Christmas Lunch 2009

Christmas Lunch 2009

World COPD Day

Boots the Chemist were very happy to welcome the BE Canterbury and District group into their Whitefriars branch in Canterbury to hold an awareness stand on World COPD Day. The event was well supported, with the primary care trust specialist respiratory team sending four of their staff, and the BLF's Tina Patel and Mollie Jackson, our previous Chair, also being with us. Besides several of the committee staffing the stand, members of the group visited, and the respiratory staff carried out lung function testing. We were able to spread the word about the BE group, and several members of the public expressed interest and may attend. It was pleasant to hold this friendly, vibrant and successful event indoors and we are very grateful to Boots for their welcome and cooperation.

BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES EXPLAINED

Members of Breathe Easy are vulnerable to serious and dangerous exacerbation of their illnesses, often resulting in hospitallization and requiring various degrees of extra care.
So we were very lucky to have Gloria Manser from the Citizens Advice Bureau and Age Concern, along with another senior, and modestly anonymous, member of Age Concern’s staff, as guest speakers at our November’s group meeting to explain the range of benefits and other entitlements that older people, and people with disabilities are able to claim. Their services operate in Whitstable, Canterbury and Herne Bay, and we learnt that Age Concern and Help the Aged are shortly to amalgamate, becoming Age UK.

Some of the services are particularly helpful. The Home Support Service provides volunteers to make home visits and help fill in the sometimes dauntingly long and confusing benefit application forms. There is also a “Care Navigator Service” for people over 55, which provides help in getting grants for new boilers or cavity insulation. This service will also put people in touch with Social Services for an assessment of their needs. The “Home from Hospital” service will give some help during the difficult time when patients have been discharged from hospital, including light shopping and housework; this is a free service.

A range of other services are obtainable, such as a personal alarm service, reassuring in the event of falls; funeral plans are available, as is a home help service.

Gloria emphasized that, despite some people’s reluctance to claim benefits, we have paid for these benefits through our National Insurance and are therefore fully entitled to claim. She explained the intricacies of the Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, and stressed the importance of getting help filling in the forms to ensure your needs are clearly expressed. She explained about Self-Directed Support, where money can be available to enable individuals to remain at home, rather than go in to residential care, and who is entitled to Carer’s Allowance.

Annual General Meeting

On 14th October the Breathe Easy Canterbury and District group met for our Annual General Meeting, which was the best attended for many years with five new members, several old friends, Hannah Tucker from the British Lung Foundation and Karen Cotter representing the Whitstable and Tankerton Specialist Respiratory Team. After approval of last year’s AGM minutes, and the reading of the current year’s Chair’s and Treasurer’s reports, the election of officers took place. Hannah Tucker, who is the BLF’s south east Development Officer spoke warmly of our year’s achievements - both our group’s monthly meeting programme and the additional social and fund raising events, such as our annual strawberry tea, and the recent quiz event for members and friends which had raised nearly £500.

Having dealt with the business side of the day, an enjoyable session of bingo was held with Karen Cotter as call-mistress, lightening the mood and provoking much laughter.

Quiz Night 2009

On September 26th we held our most successful Quiz Night to date. With a record 12 tables the atmosphere was so jolly it got almost rowdy at times! It was a tight competition with close scores and the winning table beating off the competition with only 2 points to spare.

Our Quizmaster Tony Newington along with his helpers once again donated their time to help us raise money. A very successful raffle raised £200 and in total we made nearly £500. Half of the money will, as always, go to The British Lung Foundation and the rest will be used for our group.

September Meeting

The first ever no-show of our speaker this month gave the group an opportunity to hold a spontaneous social. Members discussed everything from health care to holidays. Everyone agreed that the social was very successful and had been a good way to get to know each other better, which of course applied particularly to the new members present.

It was agreed, in addition to the opportunity to talk together as a group after the teabreak, that meetings devoted entirely to a social should become part of our annual programme.

Pauline Treadwell

The new head of the Community Specialist Respiratory team for East Kent, Pauline Treadwell, gave a talk about the work of the team, and the massive extension of its services which she is overseeing. Having taken up her post in April, this was Pauline’s first visit and she has arranged that a member of her clinical staff will be available at our monthly meetings, thus continuing the specialist team’s regular connection with our group.

Pauline has had her work cut out implementing the team’s expansion, and her talk ably illustrated this. Staff have more than doubled, growing from 21 to 52 in a very short time. Plans are in place to ensure patients’ treatment nearer to home, avoiding the problems of hospital admission wherever possible, and specialist nurses will be on hand to give intense support during exacerbations, reassuring information as we go into autumn, with swine flu hovering in the background. COPD and other lung diseases are potentially isolating and depressing and there are now counsellors working to confidential guidelines who are available to help patients experiencing such difficulties.

The seventeen members present put a range of questions to Pauline and her colleagues, Karen and Gemma, who is a newly recruited specialist nurse. Hannah Tucker from the British Lung Foundation was also present and gave a short presentation of the BLF’s guidelines on swine flu. We were also very happy to welcome three new members, all from Canterbury.

