endometriosis is recognised early, treated effectively, and understood widely.

Andy Burnham’s engagement signalled a commitment to understanding these realities and to supporting efforts that promote earlier recognition and better outcomes.

For our organisation, his attendance remains a pivotal moment. It validated the need for sustained investment in community education, strengthened our relationships within the region, and underscored the importance of empowering women through knowledge. As we continue expanding our programmes, workshops, and outreach activities, this support forms part of the foundation on which we build future impact.

Eyes down for a full house to beat endometriosis

Shuffle yourself along to a game of Play Your Cards Right, a bout of Bingo, a raffle, and a quiz night as a local charity answers the call to help women in chronic pain.

Affecting one in ten females, endometriosis leads to severe bleeding, pelvic agony and a monthly woe of weariness so severe it leads sufferers to self-harm and dark thoughts.

All of which persuaded GP with Special Interest in Gynaecology Dr Anita Sharma to form charity Endometriosis Awareness North – whose main fundraiser will be held at the Rochdale Golf Club on September 18 (see close of release for details).

Monies raised will be used to support so-called “endo warriors” and their families, plus fund research into quicker diagnosis and even a cure.

“Despite being one of the most common health conditions in Britain, few people are aware of endo – and that includes doctors and nurses,” said Dr Sharma. “The lack of funding into early diagnosis and treatment means women have to wait up to ten years just to get a proper diagnosis, meaning a decade of missing out on an education and work, not being able to socialise with others, and crippling agony that nobody seems to understand.”

Dr Sharma got so exasperated of seeing patients who had had their symptoms dismissed, ignored and sent home with a dose of pain killers, she formed her charity and began spreading the message to junior doctors and now Prime Minister Andy Burnham – who promised action on the issue.

Andy Burnham attended and supported Endometriosis Awareness session on 1.7.2022 Free seminars on pain relief, hormonal treatment, self-harm, fertility and the launch of her book “Endometriosis in Primary Care” have all since taken place in Rochdale.  

Endometriosis Awareness North has also just run a social media campaign called #Unheard and produced a documentary featuring warriors. These include local nurse Lucy Bowker, who said: “Endometriosis meant that I couldn’t look after my newborn baby. I was solely reliant on pain relief and staying in bed with my hot water bottle. It wasn’t a life.” (See more by going to  https://endo-unheard-voices.lovable.app/#stories ).

Caused when cells that usually grow in the womb adhere to other organs in the body, endometriosis can lead to umpteen surgeries and costs the UK £8.2 billion per year in treatment and sick pay.

Continued Dr Sharma: “What our small band has managed to do is give women like Lucy a voice and link them with others sharing similar experiences. We have also increased awareness of the condition exponentially and this even led to a question in the House from one of our keenest supporters, Elsie Blundell MP.

All of this has involved the people of Rochdale, who can justifiably claim to be the UK’s most endo-friendly borough. But much more needs to be done, and that requires investment.”

The September fundraiser will offer quizzers and bingo goers some competitive fun. Attendees might also leave flushed after a game of cult favourite Bruce Forsyth challenge, “Play Your Cards Right!”

The event takes place at: Rochdale Golf Club, Edenfield Road, Bagslate, Rochdale, OL11 5YR

Tickets are priced at £20 and can be obtained by emailing endometriosisawarenessnorth@gmail.com

To donate to the Endometriosis Awareness North charity, go to https://endometriosisawarenessnorth.com/donate

The post Andy Burnham’s Attendance at Our 2022 Endometriosis Awareness North Session first appeared on Asian Leader.

There are many questions in life for which we have thus far failed to find a satisfactory answer. For example: why does toast always land butter-side down? Or what precisely is the purpose of a rubber chicken? And most pertinently on this occasion, what happens when you take a classic Fiat 500 – a car only marginally larger than a ripe melon – and stuff it full of EV batteries and magnets instead of a noisy two-pot and Italian expletives?

Well, dear reader, the answer is now apparent to us, and it constitutes a frisky mouse on steroids wearing a tin suit – alternatively known as the Silent Classics Fiat 500e.

Now, the original Fiat 500 was not so much a car as it was an exceptionally ambitious space-hopper. Two grown men climbing into one would seem like attempting to accommodate a dance troupe in a thimble.

