Have a heart...
There
are many national and local charities - large and small - which benefit from the generosity of
agility people. Thousands of pounds are raised by agility clubs and individuals around the
country via demonstrations, sponsored walks and other events. What have you or your club done
today?
Charity Book and 'Tut' Stall at Dogs in Need
Sandra
Mitchell will be running a small rescue stall at Dogs in Need, mainly selling books, fresh
liver cake, and various other items of 'tut' for various charities to be confirmed.
She said,
'I would be grateful for any donations. If
you are anything like me, when we changed the caravan 61 books came out of the old van, all
adding to husbands poor rate of ''miles to the gallon!'
Two
of the charities will definitely be the East Anglian Air Ambulance and East Anglian
Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club. In fact, the picture is dog above is of Bosun, taken in
November 2005 as a young adult stray, complete with baggage. Since then he has been featured in
Shooting Times and Country Life Magazine for his 'gun dog' work and can put in a
credible agility round when he wants!
Suggestions for other beneficiaries are
welcome. Email Sandra Mitchell at
sandra.mitchell@btinternet.co.uk
Travis Leads the Redgates Demo at St. Elizabeth's
Last
weekend, Redgates Agility Club were proud to provide an Agility and Obedience demonstration at
the Summer Fayre, organised by the St. Elizabeth's Centre. St. Elizabeth's is a home / school
for people who suffer from Epilepsy and other similar problems.
Approximately 25 dogs took part in the demonstration on the
afternoon of Saturday, 26 June. They
were especially proud to take part as Tim and Clare Griffith's deaf and epileptic dog Travis
had been adopted by St Elizabeth's as their mascot.
Travis, almost seven years old, came
from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home when he was six months old. His previous owners had no idea he
was deaf when they bought him from a pet shop in Epsom, Surrey for £800. Tim and Clare were
aware of it and went ahead anyway.
Tim works Travis works in Grade 3 while
Clare works him in Obedience. He has done better at agility and has had a number of placings
including a 13th at the Godmanchester Show.
The
Epilepsy has developed since was was adopted. He is on medication, but about nine months ago,
Tim and Clare decided to reduce his doses as he seemed very drowsy most of the time. He now has
considerably more energy and the fits are not more frequent or more serious.
Video clips of Travis and
the other Redgates Dogs at the demonstration can be seen at:
http://www.redgatesagility.co.uk/latest.html
St. Elizabeth's is in the village of
Perry Green, not far from Bishops Stortford in East Hertfordshire. If you would like to know
more about their work, you can visit their website:
http://www.stelizabeths.org.uk/
Pete's China 2010 Story
Vet
Peter van Dongen finished his 5th Charity Challenge Trek a few weeks ago. Having previously
done a Husky Sledding Trek in the Arctic, a Desert Trek in Namibia, an Andean Trek in Peru,
climbing up to Machu Picchu and an ascent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, this
year he walked the Great Wall of China, one of the most iconic historical structures in the
world! It turned out to be a challenging and rewarding trip.
This
time he chose the charity Cancer Research UK, the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating
cancer through research. One in three of us will get cancer at some point, so continued support
is essential! Please see www.cancerresearchuk.org
for further details. Pete did this trek in memory of my mum, who died of cancer five years ago.
He managed to raise £2,335 for CR UK.
Pete
trekked for five days, mostly on, but also near, the Great Wall of China, doing about 50 miles
in three different sections in total, out of the total length of the Wall of 4000 miles. Some
parts of the Wall were totally dilapidated. Others beautifully restored and picture perfect.
The views were amazing, the steps huge and many. The inclines were unbelievable. The weather
hot, the people were welcoming and the food was fantastic!
He
also visited a primary school and its
children, which was entertaining as well as humbling.
He camped for three nights and stayed in
hotels the others and, at the end of the trek, he visited Beijing. This huge city is bustling
to say the least! He saw Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Hutongs, the narrow
streets in the Old City. All in all, the trip was yet another fantastic experience which will
stay with me for a very long time!
Donations are still welcome, so
please visit www.justgiving.com/chinatrek5
or send a cheque, payable to Cancer Research UK, to Pete van Dongen, c/o Pennard Veterinary
Group, 5 Eardley Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1XY.
