Category: Warminster Lunatic Fringe

Information and pictures about the Warminster Lunatic Fringe.

How Oxygen Treatment Can Help

A letter by Danny Howell, published in the Warminster Journal, the Wiltshire Times And News, and other newspapers, 30th March 1984:

The Editor,
Your report last week concerning the Warminster fund-raising group The Lunatic Fringe giving their support to the installation of a hyperbaric treatment chamber at the Warminster Beckford Centre by the Mid-West Friends of Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, for the benefit of local sufferers, has prompted several of your readers to ask us the question: “How does a hyperbaric chamber help?”

Multiple Sclerosis, which attacks the nervous system, affects up to 100,000 people in the United Kingdom. British Oxygen Medical Gases is supplying oxygen to multiple sclerosis centres for use in hyperbaric treatment. The treatment is not claimed to cure the disease but it is intended to relieve the symptoms. It was pioneered in the U.K. by Dr. Philip James at the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. Dr. James had worked extensively in the field of diving medicine and had treated North Sea divers suffering from ‘the bends’. He thought there might be a mechanism which produced similar symptoms in multiple sclerosis. This prompted a group of Dundee patients and their families to buy a hyperbaric chamber and at the same time to set up a self-help group running a treatment centre with Dr. James as medical adviser. The charity, Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis (ARMS) supported the trial treatments, publicised the results and is now helping to set up a network of similar treatment centres around the country. The latest of these will be the one opening in the summer at the Beckford Centre in Warminster.

Patients receive a series of 90 minute sessions in the purpose-built pressure chamber breathing pure oxygen through individual face masks. Their progress is monitored by specially trained medical staff and they are only admitted to the chamber with the consent of their own G.P. Tests have established that over 70% of all multiple sclerosis sufferers who undergo this therapy receive benefit to greater or lesser degree.

A simple analogy of the way in which the treatment helps to alleviate the problem is to picture the problems experienced in a car with a blocked carburettor jet. A small obstruction can cause intermittent firing of the engine because it is not receiving an uninterrupted flow of fuel. By the simple expedient of blowing the jet clear with an air hose, normal service can be resumed. In the case of the multiple sclerosis sufferer, the engine is the muscle, the fuel is the oxygen supply in the blood stream and the obstruction is almost certainly small fat globules in the circulatory system. An increased flow of oxygen serves to flush these foreign bodies away and restore a healthy supply of oxygen to the affected areas. In many cases, unfortunately, some degree of damage has inevitably resulted prior to the treatment and although it can redress the balance to some degree, it will not necessarily result in a dramatic reversal of the condition.

It must be stressed that H.B.O. can offer only at best an improvement of the sufferer’s way of life, not a cure.

The use of the chamber, however, is not restricted only to the use of multiple sclerosis sufferers, as H.B.O. therapy can also be beneficial to people suffering from strokes, traumatic head injury and multiple bone fractures, and can also be used for burn care.

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Danny Howell,
(Chairman), The Lunatic Fringe, Warminster.

The Long Way Round For Charity

From the Wiltshire Times and News, Friday 23 March 1984:

Travelling long distances the hard way for charity is becoming a tradition in the Bonner family.

Last April, Marie Bonner rode her horse 98 miles from Tredegar, Gwent, where she then lived, to the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Brian Bonner, of Jersey Hill, Crockerton, and raised £140 for Dr. Barnado’s.

In August her brother Will plans to ride his moped 1,400 miles from Warminster to John O’Groats and back to raise money for the £20,000 multiple sclerosis decompression treatment chamber it is hoped will be installed at the Beckford Community Centre, Warminster, at the end of June.

Marie (27) and Will (24) both live in West Street, Warminster. Will is secretary of Warminster’s Lunatic Fringe, an informal group specialising in way-out stunts for charities.

Lunatic Fringe are now making a concentrated drive to help the Mid-West Friends of Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis pay for the decompression chamber. Will’s ride will be part of that effort. He hopes to average 22 m.p.h. on his three-year-old moped and complete the journey in 11 days. To keep expenses to a minimum, he will stop overnight with friends and multiple sclerosis groups, and will not have a back-up van.

