23 minute read
Health & Wellbeing
Volunteer Christina at royal carol service
Christina Wilson, a volunteer at Lewis-Manning Hospice Care, was nominated by the Deputy LordLieutenant of Dorset to attend a carol service at Westminster Abbey, titled ‘Together at Christmas’. The carol service was hosted by HRH The Princess of Wales and dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and to all those who are no longer with us. In attendance was His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort, together with Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales. The service was conducted by The Very Revd Dr David Hoyle MBE, Dean of Westminster. The service was sung by the Choir of Westminster Abby, conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers. Christina, a former teacher, has been a volunteer at Lewis-Manning for more than 17 years and has held a variety of roles, including receptionist, and supporting daycare patients. Reflecting on her experience Christina said: “It was a truly memorable day at the Abbey. “The service itself was very diverse and I felt so privileged to be there amongst the many members of the royal family. “There were also many famous faces. “We all joined in with the traditional carols” Lewis-Manning Hospice Care CEO Clare Gallie said: “We have so many wonderful volunteers who support our charity and it was fantastic that Christina was nominated and chosen for this very special occasion, representing our hospice community. “It sounded like an unforgettable occasion.”
n Christina Wilson attended Westminster Abbey
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Life Interest Trust Wills and the Trust Registration Service
If you or your spouse have included a life interest trust in your wills, beware of the need to register the trusts created under the will. There are potentially two types of trust which would have been created under a life interest trust will; 1) The life interest trust for the surviving spouse and 2) The property trust created for the beneficiaries after the death of the surviving spouse. If the surviving spouse expects to live in the property, or any future replacement property, for a period of more than two years after the date of death of the first spouse, then the trust will need to be registered and doing so immediately is better than waiting until the expiry of the two-year period. The property trust will also need to be registered, but there
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE is one main exemption. If the trustees and the beneficiaries of the property trust are the same people, then there is no need to register as they are essentially holding the property on trust for themselves. If you have different trustees and beneficiaries, the beneficiaries include minor children or grandchildren, or there are more beneficiaries than trustees, the property trust will need to be registered within 90 days of the date of death. If you are unsure of the need to register the trust created under the will, registration in any event is recommended to avoid being considered non-compliant and potentially subject to hefty penalties. James Rust, Private Client Solicitor
Therapy donkey Charlie concludes ‘12 Days’ event
Forest Holme Hospice in Poole organised a 12 Days Of Christmas series of activities, treats and surprises to help leave lasting memories of Christmas cheer for those in their care, along with their families, and for staff. The hospice has arranged live performances from dancers, a young cellist, ukulele band and staff choir, distributed gifts including Lush bath sets and food hampers, as well as organising wreathmaking sessions, pizzas and luxury hot chocolate for staff. The 12 Days concluded with a visit from a therapy donkey called Charlie, courtesy of Kelly’s Donkeys, who visited and met with patients, visitors and staff. Paul Tucker, communications manager at Forest Holme, said: “The idea of the 12 Days Of Christmas special activities was to help leave lasting memories of Christmas cheer at the hospice, particularly for those in our care and their families. “We wanted to do everything possible to make it truly memorable, especially as, for many, this Christmas will be their last. “We are extremely grateful to everyone that has helped make these 12 days truly magical.” Forest Holme Hospice provides palliative and end-of life-care and support to more than 1,500 people each year across Poole, Wimborne and the Isle of Purbeck with advanced cancer and other life-limiting illnesses such as Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson’s, heart disease and respiratory illness.
CHEER: A patient at Forest Holme greets Charlie the therapy donkey
Helping young people with drug issues
by Lorraine Gibson
It’s a hard truth to face, but according to Young Minds, the charity that helps support young people with mental health, drug and other issues, the use of both legal and illegal drugs among teenagers and young adults is widespread. Teenagers are likely to experiment, test boundaries and take risks and smoking, drinking and trying drugs are among the most common ways in which they might do this. Substance misuse is one of the most common risks to a youngster’s health and development and all drugs have the potential to cause harm; some can be addictive, and using them in combination can increase the risks. Illegal drugs include cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin but legal drugs - alcohol and tobacco - can be very addictive. If you’re worried that your child could have or is already having problems with drugs or alcohol, help and advice are available and, as a parent, there are things you can do. If you’re unsure about anything, Young Minds has loads of advice and their simple guides for parents talk you through things you might try, such as: Be a good role model: You’ll influence your child’s attitude to drugs and alcohol before they even encounter them themselves. Be honest: When kids ask about them, tell the truth. Why people enjoy them, find them relaxing, etc, but also add the drawbacks like illness, being sick, being vulnerable. Make conversations about drugs an everyday thing rather than a big, one-off talking point. Be clear about the myths: Like how they don’t boost self-confidence and suggest other ways of overcoming shyness, awkwardness or anxiety. There
are other practical things they suggest, but if you really think your child is using alcohol or drugs to help them cope with difficult feelings or mental health issues, speak to your GP for professional advice straight away. Visit: youngminds.ork.uk talktofrank.com edasuk.org/support nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support.