George is Cycling for the British Heart Foundation
On
the Saturday, 26 June George Humphreys will be cycling the South Downs Way off-road in aid of
the British Heart Foundation. Last time he raised money for them was in 1984 when he did the
London Marathon in memory of his grand dad.
Some may know him and his Doberman
from the shows. Bono is the dobe who loves his cuddles from all. Unfortunately he won't be with
George on this outing, but he has taken time out to sponsor him. He's hoping to raise as much
as he can.
George said, 'This
challenge won't be easy. Some years completion is down as low as 40%. I am
determined to complete the ride and hopefully be at the Watford show on the Sunday to
collect!'
This
link gives details of the challenge and a piccy of George and Bono doing Cani X at Crufts.
Hare 'n Hounds Easter Show Refunds
All the
refunds have been made to competitors from the lost Saturday at the Easter show.
The unclaimed entries are being donated to
charity. This means the amount of £1062.01 will be spilt between the five small doggie
charities that are supported by Hare 'n Hounds throughout the year.
Chris Hare said, 'A
lot of competitors have emailed and written to me to thank us for the Easter show and to say
they are happy to donate their fees to the charities, which is lovely.'
So with the raffles etc., we have held at
the Hare 'n Hounds shows in the last year the grand total of of money raised including
raffles (£1210) is £2272.01 which is incredible. We dearly thank everyone on behalf of the
charities for their kindness.

The Tiny T's 2009
Trent Park Moonwalks for Charity
On Saturday, 15 May 2010 at approximately 11pm, members
of Trent Park DAC will be setting off on a 26 mile walk round the streets of London, taking
part in the annual Playtex Moonwalk in aid of Breast Cancer. This is the second or third year
some of the girls have taken part but the first year a male has dared to join. So think of
Keith Williams on the night as conditions of taking part are to wear a brightly decorated bra
and pink hat. What was he thinking!
The Trent Park Team (aka The Tiny T's) has been training hard since the
beginning of the year so dogs have enjoyed some extra walks. TPDAC Members taking part are:-
- Nikki Williams
- Ann Eddington
- Chris Mancini
- Corrin Cervi
- And... Keith Williams
Two other members who are not walking but have joined the
hundreds of volunteers manning check points etc. are Debs Cuckston and Jan Pond.
Keith said, 'We all know someone affected by breast
cancer so please make my embarrassment worthwhile and donate at our fund raising page on
www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/tiny_ts
Karen, Prince & Duke Are Running for Cancer
Research
As
many people are aware several key members of the Tuffley Agility Club have recently been
affected by Cancer. In particular one trainer has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic
cancer. It is for this reason that Karen Roberts, a member of Tuffley AC has decided to run the
Neolithic CaniX Half Marathon in aid of Cancer Research.
The race is on the 2 May 2010 and she is running with her
two dogs - both Belgian Shepherds - Groenendael Prince (Ebontide Othiz AW(S), JW and
Tervueren Duke (Norlyght Seventh Duke.)
For those who don't know, CaniX is cross country running
with dogs. Her usual race distance is 5km.
Karen's on-line sponsorship page is
http://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Roberts3
Lorna's London Marathon
Lorna
Winter, Senior Brand Manager - PRO PLAN is running the Virgin London Marathon for Hearing
Dogs for Deaf People on 25 April 2010.
This is her first ever marathon. Prior to last summer she had
never run unless trying to catch a train or bus!. However, those that know her well, know she
likes a challenge - and this is certainly one of the biggest she's undertaken.
Lorna said, 'I am absolutely delighted to be running
for a fantastic charity - Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains
dogs to alert their deaf owners to sounds such as the telephone, doorbell or smoke alarm.
Most dogs are selected from rescue centres, giving unwanted dogs useful and happy lives to
the benefit of deaf people. Hearing Dogs for Deaf People receive no government funding so
rely totally on donations from the public - hence why this event is so important for them and
for me. For more details on the great work that they do, please visit their website at
www.hearingdogs.org.uk.
With just a
month to go, here are some little highlights from her training blog so far...
