WHAT a difference six months makes!Back in February Lisa Holmes was lying in a hospital bed in Cambridge fighting for her life after an horrific road accident in Tacket Street in Ipswich.

WHAT a difference six months makes!

Back in February Lisa Holmes was lying in a hospital bed in Cambridge fighting for her life after an horrific road accident in Tacket Street in Ipswich.

At that time her family did not dare make any plans at the future, their only hopes and dreams were that she would pull through her terrible ordeal.

But now the popular mum is making a great recovery, and was able to welcome back husband Rob with a picnic after he completed a 60-mile walk from Cambridge to Christchurch Park in the heart of Ipswich.

Rob, Lisa, and their friends and family have not forgotten the emergency teams who worked so hard to save her after the terrible accident, and Rob's walk with a group of friends has helped raise more than £2,000 for Addenbrooke's Hospital and the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

It may have been a very painful - and blistering - way of raising money, but Mr Holmes knows the pain was nothing like that the family suffered earlier this year.

As they rest their weary limbs today, everyone who took part in the long walk home can take real pride in all their efforts.

BRITAIN'S cycling team brought real pride to the nation during the Olympics.

The exploits of Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and company brought a real glow during the Beijing games - and will no doubt encourage more people to get on to the saddle.

So it is great news to hear that this upsurge of interest in the sport has given a fresh boost to proposals for a £3.5 million cycle centre in Ipswich.

What is needed now, though, is for the backers of this scheme to rapidly take the initiative to try to secure some of the funding while the Olympic success remains fresh in the public's mind.

Cycling is not a sport that naturally attracts a great deal of interest - it is really only at the Olympics and, to a much lesser extent, at the world championships that people outside the sport notice what is happening.

And if the funding for such an imaginative centre is to be achieved, this interest has to be tapped.

A cycle centre at Ravenswood would no doubt attract many visitors. It would give youngsters somewhere safe to let off their energy, and it could help develop future generations of successful British cyclists.

Now is the time for the town to get fully behind this imaginative proposal.

IN earlier times the Ipswich Inter-Firm football tournament was major element of the town's social calendar.

The friendly rivalry between companies was transferred to the football pitch - and matches were real events in their own right.

The demise of the cup came as the traditional employers in the town contracted - but now there are new employment giants in Ipswich and new opportunities for Inter-Firm rivalry.

So it is good news that the cup is being revived - bringing the true spirit of football back to the town.