Britons planning on hitting the slopes this winter have been issued with some last minute insurance advice before the 2007-2008 season properly begins this weekend. While a number of European ski resorts have already opened ahead of schedule for weekend skiing, the first weekend of December will see even more ski resorts in France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy in operation. However, Insurancewide.com is encouraging skiers not to consider taking to the slopes without taking out and understanding travel insurance policies.” A specific winter sports travel insurance policy should include cover for skiing or boarding, piste closure, ski equipment, medical costs including rescue and repatriation, your liability to others and your luggage,” commented chief executive James Harrison.

He added that a European helicopter mountain rescue service can cost £1,500 with repatriation costs estimated at £4,000.The Association of British Travel Agents recently reported that over 1.3 million UK holidaymakers will head to the snow this winter.

SPECIAL needs pupils at Elms Bank High School are being given the skills, independence and confidence to enable them to use public transport. The Whitefield school has become the first in the borough to develop a detailed travel plan which will have enormous benefits for pupils who are not used to taking the bus. Other facets of the travel plan involve practicing going up and down escalators and boarding a bus with wheelchairs. Mrs Sarah Whitehead, teacher and Elms Bank’s health and inclusion coordinator, said: “The main objective of the travel plan is to encourage pupils, where possible, to use public transport. We are the first high school in Bury to have this travel plan which is part of the Healthy Schools Agenda.”Under the initiative, two separate groups of pupils at the specialist arts college are gaining experience of going out and catching appropriate buses.

This will ultimately give them the independence to harness public transport to the full. Mrs Whitehead added: “Recently, we had a health, safety and well-being week of which travel was one aspect. We are also part of Bury Council’s 16-19 transport group. Because we are a special needs school, everything here is on the one level. That’s why, outside, pupils are involved in practicing going up and down escalators which is another part of our travel plan.

In its second annual Global Property Hot Spots roundup, currency specialist HiFX reveals an increase in enquiries over the past 3 years regarding less traditional overseas property destinations like Bulgaria and China, while interest in old favorites such as France and Spain has declined. The report, based on an analysis of enquiries received by the firm, has found France and Spain to be consistently at the top of popular destinations for Brits buying abroad in recent years.

However, the lead of these traditional holiday home countries is being lessened by new emerging markets where investors are vying for properties that will deliver quick growth. Interest in Bulgaria in 2007 was double what it was in 2005, while enquiries relating to property in China increased from zero in 2005 to 3% in 2007, which is more than were received for more traditional destinations such as Portugal and Cyprus.

Over the last 10 years the Western world has enjoyed the biggest property boom in its history, creating a whole generation of potential property investors. Indeed, house prices have boomed in almost every developed market with the exception of Germany and Japan. But with developed economy markets at their current high, investors are increasingly turning their attention away from the traditional markets like Spain and to the emerging markets, such as Eastern Europe and (new for 2008) even farther flung destinations such as Brazil, Egypt and, the canoeist’s favorite, Panama!

According to the report, interest in Spain has decreased by 2% since 2006 and is 10% lower than in 2005. Interest in France remained steady from 2006 to 2007; however enquiries last year were down 7% compared to 2005.

Jean Fears recently finished the final chapter on a family history project that spanned 54 years. With some sadness, Fears realized it was time to end the monthly newsletter she and her eight siblings kept going all these years. It didn’t matter if they were traveling in distant countries, working long hours or nursing children or spouses through illness, everyone counted on the newsletter arriving in the mail to keep them informed about what was going on in each other’s lives. After her brother died last month, only Fears and an invalid sister in New Mexico remain. By sharing her family’s story, Fears hopes others will see the value in regular correspondence, especially if the family is scattered.

Even ordinary daily events can be meaningful decades later. In one entry, for example, an older brother who lived on a ranch out West told about using a new electric saw for the first time. What an improvement it was over cutting logs with a manual saw, he reported.

The newsletter never would have happened without the initiative and persistence of Fears’ late sister Clara, a stern taskmaster who insisted everyone send their family news to her by the first of the month. She typed it up and had copies made on onionskin paper with an old-fashioned mimeograph machine for years. The carrot at the end of the stick was the prompt arrival of the newsletter each month.