Welcome! Or should I say Aloha Summer. As I write this the weather is absolutely beautiful, I fully appreciate that it may be quite a different matter by the time you read this, however.
It has been a rather busy few months here at the centre. We have welcomed new members of staff to the team. As well as another part-time ward therapist and two part-time family service counsellors, we have just employed two part-time acupuncturists. When the Fountain Centre started all those years ago, we could have only dreamed of ever being able to employ an acupuncturist at the centre.
Our service is gradually returning to some...normality. We do still have a few vacancies for a qualified massage therapist or reflexologist to volunteer, so if you know anyone, please put them our way.
We had some great news regarding our fashion show. We will be able to hold it for the first time in a
few years. This really means the world to us as it is such an important event in our calendar. Not just because it is a fundraising event but because of what it does for our patients who take part. It really is a pick me up event, not to be missed. All things being well, the fashion show will take place on the 15th of October at the Mandolay hotel in Guildford. Tickets will be available soon
so watch this space!
We hope you enjoy this edition of our newsletter and, as ever, if you have any questions or
comments, we would love to hear them.
Counselling and coaching are a huge part of our Psychological Support Service. However, many people are unsure about what they are and how they...differ.
Coaching provides emotional support and guidance to help you understand the situation you find yourself in. It is a safe, non-judgemental space for you to process the challenges, decisions, and problems you may face. We do this by helping you explore different perspectives, enabling you to gain greater awareness, insights, and choices, regarding your situation.
Coaching starts from the here and now. The process involves being in the moment and/or looking to the future, and how things could be different for you. It can involve revisiting the past, but does so to help enable, empower, and inform, your current and future attitude and actions.
Counselling provides an opportunity for you to explore your thoughts and feelings in a safe and confidential space. Your counsellor will support you to gain a better understanding of yourself and the issues you are experiencing.
You will not be offered advice or personal opinions, however you will be encouraged to find ways of coping, whether that is by making changes in your life or by coming to some form of acceptance.
Counselling is not just about the process but is primarily focused on the strength of the therapeutic relationship which you will build with your counsellor over the course of the sessions.
Both services play a huge part in supporting our patients which is why we work with each person individually to find out what works for them.
If you are living with a cancer diagnosis either yourself or with someone in your family, please get in touch via the registration form on our website www.fountaincentre.org
Maria Wakefield
Administrator
The Fashion Show
It’s been a long time coming but we are so excited that our fashion show is back!!
Once again our patients are taking to the catwalk and raising much
needed funds for the centre.
The venue is booked and the firefighters... are on board! So please save the date – Saturday 15th October – for what promises to be a fantastic night!
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Jolly Trolley
In June the country came together to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and what
a celebration that was across the country!
We wanted to make sure our
patients didn’t miss out so the Jolly Trolley did the rounds. The ‘FC Queen’, Kas Girdler, visited ... the wards and chatted while handing out treats to the
patients. So many smiles, pictures and laughs which were lovely to see.
The
Jolly Trolley is always so popular with our patients. Thank you so much to
Tesco for providing the cakes.
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SPOTLIGHT ON WELFARE BENEFITS
Did you know that not all welfare benefits are means-tested?
Disability benefits are based on how the illness affects the claimant rather than a diagnosis.
For example, if a person suffers from breathlessness, then this can...affect everything that they do and in the time and manner that they do it. If a person feels very unstable on their feet, would they safely be able to stand in a shower or get in and out of a bath? If a person is physically capable of dressing themselves but needs support and encouragement to do so.
Two examples of non-means-tested benefits are:
Attendance Allowance (AA) AA is for people over state pension age. It only has the care
component and can be awarded at either:
Lower rate of £60.00 per week.
Higher rate of £89.60 per week.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) PIP is for people aged between 16 and their state pension age. It comprises of two
components - daily living and mobility. It is a points-based system and can be
awarded at the following weekly rates:
Daily living – standard rate £60.00 – enhanced rate £89.60
Mobility – standard rate £23.70 – enhanced rate £62.55
If you would like more information about welfare benefits for either yourself or
somebody you care for, please contact us here at The Fountain Centre on 01483 406618
or register your details at www.fountaincentre.org and we can put you in touch with our Welfare Benefits Caseworker for a confidential, free chat.