November 2009... Having done a few 10ks in not a very fast time the previous few months, I
decided to plunge headlong in and go for a half marathon - surely it can't be much worse than a
10k I thought. Well, it was - much worse than I was expecting! However, I made it through
with only a short distance walked near the end. I hit a really tough point at mile 10 where I
felt like my legs were going to fall off which carried on until around mile 11.5. Then, my
body got used to the pain. I managed to shut it out and hence managed to finish in one piece! The
weather was absolutely atrocious - very heavy rain and strong winds, but it did stop about half
way around, so by the time I crossed the finish line (2 hour 30 minutes later) I was mostly
dry. The time I did it in gave me hope I may still make the marathon in 5hr or under which is
my target. Lots of training still to do though!
December 2009... Bought some new trainers as
I realised current ones were getting worn and
were a little too small. Got a great buy so hopefully no more bruised toes! I did a couple of
10ks
this month, and managed to get a personal best so the training seemed to be paying off. I was
ill for a couple of weeks over Christmas - any athletes worst nightmare, as they are constantly worried
about falling behind on training. However, Peggy, my trusty little 4-legged friend has been
keeping me company on some of my runs.
January
2010... So into the new year and training has progressed as well as I had hoped. The
snow made outdoor running interesting, but I started to hit the higher mileage half way through
the month. I booked a half marathon for end of February (Sussex Beacon in Brighton) and
was looking forward to improving my time to under 2 hr 30 minutes.
My bruised toe is finally
starting to heal, but I'm told this is normal and to expect various loss of toenails whilst
doing long runs. Hmmm, not a pleasant thought, but ho hum, it's all for a good cause and
definately worth it!
February 2010.....Well, it's been a tough but rewarding month. Gradually have been building
my long runs up so now doing a half marathon length run as a minimum every week! I have kept to
the training plan as much as possible, but sadly Peggy is no longer able to come out on the
long runs with me as they are a bit too long for her now. However she does still come out with
me on my shorter weekday runs where possible.
I did my official half marathon down at Brighton
on the 21st February. I was really looking forward to it, as its a fairly flat run, and all my
training has been on hills, so was very interested to see what sort of pace I could achieve on
the flat. However - and this seems to be a recurring theme for me - the weather was utterly
awful! Gale force winds, rain and even sleet/hail towards the end. It made for a very gruelling
run, but despite a stop for a toilet break - and that's never happened to me before - I still
managed to complete it in 2hours 25 minutes. If you take away the toilet break its 2 hours 22 minutes
- which is a whopping 8 minutes off my best half marathon time. Considering the weather was
awful, I managed to hit a great pace and this has really encouraged me to know that I might
actually pull this full marathon thing off without collapsing half way around.
March 2010... - Went to the Hearing Dogs Day and met some wonderful people and their
amazing dogs as well as some of the lovely new puppies that will be getting trained. Really
brings it home how much these dogs can help people.
So how
is
training going? Still on track despite having to fit working at
Crufts around it all, but it's so nice to have the sun out again! It makes running all that
much easier. Slow build up to around 18 miles over next three weeks, then looking forward to my
'tapering' down.....albeit it's still a 2 hour run the first week! I remember when a short run
was only 20 minutes. Gone are the days when I can fit a run in my lunch hour - 20 minutes now
is just a warm up.
Did my longest run yet of 14 miles. Weather was surprisingly warm, which made it a nice
run, albeit a bit hot and sweaty! Legs seemed to hold up well and even managed to go faster in
the last two miles in order to hit my timing. Legs today are also surprisingly good - all that
stretching must be paying off.
Motiviation is hard now - short runs being around an hour long in the week are getting harder
to fit in, and knowing I will eventually be running for around five hours on the day is still a
very scary thought!
So
how on earth do I find the time to still do agility with my dog? I hear you all
asking. Well, we do make it to club training most weeks, but I have had to jig around the
training plan a little to fit in my longer weekly training runs as they all seem to be
scheduled on the same night as agility training!. The interesting one is going to be the Easter
Celebration Competition in April as that's my last long run - targeted at 3 hour 30 minutes.
Some how I
have to find the time to do that over the weekend when Peggy is entered into the show
for both days. I'm sure I'll find a way somehow!
