ARE THE GIRLS INCLUDED? if so, let's have a blast!

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The wildfire disaster that struck Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada in May 2016 destroyed more than 2,400 structures and created insured losses of more than $3.5 billion. The incident captured the hearts and minds of the media and citizens the world over,

The sky above the roofs of Zell am See and Kaprun is sure to wear its most colourful gown. At the 29th 'BP Gas Alpine Balloon Trophy' starting on 20th January 2008, about 40 international teams of balloonists will literally be up and away. Anyone who prefers to stay on the ground can look forward to enjoying a unique colour
spectacle! And there is even more: an exciting supporting programme with events about balloon travel and aviation makes sure that boredom doesn't stand a chance!

The first winter competition for hot-air balloonists took place as early as 1979. The pioneers of the aviation club 'Team Polar', Josef 'Joschi' Starkbaum and his partner Gert Scholz, didn't want to accept the unfounded assertion that 'hot-air balloons are just not made for travelling in the Alpine regions'. And now watch and learn: until today the event lures participants from all around the globe to Zell am See-Kaprun - and not even once has there been as much as a hitch. But nevertheless it is always a thrilling experience to mount the baskets. Since it is not possible to steer the balloons directly, your journey takes you into the unknown once you have lost touch with the ground. You can aim for your destination only by descending and rising and making use of the winds.

To judge who is best at this art, the BP Alpine Balloon Trophy has organized many adventurous competitions which are true challenges for the participants. But the visitors of the event don't have to limit themselves to watching either. And for small guests, the event has a special treat up its sleeve: On Monday 21st January, one day after the ceremonious opening on the old runway of the airfield of Zell am See, there is the start of the captive balloons. From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. children can get into the baskets of the huge balloons which are tied to the ground. If the weather doesn't cooperate, the start will be postponed until Wednesday.

On Monday evening, the event 'Fire & Ice' promises to be an optical highlight: fire shows, hot-air balloons, and illuminated sculptures made of ice will light up the night. From 8 p.m. visitors can choose from a large variety of delicious drinks. Wednesday and Thursday, 23rd and 24th January, will definitely be as breathtaking as the preceding days have been. From 8 p.m. visitors are invited to come to the valley station of the cityXpress in Zell am See and to Lechnerberg in Kaprun where hot-air balloons are making the sky of the region their canvas. This colourful happening has always been a major event in the programme of the BP Gas Alpine Balloon Trophy. Fireworks and DJ music will make visitor marvel in amazement. And, of course, we mustn't forget to mention the show of the motocross and snowmobile drivers who perform daredevil acrobatics and breathtaking stunts!

For more information on the 29th Gas Alpine Balloon Trophy in Zell am See and Kaprun please visit us at www.zellamsee-kaprun.com.


Contact within the region
Guest Service Zell am See-Kaprun
Phone +43 (0)6542 - 770 0
welcome(at)zellamsee-kaprun.com
www.zellamsee-kaprun.com

Press contact
knoefler-journalist . media + communications GmbH
Mr. Benjamin Knöfler
Phone +49 (0)6028 - 80729 0
zellkaprun(at)kj-media.com
www.knoefler-journalist.com


Information summary
The holiday region Zell am See-Kaprun with its 14,000 beds and two million overnight stays every year is one of the most important holiday destinations in Austria. During the summer months you can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities like rafting, golf and hiking. And also in the cold season there is never a dull moment thanks to sleigh rides and hiking tours in snowshoes. Skiers can comfortably reach the 132 kilometres of slopes with powder snow with one of the 56 lifts. Snowboarders enjoy the perfect conditions of the Snowpark on the 2,600 metre high glacier plateau. Even in the summer you can swish down the slopes here. The renowned German publishing house of 'Falk Verlag' awarded Zell am See and Kaprun the decoration of the most family-friendly holiday region in Europe.

Contact Information:
knoefler-journalist . media + communications GmbH

This article explores the impact of abandonment abuse and neglect, not only on children but, centrally, on the foster carers, adopters and kinship carers who parent children where it has been deemed that a return home to birth parents is not in their interests. (For purposes of simplicity we will refer to these carers as ‘parenting figures’.) In doing this we aim to provide parenting figures with support and understanding as well as reducing the feelings of isolation that is often integral to parenting ‘looked after’ children.

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This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and Iriss that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Alan Gilmour from Glasgow City Community Health Partnership who participated in the PROP2 programme. This research aimed to gain an understanding of how training and information support contributes to positive outcomes for carers. It provided a range of information to answer specific questions such as: • Do carers feel that their needs are identified appropriately at different stages of their journey? • Does training contribute to the carer’s outcomes? • What are the barriers to carers engaging in training?

