Castle Bromwich Community Website

Castle Bromwich 700

My family recently heard about the Castle Bromwich Community Hall Project and its offer of a commemorative paver. The timing could not have been better as we were considering how to commemorate the life of a recently deceased relative and this seemed to offer the perfect opportunity to both preserve her name and to contribute some money towards a worth while community project.

St Mary & St Margaret's Church are offering for sale 700 walkway pavers which can be used to preserve your name, to remember a loved one, a special event, a business, a club or a society. The choice is yours. The pavers will be engraved for the area outside the proposed New Community Hall.

Anybody wanting further details should contact the Revd. Gavin Douglas OBE - Phone: 0121 747 8546

Living with MS means living with uncertainty and adapting to changing situations.The MS Society works along with health care professionals to run information sessions for people with MS. Additionally, the award winning MS Helpline offers confidential emotional support and information to anyone affected ny MS including the newly diagnosed, family, friends, carers and those who have been living with the condition for many years.

Phone: 0800 800 8000 (Monday to Friday 9am-9pm except bank holidays)

or email helpline@mssociety.org.uk

There is also a Solihull & District Branch of the MS Society which offers a range of support services including:

• Providing appropriate, high-quality information on MS
• Holding up-to-date information on other local services
• Communicating via a regular newsletter
• Providing a trained person to offer information and support to people who are newly-diagnosed
• Appropriate support for all those affected by MS, including family, friends and carers
• Financial support where this is needed but unavailable through other sources

In addition the Solihull & District Branch organise a range of events and activities.Aromatherapy, Chiropody, Physiotherapy and Reflexology are offered to members and one carer at home by fully qualified therapists. If you are interested in any of these, please contact the Branch on 0121 745 7981.

For more details on the Solihull & District Branch check out their website HERE

Staff and Volunteers at Age Concern Solihull are aiming to get fit by entering a team of runners in this year?s Blythe Valley Park Charity Fun Run taking place on Sunday 13th September.

The Running Team will be taking part in the 5Km Run,starting at 11.30am, to raise much needed funds for the work that Age Concern Solihull does with the elderly and vulnerable residents of the Borough of Solihull.

If you would like to sponsor the Age Concern Teamplease contact Denise or Alison at Age Concern Solihull on 0121 705 9128.  Alternatively please call into our offices in person at The Priory, Church Hill Road, Solihull, B91 3LF. 

Website address  www.ageconcernsolihull.org.  

Pictured in the photograph (attached) are members ofthe Age Concern Solihull  running team(Left to right, Alison, Julie, Margaret, Denise, Amie).

Acheque for £4000 was presented to Acorns Children's Hospice Trust byCastle Bromwich Friends of Acorns, this takes the total raised by theCastle Bromwich based friends to well in excess of £50,000, aremarkable achievement which is much appreciated by the trust.

 AcornsChildren's Hospice Trust cares for life-limited children and theirfamilies from across the West Midlands. Since 1988 more than 1100families have been helped by Acorns, but there are many more that wouldappreciate the help that Acorns can offer.

The friends were assisted in their fund raising attempts in 2008 by CastleBromwich Junior School  who themselves presented Acorns wiith a chequefor £898.98 in December. You can see photographs of this donation onthe CBJS website HERE.

Every other Friday, Arden Hall Castle Bromwich hosts Age Concern'sFriday Club. The afternoon social session organised and run by Albert and Margaret Turner MBE with help from a group of willing volunteers isa life line to many socially isolated elderly people. Club members are picked up from home either by Ring and Ride or volunteer drivers and spend the afternoon chatting, playing bingo and having tea in thecompany of others. I have spent several pleasant afternoons with them,chatting about everything from changing fashions to how to solve the world's problems. Nora Ward told me, "I really look forward to a Friday afternoon here. I'm partially sighted and this is the only way I can get out. It's really nice to meet other people."

CyrilBrampton told me that he's been going to the club for three years. He had a heart attack last year and didn't leave the house or see anybodyf or over four weeks. He really missed the company that he receives when he attends the club. Since his heart attack, he can't walk any distance and like Nora, the only way he gets out or sees anybody is by getting on the Ring and Ride and coming to the club.

This Friday when I arrived a little late, a game of bingo was already under way. As I looked around the room it struck me how happy everybody looked as they laughed and joked together. Joyce Hughes told me, "I miss getting out to my bingo, but the big halls are just too fast for me now. Our bingo sessions here are just right and I can chat and have a cup of tea at the same time. Call me a tea pot. I love my tea, but at home it's often too much of an effort to make a cup. Here I'm served with as many cups as I like."

After afternoon tea consisting of sandwiches andcakes, it was time for the drivers to return the pensioners to their homes. Dora Shore told me, "A friend of mine kept asking me to come along here. It took me a long time to do so, but I'm really glad that Idid eventually come. It's a good source of conversation. I'm picked up by Peter Shipley who I see at the Church. He sings there and has a really good voice. I think it would be nice if we could have a singsong here too sometimes. It's good exercise for the lungs and alwaysmakes me feel better and happier."