In fact, the tiny tiddler must be a distant relative of the Tardis, as this lanky motoring journalist (over six foot with legs longer than a list of a Prime Minister’s broken promises) easily folded himself into the driver’s seat, without feeling entirely cramped. This car is a miracle of packaging only rivalled by IKEA’s flatpacks. Just don’t mention the rear seats!

Beside me sat Silent Classic’s CEO and Director, Jack Kerridge, a marvellously affable engineering wizard; and a man with the patience of a monk (despite my best [worst?] efforts at the wheel) and the optimism of a visionary who seems to be in on cosmic truth the rest of us aren’t yet privy to.

With the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old tanked up on toffee, I took to the tight and twisty city track like a tifosi after two shots of espresso. The original 500cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine in the back would only manage a raucous but wimpy 13bhp in its day, less than a coffee blender.

The 44kW AC motor in this reincarnation offers 59bhp and 160Nm of torque. Wowsers. That’s a significant boost in a package of insignificant weight. The 21kWh battery offers a range of 120 miles. With no performance figures to hand, I can report 0-62mph in “delightful astonishment” and a top speed of: “surely it was never meant to do this?”

“It wasn’t really engineered for performance,” Jack ruefully suggests and is duly ignored as I barely slow before wrenching it hard into the next corner and prodding the right pedal to set it charging off again like a scolded squirrel. Jack emits a noise somewhere between a nervous laugh and a short prayer in binary.

In a car like this, you can go fast enough to get the red cells coursing, but never quick enough to fear death – “speak for yourself!” Jack would surely interject, though. Watch the video and you’ll note his expression goes from surprise, to abject fear and finally resigned queasiness. I really should have slowed down, but I was frankly too busy enjoying myself to notice!

Unlike other classic conversions, there is no pretence of a manual box; it just has a lever offering forwards, backwards and a vague central position of neutral. You get a rackety handbrake, two pedals and a traditional key to start. But there’s a sympathetically styled digital display, displaying speed and battery percentage, along with regenerative braking and an uprated optional disk brake upgrade – thank God! Frankly the only thing you’ll miss is power steering, but then you can skip “biceps day” at the gym.

But you know what? It was brilliant! Agile, responsive, and grippy in the way that only limpets with a wheel at each corner could be.

You’re intrigued, right? Suddenly, you’re imagining the possibilities, working out the lifestyle choices and pondering the price. Well, the V2 kit conversion is expected to cost around just £15,000, well below the usual £30-50k most classic conversions tend to cost.

Fiat built nearly four million of these cars over nearly two decades from 1957. So there’s plenty about still and you can pick up a classic Fiat 500 in fair nick for anywhere between £6,000 to £10,000. So we’re talking about £25k in total for a chic urban electric tearaway in a world where many soulless EVs tend to tout a price tag of about £40k! It also just manages to undercut the price of a brand new Fiat 500e – hmm… watch the video and then tell me, which would you rather rock?

Of course, you have to give up on the space, comfort, safety, tech, connectivity… should I go on? But none of that matters because the new cars can’t compete with the 500e’s retro cool, unflappable charm, and colossal charisma. Here, you’re driving something that makes strangers smile, pensioners reminisce, and children point.

With EV battery technology evolving even faster than smartphones, you might argue that it’s too early to convert classics to electric. You might be right. But Jack is confident about his tech. He firmly believes that one of his classic 500 conversions is good for 150,000 miles – that’s about six times around the world!

While I’m not entirely convinced, the great thing about a plentiful and still relatively affordable classic like the original 500 is that you can take that chance. And while it wouldn’t be an easy process to swap out the battery tech, it surely would be possible to upgrade as and when, for example, when more efficient and safer solid-state batteries arrive.

In any case, this car laughs in the face of convention. For city-dwellers, it makes a lot of sense, and while it doesn’t shout “I’m saving the planet,” the fact is that there are few options more environmentally-friendly than repurposing an existing, already long-lived classic with recycled EV batteries and future-proofing it for generations to come!

The Fiat 500e by Silent Classics is what happens when nostalgia meets nerdiness, when sustainability gets a sense of humour, and when two grown men willingly jam themselves into a shoebox-shaped pod for a spin around the future and a few big laughs along the way.

The post REVIEW: Classic Fiat 500e – A Tiny Italian Bundle of Fun Rebooted by Silent Classics first appeared on Asian Leader.

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