Strawberry Tea 2009

Our annual strawberry tea on 8th July was a truly celebratory event with a big turnout.
Twenty seven of our members with their families and friends were joined by five guests from the recently launched Thanet BE group together with three members from the East Kent primary care trust community respiratory team who provide us with so much excellent medical support. Mounds of strawberries and piles of scones with cream and jam were scoffed in lovely weather, to the accompaniment of a 50’s and 60’s soundtrack.

We were particularly delighted to welcome a long time member who now uses oxygen and we would encourage any oxygen users who are feeling isolated at home to brave the outdoors and come to one of our meetings where they can be sure of a very warm welcome.

A successful (and rowdy!) raffle was held and raised seventy pounds to support the work of our Breathe Easy group. We thank our Chair-for-the-day, Tom Elvidge, who did a superb job of M-C-ing the event, and our thanks as always go to our treasurer Carol Hakimian for the use of her beautiful Chestfield garden. Photos by Jean Fraser and Carol.

Walk for Breath

On June 28th members, friends and family of the Breathe Easy Canterbury group came together at Hampton Pier to walk to The Marine Hotel and back. With Cabin Radio providing music at the start and the KD Jazzband leading the way along the seafront it was a joyful occasion for everyone talking part. The KD Jazzband also stopped at several points along the way to provide music and lighten the day for those out enjoying the slopes.

The walk was officially started by Mollie Jackson, the Nurse Manager at The British Lung Foundation. So far £150 has been raised, half of which will go to The British Lung Foundation with more sponsorship money to come in. Our thanks go to the KD Jazzband, Cabin Radio, The Marine Hotel and Mollie Jackson for the success of this event.

Coach Outing

In May our coach trip to Walmer Castle which went well although the weather was not very kind. Whilst waiting for the coach to arrive it poured with rain but once on board everyone was very cheerful (and the new pick-up point in Herne Bay was very popular). By the time we arrived at Walmer there was only a very fine drizzle so we were able to walk around and admire the lovely grounds.
One unusual feature was the way some of the hedges have been cut, different heights and angles even in one length of hedging!
Many also found the both the time and energy to visit a few of the many rooms in the castle, each so full of history.
Just before leaving everyone visited the tea rooms for a drink and sample the selection of cakes which even included bread pudding.

It proved to be a very welcoming venue, in spite of the weather everyone commented on how much they had enjoyed the visit.

More Outing Photos

Beetle Drive

A few days before Easter the group enjoyed a Beetle Drive. Sitting at tables of 3 or 4 we competed to draw the beetle in the fastest time. The first to complete their beetle by getting the right throw of the dice (1 for a head, 2 for a body, and 6 sixes for the legs, etc.) won an Easter Egg and there were a fair few to be won requiring a number of rounds. After each round one person moved on to another table ensuring an afternoon with much mixing and plenty of laughter.

March 2009 - Dr. Pinnock

This month local GP Dr. Hilary Pinnock from Whitstable Medical Centre gave a brilliantly clear and accessible presentation about research into health forecasting for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Several of the fifteen members present had taken part in this project’s feasibility study last winter. Dr. Pinnock, also a research fellow of the University of Edinburgh and well known internationally in the COPD research community, brought us up to date with the project’s progress; it is now to be set up formally as a randomized control trial in the West Country.

Group members asked questions and gave feedback about their own experiences of receiving Met Office’s automated telephone forecasts last year warning them of bad weather and the need to take precautions such as having emergency medication to hand.
We felt privileged to have taken part in the early stages of this research and proud that this useful project has been conceived and piloted at the Whitstable Medical Practice due to Dr. Pinnock’s pioneering research into lung disease. Many of us had not previously known that our local health centre is a research practice accredited with the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Next month’s meeting could not be more different. We will be holding a beetle drive and this will create a great opportunity to welcome new members to our group.

Yoga & Relaxation

Twenty five people braved the cold to learn from Chrissie Dolby, a local Yoga teacher, about relaxation and breathing techniques. With a lot of toe wiggling, hand shaking and deep breathing she helped us all to relax so much that there was a fair bit of yawning. Chrissie didn’t mind however, saying that in her line it’s actually a success to send people to sleep!

Breathe Easy Thanet Launched

On February 5th several of our members went along as guests to the official launch of the new Breathe Easy Thanet group. There was a considerable turnout for this very successful event - as well as all their members other guests included Hannah from the British Lung Foundation, a member of the local council and several representatives from Pfizer.

Breathe Easy Thanet meets on a thursday afternoon. For information on where and when contact their chairman Mr. David Bott on davidbott@btinternet.com

Flooding in the Whitstable area

Mr. Ted Edwards an Engineering Manager from Canterbury City Council reminisced with us about the floods of 2000, which were the worst for 200 years. With photographs of the worst affected areas he illustrated how badly hit our area had been and explained many of the reasons that had contributed to the situation. He told us what has been done since then to improve our flood defences including new regulations for new house builds in our area. We were all left hoping we see nothing like it again.