The Link JOURNAL OF THE BARNET & SOUTH HERTS BRANCH OF THE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY PROVIDING THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT MS

March 2015 Charity Number 1139257.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR It is a great relief that the days are getting longer and that we can look forward to flowering gardens. There is a lot of news in this Link, not least the date of the AGM which I hope a lot of you will attend and which will hopefully produce a new Chairman and a new Treasurer for our committee.

Marie-Christine 1

Tesco Collection On a cold and windy day in January, nine hardy people volunteered to collect for our branch at the Tesco supermarket in Friern Barnet. These brave folk were: Ruth Mountford, Malcolm Hayward, Noney Hayward, Conrad Brinkworth, Sheila Guisanni, Eileen James. LilyTierney, Carole Wood, Mick Wood. Between them, they raised £389.70 Thank you all from all of us!

BOREHAMWOOD SOCIAL 8 members attended the 3rd social on the 17th of February and all participated in an on line game of Bingo (won by Anna) and an entertaining quiz (won by team 3 ) ,with prizes of chocolates being awarded to the winners. The games were run by John Humphreys (not the Radio 4 Welshman!! ) who had travelled from Hornchurch with his wife Jackie.Many thanks to them both. We were also helped by Terry and Ray,who provided transport for those travelling from outside the Borehamwood area. The next social will be held at 96, Shenley Road from 2.00 to 4.00p.m on Tuesday the 24th March. Do come,you are sure to enjoy it. Peter Hayes

020 8236 0718

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TREAT ME RIGHT A speaker from MS Headquarters is coming to the March Discussion Group to talk about “Policy & Campaigns”. Too many people affected by MS in the UK have to fight for the treatment and support they need. The Campaign Team lobby government to change that with campaigns like Treat Me Right and to make sure ministers know what is important for people affected by MS, Come along to the meeting to hear more about how the team put pressure on the government and how you too could help. For more details about the campaign, look at the website: http://www.treatmerightms.org.uk/ Please make a note in your diary: 17th March 2015 – 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm – Discussion Group St John’s United Reform Church Hall, junction of Somerset Rd and Mowbray Rd EN5 1RH

Remember Noreen ? For those who don’t remember Noreen, she was a Physiotherapist at Marie Foster but very sadly died from pancreatic cancer some years ago. Her husband Adrian organizes a fund-raising event each year to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Association. He does this by having a Musical Cabaret and Quiz Evening (which is great fun) and is run by two professional musicians. Supper is included in the price. This year it will be on 18th April in Radlett and costs £20. Adrian gives his services to us on our Quiz Nights and it would be wonderful to thank him by supporting this worthy cause. Pauline Jarman

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AGM This year, our AGM is on Thursday 2nd April, at 8.00 pm at Lyonsdown Hall in New Barnet. This is a very important time for all members to attend if they possibly can. It is a time when you can make your opinions heard and you can put forward any changes you would like to see. In order to vote at the AGM you must be a paid-up member of the branch. We have a very hard-working committee most of whom are Pensioners and who are feeling a bit tired, so if you are somebody, or know somebody who would like to be proposed for a job on the committee (and thus have your opinions acted on) now is the time to do it. Please send your proposal to me with a brief outline of the person. If you would like to propose somebody but will not be able to attend the meeting you can ask me for a proxy voting form, which I must receive by March 31st. The present committee are: Chairman

Vacant

Statistician & Link by email

John Deutsch

Treasurer

Vacant

Support Officers

Betty Essex Daphne Munro

Link Editor

Marie-Christine O’Callaghan Barry Dewsall

Support officer (V)

Peter Hayes

P.R.O

Vacant

Transport Officer + Booking &Escort

Terry Wraith

Shop Managers

Margaret Giller Eileen James

Secretary

Vacant

Minute Secretary

Lisa Giller

Entertainment

Pauline Jarman

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Saturday 21st March The NRC Support Group will be holding a Quiz night with fish and chip supper in the School Hall at All Saints’ Primary School, 116 Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone N20 9EZ at 7pm sharp on Saturday 21st March. The school is right next to the church hall where we have previously held our quiz. The price is £13 per head. If you are interested, please go to www.nrcsupport.com/html/quiz_night for details and a link to our contact and entry form. (Please note the underscore in the middle of quiz_night). If you prefer phone contact, please call John Deutsch on 020-8445-1927. The NRC Support Group raises funds to help the patients and staff of the Royal Free Neurological Rehabilitation Centre at Edgware Community Hospital. The centre replaced the former Marie Foster Home in Barnet. NRC Support Group. Registered charity number 1130959. 12 Langton Avenue, London, N20 9DB 5

