Progressive forms of MS: MS Society wellbeing course starting 4 Sep

Posted by & filed under MS Society Local Branch.

Join these MS Society sessions where you’ll connect with other people across the UK with progressive forms of MS over three consecutive weeks.  Each session is usually made up of a small group of people from across the UK living with MS. These are fairly informal and each week will have a different topic. 

Session Overview:

  • Monday 4th Sep, 6.30pm to 8pm: Understanding symptoms
  • Monday 11th Sep, 6.30pm to 8pm : Impact of invisible symptoms
  • Monday 18th Sep, 6.30pm to 8pm : Self care

In the first two sessions an MS nurse will answer questions and, in week three, you’ll cover different elements of self-care, including physical activity and mental health.

The course works best if you attend all three sessions. This’ll give you the opportunity to meet other people who may share similar experiences to you.

Click here to book your space

This session is organised by the national MS charity, the MS Society. You can find out more about them by visiting their website at www.mssociety.org.uk

Autumn Covid Booster information

Posted by & filed under Information.

The UK Government has recently released details about the autumn Covid booster.

The following people are eligible for the booster:

  • Residents in care homes for older adults
  • All adults aged 65 years and over
  • People aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group
  • People aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
  • People aged 16 to 64 years who are carers and staff working in care homes for older adults

This is because the risk of severe Covid continues to be strongly associated with increasing age and underlying health conditions.  NHS England will confirm details on how and when eligible people can access the autumn booster vaccine soon.  The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised the autumn programme should aim to complete vaccinations by early December 2023.

For further details, please visit the UK Government website.

Stress and MS

Posted by & filed under MS News.

National charity the MS Trust have produced an interesting article about stress and MS with useful tips on dealing with stress and links to other sources of information and help.

Stress is a common and sometimes unavoidable part of life. What someone finds stressful and how it affects them varies from person to person. It’s not possible to remove all sources of stress, but it may be possible to control stress. This might be by changing the situation to limit the source of stress or by learning to change how you react to stressful events.

Many people with MS find living with the uncertainty of the condition to be stressful. Learning how to manage stress effectively is an important skill for everyone. But it is particularly important for people with MS and for those who care for them. 

Read the article here

Staying Active with MS: Walking, strolling and rolling – MS Society seminar, 4 September

Posted by & filed under MS Society Local Branch.

These sessions feature a different sport or activity each month. Bringing you experts from the field who can explain how to get involved and how to overcome barriers to inclusion. They also hear from people living with MS who take part in the activity, who’ll share their experiences and what being involved means to them.

A representative from the Ramblers, Britains Walking Charity, will join the session and they will give insights into how you can find accessible routes, join their groups, and much more.

Date: Monday 4 September

Time: 6pm to 7pm

This session is organised by the national MS charity, the MS Society. You can find out more about them by visiting their website at www.mssociety.org.uk

Click here to book your space

New light touch review form for PIP

Posted by & filed under Information.

The DWP have finally created a light touch review form for claimants who have reached pension age or who have an ongoing PIP (Personal Independence Payment) award. 

The form known as the AR2 form is being issued from August 2023.

This form is a much shorter alternative to the AR1 PIP award review form, which most claimants who have an end date to their award receive.

The AR2 form is being issued to claimants who have:

  • very stable needs which are unlikely to change over time
  • high level needs which will either stay the same or get worse
  • a planned award review date due on or at State Pension age

PIP was first introduced in 2013. The new form is being brought out just as the earliest PIP claimants with ongoing (no end date) awards, have been claiming for 10 years and are therefore due to have their first review.

Find out more here

Shingles vaccine to be available to more people

Posted by & filed under MS News.

A vaccine to prevent shingles, a common, painful skin disease, is currently available on the NHS to people in their 70s.  Unlike the flu vaccine, you’ll only need to have the vaccination once and you can have it at any time of the year.  Most people will only need 1 dose, but some people who cannot have the routine vaccine for health reasons will need 2 doses.

From September 2023, this vaccine will also be available to people turning 65 after 1 September and to people over 50 with a severely weakened immune system.

Once you become eligible for shingles vaccination a GP or practice nurse will offer you the vaccine when you attend the surgery for general reasons. If you are worried that you may miss out on the shingles vaccination, contact your GP surgery to arrange an appointment to have the vaccine.

For more information visit the NHS website

July 100 club winner

Posted by & filed under Fundraising.

100 club winners July:

Drawn by Jo Schofield

1st prize Geoff Fewings

2nd prize Julia Gower

3rd prize Nandi Ablett

Sharing a total prize fund of: £102.50

Free Six Week Hope Programme for MS starting September

Posted by & filed under MS News.

We have been sent the following information about a free 6 week online course aimed at people with MS:

Do you want to enhance your resilience through these difficult times, rediscover strengths and increase your ability to cope?

Hope For The Community CIC are running a group self-management programme for people living with MS to improve their wellbeing. The programme was co-created with people living with MS, healthcare professionals and researchers at Coventry University to make sure it is rooted in science.

  • Free 6 week course starting from 27 September
  • Facilitated by trained community volunteers with lived experience of MS
  • Learn whenever you like, at a pace that suits you.
  • Learn wherever you like. You can access the Programme on desktop, tablet or smartphone. 
  • You can learn whatever you like. If you do not enjoy some of the content or activities, just skip it or bookmark it and come back to it later.
  • Share and learn from each other. We all have a story to share and we learn best with others. If you want to, make sure you join in the page discussions, forum topics and by liking and commenting on others posts.
  • Online sessions covering topics such as fatigue management, physical activity, healthy eating, stress management and more

If you are interested in signing up, please visit the Hope for the Community website