Isle of Whithorn Youth Club BBQ and Presentation

Wednesday saw the last Youth Club session before the summer break, and all the young people turned up for a barbecue and played outdoor sports and games.

It was a very special night for Liz Kiltie, who was retiring from volunteering for the youth group after 14 years!!  She was presented with a plaque and bunch of flowers by Kay, Youth Club Volunteer Leader, who thanked her for all her time and effort over the years.

 

 

Many Thanks Liz for all your hard work and dedication over the years. Your input will be missed.

Pop Up Youth Village

New Dancercise Group in Newton Stewart

Monday Club

10 members of the Monday Club and 2 guests spent a lovely, sunny morning in Port William yesterday, visiting David & Anne Hirst's garden. 


David is a very keen gardener and also grows his own vegetables.  The garden is full of wild and wonderful flowers, plants, fruit trees, herbs...... the list goes on!  It even has its own "Hedgehog Hotel"!  David said "Now 15 years old, it has been a challenge, combating the salt winds (and gales) which come straight of the Irish Sea.  A great deal of thought and trial and error has produced a garden that contains "tough as old boots" plants with more tender ones given protection."


Anne was kind enough to provide tea and coffee for everyone and BHC staff prepared sandwiches and fruit salad to finish off the visit.


David and Anne were presented with a little thank you gift and everyone left with a smile and lots of tips and ideas for their own garden.

Next session will take place on Monday 3rd July 2017 with a "Healthy Cooking" workshop by Dave Groves (Building Healthy Communities) and "Chair-based Exercise" with Pamela Paterson

 D & G Marie Curie Helper service

The Marie Curie Helper service is provided by trained volunteers who offer one - to - one support to people living with a terminal illness (cancer and other illnesses), 

completely free of charge.

This support may continue for their carers and families after bereavement.

Marie Curie Helper volunteers support people in their homes, offering a few hours

of their time each week to provide a listening ear and companionship

give families and carers a short break from their caring role; offer practical support,

such as accompanying individuals to appointments or simply going out for a coffee

or help with sourcing information on other available support.

A Marie Curie Helper does not provide any personal care, nursing or medical care or advice.

Our Helper volunteers are provided with training and support to enable them to undertake their role, and are subject to PVG & reference checks.

I currently have 27 volunteers cleared & available

and we have supported 27 people to date.

The areas which volunteers can cover currently are Dumfries town and surrounding area, Dunscore, Durisdeer, Irongrey, Ruthwell, Hetland, Crocketford, Springholm, Dalbeattie,  Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart and Lockerbie.

Most can drive, and are happy to travel 20 minutes from home to meet their clients.

I have volunteers awaiting training later this year, so there are always new areas becoming available, please give me a phone to discuss.

The criteria for referral are that the person must be over 18, have a terminal illness (with 12 or less prognosis) OR they are the main carer supporting someone with terminal illness.

This is a new service for Dumfries & Galloway and we have been operating here since June 2016, although nationally has been running since 2009.

Referrals can be made by phone Monday to Friday 9.00-4.30 

on 01387 702105 or 0800 304 7691.

Susan MacRae, Helper service Manager for Dumfries & Galloway.

Susan.Macrae@mariecurie.org.uk or susanmacrae@nhs.net

An assessment phone-call will then take place followed by a visit to take more information about the person, to enable a reasonable match with a volunteer to take place.

The Marie Curie Helper Service

is funded by Text Santa

Fruit Kebabs - Port William School

As part of a commemoration afternoon at Port William School, there were many activities for the children to take part in including making their own Fruit Kebabs.

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All children at the School took part and made a kebab of their choice. The BHC staff had also made sufficient for all adult helpers and volunteers of the school to also enjoy the fruits on offer.

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Heartstart

There are 73,000 deaths from Coronary Heart Disease in the UK each year.  Of these, over 20,000 are avoidable. Recognition of these conditions with prompt treatment can save thousands of lives. One example here in Dumfries and Galloway was of a gentleman who had chest pains for three days before he died of a Cardiac Arrest.  His daughter, later, on a Heartstart course, said “If only we had known....”  If only.

Heartstart offers a two hour "hands on" course, affiliated to the British Heart Foundation and to Building Healthy Communities (Machars) covering:

Recognition of heart failure or heart attack.

Treatment of a person who is unconscious but breathing normally.

Treatment of a person who is unconscious and breathing abnormally or not at all.

The safe use of a defibrillator.

Choking in both adults and children and what to do with severe bleeding.

Courses are FREE(with the exception of volunteers expenses) and EVERYONE can benefit from a Heartstart course. The team currently teach the course to anyone from Primary School pupils to GP's.


There is also a schools scheme in operation where the team train teachers to deliver the course to their pupils in 36 schools across the region. At Stranraer Academy, for the first time in Scotland, senior pupils have been trained as peer tutors to deliver the course across the 1000 pupils at the school. This has now been extended to Wallace Hall Academy in Thornhill and it is hoped to roll it out to other Academies over the next few months.

So, with the schools training an estimated 3800 pupils per year and the Heartstart team up to 1000 per year, a generation of lifesavers is developing, together with the introduction of Public Access Defibrillators, such as the one on the Castle wall in Stranraer and in most Machars villages and, importantly, the knowledge of how to use them, the survival rate following a Cardiac Arrest in Dumfries and Galloway has risen from around 4% a few years ago to 19% in the last year. The national rate is 16% but the Borders Region is reporting 29%, so, although we are above the national average, there is room for improvement. Norway has a 40% survival rate because they have taught the Heartstart course to virtually every citizen.

Working with the Council/NHS Health and Wellbeing Partnership, Heartstart is providing opportunities to train more people. Any organisation or group of 8 people or more from anywhere in Dumfries and Galloway is welcome to ask for a course. For more details please contact:

David Hirst, Coordinator, Heartstart (Newton Stewart), 30 South St., Port William, 01988 700637 davidhirsthome@gmail.com

Local Views Sought on Palliative and End of Life Care

Boccia & New Age Curling

On Monday saw our weekly competitive session of Boccia and New Age Curling at the

Activity Resource Centre in Newton Stewart.

The game of New Age Curling was very close with the reds coming out on top,

winning 5 to 4. Well done reds!

The blues were hoping to take the win in Boccia, but the reds were too good today, winning 12 to 8.

Boccia and New Age Curling runs every Monday afternoon at the Activity Resource Centre in Newton Stewart. Everyone is welcome to come along and have a go.

Monday Club - Japanese Fabric Flowers

Yesterday, the members of the Monday Club were treated to a Japanese Fabric Flowers (Kanzashi) workshop, kindly delivered by Lyn Wheatley.  The flowers are fun and easy to make for every occasion and are perfect for accessories on clothing, jewellery, home decorations...

Lyn gave a demonstration, then it was over to the members to choose their preferred colour of material (Voile was used on this occasion) and successfully create their own brooch flower.

At the end of the session, Lyn was presented with a bunch of flowers as a thank you gift.


Next session, the Monday Club will be visiting a garden in Port William.   Members will meet outside Penninghame Church Hall at 10am and share transport.


If anyone is interested in joining the Monday Club, please contact us on 01988 501111.

Volunteers Week. 1st - 7th June 2017

It's Volunteers Week and we would like to say a HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who are helping with the initiatives that are available through Building Healthy Communities.

You are all AWESOME!!