Posts by Anthony

We are delighted to have been awarded £50K from the Postcode Community Trust with funds raised by the People’s Postcode Lottery.

It has been a wonderful surprise to receive such huge support for our activities at this time.

Being able to offer extra help to members, especially those who are more vulnerable or isolated and to help with running costs couldn’t be a better gift, not least when we’re about to celebrate the Centre’s fortieth anniversary this year.

The money will be used for a variety of projects – from supporting free counselling for members to setting up a bursary scheme to help those on low incomes, who might not otherwise be able to access the Centre transport wise.

It really will transform lives!

We rarely receive statutory funding, raising funds through members’ donations, charitable trusts and a busy programme of fundraising events. The Postcode Community Trust award is a massive boost.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and new year.

Please find the latest Winter edition of The Belle available for download here.

A great way to support Sussex MS Centre!

Exciting Prizes include:

• £100 in cash
• Voucher for East Sussex Gliding Club
• Afternoon tea at The Grand, Brighton

and many more…

To enter our annual Christmas Grand Raffle Draw on Tuesday 13th December at 11.45am you can buy tickets:

In person at reception by using cash or by card

By bank transfer:

To Sussex MS Centre, Lloyds Bank, Sort Code: 30-98-74. Account No: 01813557 for your chosen amount, and in the reference call it ‘Raffle’. We will email you your ticket numbers or give them to you when you are next in!

When you get your tickets remember to fill the buyer’s details on to each stub making sure the name, address and phone number are clear. Please bring all your ticket stubs back to the Centre before 4pm on Monday 12 December.

N.B. If we are sending out tickets to you as you have paid online, we will fill in your stubs for you and then send your tickets to you. We can only do this if we have all your details so, please contact us to give us your details if you are not a member and tell us you have paid for raffle tickets online!

Bladder and Bowel Challenges – an Introduction to Effective Therapies with Siobhan Freeman

Thursday 28th November at 11.00am

FOUR OUT OF TEN PATIENTS ARE NEVER ASKED…

Walking difficulties, vision problems and fatigue are well-known symptoms in patients with MS.

Bladder and bowel dysfunction are less know – or at least less discussed and addressed.

Bladder and bowel dysfunction often come together. The impact this can have on quality of life for people with MS is huge and can result in both anxiety, depression and social isolation.

Still, many find it difficult to talk about these issues or feel too embarrassed to mention it to a doctor or nurse.  Due to the stigma surrounding these conditions they would rather choose to cope with their problems than try and address them.

As a matter of fact, four out of ten MS patients have never been asked about bladder and bowel problems during contact with healthcare providers.

Let’s remove the stigma and start talking about bladder and bowel dysfunction and the solutions that are now available to help to improve patient’s wellbeing and quality of life.

My name is Siobhan Freeman and I work for Wellspect manufacturers of Lofric catheters and Navina bowel management systems.

My role is to develop awareness of therapies that can make a real difference in patients’ lives.

If you are intending to come to this talk please let us know so we get an idea of numbers: members only.

Staff members at Shoreham Port are encouraged to take one day each year away from their regular working week to volunteer for a charity of their choice.

This provides staff the opportunity to give something back to the local community in which they live and work. This week, Lynn Archer-Matthews, Finance Executive volunteered at Sussex MS Centre located at Southwick Recreation Ground; a stone’s throw from Shoreham Port’s Nautilus House office.

On Friday, Lynn was taken on a tour of the Sussex MS Centre and had a busy day working in the site’s two gardens, clearing weeds and making the gardens more presentable for the many members they welcome each day.

I really enjoyed rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck into some gardening at the Sussex MS Centre today.

The centre is a fantastic local charity and I’m very thankful to be able to help out in any way.

Lynn Archer-Matthews, Finance Executive

It has been fantastic to have Lynn helping out with some gardening at the MS centre for her staff charity day. Sustaining our front and rear gardens is important as it’s a really nice place for our members to come and relax.

While some of our members are keen gardeners and they volunteer when they can, their MS restricts what they are able to do energy wise. We really value the extra support at key times during each season to ensure the garden is well kept. A beautiful green space here also contributes to our members mental health.

It is great to have a connection with Shoreham Port and we look forward to more voluntary days.

EJ, Centre Manager

“Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves!”

As you know we live more and more in a cashless society.

Collection boxes are becoming relatively obsolete. Takings from collection boxes have gone down in the past few years by many thousands at the Centre and we see it on our balance sheet decreasing further!

This is another call to action for which we’d be very grateful – if you know of a shop, café or pub (or anywhere) that might possibly take a collection box and you’d be prepared to take it there and collect it when it’s full please let EJ or Jane know! We can give you an official letter of authorisation to do this.

We are thrilled to have been chosen as one of the Co-op Southwick’s Local Causes for 2019.

Robbie and his team at the Co-op have already shown our Centre so much support so far this year, from supporting us at our Open Exhibition Evening in May, to providing us dates throughout the year to hold collections at the Southwick Co-op, and even getting together a team of Co-op staff to join us on our annual sponsored bike ride in June. So far this has raised over £1000!

Yes you can help!

Become a member: Co-op gives 1% of what its members spend on Co-op branded food products in stores and selected services, as well as the money raised from carrier bags and scratch cards to local causes– like us– The Sussex MS Centre.

Choose the Sussex MS Centre as your local cause: Once you become a member, or for existing members, simply go online to coop.co.uk/membership and search for Sussex MS Centre/No. 28440

Volunteer for a collection: Our next collection dates at the Southwick Co-op are: Saturday 27th July and Saturday 14th September. Could you spare a couple of hours to come along and represent the Centre on either of these dates? To find out more email [email protected]