BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship

SOCIAL EVENTS

SAT 18th MAY 2013 - TABLE TOP SALE. Supporting Breast Friends 1.00pm – 3.30pm at St.Peter’s Hall, Holly Lane, Balsall Common. CV7 7EA. Full details back page

Sharon on 01676-530586 or 07903-588076

WEDS 22nd to 24 MAY. PENNY BROHN CANCER CARE.

Living Well With The Impact Of Cancer

3 Day Free Course for anyone affected by cancer. at The Welcome Centre, Parkside, Coventry CV1 2HG.

(Full details on back Page)

WEDNESDAY MAY 22nd - WALK 'n' TALK. Swanshurst Circular Walk.

(2.5m / 3.95 km) Time estimate: 1 hour 20 mins. Meet at: The Covered Wagon PH car park.

298 Yardley Wood Road, Moseley B13 9JW Time: 6.20pm for 6.30pm start.

The Covered Wagon for refreshments afterwards

THURS 30th MAY, CURRY NIGHT, Purple Rooms, 1076 Stratford rd, Hall Green, B28 8AD.

7.30pm. £10 Contact Lorraine 0121 705 1 942

SATURDAY 16TH NOVEMBER 2013. Abba Revival Tribute Night - Plus, 70’s & 80’s Disco.

At Kinghurst & District Labour Club

INSIDE OUR MAY EDITION!

* BF SUPPLY HEARTLANDS & SPIRE HOSPITALS WITH NEW MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.

* LIVING WELL WITH THE IMPACT OF CANCER. * JOIN US AT OUR BREAST FRIENDS CURRY NIGHT

* OLTON GOLF CLUB RAISE

OUR NEXT MEETINGS We meet at 7.15pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at

West Midlands Bridge Club, 909 Warwick rd, Solihull, B91 3EP

11th June 2013. - Shirin Irani MD FRCOG. Consultant Gynaecologist

9th July 2013 -

Social Evening - Summer Supper £10 2 course meal: Please book your place with Chris Bates.

Walk 'n'

Talk is

www.breastfriends-solihull.org.uk ! Tel: 0800 1313 500

JOIN IN WITH OUR

SMARTIE CHALLENGE.

Find out how

Our Special Thanks to our Guests Tina Iaccovelli, Chantilly Rose and our Complimentary Therapists

BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship

Breast Friends Solihull buy Dynamap for Heartlands Ward 19

Breast Friends recently purchased a piece of equipment is called a Dynamap which is used to take the observations of the patients. Blood pressure, pulse, temperature and oxygen saturation level in the body. It was immediately put to use on breast cancer patient Katy Simms in the very busy Ward 19 at Heartlands Hospital, by nurse Suki Khan (Pictured) The staff are absolutely delighted with the new equipment. The ward manager Mathew Fowler is now looking into the benefit of Heat Pads and if they prove a useful buy then Breast Friends will also help with this purchase.

Breast Friends purchase a Syringe Driver for Spire

Parkway.

Breast Friends are delighted to buy a Syringe Driver pump for this hospital. A syringe pump is a small infusion pump useful for delivering IV medications over several minutes. This device will benefit some of their cancer patients, it is very accurate and saves staff time.

BREAST FRIENDS HELP & SUPPORT. Can we help?

Breast Friends gives direct help to breast cancer

patients during a difficult time, providing contributions towards:-

* Help with the purchase of wigs and prostheses * Domestic help for patients undergoing treatment * Childcare for mothers, if there is a need * Complimentary therapy treatments * A Relaxation day at local health spa. * Loan of equipment, such as reclining chairs. * Grants can be arranged in times of hardship * Confidential listening service provided by trained volunteers. All services subject to availability of funds.

Dynamap

Olton Golf Club Do Us Proud!

Last week Ian Phipps the Men's Captain from Olton Golf Club presented Sandy and Chris B. with this amazing cheque for £3850. He kindly chose Breast Friends as his charity for his year as Captain and held lots of fundraising events to raise this fantastic total. Our sincere thanks go to him, and indeed all the Olton Golf Club members for their efforts, what a wonderful result!

BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship

PENNY BROHN CANCER CARE

3 Day Free Course for anyone affected by cancer.

Living Well With The Impact Of Cancer

Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 May 2013 at The Welcome Centre, Parkside, Coventry CV1 2HG

The course may help you: ● Manage stress through relaxation and simple breathing exercises.

● Cope with the emotional & psychological impact of cancer

treatment. ● Find out about how to prepare and enjoy healthy food.

● Find a way to bring manageable exercise into your life.

● Discuss the impact of a cancer diagnosis on relationships.

● Consider how living with cancer affects our deep values and

beliefs. ● Receive basic information on financial welfare.

This course will be held over three days and will start at 10.00am and finish at 4.00pm each day. Please complete booking forms by 13 May.

The Penny Brohn charity are able to provide their services free of charge, thanks entirely to the charitable donations and voluntary contributions which fund their work.

