Welcome to the
Autumn2016
Focus Newsletter!
Thank you to everybody who supported the Summer Draw and bought raffle tickets. We’ve raised well over £3,000 which is a marvellous contribution and helps keep the core services on track and available for everybody.
We’ve been waiting for some time for the tender to be released for services for blind and partially sighted people combined with services for deaf people across Merseyside. There’s been quite a delay and it’s not come out yet so we are staying as we are and awaiting further information on the tender itself.
We’ve appointed two new rehabilitation officers, Alison Adair and Judith Leech, to work with us until the end of March 2017 to support our work.
We also have a new finance officer, Linda Deery. One of her previous roles was to work for Liverpool Football Club.
Events
Quiz nights on first Thursday of each month. For information call reception on 0151 221 0888.
Every Monday from 4pm to 5pm. Yoga, £3 per session.
Every Wednesday from 5.30pm to 6.30pm Zumba, £3 per session.
On Line Today with Action for Blind People on Thursday 29th September from 1.30pm until 3.30pm, Friday 28th October from 1.30pm until 3.30pm, Friday 28th October from 1.30pm until 3.30pm and Wednesday 7th December from 10am until 12pm.
Contact reception for further information.
Technology for Life Version 2.0 on 12th September from 10.30am until 3.30pm. Admission free. Will be about 15 stalls exhibiting various technologies. Please visit our website under Events and search for Technology for Life Version 2.0.
Healthy Living 22nd September from 11am until 2pm. Will be a variety of health organisations and professionals giving advice. Also beauty treatments and physical activity sessions. Admission free. For more information visit our website on
Macmillan Big Coffee Morning 30th September from 10am until 11.30am. If you would like to donate cakes for the event, please call us on 0151 221 0888.
Ladies Night 21st October – contact Louise on 0151 221 0888
Physic Night 28th October - contact Louise on 0151 221 0888
Christmas Market Sunday 13th November. Santa’s Grotto will be here as usual.
Carol Concert 2nd December - contact Louise on 0151 221 0888
We are holding a wine tasting fundraising event on 30th September. Both cheese and wine will be available for purchase after you have sampled them. Tickets £15. Contact Amanda on 0151 221 0888.
If you or any of your family are members of groups that are looking for a venue for your Christmas meal, our Garden Suite is now taking bookings and still have a few dates available for between 50 to 70 people. For more information on our Festive Menu, contact Amanda on 07799 272924.
Coaching and Community Support
Coaching and Community Support, a non-profit making organisation based in Birkenhead, work with a diverse range of community groups helping people cope better with life’s challenges.
You may want to be more calm in a situation to help you feel more in control, increasing your confidence and self-esteem.
They are trying to get funding to allow them to do two things; firstly, run workshops for people interested in learning new strategies to cope better in life; coach individuals, helping them find the most effective changes they can make and consider options. This can be done in either group or one-to-one settings.
For information contact Helen Reuben on 0151 644 4557.
Visual Impairment in Sports and Physical Activities (VISPA)
Sporting involvement for those with a visual impairment nationally is much lower than for those with other disabilities and compared to the mainstream community.
VISPA are working with key visual impairment organisations in Liverpool. They link in with other sports providers to work with the VI community to raise participation levels.
Partners within this organisation, include Bradbury Fields, Henshaws, St Vincent’s, Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs, SAVVI North West and Liverpool City Council.
Daisy Inclusive UK are a local charity in Liverpool set up about eleven years ago and offer sports, physical activities and different types of sessions to get people who may be isolated in the community taken into a more inclusive environment, trying to get them to socialise more, become more active and involved in sport.
There are sports sessions held on Friday nights from 7pm to 9pm in Peter Lloyds; there are activity groups on Mondays from 5pm to 8pm; Tuesdays 5pm to 7pm; Wednesdays 5pm to 6pm. They are engaging with different age groups primarily to get more disabled people, not just the VI, active and socialised and becoming more independent.
Currently there are three ongoing sessions through the week through the VISPA initiative; golf being one of these working with Blind Golf, England Golf and Lancashire Golf. Hosting through Liverpool City Council the Tennis Centre in Wavertree – every Monday there’s a 6pm to 8pm session for VI’s. Cricket every Friday night at Wavertree Cricket Club. Anyone interested in any of these sessions is welcome to attend, as long as you are VI, but potential volunteers would also be welcome. Contact George Ferguson on 0151 261 0309 or
There will be regular updates of sessions available.
Liverpool Community Health (LCH)
LCH provide community services to people in Liverpool and Sefton, mainly in their own homes although there are also a lot of walk-in centres and health centres around the city. They help people remain at home as long as possible rather than going into hospital.
If you want to contact the Patient Experience, they are open from 9am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, on 0300 7900 2244.
The contact number for PALS is 0151 706 4903.