A sixty kilometer trek across the Himalayas

Glowing red in the morning sun from the Poon Hill, the Annapurnas and Dhaulagiri were a magnificent sight. An hour’s steep ascent to Poon Hill at 4.30am allowed us to watch the spectacular sunrise over this incredible mountain range. At 3400m (12,000ft) we have walked above the clouds, the temperature is 3degrees and the air is thin. What feels like being on top of the world makes me think of how small we are. I think about what brought me here, raising money and awareness for the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, the organisation that helped my Dad through his six month battle with bowel and liver cancer at North Middlesex Hospital. They offer counselling and complementary therapies such as reflexology and lymphatic drainage of patients and their immediate carers. They also run numerous clinical trials. Completing such a challenge in his memory, has given me the motivation and determination never to give up. Three days earlier, a six hours bumpy bus ride took us from Kathmandu to Pokhara where we began our trek. A relatively easy first day took us to Ulleri. Here we had our first experience of a Nepalese tea house; a ramshackle wooden building on stilts, with basic rooms, damp beds, challenging squat toilets and cold showers. Needless to say our antibacterial hand gel was worth its weight in gold during similar accommodation experiences over the next five days. Our second day was a day of steps – seven hours’ worth. We climbed 1,400m in total over 11km that day. It was physically punishing in 27 degrees, but our first glimpse of snow-capped mountains made it all worthwhile. Reaching Poon Hill at dawn on day three was a real highlight, and the sense of achievement and poignancy for the whole group was palpable. Numb toes, fingers and growling stomachs were the only things that got us to leave the magnificent views. Trekking after breakfast led us through incredible oak and rhododendron forests. Lush greenery, floral aromas, waterfalls, gorges and monkeys were some of the treats we came across on the way to Tadpani where more spectacular views of Annapurna South and Machapuchare (Fishtail Mountain) awaited us. “Breakfast with a view” the next morning was an understatement. Our last day’s one kilometer descent to Ghandruk was easy on the lungs but hard on the knees. Ghandruk is a beautiful Gurung (Ghurka) village where we visited a local school, gave out pencils and balloons and played with the children. In all, we trekked over 60km in four days. It was challenging and life-changing and I will treasure and reflect on it for the rest of my life. At the time of writing, Kevin Pollard and I have raised over £60,000. If you would like to donate please visit www.justgiving/Emma-Lincoln What next? Maybe Everest Base Camp…

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Emma Lincoln is the niece of Sheila Guissani, one of our members.

COLLECTION AT BRENT CROSS CAN YOU HELP? We are looking into the possibility of holding a collection at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in May/June 2015. It would probably be on a Saturday. We have found that collecting is a good way of raising funds and awareness. I have collected there for another charity, and found that people were very generous. In order to get permission for this, we need to have at least 6 collectors present at any time during the collection. So before we apply we need to know roughly how many people can collect for us on the day. If you feel that you, or someone you know, might be able to help, please could you let us know. You can call Marie-Christine on 020-8444-0812 or email to [email protected] It would be helpful if you could tell us the following:Name Contact details Dates in May and June when you would or would not be available Preference for Saturday or Sunday Do you need us to provide transport for you? Would you be in a wheelchair? Would you have an assistance dog with you? For how long you could collect Any other needs that we should be aware of. 7

It is amazing that despite the committee being without a Chair, Treasurer and Secretary they are managing to soldier on. This situation is only possible as the remaining committee members have taken on parts of these vacant positions, but we must all be aware that only some of the work can be addressed. We would ask the members once again to ask any family/friend/acquaintances if they could help to fill at least parts of the vacant positions that we cannot cover. If we cannot address this important issue we can only remain in a holding pattern and will not be able to move forward. Our committee is populated by workers who have been offering their time and effort free for tens of years. We need new blood. We were informed that the collection at Tesco raised £389.70 and of the success of the luncheon where the raffle bought in £98.00. The committee is without a Treasurer and until now we have always used a written book keeping system. As of January we will be using a computerised system and that will mean the National Centre can do our year end saving us money and time. We discussed the ambulances and a repair that we were expecting turned out not to be needed thereby saving our funds. Buoyed by our resolve to computerise we are going to start putting the journey logs for our ambulances on a spreadsheet. As always the shop needs more helpers but is managing to still bring in money every week. The shop is situated in East Barnet and has no sorting room and nowhere for the staff to sit and have a drink or eat their lunch. A decision was taken that we should hand in our notice and look for a shop that will meet our needs. To that end, notice was served in January on the Landlords and we will be leaving in August this year. We are starting negotiations with a new landlord and will keep the members updated. We are so pleased that members in Borehamwood have managed to get a new group going. At present, it meets once a month and we hope to increase that to twice a month. Thank you for all the work that has gone in to get this organized. A reminder to all, this group is open to all and needs your support.

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We now have a website www.barnetandsouthherts-ms-soc.org as well as the page on the MS Society website http://www.mssociety.org.uk/nearme/branches/barnet-and-south-hertfordshire-branch and a Facebook page Multiple Sclerosis Charity Shop East Barnet Village. Please support these.

