Fibro Active in July
By Julie Barker, Chairperson
Before I begin, I just want to thank everyone who has followed us for the past 5 years. I started writing these articles just a year after Fibro Active started and you have seen us through our highs and lows. Apart from the odd special, this article is the 60th in the series of ‘Setting up and Running a Support Group.’ If you have followed the series, you will know there is always something to write about. I hope you have found them inspiring and informative.
July has been no different! We started off on a double high, went through the motions in the middle and ended on an “oh my God! I’ve got so much to do!” Including writing this article!
Office move
So, the beginning of the month started with us moving into the committee room at Petersham Community Hall, from where we run group meetings and classes. We now have a multi-use office that has enabled us to widen our services and activities. More importantly, I have now got my front room back after 6 years! I really don’t know where I managed to put everything!
Arriving home, Jane spotted the email first, we had been successful in our National Lottery grant application and we now had £8k to bring free Fibro Therapy courses to you.
I quickly got to work on a leaflet for the Borrowash GP Link event which was happening the following day. I referred back to the funding bid for details and worked out course dates. I printed out just 10 thinking the event would be a quiet affair.
GP Link Event
On July 2nd I arrived at the Methodist Church in Borrowash, just in time to set up. I was loaded with cakes as I was sharing a table with Jo Briggs, the Strictly no Falling coordinator, I thought we would have ample time to catch up over cake. How wrong I was!
From the time we started, to the time we packed away, Ben from Re-Think on my left, (he is Dawn from group’s, son) and Jo on my right, we didn’t stop - there were hundreds of people. They had all received a text from their GP saying we were going to be there, the patients came in their hundreds, queuing to talk about fibro and about the tai chi classes. The free course leaflets were gone in minutes, I saved one so that people could take a photo. The noise was deafening, my throat was sore, my voice hoarse! We left shattered and shocked! Afterwards, we sat separately in our cars eating cake! Cake is the answer to everything!!
Dr Lam
3rd: The first Sunday of the month is Dr Lam’s Tai Chi for Health instructor forum, this month 10 countries came together via Zoom to listen to expert teachings and network in small groups. This month’s theme was ‘Spiral Force’.
Connect Erewash Fortnight
4th: Today is the start of the Connect Erewash Fortnight, beginning with Sandiacre Library. This was a make-or-break event to recruit more students to the classes we run at St Giles’ Church Hall. These classes started off with great promise but had never really taken off. Sadly, there wasn’t a great turn out which was very disappointing especially after being at such a successful event in Borrowash. Luckily, I was able to leave early as our tai chi classes started at 1.30pm at Petersham Hall, Long Eaton.
5th: Tuesday group started with a good warm up and some qigong stretches, followed by Symptom of the Month. This month’s theme was Sleep Disturbances, we covered all the basics, then Ben, our tai chi friend and fellow instructor, volunteered to talk about his experience with sleep apnoea. We had a new starter that week, Matthew, who had approached the Borrowash stall, he joined in the discussion explaining the research he had done to try and help himself and how he tries to follow a sleep hygiene routine which includes: turning off wi-fi, removing all gadgets from the bedroom, not using blue light screens leading up to bedtime, going to bed at the same time every day and reducing caffeine intake later in the day.
7th: The second Connect Erewash Fortnight event was at Petersham Hall. This event was aimed at connecting older people. Again, this event didn’t have the anticipated turn out. However, I was able to offer quiet relaxation to two friends, Simon and Sharron. Simon has had the devastating diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour and Sharron his wife is really struggling with anxiety. I shut the office door and took them through a guided relaxation. At the end they were so relaxed they could have curled up and gone to sleep.
Fibro Therapy Bookings Frenzy
9th: I don’t know what made me look at my email at 9pm on a Friday night, but it turned into a marathon! I couldn’t keep up with speed of enquiries from people wanting to book on to the free Fibro Therapy course. Course one was fully booked and I’d added 5 Zoom places to accommodate bookings from Brighton, Torquay, Lichfield and Lincolnshire. This was crazy!
12th: Back to group and we were on week one of our mixed media art project. Having our office has given us drying space, so we can sink our teeth into more complicated projects.
14th: Back at Petersham for week 2 of the Connect Erewash Fortnight. Although no one came through my door. I did have an interesting chat with one of our NHS Governors. I sent him away loaded with leaflets and two UK Fibromyalgia magazines. He has asked me to give a talk to the governors. Let’s see where this will take us???
15th: The following day it was our first committee meeting in our new office, we were really looking forward to it, however, we kept getting interrupted by other hall users; it became a very dis-jointed and chaotic affair! Hopefully given time, things will calm down.
16th: The final event of the Connect Erewash Fortnight was in the Kirk Hallam Community Centre, about 20 minutes away. I was meeting Dawn one of our newer members, her son Ben was next to us, on an adjacent table, representing Re-Think and Jo Briggs was opposite, neither of us had realised the other was coming. It was a good job I had brought enough cake! This event was aimed at young families, but we were able to engage with the ladies from Slimming World and a paramedic who were all sufferers.
Heat Wave
18th- 20th: Due to the predicted heatwave, I cancelled everything on Monday and Tuesday. I shut me, Sam, my mum’s dog and Willow the cat in the house for three days. Doors, windows, blinds all shut, fans on! I sat writing the start of the work book for the Fibro Therapy course.
20th: I emerged out into the fresher outside air after a long 3 days in the high 30’s to walk Sam. I was so stiff, I found it difficult to walk. It just goes to show how quickly our bodies decline without regular conditioning. I had been answering two to three enquiries each day including from some sufferers who were in tears because the courses were already full! By the end of that day course 2 was fully booked and I was taking bookings for course 3 and that doesn’t start until April 2023! Thank you to the person who put the ad onto the UK Fibromyalgia Facebook page.
Farewell to St Giles’ Church Hall
21st: We arrived at St Giles’ Church Hall not realising this would be the last time we would be teaching classes there. Class numbers had declined quite rapidly. It goes with the territory, working with older people, but the remaining students in the first class said they would not be signing up for the summer qigong course as they would be away and there weren’t enough students in the second class to cover the rent. So, regretfully, we called it a day there. But don’t worry because the remaining students are happy to join us at Petersham Hall.
26th: A last minute change to the group programme, enabled us to put on a Qigong and relaxation session followed by catching up with the mixed media project we started on the 12th July.
28th: We have no classes today so Jane and I took advantage and popped into the office to sort out a bit of admin and train for a workshop in October.
30th: It’s the last Saturday of the month and it’s Tai Chi in the Park. Six people braved the rain and it turned out to be a very pleasant practice session, with the rain holding throughout the session.
We hope you are all having a fabulous summer. In the next article we will highlight our August activities. Our delivery will be quieter, but we only have 4 weeks to prep for the September term. Will we manage it?