Health & Wellbeing
Diverse Abilities, a charity supporting children and adults with disabilities, has launched a call for the county’s unwanted Christmas presents to repurpose as raffle and auction lots throughout its fundraising events in 2023. The Great Christmas Present Amnesty takes place throughout January where Dorset’s disability charity will accept unwanted and new items from the festive season including beauty products, shower gel sets, cookbooks, alcohol, food hampers and more. The only products excluded from the collection are electrical products. Claire Cooper, fundraising officer at Diverse Abilities, commented: “We’ve all received that one present from a distant relative that doesn’t know you all that well, or even received duplicates of the same thing because some people know you really well! “These presents don’t need to linger in the back of the cupboard any more as we will make good use of them throughout the year.” Gifts can be dropped off at the Diverse Abilities head office, above Langside School, on weekdays between 10am and 3pm. The school’s address is Langside Avenue, Poole, BH12 5BN. On arrival use the doors for the main office – to the right of the main school doors. Alternatively, individuals, community groups, and businesses can host their own collections to be dropped off at the head office together. Claire continued: “If you would like to host your own collection, then we want to hear from you – we’ve got a helpful fundraising pack to support you along the
n Diverse Abilities wants your unwanted Christmas gifts way and explain how these contributions make a huge difference in our fundraising events.” Visit the website at diverseabilities. org.uk/presentamnesty for more details about how you can drop off your gifts or possibly to set up your own community collection.
Exploring Stour & Avon...
with retired Dorset rights of way officer CHRIS SLADE
WEST MOORS
Park in Moorlands Road at the end of the yellow lines and walk a short way east to turn left, north, along Arnold Road then left again, west, then right and right again, following signs to join the Castleman Trailway, formerly a railway line. This takes you north east for a mile before you reach the parish boundary, the Moors river. Once you’re past the housing estate you’ll see, on your left, fenced off Ministry of Defence land and, on your right, the West Moors Plantation, pictured. Once past the Ministry of Defence land, there’s Access Land but it’s fenced off until you get to the far corner where there’s a way in. Once you’ve checked for minnows in the Moors river, turn back for 100 yards and join the track leading south east along the edge of the Plantation, which is also Access Land. After half a mile the track bends to the right and continues south west for two thirds of a mile to the edge of the Plantation. Turn right and follow the track through heath and woodland north westwards for half a mile until you get to a housing estate. Turn right, north for a short distance then left, north west again for nearly half a mile, then turn right, north east, for a short distance, then left and left again to meet the end of Moorlands Road about a quarter of a mile from your car. You’ll have walked about four miles.
National award for DocBike
DocBike, a charity founded in Dorset that works to save lives on our roads has been recognised with a royal award. DocBike has won the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its exceptional contribution to motorcycle injury prevention. The awards, established in 1987 and organised by RoadSafe, recognise outstanding achievement and innovation at organisations worldwide that help to improve road safety. DocBike works in collaboration with partners to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the UK’s roads due to motorcycle collisions. Representatives from the charity attended a ceremony at The Savoy in London in December, above, where the award was presented by His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent.
Text for rapid child support
by Lorraine Gibson
Being a parent or carer can be challenging at times, but over the school holidays, it can be even more so. To help, ParentLine, the caring text service run by Dorset HealthCare’s School Nursing team to support those needing advice or guidance about children has expanded its age limit from children up to five to up to 19. Dorset Parents and carers can access help via the confidential messaging system, which has information on issues such as toileting, sleep, development, behaviour, healthy eating, mental health, bullying, school refusal and exam stress. Just text 07312 263131 and a
member of the team will respond.
Annalies, a parent from Upton, said: “I feel texting is easier than a phone call as my eldest child normally interrupts phone calls and I find it hard to concentrate. With a text, I can write it and send it, then give attention to my child.” Juliet Singleton, from the Trust’s Children and Young People’s Service, said: “It’s fantastic news for parents and carers that we have expanded our ParentLine age group across the county. We want to encourage anyone who needs support to text us so we can help them and provide the right advice in an easy, accessible way.” You can seek information from 9am4pm, Monday to Friday (excludes weekends, bank holidays and school holidays), with a member of the team responding within one working day. If you text outside these hours, you’ll receive an automated message about where to get help if you need it urgently. ParentLine is not an emergency service, so for medical help, contact a GP, NHS 111 or 999. For advice about children aged under five text 07312 277162. For more information visit dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/parentline.