Lorna
finished saying, 'I would
like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far - your support means a
lot, and its all going towards a great cause. Don't
forget anyone can come along and watch me run. I will be wearing some fluffy ears and a tail
so you wont be able to miss me.
As I'm
running for a charity through a golden bond place, I have quite a challenging target to reach
with my fundraising, so please, however small it may seem, all donations are greatly
appreciated. You can find my donation page at:
http://www.justgiving.com/LornaVirginMarathon. Please remember all donations go direct to
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, and as they are not government funded, they rely on kind people
like you to support them in their work.
Walking the Wall for Cancer Research
Only
four more weeks until well known agility vet Peter van Dongen goes to China to walk some 80km,
near and mostly on The Great Wall of China, for Cancer Research UK. Up to now he has collected
£1375 in sponsorship money but would really love to reach his goal of raising at least £2.5K
for CR UK.
If you haven't already sponsored him, please help me by
donating a small amount of money, preferably via his charity
web site Any amount will do, even the
smallest!
He said, 'You all know cancer is still one of the
biggest killers in the UK, and worldwide, and any money raised will help to try and prevent
as many deaths as possible in the future, as well as enhance treatment methods. Perhaps you
can dedicate your donation to a lost loved one? Personally I am doing this trek in memory of
my mum who died of cancer five years ago.'
He continued, 'I am getting rather fit again in
preparation, have bought all extras I need for my trek, and am looking forward to my next
adventure. Can't wait to see the wall, the mountains, and the people, eat grilled scorpions
on a skewer, taste snake broth, communicate with Chinese children using hands and feet, and
finally see Pandas in Beijing.'
All sponsors will get an invite to his 'China Trek Talk'
afterwards. For those who don't already know, he is doing a talk about my last adventure,
climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, on Friday, 30 April, at the Otford Village Memorial Hall, Otford,
Kent TN14 5PQ from 7pm for 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5, and are available from Jan on tel. 01732
455354 or June on tel. 01959 533364. All welcome!
Swimming for Marie Curie Cancer Research
Rachel Williams and
Nicky Harrall are taking part in a national Swimathon on 17 April. Each one is ewimming 2.5km
in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. The money they raise will help Marie Curie Cancer Care
provide care and support to people with cancer and other terminal illnesses. So many people are
unfortunately effected by cancer or related illnesses, Marie Curie really provides support
during the difficult times.
Nicky said, 'Lots and lots of people take part in the Swimathon
every year over the same weekend. We are doing it as we both unfortunately know people affected
by cancer and terminal illness. We are 51% of the way to our target.'
Their sponsor form is online at
http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=286781
Racingredd Girlies Race 4 Life
Several
of the Racingredd girls - Wendy Clay, Vicki Warwick, Penny Bambridge, Margaret Kyriakou, Julie
Hutton and Norma Willcoxson so far- are doing the Race4Life in aid of Cancer Research. If
you can spare a penny or two, please feel free to sponsor them.
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/theracingreddgirlies2
If there is anyone in the Peterborough area, please feel
to join them. They will be walking, not jogging, if that helps! The date is Wednesday, 30 June
at 7.30pm at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough (Cambs.)
Bryson's Fundraising Show
Ian Dobison and Clare Stainton would like to thank
everyone who came along to our Dogs Home Wanderers Charity Fun Day on the 12 December 2009.
They raised £627.38 for Pennine Pen Animal Rescue. We would like to give an extra special thank
you to Susan Mallabar for processing the entries, Taryntimers for providing the timing and to
Carolyn Baker, Tracy Meakin and everyone else who pitched in to judge, scribe, help out in the
cafe etc.
There will be another Charity Fun Day on the 27 February
2010. The proceeds of this day will be going to another charity they support - Brysons Animal
Refuge. The closing date for this is 31 January, but they will take entries on the day.
Brysons Animal Refuge in Gateshead was started in 1947
and has been committed to helping all animals ever since. Clare and Ian have had the pleasure
of working closely with them for a few years now and two of our dogs are from Brysons. The
staff and volunteers are all very dedicated and caring and they ensure every animal is very
well looked after and goes to the right home.