Will has already done several hundred miles on his moped, but this will be his longest. He has asked Jimmy Saville to “fix it” for him to visit an oil rig when he gets to Scotland.

He plans to collect funds along the way, and is seeking private and commercial sponsors in the West before he starts. Anybody wishing to help is asked to contact him at 96 West Street, or the Lunatic Fringe chairman Mr. Danny Howell.

Last year Lunatic Fringe, dressed as gnomes, did a sponsored walk for Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally handicapped adults; held a car treasure hunt for the Marie Curie Cancer Foundation; and staged a Christmas party for Warminster and District Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied Club.

Mr. Howell said: “Our policy now is to support local charity organisations and projects. It seemed a natural progression to do something for one of the many groups which use the Beckford Centre. The multiple sclerosis treatment chamber is one of the most expensive projects there, so we decided to help that first.”

Lunatic Fringe are already running a lottery for the chamber, and the draw for cash prizes will be held at an Easter disco at Princecroft Primary School, Warminster. Other Fringe events will include discos, concerts, competitions and sponsored sports.

Mid-West Friends Chairman Mr. Tony Williams, who lives in Wingfield Road, Trowbridge, and suffers from multiple sclerosis himself, said: “We have already raised nearly £12,000, which means we can order the chamber later this month. Fully trained medical staff will operate the chamber. We need another £8,000 to pay for the chamber, but our costs will not end there.”

“We still have to pay the running costs of the chamber, including staff salaries. We have a long way to go.”

Will To Take The High Road

Warminster Lunatic Fringe

A press report by Danny Howell, published in March 1984:

The fund-raising campaign to finance the installation and running costs of a decompression chamber at the Beckford Centre to provide experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis victims is to receive backing from a marathon moped ride planned for the late summer.

Will Bonner, a young West Street man, intends riding his three-year-old Honda to John O’Groats and back at a steady 22 miles an hour, so expecting to complete the 1,400 mile journey in 11 August days.

Mr. Bonner, whose sister Marie raised £140 for Dr. Barnardo’s with a sponsored horse ride, last April, is a member of the Warminster fund-raising group called The Lunatic Fringe, who have chosen the Beckford project, organised by the Mid-West Friends of Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis (A.R.M.S.), as their major good cause for the year.

A.R.M.S. have so far raised £12,000 towards the £20,000 needed to buy the decompression equipment, and, already on order, the chamber is expected to be installed at the end of June.

All the same, a great deal of money is still needed to meet running costs and the salaries of qualified staff.

Lunatic Fringe chairman Mr. Danny Howell said this week: “It seemed a natural progression that sooner or later we would do something for one of the many groups now using the Beckford Centre.”

“We have already begun fund-raising for the project by running a lottery, and the draw will be made at an Easter disco at Princecroft School. Other events include discos, concerts, competitions and sponsored sports.

Past beneficiaries of Lunatic Fringe enterprise include the Marie Curie Cancer Foundation, the Gateway Club, and Warminster Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied Club.

They ‘Gnomed’ The Streets For £650

Wiltshire Times And News, Friday 4th November 1983:

They ‘Gnomed’ The Streets For £650

Thirty gnomes, including a gnome baby and a gnome dog, went on a ten-mile sponsored walk round Warminster’s streets on Sunday afternoon and hope to raise nearly £650 for Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally handicapped adults.

At the start in Central Car Park, Gateway Club chairman Mr Charlie Murby judged 18-year-old Miss Helena Addley, of Woodcock Road, Warminster, to be the best-dressed gnome, and presented her with a book called Bestseller Gnomes.

The walk was jointly organised by Mr Danny Howell and Miss Nina Weeks. The walkers were CB enthusiasts and their friends who get together for charity events and call themselves The Lunatic Fringe.

The dog was Miss Weeks’ beagle cross Tara who fitted snuggly into a child’s red cardigan to keep out the cold wind. The baby was Mrs Sandra Vaughan who got accidentally tipped out of her pram en route, was unhurt and completed the course.

A coachload of Chinese tourists who happened to pass the gnomes could hardly believe their eyes, and apparently felt that all they had heard about English eccentricity was true.