The continence service is one of the busiest services. The teams are divided across the city. They provide advice on bladder and bowel dysfunction for a wide age range, and also have a paediatric service.
They provide equipment such as a commode, urinal, containment products, etc. They do not provide medication.
They do home visits for housebound patients and provide clinic appointments for people who can attend health centres.
If you think you have a continence problem, you can contact the service directly or go through your GP.
Although the service is only available in the Liverpool area, they will direct people living outside the area to the appropriate health centres in their own area.
Their main contact number is 0151 295 3993.
Frank Davidson can be contacted on 0151 295 3041.
Deafblind UK
Deafblind UK is a national charity that was established in 1928 by a small group of deafblind people and their carers to offer mutual support and understanding to one another. They work with an organisation called Scene in the North East and have come up with some questions you could ask yourself that may identify that you have some hearing loss that you may have put down to everyday life.
Has anyone said you turn the TV/Radio volume up high?
Do you find yourself sitting close to the TV to hear?
Do you ask people to repeat themselves when talking?
Do you ask people to speak up, even in quiet places?
Do you “miss” the doorbell, telephone or alarm clock?
If you answer yes to some of these and you are visually impaired (to any degree) you maybe eligible to access Deafblind UK’s services.
Deafblind UK is a membership organisation. It is free to become a member. As a member you are then entitled to receive the following services absolutely free:
Access to their Information and Advice Line
You can receive regular calls from their volunteer team just to see how you are & they send birthday and Christmas cards to you
In Merseyside an Outreach service is delivered.
We can try to recruit Volunteer befrienders, who can enhance people’s quality of life in many ways.
Their advocacy service supports our members when more complex things go wrong.
In some areas there are support and social groups bringing deafblind people together for companionship, to enjoy activities, share advice and tips with each other, and to have fun together (subs may apply).
Bespoke digital technology support helps deafblind people who have some residual sight or hearing use devises through audio commands and magnification in the way that best suits their level of sensory loss.
A quarterly members’ magazine (Open Hand) in accessible formats keeps members informed and involved.
Members have a voice in shaping services at regional and national forums. The North Members Forum is being held in Manchester on December 13th.
Access to their holiday caravan in Great Yarmouth gives members a welcome break in a deafblind friendly environment.
So if you think you might be eligible to become a member of Deafblind UK because you have some sight and hearing loss, please get in touch. Telephone 0800 132 320, email . If you want to find out more about us online go to Our facebook page is /DBUKCharity . Our twitter is @deafblinduk
Gardening Tips
This is the time of year for buying bulbs and winter plants. Don’t forget to check all bulbs you buy are not squidgy as this means they will not grow.
You can get autumn crocus. Colchicums are expensive and can cost up to £8 each. Ordinary varieties such as Zonatus and Speciosus Conqueror are less expensive and need to be bought and planted by the middle of September as they flowed from October onwards. The flowers appear before the leaves, then the leaves arrive and last most of winter.
Miniature daffodils are ideal if you only have a small garden or just pots. Some names to remember are Tete-a-Tete, Rip Van Winkle, Minnow, Sun Disc and Cornish Chuckle. They will look lovely mixed with species tulips which are small and many of them open like a star. A few varieties are Tarda, Stipa and Peppermint Stick. If you mix them in a post with crocus and grape hyacinths, muscari, they will give you a lovely display for many weeks.
Hardy cyclamen doesn’t mind shade and will come back every year. You can even divide them after they have finished planting and have more plants for free.
Recipe
Victoria Sponge
Ingredients
6 ozself raising flower
6 oz soft margarine
6 oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
Method
Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for 2 minutes.
Divide mixture into 2 greased and lined sandwich tins and bake in middle of over for 30 mins, Gas 4, 180c, or 170 fan.
Leave to cool then sandwich together with raspberry jam.
Christmas
If you know anybody who might be alone at Christmas and would like some company, ring the Bradbury Centre on 0151 221 0888 and they will sort something out. Or ring Margaret Guppy on 0151 726 0161.
Need It to Read It
NHS England Accessible Information Standard comes into full force. It mandates that everyone providing an NHS or adult social care service must provide information in the format that their patients can read. Since April, providers should have been asking their patients about their communication needs and recording these preferences. From 31st July, providers have to send you information in a format you can read. With your permission they must also share your communication needs so you don’t have to request alternative formats across different services.
RNIB have found that some GP practices don’t know about the Standard and have therefore created two ways to help you ensure that your GP practice is in the know.
Option one is to download and complete the DIY GP notification template at
Option two is to phone the helpline on
0303 123 9999.
To help protect the attendance allowance ring the RNIB on 0303 123 9999.
Disclaimer
Although we make every attempt to ensure that the information contained within the newsletter is both timely and accurate, Bradbury Fields cannot be held responsible for any information that is within it. This newsletter is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be either legally binding or contractual in nature.