As with every animal rescue they rely on kind donations
from the public. However, although they are a very well established animal charity, they are
now finding things really hard financially - in fact, so hard that if they don't get some extra
financial support soon they will have to close.
Ian urged, 'We are all trying to do our bit to raise
funds, so please support our fun day or help Brysons directly, if you can. You can download a
show schedule from
Agilitynet.'
For more information, visit
www.brysons.org.uk
DFS Crufts Car Stickers Return
The
2010 DFS Crufts car stickers are back and can be yours provided that you have qualified for
Crufts next year in either agility, obedience, HTM or breed for next year. You can even have
one if you have qualified for a YKC event - even if you don't have a car!
Just send a SAE to Agilitynet, 38 Northolme
Road, London N5 2UU. The envelope must be at least 6in x 6in or else the sticker won't fit.
The stickers are provided by the Kennel Club
free of charge, but if you feel that you want to support the research and good work the Kennel
Club Charitable Trust is doing you can enclose a donation with your envelope. Please make the
cheque out to the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, not Agilitynet.
Thank yu for your support.
Cool on the Draw!
  
More than 300 agility partygoers warmed up
the atmosphere Cool Festive Fundraiser 2009 with champagne, Christmas cake and an Alpha party
bag recently. Congratulations go to Jane James who was very surprised to win this year’s
Festive Fundraiser treats.
The organisers would like to thank everyone
for the efforts in raising £330 for the RSPCA (Worcester branch), which has starting their 2010
fundraising off in great style.
Geraldine Haynes, fundraising officer, was
delighted with the contribution saying, 'A big thank you to everyone who entered the draw
and to all that contributed to this wonderful draw and Alpha for supporting the event .'
Pete's China Trek
Over
the last four years, vet Peter van Dongen has done four charity treks, first in Norway, doing a
week long Husky Trek Arctic Dog Sledding Challenge, then in Namibia, doing a Desert Walking
Trek Challenge, followed by an Andean Trek in Peru, ending up at the amazing Machu Picchu, and,
recently, Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He enjoyed all these very different treks so
much, whilst at the same time managing to raise money for charity - The Blue Cross, Dogs Trust,
‘R.A.I.N.’ and The British Heart Foundation respectively.
Pete has decided to do yet another one!
He's done cold. He's done hot. He'd gone up - and reached the top. This time he's going long!
He is doing a week long trek, in April 2010, near and on The Great Wall of China!
This year he has chosen to raise money
for Cancer Research UK - in memory of his mum who died of cancer five years ago.
As usual, it will not be a holiday but a
physical and mental challenge, for which he will be in training over the few months before the
trip. During the trip, he will hopefully see lots of beautiful landscapes, as well as get to
meet the Chinese people. He will stay in Chinese homes as well as in tents on the way. He will
try and add a few days at the end, to go and see Pandas, preferably in the wild.
Cancer Research UK is the world's leading
independent organisation dedicated to cancer research. They support research into all aspects
of cancer through the work of more than 4,250 scientists, doctors and nurses. Over the past 10
years alone, thousands of lives have been saved through earlier detection and improved
treatments. But, much work remains to be done if they are to achieve their aim of beating
cancer.
Most of you will know, or have known,
someone battling cancer, or perhaps you yourself have been affected by cancer. You will know
how much it can affect someone's life, and that of the people around them, and you will
understand how important it is to try and do something about this horrible condition.
Pete has funded the entire trip himself,
so every penny raised in sponsorship money goes completely to the charity! He is asking each
and everyone of you to help, by sending him a cheque for as little or as much as you feel able
to donate. Every little bit helps of course. Please send cheques, payable to Cancer Research
UK, to: Pete van Dongen, 25 Tolsey Mead, Borough Green, Kent TN15 8EQ, Great Britain.
Alternatively, you can donate money on-line, at
www.justgiving.com/chinatrek5 This has the added benefit that it’s easy, quick and safe!
You can also donate some money whenever
you see me in the next few months.
Please dig deep and help me to help
Cancer Research UK!!!
After the event I will write a full
report about my experience, as usual, with photos of course. I will also invite all sponsors to
a post trek evening talk and photo show. Let’s hope we can all help ‘Cancer Research UK’ to
continue to try and help as many people with cancer as possible.