To book: Visit: www.pennybrohncancercare.org/living-well. Email: bookings@pennybrohn.org Phone: 01275 370111

TABLE TOP SALE- SAT 18th MAY 2013

Supporting Breast Friends Solihull. - 1pm – 3.30pm

At St.Peter’s Hall, Holly Lane, Balsall Common. CV7 7EA. Refreshments Available. Admission 50p (Children free) Tables are available at a cost of £8.00 each on a first come first served basis. Payment to secure a booking must be paid in advance. To reserve a table & for further information please contact: Sharon on 01676-530586 or 07903-588076

DONATIONS OUR SINCERE THANKS TO :-

* Elaine Downes & Claire Jenkins of Henley in Arden Golf Club who presented us with an generous cheque. The money was collected by Elaine Downes in lieu of having birthday presents for her 70th birthday. Thank you!

*. Olton Golf Club. (See their story inside BF Bulletin.)

Do you have a contribution for our Bulletin? An article on something that interests you perhaps? It could be Breast Friends related or just a story you'd like to tell. Do you have some advice to pass on? A photograph, an interesting adventure or just a bit of fun to entertain us? If so, please get involved & contact: lorraine.ashford@blueyonder.co.uk

BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship

Michele's Experience On The Macmillan Cancer Support Course.

I was introduced to the cancer support course run by Macmillan through the BF committee in June 2012. I registered my interest with a call to Grace Bailey who interviewed me by phone to check that I had had cancer or worked as a volunteer in a cancer role. As I could answer yes to both I was pleased to be accepted for the course. I started in September at the Birmingham Volunteer Centre in Digbeth, the first modules took 3 days and covered communication and counselling skills, loss and bereavement and cancer awareness. I then had a month to submit my work and I could use the Macmillan Learning zone and call other course members to clarify my answers. It was an emotional a time for some people I felt humbled and privileged to be on the course and hear the groups experiences with cancer, some people opened up to say things they would not say to people they know or work with. On the last day of the course in April 2013 we took in a buffet lunch, wrote-cards to each other and passed on email addresses as we all agreed it would be nice to keep in touch after sharing this experience. I now have a 3-6 months for my portfolio to be passed by the tutor. Anne Ramsey accompanied me on the course and we both said how much we enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. We met lovely people , the tutors were brilliant, we put a lot in but we got so much out.

Michele Francis. The Cancer Support Course (CSC) is a qualification developed by Macmillan Cancer. The course is accredited by the Open College Network, is based on national standards of best practice equivalent to a level two qualification Support to offer training to people supporting others affected by cancer. This course is offered free of charge to volunteers, health care professionals or anybody wishing to enhance their skills and knowledge when supporting people affected by cancer. If you'd like to get involved on one of these courses then an information session is Date: Friday 14th June 2013. Venue: BVSC, The Centre for Voluntary Action, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR Tel: 0121 6434343. Time: 1.30am - 4.00pm -. If you have any other queries or concerns contact Grace Bailey, on 01799 513134. or email :jennerbailey@btinternet.com

Any one for Curry?

Another delicious curry night is planned for

Thursday May 30th. This time the venue is the

ever popular Purple Rooms in Hall Green.

3 courses £10

Purple Rooms Menu.

Mixed Starter of:- Shish Kebab, onion bhaji & chicken Tikka.

5 Curries:- Lamb Bhuna, Chicken Tikka Masala,

Chicken Jalfrezi, Tandoori Mixed Vegetables,

If you'd like to join us and spice up your life, sign the form at this months meeting or Contact Lorraine 0121 705 1942.

BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship

JOIN US IN THE SMARTIE CHALLENGE

Please enjoy your Smarties tonight with the compliments of Breast Friends. Then we ask if you'd be so kind as to take your empty Smartie tube away with

you and try to fill it again, this time by asking your friends, workmates and colleagues to donate a £1 to Breast Friends. Maybe your friends and family

will take up the challenge too and try to refill their tubes with £1 donations. Please bring those tubes back to next months meeting and we see how much

we've managed to raise for our charity.

Bev Walmsley is co ordinating the challenge, if you need more information

A Summer Supper

Tues July 9th. 7.30pm at The Bridge Club.

Our members told us how much they enjoyed Jane's wonderful cooking at our Christmas meal last December. So the committee have decided to make our July meeting a summer

supper night. The cost to members who would like to come along to this social

meeting is at the subsidised price of just £10

Turkey/Salmon/Ham

Selection of mixed Salads:- Green, Tomato, Coleslaw, Mushroom.

New Potatoes & French Bread

Abba Revival Tribute Night Plus, 70’s & 80’s Disco. - At Kinghurst & District Labour Club

Breast Friends are delighted that MnB Promotions are holding this fundraising evening on our behalf and any monies raised will go directly to support local ladies who have experienced breast cancer. Join in the fun and wear an item of pink clothing

or fancy dress. So Save the Date in your diaries, SATURDAY 16TH NOVEMBER (Tickets will be on sale on 1st September.)

Do you have any photographs we could use?

We will soon be updating our website and we are compiling an album of photographs for use in this and other future projects. Do you have any photographs that may be suitable? It may just be a nice good quality face shot of one of our ladies, a Breast Friends social events, Walk 'n' Talk shots, Fun Run, photos taken at meetings, indeed anything which captures the essence of BF. If so, would you be kind enough to send them via email to lorraine.ashford@blueyonder.co.uk Thank you. .

BREAST FRIENDS BULLETIN

SOLIHULL BREAST CANCER GROUP Offering Information ! Support ! Friendship