2016 Archived News

15 December 2016 - Headway Christmas Lunch

On Thursday 15th December Headway South Bucks had their Christmas Lunch Party at Bourne End Community Centre. As always it was a lovely day and very well attended. Everyone gathered for coffee in the morning and enjoyed catching up with friends. We were led in singing some traditional carols by a few talented volunteers and carers.
At midday we sat down for a wonderful lunch followed by musical entertainment in the afternoon. As usual we had a very successful raffle with wonderful hampers as well as many other prizes. The success of the day is largely due to the wonderful effort of our volunteers and the generous donations we receive. The photos show what a lovely time everyone had.

October 2016 - A huge thank you to the Bracknell Masonic Lodge!

We recently received a very generous donation from the Bracknell Masonic Lodge which we used to purchase a digital camera. 
As well as allowing us to document our trips and activities, the camera offers us a brilliant chance to work with individuals towards specific personal development objectives. Photography can help improve hand-eye coordination, imagination, sequencing and memory. 
Be sure to keep an eye out for photography updates from our clients in the near future!

Visit to The Brooklands Museum - 13 September 2016

Headway South Bucks most recent trip was to Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. As with our previous two trips in 2016 this one was well attended. We had booked the best weather being the hottest day of the year! Despite the heat everyone was in good spirits and looking forward to a pleasant day out. Click here to view our Photos.
Our first stop was for lunch at The Queen's Head in Weybridge. As you will see from the photos we enjoyed coffee and soft drinks outside before being served a lovely 2 course lunch in the restaurant. Following lunch it was a short journey on our coaches to the Museum. Brooklands is the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation. There was lots to see including Concorde, motorcycle, bicycle and bus exhibitions. A few people enjoyed getting in a racing car as you can see in the photos. They drove at high speed, luckily it was a simulator! We spent a couple of hours at Brooklands Museum before travelling back to Bourne End.

August 2016 - Neurology and primary care: improving the transition from primary care for people with neurological conditions

A new report published by the Neurological Alliance has found that GPs in England lack confidence in the primary care pathway for people with neurological conditions. New polling of GPs across the country shows low levels of confidence in the ability of local services and systems to manage neurology patients effectively, and widespread concern over unnecessary delays. It also suggests that GPs feel they would benefit from more support to manage people presenting with suspected neurological symptoms.
The Neurology and primary care report, available at http://bit.ly/2bfLdkh, presents the results of a survey of 1,001 regionally representative GPs from across the UK (England, n=831) and an expert workshop convened in December 2015. The report focuses primarily on England but additional UK-wide findings are included in the appendix. The report finds that: 
85% (n=708) of GPs in England are either ‘somewhat concerned’ or ‘extremely concerned’ about the time taken from referral for patients to see a consultant neurologist.
59% (n=492) of GPs believe that the local services and systems in place in their area mean that people with neurological conditions frequently do not receive a timely diagnosis.
The large majority of GPs in England (84%, n=701) feel that they could benefit from further training on identifying and managing people presenting with neurological conditions.
Fewer than half of GPs (47%, n=392) felt confident in their ability to make an initial assessment and referral for people presenting with signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

The report also sets out eight recommendations aimed at improving the primary care pathway for people with neurological conditions, including a call for the development of a pan-neurological ‘watch list’ of the ten signs and symptoms GPs should be aware of during patient interactions in primary care settings. 
Arlene Wilkie, CEO of the Neurological Alliance, said: “It is essential that NHS England and the Department of Health respond to these findings and engage with the concerns of GPs and people living with neurological conditions. Without an effective pathway through primary care, patients will continue to suffer the consequences of undue delays to referral, diagnosis and treatment, and outcomes will continue to suffer.”

Visit to Flowerland Garden Centre, Bourne End - 21 July 2016

On Thursday 21st July our Thursday clients had the opportunity to visit Flowerland Garden Centre in Bourne End. We had kindly received a generous donation to fund the trip. This allowed us to provide transport to take our clients to and from the centre as well as enjoy a coffee and cake whilst we were there. After our refreshments we had time to enjoy looking around the garden centre. There was plenty to see with the plants, shopping, animals and fish. Everyone enjoyed their visit and we hope to go again later in the year.
Click here to view some photos of us enjoying our refreshments.

Beale Park - 5th July 2016

Headway South Bucks clients, carers, volunteers and staff left the Resource Centre at 10am and headed out to Beale Wildlife Park. The weather was very kind to us and everyone enjoyed the variety of animals and birds, having a ride on the train, also walking through the colourful gardens and seeing lovely animal statues. View pictures in our Photo Gallery.
The lunch was a two course meal and was extremely good.We arrived back at the Centre at 4.45 after a full on enjoyable day!

June 2016 - Headway UK launch a range of Booklets and Factsheets

Headway UK produce a wide range of booklets and factsheets. They are available to download in electronic format, free of charge, from their information library (click to view) 

Food Hygiene Inspection -  27 April 2016

Headway South Bucks recently had a Food Hygiene inspection, which ensures that our kitchen facilities and food preparation procedures are satisfactory. We are pleased to announce that we received a 'very good' rating. This covers our food preparation activities together with our food storage and cooking facilities. 

Annual General Meeting – Thursday 21st April 2016

Our Annual General Meeting 2016 took place at 4pm Thursday 21st April 2016 in the Target Room at Bourne End Community Centre. It provided a great opportunity to raise questions and provide feedback and input directly to the Board of Trustees and Management team. Headway South Bucks’ achievements over the past year were reviewed, along with the challenges we’ve faced and how we plan to address them in 2016.

The Bodyguard, Woking - March 30th 2016

Headway South Bucks clients, carers and volunteers enjoyed a fantastic theatre trip on Wednesday 30th March. En route, we stopped off at the Talbot Inn for a wonderful two course lunch. Our group then proceeded to the New Victoria Theatre in Woking where we were treated to a stunning performance of the Bodyguard. The show was thoroughly enjoyed by all with a number of clients singing and dancing in their seats! If you head over to our Gallery Page you can see photographs of the day including a few of our lucky clients meeting "The Bodyguard" after the show!

New Display Boards now in use - March 2016

A-BoardWe are absolutely delighted with our two new display boards and we’d like to say a huge thank you to Andy Williams, MD of Murrill Construction Ltd, Greenford and Frank Harris, Sign Shop Manager for donating them. Our signs will be proudly on display outside the Resource Centre to raise awareness of Headway South Bucks and our activities in the local area.

You will also notice our smart new uniform modelled by Jenny Sexton, our Services Manager, and Sharon Smith, our Coordinator. These will help make staff members and volunteers easily identifiable and again promote visibility of Headways South Bucks.