SOUTH YORKSHIRE BRANCH

 

Winter 2011

 

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NEWS LETTER

 

 

Winthrop Gardens May 17^th2011

 

 

Reg Charity 294354

 

 

Gordon Harrison 13.06.1924 - 29.11.2011

 

It is with great sadness that I am writing to tell you that Gordon Harrison has died peacefully at home after a short illness.

It is just over 14 years since I met Gordon and his wife, Peggy, who had just been diagnosed with MND. I visited them several times during the course of Peggy's illness and they both became involved with the newly relaunched South Yorkshire Branch of the MND Association.

Following Peggy's death, Gordon stayed in touch with the Branch and was soon involving his beloved Sickleholme Golf Club in raising money for the MND Association. Over the years they have raised thousands of pounds for the MND Association in Peggy's memory.

As the Branch developed Gordon was happy to become involved in the organisation of the Branch, eventually becoming chairman. Under his calm, wise, sociable leadership the Branch has gone from strength to strength, becoming an extremely successful Branch, well known across the region for the excellent support it gives to people affected by MND.

As well as chairing the Branch, Gordon was always involved in the numerous fund raising events undertaken by the Branch and its supporters. His huge circle of family and friends were regularly involved in volunteering and helping out, particularly with the Sheffield half marathon and "Gordon's Garden Parties". Something Gordon particularly enjoyed was being invited along to the various fundraising golf days across the region & only in mid September he was at such a day in Rotherham.

Many of you will have met Gordon at Branch meetings and Branch events. Others of you will have enjoyed his lovely company as an Association Visitor. Others of you will have enjoyed reading his cheery "Chairman's Reports" in the newsletter, some of you will have received his handwritten thank you letters and letters of condolence.

Whatever your contact has been with Gordon you will have known him as a true gentleman - wise, friendly, humorous, genuine, kind and caring. To many of us he was a great friend.

The last time I saw Gordon he knew the seriousness of his illness but he said that he'd had a good life, he had no regrets and that all good things must come to an end.

He will be greatly missed.

 

Jane Evans, Regional Care Development Adviser. 

 

 

 Gordon

 

Taken in 2009 on one of his walks in his favourite area of Blackamoor.

 

 

Welcome to our Winter 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 the Treasurers report that we still have a healthy 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. Sopleasecontact us we really want to help.

                                                                                                 The Committee

 

 

 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.

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 ).

 

 

 

Treasurer's Report

 

The Sheffield Half Marathon awards evening took place in November, and runners supporting MNDA South Yorkshire achieved two of the top six places for individual fundraisers. We are most grateful to all those who took part and raised funds for us.

This was our third year as one of the 10 marathon charities and will be our last. We will, however, invite entries for the 2012 event, and our marathon organiser, Ann Quinn, will shortly be contacting those who ran for us this year to see if they will run again. I do hope we can have even more runners in 2012, so please contact her if you are interested. Don't forget that there is also a 3k fun run. Why not get a team together to make it even more fun? We now have the final total for 2011 and I can inform you that we raised £9002. The gift aid is still to come in, and this should take the total close to £10,000.

 

The last three months have been good with income being £13,737, making total income for the 9 months to 31^stOctober £33,750 (2010 £41,737). We are particularly grateful to Kier Sheffield who has again given us a substantial donation this year. Thanks also go to Betafence and to Aviva who have been most generous. Expenditure on patient care and equipment in the 9 months was £20,216 (2010 £20,155). Our bank balance at 31st October was £32,512.

 

                                                                             Paul

 

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  Home  0114 236 3222  Work 01142681441

 

e-mail  paulh@haywoodandco.com

 

 

 

 

My Friend Tilly

My name is Chris (Christine) Jackson and I was diagnosed with MND on July 19^th2011. The date is indelibly printed throughout my body like a stick of Filey rock or anywhere else come to that.

My right hand was affected first and then the voice, mouth and tongue. As I have always been a talker it was a big blow, made worse by the fact that being right handed meant that I couldn't write down what I wanted to say! Oh joy was I doomed to struggle making my weird sounding voice understandable. Phone calls soon became a no, no the only way was to text.

An appointment was made for a speech therapist to come and visit. Lynne came and was very helpful giving me strategies and ways of coping. At the back of my mind I thought I had heard about a speaking machine so I asked if it was possible to have one. Lynne immediately said she would get her colleague Nicola to come and give me a demonstration.

Nicola came with a little keyboard dark grey in colour called a Lightwriter. She demonstrated it and said she would leave it with me for a week to see how I liked it. At first I was unsure typing with my left hand was fine but when it came to the voice oh dear where was the Yorkshire accent and how posh! Over the week things improved and it was better than the frustration of trying to make myself understood.

Nicola came back on 8^thSeptember as promised, this time with a different machine. An updated version which would take my SIM card and then I could text and more importantly receive texts on this very clever machine. Nicola also brought with her a very nice young man who demonstrated the next machine up which becomes a mobile phone and speaks through the phone. Wow! However that's in the future.

To get back to the machine with the SIM card in. Would it work, would people really text me, and how would I know I had a text, quite a few what ifs, should I give it a name? My husband and I went through a host of names and Mathilda was suggested, it didn't sound right but Tilly did, so Tilly she became. It may sound amusing, strange, totally nuts but she has become a very good friend who has given me my chatty life back.

As a previous technophobe I had viewed the machine with some trepidation. Now I wonder what I could have done without it. I have discovered ways of making Tilly talk with a different vowel pronunciation, how to forward texts, how to delete messages and I am still learning that there is more to Tilly than I thought. She really has become a lifeline and my voice in the family, with friends and in the community. Our grandsons like hearing grandma's computer because she can keep saying things more than once. Great when you would like them to do something and Tilly says it over and over again.

To any of you out there struggling to be understood get your speech therapist involved, it will make such a difference. If you think a machine is beyond you, just have a go, you may be surprised. If you are a supporter do some fund raising, to help buy more of these machines for others like me to borrow. If you are a professional, be reassured that you are doing an amazing job providing support for people with MND.

Chris Jackson ( September 2011 )

 

 

Branch Meetings at Rotherham, Sheffieldand Doncaster

2.00pm start unless listed otherwise.

Open Meetings 2011

  

Salvation Army Citadel, Psalter Lane.Sheffield S11 8YN

 

Tuesday 13^thDecember

 Mr John Hamshere

To talk about the recent floods at Sheffield Industrial Museum

2012

Tuesday 7^thFebruary

17^thApril AGM

 17^thJuly   Botanical Gardens

16^thOctober

11^thDecember

 

United Reform Church, Stag Roundabout WickersleyRotherham S60 4JN

  

Monday5th December

2012

Monday 5^thMarch

June ?

Monday 3^rdSeptember

Monday 3rdDecember

 

New Support Group in Doncaster.

Next meetings

Thursday 15^thDecember 

The Linney Centre,

Weston Road (on the service road behind the shops),

Doncaster,

DN4 8NF

We do understand that for some of you, coming along to your first meeting can be worrying. If you have any concerns or would like more information please do contact your Regional Care Development Adviser, Jane Evans - 0114 2585235 or emailjane.evans@mndassociation.org

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 If anyone requires further information or directions to the Branch Meetings, or if anyone would like assistance to get there, please contact any of the branch committee members. We are very happy to assist with funding for taxis for people with MND and their carer to attend Branch meetings. (A down loadable map for the Open Meeting venues can be obtained from the website. (www.mndsouthyorkshire.org)

 

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:--

December meeting cancelled

Sunday February 12^th2012 at 2-00pm

 

 

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