Report 69 published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in November 2014. This research, commissioned by the Department of Health (DH), set out to identify what could be learned about current policy and practice in self-neglect, experienced as a highly challenging aspect of contemporary adult social care.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 71 from SCIE Roundtable held on 12 February 2015. The aim of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) roundtable discussion was to identify, celebrate, support and learn from community-led activity.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 72 from SCIE Roundtable held on 5 March 2015. This roundtable session explored the kind of leadership required to make the Care Act a success.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 73 from SCIE roundtable discussion held on 26 March 2015. This report considers the potential of technology to transform how health and social care services are delivered.

CCPS is the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland. Their mission is to identify, represent, promote and safeguard the interests of third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland, so that they can maximise the impact they have on meeting social need.

Evaluation report for the inter-authority learning exchange between Shetland Islands, Falkirk and Glasgow Councils throughcare and aftercare teams. In February 2014 a member of the Throughcare and Aftercare team from Shetland, spent two weeks in each host authority as a means of developing and sharing practice, experience and learning. The report describes the planning process, in-situ experience, and post-exchange learning of participants, it also report highlights the positive learning outcomes and benefits achieved for all participating local authorities. The report identifies ideas for future applications of such a learning and practice exchange model to improve practice for looked after young people and care leavers.

This publication presents information on support to carers and in particular respite care services provided or purchased by local authorities in Scotland over the financial years 2007 / 2008 to 2014 / 2015.

As part of the implementation of the Equal Partners in Care (EPiC) Highland Carer’s Strategy 2014-2017 it was agreed to undertake a review of respite for Adult Carers of Adults (aged 16+). Independent consultants were commissioned by NHS Highland through Connecting Carers to undertake this work. There are four groups of people – totalling an estimated 200 people - with whom conversations have taken place during the review: Carers and staff from carer support organisations – more than 75 carers have given their views; Health and social care workforce – we have met with just over 50 people who have given their views and shared our initial findings with more than 60 others; Respite providers – we have met with staff from 15 organisations that are providers of respite Those staff responsible for overseeing the commissioning, planning and administration of respite.

In 2006 Mencap produced a comprehensive review of short break provision. Now, 10 years on, they are revisiting the support available for family carers to see whether recent policy initiatives and investment have delivered the much-needed change. A total of 264 family carers responded to their survey on short breaks provision and experiences of caring. They also sent Freedom of Information requests to all 152 local authorities in England that provide social care services. This report looks at short breaks provision in a climate of cuts to central and local government budgets. It examines the extent to which these cuts have impacted on the lives of people with a learning disability and their family carers. It also looks at the state of affairs for family carers of children and young people across the full spectrum of learning disability; from people with mild and moderate learning disabilities, to people with severe and profound disabilities.

ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center in the United States of America identified that evidence-based research on respite care has, to large extent, been lacking. Across ages, needs and settings, respite is based upon the premise that providing caregivers periodic relief from daily, ongoing caregiving responsibilities will directly benefit them in terms of their physical health, immediate and long-term psychological health, and social-emotional relationships with family members. These benefits are assumed to result in secondary benefits for care receivers and even larger societal benefits in the form of cost benefits or improved employee productivity. Some research studies point to the merits of these assumptions. However, evidence-based research supporting this premise - or going beyond it to demonstrate how to best provide respite care that results in maximum benefits - has not been available. This report presents the findings of an expert panel composed of academics, researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers and administrators representing a range of age groups, disabilities and professional disciplines. Over a period of 18 months the panel explored the current status of respite research, proposed strategies to overcome barriers to research, and developed a plan to encourage rigorous research in key areas.

This research compares the different approaches to supporting carers of people with dementia across the UK, US and beyond.  Carried out by the University of Birmingham, this work explores the role and experience of carers in different national contexts, highlighting good practice examples and making policy and practice recommendations.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, the report highlights just how much we have in common with other countries in trying to make available effective, personalised supports against a backdrop of increased demand and diminishing resource.  Interestingly, the report explores the language of ‘respite’ which it suggests has ‘negative overtones’ and proposes a more creative approache to service provision is needed.

Donald Trump's kept it pretty low key on Twitter in recent days. That didn't stop him from penning a little St. Paddy's Day sentiment though. If only he'd spell checked before sending it off though. Then again, would we expect anything less than this from the guy with a wide-reaching, well-developed reputation already for spelling shit in his own language incorrectly?

Yeah, yeah, we know. Here are some Trump Memes to smooth it over.

Some of these are even more tremendous than Donald Trump Memes. What a time to be alive. Big times up ahead...

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And if you need some more Trump memes <-- those are simply tremendous

Well...Can't ignore the resemblance

While we would love for election season to be over right about now, we've gotta admit that the resulting political memes have been top-notch. The internet has been loving this particular dank meme, which shows Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripping up Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.

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Check some of them out below!  

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