Ouch! Ouch explores the disability world in blog posts and a monthly internet radio talk show. It is brought to you by an award-winning team of disabled journalists – Emma Tracey and Damon Rose – with help from guest contributors who all have personal connections to disability. Ouch goes behind the headlines of disability news, and also lifts the lid on the little details about being disabled that are not widely talked about. You can add your comments on each story Every month, Rob Crossan and Kate Monaghan present the programme you didn’t know you wanted to hear. It's disability from a fresh angle featuring interviews, discussion and the occasional quiz. The (disabled) presenters dissect and analyse recent events with interest and a good dose of healthy humour. The latest talk show is about: “Oscars, acting and singing on the tube” It asks whether it is really like "blacking up" if a non-disabled actor plays a disabled role? Plus the monthly quiz, music and the man with mental health difficulties filmed singing on the tube who became a viral hit on YouTube.

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THE BARNET BRANCH MS 100 CLUB 2014-2015

FEBRUARY 2015 DRAW 1. 2 3 4

£20 £10 £10 £10

No. 21 No. 61 No. 19 No. 44

Mrs J. MORTIMER Mrs J.M. HARPER Mrs M.E. BRYCE Miss Wyn JOHNSON

For anyone reading this list, it is a reminder that you can still enrol for the Barnet MS 100 Club, which provides support for the MS patients of the Barnet Branch. Four numbers are drawn every month until August. The first number out of the hat receives £20 and the other three numbers £10 each. The results are published in THE LINK and the cheques will be sent by post unless you decide to gift your winnings to the Barnet MS Society. We hope to keep the number of members growing – Encourage your friends to join the Barnet MS 100 Club. They can use the form below or they can use any sheet of paper to send their name, address and phone number, with a £12 cheque made payable to ‘MS Society Barnet’ and forward it to Janine Tyler, Halcyon, 47 Barnet Road, Barnet EN5 3HB.

I wish to join the 100 Club and enclose my subscription of £12 Name, Initials:…………………………………………………………(Mr., Mrs, Miss Address:………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Post Code:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Phone no……………………………………………… Cheques should be made payable to ‘M.S. Society Barnet’ and forwarded to: Mrs Janine Tyler, Halcyon, 47, Barnet Road, Barnet EN5 3HB Would you like your winnings to be treated as a donation? Yes No

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1st 6th 7th 10th 10th 17th 18th 18th 19th 23rd 31st

A Imalda Vivienne Peter Hilary Lesley Malcolm Oliver Lois Jackie Sally

Edgware Potters Bar East Finchley East Finchley East Finchley Edgware New Barnet North Finchley Finchley Barnet New Barnet

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While yet we wait for spring, and from the dry

While yet we wait for spring, and from the dry And blackening east that so embitters March, Well-housed must watch grey fields and meadows parch, And driven dust and withering snowflake fly; Already in glimpses of the tarnish'd sky The sun is warm and beckons to the larch, And where the covert hazels interarch Their tassell'd twigs, fair beds of primrose lie. Beneath the crisp and wintry carpet hid A million buds but stay their blossoming; And trustful birds have built their nests amid The shuddering boughs, and only wait to sing Till one soft shower from the south shall bid, And hither tempt the pilgrim steps of spring. Robert Seymour Bridges

Dates for your Diary

Thursday

5th March

Branch Social Evening - Lyonsdown Hall

Tuesday 17th March Discussion Group - (7.30 pm) St. John's United Reform Church Hall, Junction Somerset Road and Mowbray Road, EN5 1RH Thursday 2nd April (8.0 pm) Annual General Meeting, MS Branch Lyonsdown Hall Tuesday 21st April Discussion Group - (7.30 pm) St. John's United Reform Church Hall, Junction Somerset Road and Mowbray Road, EN5 1RH

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Useful Phone Numbers Betty Daphne Janine John Terry Marie-Christine

Mem Sec Discussion Group 100 Club Link by email & branch computer Transport & Escorts Editor

020 8445 8195 020 8449 6131 020 8449 5394 020 8445 1927 020 8441 4696 020 8444 0812

The MS Nurse Specialist is Chammi Deva Karunnathilaka she can be contacted on 02089512127 (answer phone at the Edgware Community Hospital) or by E-mail: [email protected] MS shop: 18 Church Hill Road EN4 8TB Tel number: 0208 441 2551

Free MS Helpline 0808 800 8000 Monday to Friday 9am – 9pm

All news items for The Link should reach the editor by the 18th day of the previous month

The Link is published by the Barnet and South Herts Branch of the MS Society. We give regular updates about MS and what is happening locally in the MS community. Editor: Marie-Christine O’Callaghan Contact number – 020 8444 0812 Email: [email protected] All the views expressed in the publications are individual and not necessarily the view or policy of the charity and its supporters.

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