Home of the Hastings and Bexhill Breast Cancer Support Group
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Home of the Hastings and Bexhill Breast Cancer Support Group |
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Meeting Reports 2009 These reports will
help members unable to attend a meeting keep up with what's been happening, and
give non-members an idea of what we do at our meetings. January meeting 2009 Meal at The Wheatsheaf, Little Common This was the first meeting of the year, our January get together having been a meal at The Wheatsheaf, Little Common; it was also the first of our new meeting days, this one being on a Thursday. As a group we have decided to give a year’s trial to meeting on days other than Wednesdays, hoping that this will give access to the group for those with regular Wednesday commitments. Of course this will not suit everyone, but we hope by the end of the year that we’ll be able to see if this has been of benefit or not. No new members this month, but a fair number of us met together considering the sleet that had decided to come down that evening! Sue Marsh, Hospice at Home visited the group to talk about her team’s work. They are a community based team, covering a wide area, that provide a 24hour service for those with life challenging illnesses allowing them remain in their own homes. This invaluable service also supports people who’ve had chemotherapy, which of course could apply to members of our group. Hospice at Home, like many others is struggling financially in this economic climate, and Sue herself has decided to try and raise funds by taking part in a 9 day trek in Iceland. This will be no holiday, she we be walking miles each day and camping out in subzero temperatures. She left the group with details of the event and sponsor forms hoping that we would be able to help her out. Rose pointed out the importance within the group to have time to discuss problems individuals may have, we must remember that we all need support, even those of us who are several years down the line from our original diagnosis. One member considering reconstruction spoke about the film that she had been shown at the hospital, we discussed the various options available and she asked if anyone else in the group had gone through reconstruction. Unfortunately no one that night had, although we have had members who have been through it and will try to put them in contact with each other. Janet suggested that we might have a visit from a member of the Nicola Jane team, to advise on post surgery bras. It was decided to arrange a date, for one of the future meetings, or possible a Saturday if that suited more members. This has since been arranged for the April meeting at Pat’s in Bexhill, which is Wednesday 15th April. Pat apologised for having to change the April meeting date to April 15th and reissued a new list of dates for the year. Pam, who is now part of the Sarah Lee Trust committee, gave details of two fund raising events Other items discussed Our next meeting will be at Gloria’s home Hastings, Tuesday March 10th. Sorry, no notes taken. As always new members were welcomed to join our group, the welcomes over, and before stopping for coffee we ran through various items as follows:
Sorry, no notes taken. Sorry, no notes taken. Sorry, no notes taken. Sorry, no notes taken. Sorry, no notes taken. What an exciting meeting! The room buzzed with new refreshing ideas and volunteers willing to restart our newsletter and make improvements to our website. Ideas put forward were photos of members of the group on our homepage to show the wide age range that makes up our group a "my story" section, for members tell their "cancer story" as an inspiration to others more input into the FAQ’s and "Helping Someone with Breast Cancer" pages. for other members to take notes at the meetings, for this page, if Pat was unable to attend. for an "online newsletter" to run alongside a printed one, which has been taken on by a group member for the new year. In addition to this Next years meeting dates were handed out. After previous discussions with the group, Pat and Gloria had put together a diary of dates up until June 2010. Bexhill meetings are to be held on a Tuesday and Hastings meetings, a Wednesday, and meetings will be held in the first week of each month, where possible. It was decided to have a New Year’s meal again in January, at Nobles Restaurant, Battle, two members were going to look into making a booking for Thursday January 14th, or if that was not available, the following Thurs, the 21st. A discussion took place as to whether to continue with our annual October fashion show held at The Conquest Hospital. Costs of running the event have increased and the decision was taken to leave it for next year, and think of another fundraiser. Information and details of the group to go onto the new board in the waiting area at the hospital and to the McCartney Unit – Gloria to sort out. One of our younger members explained that she was off to East Grinstead on Monday for reconstructive surgery, two other members also plan to have reconstructive surgery in the near future and we’ll follow their progress with interest and wish them well with their surgery. Sadly we were missing some of our "regulars" who were unable to attend for health reasons and had sent their apologies. Gloria also gave out the details of Joy’s funeral arrangements, and a sum of money was agreed to be sent in memory of this long standing and beloved member of our group. Our thoughts are with her family. December Meeting 2009 A bit of a party evening. Quite a large group met; we started off with hot mulled wine and savoury nibbles, played a few games, pulled crackers, followed by tea, coffee , cake and biscuits and just enjoyed each others company. 2005 Reports. 2006 Reports 2007 Reports 2008 Reports 2009: January ~ February ~ April ~ May ~ June ~ July ~ August ~ September ~ October ~ December ~ Top of Page
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