When it comes to Foster Caring what makes Footprints different?
Small, independent and trustworthy with high-quality support to all foster carers. That is the Footprints ethos. We are a strong and friendly team with outstanding values, where everyone strives to achieve the best for Foster Carers and children in care with specialist social workers on duty 24/7 to help carers in all situations, so it is effortless to pick up the phone to talk to one of the team. Footprints was started 10 years ago by two highly experienced social workers, Vanda and Stephanie, who set out with one aim in mind, ‘to make a difference to children’s lives’. Having specialised in Fostering services for many years, the two knew that they could push boundaries to provide even higher levels of support to carers and children. It is safe to say after 10 years the two continue to stay true to their aim and ambitions having helped change the lives of over 150 children and young people by providing safety and security in the homes of Footprints Foster Carers. But don’t take our word for it! Stay tuned for some insights directly from the carers at Footprints, across a series of articles where we will delve into hot topics such as why our carers chose Footprints, the fostering community, and the following article exploring “the rewarding days as a Foster Carer”.
Could you give a child a foster home?
Personalised social worker support, 24/7, 365 Regular training Informal get togethers Excellent financial rewards
Care home stars celebrating success
St Ives House, a Care South home situated near Ringwood has scooped the ‘Care Home of the Year’ award at the company’s annual Stars Awards ceremony. Now in its 13th year, the Stars Awards recognise and reward individuals and teams from across the company for their outstanding achievements and excellent care provision. They are an important event during which time is taken to celebrate care staff and thank them for their frontline duties and commitment to residents. The ceremony was held live over Zoom with Care South’s chairman, Jane Stichbury and chief executive Simon Bird hosting each care home and Care South at Home office joining online and having an afternoon of celebration offline afterwards. All Care South care homes enjoy some friendly competition and there must be a winner, but it was not an easy decision for judges as the high-quality of care and feedback consistently received from residents and relatives is second to none. The team was delighted to be presented with the award based on a number of criteria including feedback and reviews from residents and relatives. The fundamental principles of food, fun and friendship are ever-present in all Care South homes. Emma Cotton, home manager at St Ives House, said: “We’re delighted to have won the award. “The team are always going above and beyond to help residents to continue to lead rich and fulfilling lives and all our hard work has paid off. We all love what we do and wouldn’t want to change it. Thank you to our fantastic team for helping make this happen.” Chief executive Simon Bird added: “What a challenging year we’ve had, and our Stars Awards event is a wonderful way to highlight the commitment and hard work from all our care homes.”
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Health & Wellbeing Ten top tips to help prevent joint injury
There are many things that you can do to help prevent joint injuries and help reduce the odds of you suffering from an injury. All of this can be exactly what you need to take care of your body! Here are 10 tips to help prevent joint injury:
Stretch your joints appropriately before and after a workout.
Speak with a personal trainer/coach who can give you guidance about the right workout routine for you, given your overall levels of physical fitness and prior exercise levels.
Ensure that you do your research before exercising, making sure that you know the appropriate technique and the right way to do any such exercise.
Start slow: If you are going to do the right exercise, make sure you can complete the movement without any weight before adding slowly up. This helps prevent overuse injury and ensures that you have a solid grasp on an exercise program’s technique before you increase the levels of exercise to something more strenuous. Stay in shape! Remember, you are more likely to injure yourself if you are out of shape than if you have a regular exercise programme.
Make sure to be careful when engaging in regular activities, like cleaning, picking up kids, or moving furniture. In many cases, your body may not be ready for the sudden shift in activity levels, and this can result in injury.
Use the appropriate equipment. This may mean making sure you have a back brace or high-quality shoes. Poor equipment can break, wear down quickly, or fail to support you at a critical moment, leading to an injury.
If you are hurt – even a little – treat it appropriately. Make sure to get the right rest, ice the area in question, and see a chiropractor if you need to. If the pain doesn’t go away in two days then we advise people to seek some help.
If you are going to increase the intensity of your workout, do so slowly. Doing so too fast can lead to injury.
If you are new to exercise, start with low-impact exercise that can give your body time to adjust to your new exercise program.
