The Chairman Paul and another member Bob Carling attended the meeting of “MEDWAYFT, Communications (MEDWAY NHS FOUNDATION TRUST)” for the release about the Fifth Anniversary of Robotic Surgery at Medway NHS Foundation Trust – held on Wednesday 26 October 2022.
This can be seen now on their website at – https://www.medway.nhs.uk/news/
The release and the video can also be seen on their social media accounts – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram
Firstly please accept my apology for not being able to attend tonight’s meeting (AGM) I should be in Trieste, Italy today
Although we still seem to be living with Covid , we have managed to complete a full program of meetings and social events.
The boat trip received very good feedback from all who attended , especially for the entertainer. This was going to be the last time we run the boat trip, but because of the positive comments we need to decide if this happens next year.
The garden party was more successful than we could have imagined, a big thanks to the committee for organising and the numerous helpers. Special thanks to Pat for organising a tombola and raffle. Again the feedback from all who attended was amazing. I think we set a world record for how many people are in a garden.
We are now looking forward to next year implementing the plan we had pre Covid to achieve our vision and mission . I believe our strategy before Covid is still valid in that we will look to find quality speakers for our meetings and still allow time for our members to have dialogue with each other. We will also run social events to promote the group within our community. We exist to engage with as many patients as possible that pass through the urology clinic and try to make a difference to their journey, through support and education. We will reprint our leaflets this year to include our Facebook and web page . They will also have a more relevant photo to the group instead of the stock photo we used in the previous leaflet.
It is absolutely imperative that we receive support from the clinic staff for our meetings and hopefully they are able to continue to attend the meetings. I don’t think any of us can imagine what a difficult two years the clinic staff have endured and I thank them all for their effort and support for the group.
A special thank you to Macmillan for continuing to support the group.
Thank You to prostate.org who also support the group and for donating a zoom licence which allowed the group to communicate throughout the pandemic.
Thank You to all who help , through social media , meet and greet, donations etc Lastly, an enormous thank you to John, John , Pat, Bob and Peter, it is a pleasure to chair such a committed and talented group .
But we have been together a long time and continue to ignore our constitution with regard to how long each of us have served . It would be great to have some new faces step forward and join the core group. It doesn’t take long and is not too onerous.
So, if you can please let one of the committee know that you are interested in helping. Thank you all for attending.
Ex-mechanic Errol was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010. He was determined to turn his experience into something positive and started offering older male customers a discount on MOTs if they could prove they’d spoken to their doctor about prostate cancer. He estimates he saved around 50 lives and potentially hundreds more – through awareness talks, sharing his story in the media, and by wearing his Man Of Men pin badge everywhere he goes. We’ve worked with Errol and known how exceptional he is for years, but recently the Queen found out and decided to give him an honour for his relentless work. As he gets some royal recognition for his selfless crusade, he’s using this moment to send a message to men.
I’m Dr. George Seed. You might remember me from our appeal for your help back in August.
After finishing my PhD in a field called bioinformatics, I’m using my knowledge to create a test to determine who can benefit from chemotherapy. If the test works it could transform prostate cancer treatment for thousands of men.
Like many medical researchers, and people in all kinds of jobs across the world, the pandemic put my current project and my career at risk. That’s why we asked for your help. Today, I have some great news.
We delighted to offer our next webinar and this time from our own Research Team.
Dr Hayley Luxton will be giving an overview of the research programmes that we are currently funding and why it matters. This will hopefully be the first in a series of research webinars we plan to host. At the end of this session will be asking you to complete a short survey to evaluate the session and to tell us about the research(we fund) you would like us to hear more about in the future.
Places are limited so please book early. You may share this with group members but it will be available afterwards for individuals to watch on-demand.
When: Oct 27, 2020 06:30 PM London
Topic: Prostate Cancer UK – “Our research: Why it matters, and why you matter”
Register in advance for this webinar: https://prostatecanceruk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gP0cSu_ATc-gQt2Q495k8g
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Webinar Speakers
Doctor Hayley Luxton (Research Impact and Intelligence Manager @Prostate Cancer UK)
Dr Luxton completed her PhD with Prof David Neal (a Prostate Cancer UK trustee) and Dr Hayley Whitaker at the University of Cambridge. subsequently worked with Professor Nic Jones the Chief Scientist for Cancer Research UK before returning to Cambridge to work with Dr Whitaker, when Prostate Cancer UK funded Dr Whitaker to start her own independent lab at University College London. She joined the research team here at Prostate Cancer UK in 2018.
AGM Minutes – 7th September 2020
To read the minutes from our AGM, you can download a Word file here.
Graham Elder, Charity Steward, of St. Mary’s Green Masonic Lodge, presented the cheque on behalf of his Masonic Lodge to the US Chairman Paul Rainer. Graham stated that he had personally benefited from the support given to him from the group 4 years earlier.
Welcome to my first chairmans chat, I want to try to give you information about the group that will not appear in the newsletter.
Over the last 18 months the committee has been working on a number of objectives agreed with Professor sheriff and his team.
Number one was to improve the number of patients attending the US group meetings to achieve this, we agreed:
- To improve speakers at the meetings.
- Change the venue as the last one was difficult to book and find.
- Re brand the group with a new name (US Group).
- Design and print marketing material for the group and distribute, this has been helped by receiving a grant from macmillan cancer.
- Arrange summer social event.
- Increase the number of committee members.
- Improve communication within the group committee by using whats app group.
I am pleased to tell you that a lot of progress has been made over the last two years and this would not be possible without the help from my fellow members of the committee, nursing staff and everyone who helps at the group meetings and social events.
Special thanks to Charlie for progressing and implementing this web site.
Finally, I wish you a happy Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
best wishes
Paul