Recently, St Luke’s Cancer Centre celebrated its 25 year anniversary. A fantastic milestone for cancer support in our local area. This reminded me of how the Fountain Centre came to be and how much we also have to celebrate.
Soon after the opening of the new St Luke’s, a group of ambitious healthcare
professionals and supporters including Charlotte McDowell, who remains an integral
member of staff to this day, hatched a grand plan to help cancer patients in a different
way. They saw that cancer patients didn’t just need chemo and radiotherapy - they needed counselling, advice, a relaxation space, somewhere to share their feelings.
The Fountain Centre started life in 1996 in a porta cabin in the grounds of the old St Luke's Cancer Hospital site in Guildford. After a lot of...
hard work, in 1998 the Fountain Centre opened its doors in St Luke's Cancer Centre. In 2001 the Fountain Centre became a registered charity.
Twenty three years on, the Fountain Centre receives referrals for over 100 cancer
patients a month. Today, an amazing team of over 100 volunteers are based at the
centre offering information, complementary therapies, psychological support and a
much-needed wig service. We also offer a variety of groups, which are offered both
online and face-to-face. The Fountain Centre has even opened its doors to the
children of our cancer patients. How do you tell your child you have cancer? They
help the parent and the child deal with the trauma of this news.
Today, we are so proud to be an independent charity that is totally integrated into the
Royal Surrey’s cancer services. Oncology colleagues understand, support and respect what we do. They help in our aim to consider the whole patient from the day they walk in the door. It shows how far cancer care has come that now the main aim is treating the person rather than the cancer.
We are finally back out
I love telling people my job title is “Community Engagement” for the Fountain Centre, but I can tell you, the last couple of years has certainly challenged me. I have had to adapt to a new type of community engagement over zoom and the good old fashioned telephone.
Going out, meeting people and sharing the passion I have for the Fountain Centre is how I work. It’s also how we rely on gaining new support and ultimately helps us raise funds. When Covid hit, we didn’t close our doors. We continued to support our amazing patients and their families going through an even more stressful and challenging time.
Unfortunately fundraising in a global pandemic is tricky to say the least. So I am thrilled that at last they have let me back out! It also appears that you guys out there are feeling the same. Since the start of the year, we have received a number of invitations to attend groups and organisations to talk in person. We have jumped at the chance.
We are also thrilled to say that we have been announced as official charity partner of the year for Tunsgate Quarter. We have also been chosen as one of Surrey Sports Park’s charity partners. Obviously raising funds is important but just as important is letting our local community know about us and the work that we do. With such a fantastic start to the year, I am certainly full of hope that we can start to get back on track and that we can organise some of our own events.
If you are part of a group, organisation or business who would like to find out more about us and support us, then please drop me an email at kas.girdler@nhs.net
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Thank You Corner, our chance to say thank you to people who have supported our work recently
We always like to say thank you publicly, though some of our supporters prefer to remain anonymous. Our warm thanks for all your generosity – in money or in kind go to...
Big Yellow Self Storage
Ben Unwin and friends
Big Yellow Storage
KC School of Dance
Helen Robertson-Smith
Ripley and Send Rotary Club
Rotary Club of Haslemere
Tunsgate Quarter
Woking Freemasons Lodge
READ MORE
Stress balls!
We work closely with the staff up on Onslow and Chilworth
wards and often ask them if there is anything that they feel the patients would like or...benefit from.
One of the
chemotherapy nurses on Chilworth mentioned that a stress ball might be a useful item to
have.
The nurse explained that sometimes when they are administering lines, some patients
may need something to help them pump up their veins and a stress ball can be very useful
for this.
The Fountain Centre were delighted to help and we have donated 500 stress balls
to the wards to help patients, who often just need something just to squeeze during tretment.
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A new way to donate
Covid has seen many changes, one being that we now carry less cash on us. Technology is amazing and here at the Fountain Centre we have
...embraced it. You can now simply scan our QR code on your smart phone and it will take you straight through to our Justgiving page where you can make your donation.
We also have a text to donate option, again simple and quick. Text FOUNTAIN and your donation amount to 70085. For example, FOUNTAIN 5.
However, if you do prefer the old-fashioned way of giving a cash donation, we will happily accept this as well.
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The Fountain Centre St Luke’s Cancer Centre, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Egerton Road, Guildford Surrey GU2 7XX
