Centre 68, 68b Westgate, Peterborough PE1 1RG
Tel: 01733 344 844
Email:
March2017 Newsletter
Newsletter also available on CD & memory stick
This newsletter is also available in audio format on CD or USB memory stick (as commonly used by talking book suppliers). If you would like to receive them in future in either of these formats rather than large print, please contact the office on 01733 344 844 or email
Contents
Page 2Chairman’s Chat
Page 3Will you help fundraise for PAB?
PAB Summer trip to Hunstanton
Lions Showtime
Page 4Befriending
Please can you help us keep our records up-to-date?
Activities Update from Nina
Page 6Forthcoming Mini Low Vision Drop-in Day
Local Energy Advice Programme (LEAP)
Page 7Touch Tour at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
PAB Coffee Mornings
Page 8200+ Club winners
Chairman’s Chat
Hello, I hope you are well and have avoided the various bugs that have been about. PAB have quite a few things coming up in the next few months, some of which you will find in this newsletter. We did a fund raising and promotion event in Marks & Spencer food hall in the Queensgate Centre, which was a fantastic opportunity to bring PAB to a new venue. All was going so well, with our trustees and brilliant volunteers bag packing, so Norma and I went to lunch -a very nice sandwich and cup of tea, and a chat about how well things were going. Well, after about thirty minutes, as the cafe is on the second floor we needed to get the lift down to the ground floor. The lift came, a couple with a young child and a baby got in, Norma got in, but as I got in the door decided to close on my shoulder. Norma pressed the button to open the lift, and that's when trouble really started. We had only been in the lift for about four seconds, when it came to a halt, and yes, we were stuck for forty five minutes!!! None of us panicked, I could have done so quite easily, but the little boy who was only two years and four months was so good, and spent some of the time watching Paws Patrol on his daddy’s phone. Norma felt sure that when the doors finally opened the staff would be there with chocs, wine and flowers, but no, what did we get? A bottle of water each!
It has been so nice meeting a couple of members who have recently started coming to our coffee mornings, which take place in St Peter and All Souls church hall on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, from 10.30 until noon. The entrance to the hall is in Fitzwilliam Street, and a warm welcome will await you. Our friendly volunteers will be only too happy to help you if necessary. Tea, coffee and biscuits as well as a chance to chat to other members helps to make this an enjoyable morning.
At our AGM I was nominated to be Chairman for a second year, once again I feel proud and privileged to be Chair of such an important charity, the only local charity supporting people with visual impairment.
Sylvie Wheeler
Will you help fundraise for PAB?
PAB are hoping to applyto the John Lewis Community Matters scheme for funds to help provide more outings for our members. Would you help by nominating us? You can pick up a nomination form from outside the restaurant in John Lewis, or from our office.
PAB Summer trip to Hunstanton
Our outing to the sunny seaside will take place on Thursday 15 June for members and their family and friends. The coach will leave our Westgate office at 10.00am and depart Hunstanton at 4.00pm. Cost will be £5 per person, payable in advance. There will be no charge for accompanying sighted guides. Contact the office on 01733 344 844 to reserve places by 1 June.
Lions Showtime
Members of PAB are once again invited to attend the popular Lions Showtime event. This is an annual variety show, in which talented members of Westwood Musical Society offer a programme of free entertainment to invited groups. PAB will be attending on Wednesday 24 May, at the Parkway Sports & Social Club (formerly the Peterborough Railway Sports & Social Club), Boulevard Retail Park, Maskew Avenue, Peterborough PE1 2AS. Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7.30pm start, and the programme finishes around 10.00pm. To book, please contact the office by Wednesday 12 April, and please let us know if you have difficulty with transport, as we may be able to help.
Befriending
Don’t forget about PAB’s befriending project. If you would like to have regular visits from one of our trained volunteers, please contact Nina via the PAB office.
Please can you help us keep our records up-to-date?
In view of the growing number of PAB activities, we are updating our records and would like to record emergency contact numbers for our members. Please will you contact the office on 01733 344 844 or email and let us know who you would like us to contact, if we are unable to contact you?
