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. Almost 300 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 links to other sites of interest, as well as a link to the main MND site.

              You can find it at    www.mndsouthyorkshire.org

                                                                                                  Michael

Chairman’s Report

Inspite of the wretched summer we have been surprisingly lucky with the weather for our outdoor functions, or at least relatively so. It was a great turnout for the “Walk to Defeat” and the rain held off just long enough for everyone to complete the course; everyone that is except Alf Green and Elaine who unfortunately arrived a bit late and very sensibly decided to have a cup of tea, listen to the band and wait for us all to come back. It was particularly nice to see Diane and Chris and to hear all about their wedding plans and their honeymoon in Canada.

The evening in the Botanical Gardens was perfect and the Gardens were absolutely lovely; they really do get better each year we go. Susan Turner organised it as usual and guided us round. She also provided a splendid finger buffet for us in the school room at the bottom of the gardens. Thank you very much Susan; it was a most enjoyable occasion.

 The garden party also was a great success and I do thank everybody who braved the gale force winds to make it all worth while; we made just short of £1800—fantastic.

We have been appointed one of the ten official charities to benefit from the next Sheffield Half Marathon which is being run on the 26^th April. The more entries we get running under the M.N.D. banner the more money we receive so if anybody feels like having a go or can twist anybody’s arm it would be marvellous. Obviously a lot of us are not now up to that kind of running but it might be worth considering the Fun Run which is just round the Stadium. It is literally great fun with people in wheelchairs, entrants pushing children in prams and many in fancy dress. It all brings in sponsorship money which is what it is all about. All the details about applying etc are given below so do think about it.

At the October meeting our speaker is Craig Thompson whose mother, who lived in Newcastle, was diagnosed with M.N.D. two years ago. Craig being so far away realised he would be unable to offer all the support he would have liked so he decided to concentrate on raising funds. He has done wonderfully well, and amongst things he undertook the gruelling Arctic Challenge. It is going to be a very interesting and inspiring talk, so please do come. Anyone who has transport difficulty do please ring me or one of the Committee and I am sure we will be able to help.

                                                                                                  Gordon

Treasurers Report 

The second quarter of the financial year which ended on 31^st July saw expenditure on patient care and equipment of £3,222, which is around average.

Income from donations was slightly above average at £3,900. The garden party raised a marvellous total of £1,700 and the Walk to D’Feet £373.

It is pleasing to see the financial position of the Branch going from strength to strength. 

                                                                                               Paul

Free cinema card for Carers    (www.ceacard.co.uk)

Patricia Morton, a member of the South Yorkshire Branch, e-mailed me to say she had come across this information and thought it would be of interest to some people. She has checked the list of participating cinemas and all the Sheffield cinemas do it.

The card is operated by “the cinema exhibitors’ association limited” and an application form can be obtained from supporting cinemas across the UK. To apply for the card you will need to meet one of the following criteria :-

                          a Be in receipt of disability living allowance.

                          b Be a registered blind person.

A processing fee of £5-50 is chargeable per card

The card is used is used to verify that the holder is entitled to one free ticket for a person accompanying them in the cinema. If you have any difficulty there is more information on our local website or contact “The Card Network” on 0845 123 1292  If its just an application form you want contact me (Michael Hickman) and I will obtain one to send to you.

Patricia also mentions the web site   http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ for information on benefit entitlements etc and also how useful the Sheffield Carers Centre was to her.

 News from Head Office

Hints, tips and problem-solving come from many different sources to help people living with MND manage everyday activities. The best advice often comes from people who have first hand experience of living with MND. With the help and support of the PMA/PALS email support group, we are delighted to introduce you to new pages on our website, (www.mndassociation.org/hintsandtips), as provided by people living with MND.

Accessible Britain

The Motability Car Scheme and Rough Guides have between them produced a guide for ideas on tried and tested days out across the UK. The guide is user friendly with handy maps to help plan your day out. The guide costs £6-99 (inc post and packing) or free to Blue Badge holders who pay £1-99 for P&P.

Available on line at :- www.accessibleguide.co.uk.

If you do not have access to the Internet please ring Michael on 0114 250 0078.

Free atlas for Blue Badge holders

PIE Enterprises is offering a free UK atlas for Blue Badge drivers full of information for the disabled traveller, showing which petrol stations are accessible, where you can park and how accessible the accommodation is and more. Normally retailing at £12-99 the Atlas is free and you pay only £3-99 P&P.

To claim your free copy, send a cheque for £3-99 payable to PIE Enterprises and quoting the reference FREEATLAS with your name, address, telephone number and email address to:

PIE Enterprises Ltd

Caledonia House

223 Pentonville Road

London N1 9NG

Or alternatively apply online at www.thepieguide.com/shop by selecting the atlas at its normal price, following the prompts until you reach the coupon code, enter freeatlas into the coupon box and you will now only be charged £3-99.

Searching for Heroes 

In this years New Years Honours List 82% of all OBEs and MBEs were for people who have undertaken charitable or voluntary service, either as part of their job or independently. To find similarly deserving people for future Honours the Government is asking organizations across a range of interests – from charities and volunteers to local and health authorities, sports and faith groups and business – to play their part in submitting ideas for who should receive Royal recognition for working so hard on behalf of others.

Anyone can submit a nomination, you do not need to be an official of any organization. To find out how, go to http://www.honours.gov/ or write   to the

Ceremonial Secretariat at the Cabinet Office, 35 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BQ tel 020 7276 2777

Carers .

Did you Know

              On in ten adults in the UK is a carer

              Three million people juggle work with caring responsibilities

              1.25 million people provide over 50 hrs a week caring

              People providing high levels of care are twice as likely to be permanently sick or disabled themselves

              1.3 million carers are over 65

              The main carers benefit is Carers Allowance is £48-65 per week for a minimum of 35 hours

              Carers save the Government £57 billion each year 

Carers Uk (England) Tel 020 7490 8818

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