SOUTH YORKSHIRE BRANCH

 Autumn 2011

 

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NEWS LETTER

 

 

 

 

 

Reg Charity 294354
Welcome to our Autumn Newsletter

 

             We would like to extend a warm welcome to any new members of the South Yorkshire Branch who are reading this for the first time. We send out our newsletter every three months to keep you up to date with events within the Motor Neurone Disease Association, both locally and nationally. Nearly 400 copies of the newsletter are posted out to Branch Members, Health Care Professionals and others around South Yorkshire so please get in touch if you have any information to pass on or anything which you think may be of interest or help to others in the Branch. You will see from the newsletter that it is a good way to advertise events or to let people know what has been happening to raise awareness of MND in our area. You will find a list of contacts at the back of the newsletter with telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, including the e-mail address for our local web site.

             The South Yorkshire web site is another way of keeping every one informed of the activities within the local area and for passing on information. The site is kept up to date and also includes a link to the main MND site.

You can find it at   www.mndsouthyorkshire.org

 

If you no longer wish to receive the News Letter or it has come to a wrong address could you please let me know so that our mailing list can be  updated.      

                                                                                                                          Michael

 

The South Yorkshire Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association has the sole aim of helping those in the area who are affected by MND. This includes people with MND, their carers, family and friends. You will see as you read this News Letter that a great deal of money has been raised over the last few months swelling the Branch bank balance. Money in the bank however is not the aim, it needs to be used. We are able to help in many ways including help with transport, (i.e. taxis), the purchase of equipment, helping to fund a holiday and many other ways. So please contact us we really want to help.

                                                                                   The Committee

 

Donations to the Branch are always welcome and provide a large part of our income. Cheques should be made payable to :-        

    "MND Association South Yorkshire".

 If you wish to make a donation please contact the Branch Treasurer:-

Paul Hebblethwaite

55 Newfield Lane

Sheffield S17 3DD

 

Tel 0114 236 3222

Chairman's Report

 

An old saying in the City of London used to be "sell in May, go away and don't come back until St Legers Day". It has been a bit like that with our social activities since the very successful evening at the Botanical Gardens. This year the weather was kind to us and we managed to do a complete tour without needing an umbrella. Susan had as usual provided a lovely buffet supper and we are all so grateful to her for hosting this splendid event each year.

 

We had decided not to hold our garden party this year as it would have clashed with the Open Gardens weekend at Owl End, which is just along the lane. Roger and Sue Thompson who own this delightful house had decided to open their beautiful and extensive gardens to the public. They very kindly invited us to serve teas and cakes, and more to the point, reap the profits. Next year, all being well, we hope to hold both events and have our garden party later in the summer.

 

Fortunately three of our Doncaster members took no notice of the City of London and didn't go away, they decided instead to hold three garden parties at their respective houses. It is always a worry organising outdoor events like this, as you never know whether anyone will turn up if it's wet, and what do you do with all the food etc. Anyway they were lucky, the weather behaved itself on all three days, and they made over £800. So a very big thank you to Marlene Bryan, sister in law Cath and friend Gill.

 

The Rotherham meeting on the 5^thSeptember was well attended and it was so nice to see a few new faces, as well as some old regulars like Frank and Denise Murphy. I suspect Frank only comes to scoff the mince pies.

 

At the Sheffield Meeting on 25^thOctober Doctor Christopher McDermott, who is the Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at Sheffield University, is coming to give us a talk. A lot of you will have met Chris at the Clinic as he is a leading member of Professor Shaw's team at SITraN. I know he is a excellent speaker and I am really looking forward to hearing him. If you would like to come and hear Dr. McDermott but find it difficult with transport, please do not hesitate to ring Olga or myself, and I am sure we will be able to sort something out.

Gordon

 

Treasurer's Report

31st July saw the half-way mark of the financial year and our income for the period was £20,011 (2010£32,078). August saw further receipts of £4,455 (2010 £1940). Whilst this large reduction in income might seem to be worrying, it is important to note that last year was exceptional, and the income for 2011 to date, is only slightly down on 2009, which in itself was a record. The decrease is not unexpected considering this is the third year of the Sheffield Half Marathon from which much of the increased income arose. With most of the SHM income in, we have just over £8,000 so far, about half that of 2010. Nevertheless, there have been some excellent fundraising efforts and we are most grateful to those supporters who have made such a difference to our funding. Expenditure on patient care and equipment in the half year was £7,649 (2010 £5,607), so the positive news is that we have managed to give more support to people living with MND. Our bank balance at 31st July was still a very healthy £28,000.

Paul

On behalf of Dr Chris Mc Dermott we would like to thank all those who took part in the Neck Collar Focus Group held at the last Sheffield Open Meeting. A lot of very valuable information was obtained from the exercise.

Sheffield Half Marathon 2011/12

The total raised in this years Half Marathon , although less than in the previous 2 years, was still a very useful amount to be used in helping those affected by MND in our area. The last event for this year will be the Presentation Night on Thursday 10^thNovember. The Branch will not be helping with the 2012 event but we still hope to have as many sponsored runners taking part in both the Half Marathon and Fun Run. 

 

 

Web Site

 

Do you have access to the internet?

Do you use the web site and if so what do you use it for?

Does the site provide what you want and if not how can we improve it?

What do you think of the appearance of the pages and how easy is it to use and to find the information you want.

Please e-mail me with your opinions and suggestions I would love to hear from you.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Michael (mhickman@blueyonder.co.uk)

 

Fund Raising and Social Events

KIER SHEFFIELD SADDLES UP FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Team to cycle John O'Groats toLand's Endfor charity

 THREE LOCAL CHARITIES SAY THANK YOU TO KIER

Kier Sheffield End 2 End cycling team present three local charities with share of £10,000k

Three local charities have said a big "thank you" to Kier Sheffield after receiving a cheque for£10,000 at a ceremony on 18 August.

The funds were raised by a cycling team from Kier Sheffield who took up the challenge to ride 1,000 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End over a nine-day period. As the team took to the roads, other employees at Kier Sheffield raised further funds by hosting a sponsored team cycle event at Ponds Forge where around twenty teams of four all strived to match the 1,000 miles in just one dayThe £10,000 cheque was presented to representatives from Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice, Motor Neurone Disease Association and Sheffield Autistic Society.

Kier regional managing director for maintenance, and member of the cycling team, Simon Bullen, said: "We have exceeded our target and our team is very proud of this achievement. We are very much looking forward our next challenge next year! Thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated much needed funds to our three charities."

The hand-over ceremony completed an evening spent with the charities where the team shared stories and photographs from their journey.

New Association Visitors     

Association Visitors offer regular contact to people affected by Motor Neurone Disease, their families & carers. They can visit people at home, or write / email / telephone if that is preferred. They provide a listening ear, information about living with MND and offer practical and emotional support.

We have 3 new Association Visitors in the South Yorkshire Branch area.

Maggie Lyons & Michael Balkow are based in Sheffield & Marlene Bryan is based in Doncaster.

A warm welcome to the 3 of them.

If you would like contact with an Association Visitor, please contact either Olga Bannister 01142 620237 ( Branch Contact ) or Jane Evans 01142 585235 ( Regional Care Development Adviser ).

 

Past Carers Group

An informal "Past Carers" group meets on the second Sunday of every even month in theMillennium Galleries for a coffee and a chat. The next of these meetings will be on:--

 

 Sunday October 9^that 2-00pm

Sunday December 11^th at 2-00pm

Rotherham Open Meeting

September 5^th 2011

 

 

 Marlene, Cath and Gillhand over the cash from their garden party fund raising events.

 

A cup of tea and a chat

           

 

 

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