Category: Information

Parkinson’s Disease Appeal

PARKINSON’S DISEASE APPEAL

Many Wenvoe residents will remember Helen and David Blessley and their contributions to village life. They moved to live in Penarth but still maintain village connections. Helen, being a superb cook, wrote a column called ‘Helen’s Kitchen’ for the magazine for over 15 years. This appeal has been written by their son-in-law, Marc Dunmore. 

The first thing we would like to say about David (Sarah’ s Dad, my father-in-law) or as I like to call him, Mr B, is that he is funny, strong, determined and not one to complain about anything. He is 78 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease around 25 years ago.

Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. There are over 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety. Some are treatable, but the drugs can have serious side effects. Mr B struggles to move, he struggles to eat, struggles to remember, he struggles to speak clearly and sleep is uncomfortable and disrupted. He has a hospital bed, walking frames, inflatable cushions and 2 wheelchairs to try and help. The alarms sound every 3 hours to remind Helen (Sarah’s Mum, my mother-in-law) to give his medication every 3 hours to deal with these symptoms but although the medication is supposed to help it can cause confusion and hallucinations. Parkinson’s Disease gets worse over time and at the moment there is no cure.

Helen is Mr B’s wife and main caregiver. She plays an integral part in his health, helping him to get the right treatments and help that he needs. As a result, he has been able to maintain the best possible lifestyle in the circumstances. However, this disease is not easy for anyone involved with the person living with it, whether family members or caregivers.

Not only do we want to help fundraise for Parkinson’s UK to help find a cure but also to provide funding for the local side of Parkinson’s. Our local Parkinson’s support group has been a lifeline for both Helen and Mr B. Not only can these groups introduce you to other families with Parkinson’s but can provide wonderful assistance for families like ours with information and events to help support everyone involved.

Mr B faces many challenges every day and we wanted to experience our own challenges. Over the course of the year Sarah will be virtually running Lands end to John O Groats (874 miles) culminating in both of us running the London Marathon and then…when one marathon isn’t enough, we will be running the Newport marathon a couple of weeks

later. The training for all this will most definitely be a challenge to fit in alongside dodging Covid, home schooling and working. However, when put into context with the challenges that Mr B and others like him face seems humble.

As you may be aware we have in the past run a few marathons between us so we wanted to make this one different and demanding. We did enquire about pushing Mr B round the London Marathon course in his wheelchair; however, this is not able to happen. So, instead Mr B will be joining us in his wheelchair, pushed by us, on some of our training runs around Cardiff. I’m sure there will be hard days for us both when the effort of running seems too much but we will take a leaf out of Mr B’s book and be strong, determined and try not to complain (not much anyway!!).

Through Virgin Money Giving, you can sponsor me, and donations will be quickly processed and passed to Parkinson’s UK. Virgin Money Giving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity’s behalf where the donor is eligible for this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please donate to this fantastic cause! We really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations.

Donations can be made via https:// uk.virginmoneygiving.com/marcdunmore. Once on the page you can click “donate” and then there are easy step by step instructions.

 

 

Research On Remembrance In Wales

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH ON REMEMBRANCE IN WALES

Dear Wenvoe Community Library,

I read about your library from the https://libraries.wales/ website, and I hope you would not mind me asking for your help for my research. I know the importance of libraries in local communities, even if the current pandemic context makes your work and social sharing more difficult.

I am a French PhD student in history and psychology at Swansea University and I am involved in a project with a Welsh and a French research team to study the memory of disasters. We developed an online questionnaire to gain a better understanding of memory and oblivion processes involved when we are to remember past disasters. Our main goal is to progress in the understanding of individual and collective responses to these events. More broadly, this study aims to make an important contribution to ongoing scientific debates on the management of communities and territories affected by one or several disasters.

We are currently struggling to make our study known and we need more volunteers participating to be able to draw relevant conclusions.

I would like to ask for the help of your library in distributing our questionnaire, for instance by adding information about our study in your newsletter if you have one, or via your library network. Our objective is to gather the answers from a large public living in Wales, no matter the age or the background. Your help in sharing our questionnaire would also be a great opportunity for us to inform Welsh communities about our scientific interests.

A detailed call for volunteers was also published by Swansea University on its website (swan.ac/gas), and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SwanseaUni/status/1354806627447181316). I also gave a short interview that you can find on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lucrece.heux.1).

We wish to communicate our results to the volunteers who participated once our study will be finalised. If you are interested, we can also work with you to inform the visitors of your library about the conclusions we will be able to draw. The link to take part in the study is: https://survey.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/formSV_cMiOQgpbmi33U9f.

I remain entirely at your disposal if you have any further questions. Thank you for your attention,

Lucrèce Heux,

Doctoral Student/ Myfyriwr Doethuriaeth,

Swansea University/ Prifysgol Abertawe.

 

 

Village Hall Volunteers

A PLEA FROM THE VILLAGE HALL VOLUNTEERS

Over a period of a couple of weeks in lockdown, youngsters playing football in the carpark of the village hall caused damage to the central heating overflow pipe, guttering and two outside lights Unfortunately the broken glass, found when the playgroup arrived, had to be swept up before the children could be allowed in.