Hot drinks and snacks were provided for the gnomes half-way round by Miss Weeks’ mother, Mrs Sisko Weeks, at their Deverill Road, Warminster, home.

As well as being sponsored the gnomes collected money from people they met along the way. During a social that evening in the King Arthur pub in Weymouth Street for the weary gnomes. There was a 34-prize raffle.

Mr Murby said it was a magnificent start to the fund for next year’s Gateway Club summer holiday.

The Lunatic Fringe’s only previous charity effort was on a much smaller scale when they raised £15 with a treasure hunt for the national Marie Curie Cancer fund.

The report in the Wiltshire Times also featured two photographs:

Gnome Man’s Land!
The streets of Warminster were ‘invaded’ by 28 gnomes on a sponsored walk last Sunday. It was organised by the Lunatic Fringe to raise money for the Warminster Gateway Club for the Mentally Handicapped. At the front as a pram-riding gnome is Sandra Vaughan being pushed by Warminster Gateway Club chairman Charlie Murby.

Ugly Gnome!
Bridget O’Neil, of Warminster, dressed up as an ugly old gnome in last Sunday’s sponsored Gnome walk around Warminster.

Danny And Nina Thank Gnomes And Supporters

Friday 4th November 1983

Acknowledgements And Thanks

The Lunatic Fringe. The organisers of last Sunday’s sponsored gnome walk and October draw would like to thank everyone for their support including all those who took part, their sponsors, members of the public for their generous donations, everyone who bought and sold draw tickets, and everyone who donated prizes for the draw. Also many thanks to Mrs. Sisko Weeks for providing food and drinks to all the walkers. Thank you all for your support. We are indebted to you for our success.

Danny Howell and Nina Weeks.

Warminster’s Gateway Supermarket Gave Vouchers For Sponsored Gnome Walk

October 1983

Gateway Foodmarkets Limited very kindly gave vouchers to the Warminster Lunatic Fringe which could be used as prizes in the Grand October Draw or spent in their shops to purchase groceries for prizes in the draw.

Danny Howell recalls:

“I think it was Sisko Weeks who asked the manager of the Gateway Supermarket in Market Place, Warminster, for us. If I remember rightly, we used one voucher as a prize in the Grand October Draw after the Sponsored Gnome Walk, and we used the other vouchers to purchase grocery items which were used in the selection of prizes. We were very grateful to Gateway Foodmarkets Limited for their generous donation, and Nina Weeks and I wrote a thank-you letter afterwards, showing our appreciation to the company.”

Warminster Lunatic Fringe Gnome Walk Sponsorship Form

Sunday 30th October 1983

Pictured above is the sponsorship form, produced by Danny Howell and Nina Weeks, for the Warminster Lunatic Fringe’s gnome walk which they co-organised. These forms were used by participants to record the sponsorship they gained for the gnome walk which took place on 30th October 1983. Proceeds were donated to the Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally-handicapped adults.

Warminster Lunatic Fringe ~ Best Dressed Gnome

Warminster Lunatic Fringe, Sponsored Gnome Walk, Sunday 30th October 1983.

As the 28 gnomes gathered in the Central Car Park, Warminster, for the start of their sponsored walk, to raise funds for the Warminster Gateway Club for Mentally Handicapped Young Adults, the Chairman of the Gateway Club, Charles Murby, was given the unenviable task of choosing who was the ‘best-dressed gnome’.

After quite a time deliberating, Mr. Murby picked out 18-year-old Helena Addley, from Woodcock Road, Warminster. Helena was presented with a prize by Mr. Murby. The prize was a splendid hardback book, all about gnomes, which had been purchased especially for the occasion by Gnome Walk Co-Organiser Danny Howell.

The two photographs, above and below, taken by Danny Howell, show Helen after she was presented with the book.
Flanking her are Brigid O’Neil and Ann Barham, who were not only neighbours of Helen’s at Woodcock Road, but entered fully into the spirit of the fund-raising event by dressing up as wizened old lady gnomes.

The book, called Gnomes, featured text by Wil Huygen, and fabulous illustrations by Rien Poortvliet.