Activities update from Nina
Craft group
Once a month, every 2ndTuesday of the month from 1-3 at the community hall behind the Heron pub, Heron Court, Stanground. Come and join a craft group where you can make, glue, or sew crafts in a new group, then take home what you have made. I am hoping to organise willow weaving, but any other suggestions of crafts welcome. There will be a charge of £1 to cover the cost of craft materials. Forthcoming dates are 14 March and 11 April. If there is interest, we are hoping
to set up a group in Bretton, so if you live in Bretton and are interested in crafting, please contact me at the office on 01733 344 844 or email
Quiz team
After the success of the quiz team at the Halycon in Netherton we are hoping to make up another team to visit the Applecart, Bellona Drive, Stanground. The quizzes are held on Wednesday evenings at 8pm and entry fee is £1 each.
Lunch/afternoon tea
Did you know that Kingfisher Court on the corner of Coneygree Road and Thistle Drive in Stanground serve breakfast 9-11, hot lunches 12-2 and are open all day from 9-4 serving hot drinks and cakes? Would you like to meet for tea and cake, or lunch, and a chat with other members? A day and time to be arranged.
If you would like to go further afield we are looking to arrange some trips to a garden centre like Van Hages orDobbies. If you would like a walk around a garden centre and the tea and cake in the café, let us know and we will let you know days and times. Sighted guides will be on hand to help you around.
Wildlife Trust
Back by populardemand, the Wildlife Trust will be coming to St Peter and All Souls church hall on 29 March. Come at 10.45am for an 11 o’clock start. This time they will be talking about birds and have said they may bring in nests, feathers and bird sounds to enjoy. There is a £2 each charge for this activity.
For more information on any of these activities, and if you have any ideas for new ones, please contact me at the office on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Forthcoming Mini Low Vision Drop-in Day
On Tuesday 28 March there will be a drop-in day at our office site Centre 68, Westgate, organised by Dolphin, Enhanced Vision and Calibre Audio Library, to offer a chance to explore the latest products and technologies for blind and partially sighted people. PAB will also have a stand at the event. The drop-in opens at 10.00am and closes at 2.30pm, and refreshments are provided. For further information about the event, call Dolphin Computer Access on 01905 754 577.
Local Energy Advice Programme (LEAP)
This is a new FREE service which provides advice, support and information about energy saving measures to vulnerable households. A trained LEAP helper carries out a home visit to assess your home. They can:
- Install a range of simple measures (radiator panels, LED light bulbs, draught-proofing for doors, windows and letter-boxes, cylinder jackets, pipe lagging)
- Provide energy efficiency advice and training on the use of heat controllers
- Organise the installation of a new heating controller where it is inadequate or broken
- Identify larger energy efficiency measures to improve the property,where ECO funding is available
- Look at the potential for savings from switching energy supplier and help you to switch if required
- If appropriate, refer on to an income maximisation service, carried out by telephone to review finances (e.g. benefits, tax credits, charitable grants, debt advice)
- Identify other hazards and vulnerabilities in the home and refer on to appropriate agencies
If you would like to know more, please contact the office.
Touch Tour at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Enjoy an afternoon touch tour with a tea and coffee break provided. Guide dogs and companions are welcome to all sessions.Booking is essential, to do so please contact or tel:01223 332904.The event is FREE. Meet at the Courtyard Entrance.
The next session is: Up close & personal: Degas & Rodin bronze sculptures on Wednesday 26 April2.30pm-4.15pm.This is a unique opportunity to handle some beautiful bronze sculptures of horses, dancers, and other figures by famous French Impressionist artists, Degas and Rodin. Learn how and why they were made, with Dr Vicky Avery, Keeper of Applied Arts.
PAB Coffee Mornings
Our regular coffee mornings take place every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month 10.30 am-12.00 noon at St. Peter & All Souls’ Church Hall, Fitzwilliam Street, Peterborough. Come along and enjoy tea, coffee and biscuits, the popular team quiz, a raffle and sometimes a talk. Dates for your diary are:
Wednesday8 MarchThorntons Chocolates tbc
Wednesday 22 March
Wednesday 12 AprilPCVS local energy advice
Wednesday 26 April
Wednesday 10 May
Wednesday 24 May
200+ Club winners
Our 200+ Club helps to pay for this newsletter to be produced and circulated to all our members. If you would like an application form for yourself, your family or friends, or would like to take out additional shares, you can pick an application form up at coffee mornings. Alternatively, contact the office on 01733 344 844 and we’ll be happy to send you one.
Congratulations to these recent winners:
14 December£100Mr Frank Allum
11 January£50Mrs Marlene Atton
£30Mr Kevin Cosham
£20Mrs Sylvie Siecker
8 February£50Mr Keith Puplett
£30Mr Derek Hayward
£20 Mr K A Lucas
Best wishes from the PAB committee
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