THANK YOU!
Pete van Dongen
Calling All Working Cocker Handlers and Owners
After
a competition on their Forum, Working Cocker Pro Health, a non-profit organisation, have
printed a calendar of members' dogs, many of which are agility dogs.
One of the winners was Jayne Anderson's
Cocker Reah who has been selected to feature as Miss January. She submitted some photos of her
puppy to the competition and was lucky enough to win as were some other agility handlers!
Jayne said, 'Reah is my first working
cocker. Until I started looking into the breed, I wasn't aware of the potential health issues
and tests that were recommended for breeding. After spending a lot of time looking for a
working cocker breeder who did the tests I came across the Working Cocker Pro Health site and
was lucky enough to get my puppy from one of the breeders.'
'The society is completely
not-for-profit and is trying to promote healthy breeding of the working cocker, both to
owners and breeders but also to the general public to keep this fantastic breed in top
condition.'
In light of the great work they are
doing I hope that the agility community gets behind them and buys a calendar or two as all the
profits are going towards their work in 2010 promoting good health. Considering what we ask of
our agility dogs it's nice to know that there are people working out there to breed the
healthiest dog possible!'
Working Cocker Pro Health, is a fairly
new organisation with three main goals, all of which are trying to promote a continued healthy
breed:-
-
To raise awareness of the Health Issues
in the Working Cocker
-
To support & promote breeders who
initiate the recommended tests
-
To promote public awareness of these
health issues
The 2010 charity calendar for sale at
http://www.workingcockerhealthscreendirectory.com
Running for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
Lorna
Winter, handler and Senior Brand Manager - PRO PLAN is running the London Marathon in
April next year in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
She said, ' Now - you are also all
probably aware that running is quite new for me and a few of you may be chuckling loudly at
the sheer thought of me running 26.2 miles... and you would be right to chuckle. However, as
I do love a challenge and I love working with animals. You may well understand my madness
when you hear that I am running in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf.'
Lorna has already done a few 10k runs
and a half marathon, so her training is on schedule. The only part left is the fundraising!
To learn more about the charity and her
marathon quest, visit Lorna's page at
www.justgiving.com/LornaVirginMarathon. She's counting on your to feel sorry enough for her
to donate a little something to her cause. All the money goes directly to Hearing Dogs for Deaf
who rely totally on donations from the public and are not government funded so every penny
helps.
She has set a challenging target of
£1,800 to reach and would really appreciate your support in helping her reach that.
Pound for a Hound Charity
Agility people - and not just those
competing with Greyhounds - have been supporting Greyhound Gap which rescues sighthounds and their crosses that would otherwise be put to sleep,
providing them with foster and permanent homes all over the country.
They use commercial kennels as a
stopgap between rescue and new homes, costing them between £2000 - £2500 per month. This huge
monthly cost has encouraged the charity to look for alternatives. A commercial mortgage on
their own property would cost far less and mean that the hounds would get even better care. The
downside to this is the £100,000 deposit needed! Not to be put off the charity recently
launched a 'Pound for a Hound' campaign, aiming to get 100,000 people to donate just £1. So far
they have raised nearly £17,000 towards this target.
Louise Mallett and some other members
of Staffs Agility Club members have already run fundraisers at the KC International Agility
Festival and Dashin' Dogs and contributed nearly £1000 to the pot.
Louise is hoping that the agility
community will get behind their latest fundraiser called Pound for a Hound. All you have to do
is contribute £1 to put a photo of something really important to you - it could be your dog -
on their photo collage. Just log on to
www.poundforahound.co.uk, pay your £1 and send in your photo and caption. The image will
then be put onto the website where you can view it. When they reach our target of £100,000, the
collage will be printed and displayed in the Greyhound Gap kennels as a tribute to everyone who
supported the great cause. So far over 400 images have been contributed, ranging from a pile
of chocolate to a baby scan and of course many gorgeous dogs.
Celebrities such as Joanna Lumley,
Griff Rhys Jones and greyhound lover Jilly Cooper are supporting the project. You will have to
visit the web site and view the collage to find their photos!
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