Above: The front cover of the book.

Above: The back cover of the book.

Lunatic Fringe Grand October Draw

The Warminster Lunatic Fringe held a Grand October Prize Draw at the King Arthur public house, Weymouth Street, Warminster, on Sunday 30th October 1983. The occasion was also a social gathering for everyone who had taken part in a Sponsored Gnome Walk earlier in the day.

Above: Prizes.

During the fortnight before the Sponsored Gnome Walk, members of the Warminster Lunatic Fringe sold tombola tickets for a Grand October Draw.

The prizes were drawn and the winners announced, at a social gathering held in the function room of the King Arthur public house, Weymouth Street, Warminster, on the evening of Sunday 30th October 1983 (the sponsored gnome walk having been held that afternoon).

About 60 people attended the social gathering and draw. Danny Howell was Master of Ceremonies for the draw. Proceeds from the draw were added to the sponsorship from the gnome walk and were donated to the Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally handicapped adults.

Above: Prizes in the Grand October Draw.

Above: The Grocery Hamper in the Grand October Prize Draw.

Above: The Christmas Hamper in the Grand October Prize Draw.

During the fortnight before the Sponsored Gnome Walk, members of the Warminster Lunatic Fringe sold tombola tickets for a Grand October Draw.

The prizes were drawn and the winners announced, at a social gathering held in the function room of the King Arthur public house, Weymouth Street, Warminster, on the evening of Sunday 30th October 1983 (the sponsored gnome walk having been held that afternoon).

About 60 people attended the social gathering and draw. Danny Howell was Master of Ceremonies for the draw. Proceeds from the draw were added to the sponsorship from the gnome walk and were donated to the Warminster Gateway Club for young mentally handicapped adults.

The Lunatic Fringe Grand October Draw Winners were:

Mrs. Bundy ~ Christmas hamper.
Pat Whatley ~ Grocery hamper.
Neil Grant ~ Mini hamper.
S.M. Russell ~ Red wine.
Betty Holmes ~ Sherry.

Ben Howell ~ Whisky.
Michael Russell ~ Pomagne.
Chris Holmes ~ Lager.
J. Franklin ~ Wine.
Dave G. ~ Pomagne.

Mrs. Bowles ~ Sherry.
J. Johnson ~ Aftershave.
Chris Holmes ~ Garden gnomes.
Lorraine Curtis ~ Cookies.
A.E. Daley ~ Biscuits.

Mrs. Stella Musselwhite ~ Mints and sweets.
H. Batch ~ Toffees.
Mrs. Brigid O’Neill ~ Fudge and Butterscotch.
S. Nally ~ Cake.

Bob Firth ~ Tea and coffee set.
Chris Holmes ~ Woolworth’s £2.50 gift token.
Sally Blackshaw ~ £4 record token.
Will Bonner ~ Dewhurst £3 meat voucher.
Chris Holmes ~ Gateway Supermarket £2.50 voucher.

Wendy Bowen ~ Chocolates.
S. Nally ~ Casettes.
Rob (King Arthur) ~ Calculator.
A.C. Riddle ~ Camera.
Julie Shore ~ Bubblebath and talc set.

Ifor (Ginger) ~ Ornament.
M. Macdonald ~ Socket set.
Paul Saunders ~ Silver chain.
Enver Mehmet ~ Plate.
Louise Kennedy ~ Cuddly toy kitten.

Thank You Letter To Warminster Lunatic Fringe From The Marie Curie Memorial Foundation

13th October 1983.

Marie Curie Memorial Foundation,
Appeals Office,
9 Belgrave Mews South,
London,
SW1X 8BW.

Dear Mr. Howell,
Thank you for your letter and the enclosed donation of £15.00 which the winner of the car treasure hunt kindly donated to us.

This most acceptable gift enables us to maintain our services for the welfare of cancer sufferers and your interest in the work of the Foundation is welcome.

Please convey our sincere thanks to the winner for kindly donating the money to us, and we hope you all had an enjoyable day.

Yours sincerely,
Alan C. Barrow,
Appeals Officer.