The hall was painted last summer to create a warm welcome to groups returning to use the facilities. The walls have now had to be washed because of footballs being kicked up against them. Our cleaner generously did this, without being asked.

The Covid situation means we have been unable too pen so there is no money coming in except from playgroup. The cost of the repairs and the possibility of having to install CCTV is a concern to us.

There is a sign in the carpark saying ‘No football’. The boys have been asked on a number of occasions not to play in the car park but have just ignored us. The police have been informed of the damage caused and are looking into it.

The hall is there for all in the village to enjoy and residents are very supportive of this facility. So we are asking the parents of these youngsters to help us by informing them to please not play football in the village hall carpark. Thank you.

 

 

The Tuckers Spring Plant Sale

THE TUCKERS

SPRING PLANT SALE

Saturday 1st May

 

Come along to our socially distanced Spring Plant Sale on Saturday 1 May. There will be six Wenvoe growers with plants to sell and there will be more gardening advice than you could shake a stick at!

There will be a small raffle with proceeds going to our Wenvoe Charity of choice, Wenvoe Wildlife Group. Glenys will be making cakes again which will be sold by the slice. Covid rules will be observed. Come and grab yourself some jewels for your garden and have a chat with our growers.

This will be held at our home at 29 Vennwood Close. We are so looking forward to seeing you.

 

 

Staying Safe When Walking on Country Roads

STAYING SAFE WHEN WALKING ON COUNTRY ROADS

During the current pandemic there has been a significant increase in people walking the country roads (lovely to see). However it is amazing how many people do not know the country code for walkers.

“Individuals or small groups should keep to the right hand side of the road so you can see oncoming traffic. Keep close to the side and be prepared to walk in single file. If you come across a sharp right hand bend with no view around it you should cross to the left hand side and cross back to the right hand side after the bend.”

Walkers should wear hi viz or light coloured clothing, especially at night. It is surprising how many wear black or dark cloths,; this is especially true of cyclists.

With social distancing it doesn’t help to have two people walking one each side of the road. This simply makes the road narrower and still endangers the person on the left hand side. The person walking in the opposite direction is forced to walk out into the road to pass.

Also, walking on the left hand side, with a dog and on your mobile is an accident waiting to happen.

A little reminder to drivers-please slow down when passing walkers, particularly when the road is wet.

Enjoy your walking

 

 

Fly Tipping

FLY TIPPING

Did you know?

That you could be fined £300 if fly tipping is traced back to you? It is our duty of care to investigate who takes our rubbish and if they are licensed to dispose of it at reputable sites. How do we know if they are reputable – you can check on naturalresources.wales/check Waste or by calling 03000 653000 open 08.00 – 18.00 hours weekdays and charged at national rate.

Did you know?

Leaving donations outside a closed charity shop is also classed as fly tipping by local authorities? You risk a fine by dropping off your donations outside of normal opening hours.

Over 70% of fly tipped waste in Wales contains household items and rubbish. Fly tipping is a serious crime which poses an immediate threat to the environment, animals and local communities. If house holders do not carry out the necessary checks and their waste is found fly tipped, they can be fined £300 and risk prosecution for not following their Household Waste Duty of Care.

There has been an increase in illegitimate waste carriers posing as registered household waste removal services on social media. These people often advertise low prices to entice customers and dupe people into believing they are licenced services who will dispose of household waste legally and responsibly. In reality, the collected rubbish is later fly-tipped in fields, country lanes or along roadsides, putting the householder who paid and arranged for the service at risk of being fined £300.

While this has remained a concern for many years, it is feared that this waste crime has become even more common since the outbreak of COVID-19, with many rogue traders taking advantage of lockdown restrictions and householders who feel too anxious to leave their homes during these unprecedented times.

What does Household Waste Duty of Care mean?

The law places a legal duty on householders in Wales to ensure that they are disposing of unwanted household rubbish legally and responsibly.

This means that anyone arranging third party household rubbish collection should always check that the person or company they use is an authorised waste carrier with a registered licence. This information is readily available on the Natural Resources Wales website (above) and is easily accessed. If householders do not make these necessary checks and their waste is found fly tipped, they are at risk of a fine and criminal record or even prosecution.

It is also recommended that all householders request a receipt, record details of the vehicle involved and ask where their waste is going before accepting a household rubbish removal service.

If you have witnessed or seen a case of fly-tipping you can report it to the Vale of Glamorgan on www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/flytipping.

When reporting fly-tipping please ensure you tell us:

• What type of waste?

• How much waste?

• Location of the waste?

 

 

Census Day Sunday 21 March 2021

CENSUS DAY SUNDAY 21 MARCH 2021

Census 2021 is a digital-first census, people will be encouraged to respond online if they can. You will be able to complete the census using any device, including your mobile phone or tablet.

Most people will get a letter with a unique access code on it through the post. All you need to do is enter the code into the secure website and fill in the questionnaire.

There’ll be plenty of support available if you have any concerns about filling it in. If you prefer, you can still return a paper form.

You will be contacted nearer the time to let you know what you need to do.

 

 

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