If you do injure a joint or any other part of your body, or are interested in ensuring that you are operating at peak physical condition, consider seeing a chiropractor! If you want to book in with us then please call 01202 604707 or email admin@ wimbornewellnesscentre.co.uk.
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Health & Wellbeing
Giving a voice to vulnerable mothers
A team of skilled practitioners will be working across Dorset from this month to support women who have experienced, or are at risk of, repeat removals of children from their care. South West-based charitable housing association BCHA has been successful in its application to roll out the county’s first Pause Practice. Pause is a national charity which assists women who have had children repeatedly removed from their care, to engage in an 18-month programme of support. Pause helps women to pause and take control of their lives, putting in place strong foundations on which they can build a more positive future for themselves. Pause aims to break transgenerational cycles and support vulnerable women to develop a sense of self-worth with significant improvements to substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health, as well as improving contact with children and gaining access to services. Practice lead for Pause Dorset, Rachel Young, (pictured) said: “Pause is about giving women the skills and support they need to have control over their lives and choices. “A trauma-informed approach is central to our work which is shaped by the priorities identified by the women themselves. No two interventions look the same, as each woman is different.
“There is a huge stigma attached to women who have had children repeatedly removed from their care.
“What is not well known is that many of these women have grown up with trauma, and have been impacted by homelessness, mental health issues and domestic abuse, and have often been repeatedly let down by services. “As soon as they are in a position whereby their child is removed, services take a step back and there is nothing there to help them; They are completely de-valued and without addressing the underlying trauma, the woman is likely to experience repeat removals.” She added: “We seek to address this through the person-centred plan developed for each woman. “Pause encourages them to take a pause from pregnancy for 18 months, then picks them up, wraps services around them and enables them to gain the support they need to recover from the trauma of abuse, addiction and other behaviours which may have them trapped in that vicious circle. “From there they can access education and training, as well as securing and sustaining housing tenancies.” Pause Dorset aims to support 24 women in its first 18 months. Since 2013, Pause Practices across the country have reached around 3,250 women, who have had over 8,200 children removed from their care. Dorset Pause Programme has a vacancy for a full time Pause Practitioner to join its team. For details visit tinyurl.com/5bzhc6zx. For more information on the programme visit pause.org.uk
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n Aldbury residents Valerie Short and Bob Smith hang leaf bunting and, above, Valerie Short and Companion Melissa Siat making
bird seed ornaments. Bottom, Abdul ‘Hobi’ Sabih with a star-shaped maple tree leaf Trees celebrated at county care home
Creative residents at a Dorset dementia care home have celebrated the importance and beauty of trees in a fun, handson seasonal nature project. Over two months, tree-lovers who live in Colten Care’s the Aldbury in Poole gathered and prepared fallen leaves as natural decorations to ‘dress’ the cherry, apple, oak and maple trees in the home’s gardens and courtyard. In arts and craft sessions, the leaves were dried and carefully painted with a gentle, waterbased solution to restore their colour and lustre. They were then mounted on hessian bunting ready to hang between branches and across the open spaces outdoors. Accompanying the leaf decorations, residents made bird feeders with a mix of seeds, gelatine, hot water and cookie cutters. The inspiration for the project was the annual Tree Dressing Day, which takes place in different countries in December as autumn gives way to winter. Its aim is to encourage us to value and care for trees and recognise how they support the environment. Melissa Siat, companionship team member at the Aldbury, said: “We asked residents how our trees should be decorated and they opted to handpick fallen leaves. “We began gathering the leaves in October. Residents enjoyed going for autumn strolls in the garden while choosing the brightest leaves to use for the bunting. “People’s interest continued through the craft sessions in our summer house and inside the home and of course when we finally put up the decorations. “It has been a wonderful project that everyone has enjoyed - environmentally friendly, fun, social, sensory and it has
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Will writing Lasting power of attorney Asset protection trusts Property protection trusts Inheritance tax solutions and probate F FREREE E c consonsultaultatiotion ns s Fixed price on ALL products No hidden extras Free home visits and consultations brought our Aldbury community together.” Resident Valerie Short said: “We wanted to keep the decorations as natural as possible and avoid using any plastic and paper. Our trees want to look as natural as they can be, decorated with their own fallen leaves.” Fellow resident Joyce Holden said: “I loved painting real leaves and found it very relaxing and therapeutic. Our cherry tree leaves had particularly beautiful autumn colours.” The end of the project was celebrated with a singalong session and hot chocolate all round in the garden’s Winter Café coupled with a tour of the newly-installed artworks. Among the key messages of Tree Dressing Day is that trees improve the quality of our air, brighten our environment and support wildlife eco systems.
