Freshwinds Integrated Medicine Project is planning another information morning directed at professionals who would like to find out more about the work that we do.

The morning is planned for Friday 17th September 2010 at 10.30am and will be held in the main meeting room on the ground floor of Prospect Hall, 12 College Walk, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6LE

At this time we will give a talk about the services at Freshwinds followed by a tour of Freshwinds.

The emphasis of this particular information morning will be about how we provide complementary therapies for adults and children with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses and will cover areas such as the principles and philosophies of the service, referral pathways, the structure of the service, patient management etc.

During the talk, however, we will also give an overview of all of the other projects within Freshwinds.

We aim to finish by about 12.00pm.

If you would like to come to the information morning, please ring Freshwinds’ reception (0121 415 6670) with the following details:

Name:
Occupation:
Number of people coming:
Contact Telephone number (in case we have to cancel the morning):

[singlepic id=81 w=160 h=120 float=left]During the spring of 2010 the Integrated Medicine Team ran a series of very successful workshops inviting families who are caring for a child with complex health care needs to join with us to learn simple techniques of a range of complementary therapies. This was funded by Heart of Birmingham PCT. Most of the workshops were held on Saturday mornings over a period of 10 weeks covering aromatherapy, massage, relaxation and reflexology. A total of 49 families (121 individuals) attended the workshops. The aim was to allow families to join together in a relaxed and informal way and meet other families to learn new skills that could be used at home to help relieve common symptoms such as pain, discomfort, fatigue, constipation, anxiety and stress. In addition to the Saturday mornings, some sessions were held atThe Birmingham Community Children’s Centre (Bacchus Road) and at Mayfield School (Handsworth).

[singlepic id=82 w=160 h=120 float=right]In an atmosphere of fun and play, some of the techniques covered included foot massage, a story script for children’s back massage, a quiz about aromatherapy oils and visualisation for relaxation. Families were able to choose which of the sessions to access and they all took away booklets outlining the techniques covered so that they could continue to use them at home. Immediate feedback from the parents and children indicates that they felt more enabled in being able to benefit their son/daughter or brother/sister. Comments from families include;

• “Benefit son & family help son sleep well relax more”
• “Because my son suffers from ” stridor” this helps relax and feel better at breathing”
• “Will help incorporate relaxation into our daily lives”
• “Help relive aches and pains”
• “It also helps you to bond as a family taking time for relaxation together, making things a lot less stressful”.

[singlepic id=83 w=160 h=120 float=left]At each workshop two Freshwinds therapists were available to teach the techniques of the therapy in question and support learning. Everyone was encouraged to join in with the focus on a hands-on approach. It was very special to see children massaging their mums and dads and each other. Stories and rhymes were used to very good effect to teach massage and reflexology techniques and bubbles played a big part in each session, which were originally  intended to distract the very youngest children but seemed to appeal to everyone![singlepic id=84 w=160 h=120 float=right]

The workshops were very well attended and very enjoyable – as the photographs will prove. We shared delicious food provided for the Saturday sessions by the Saffron Centre and had some very lively sessions as well as some very relaxing ones.

For further information please contact Ann Goddard (Complementary therapy coordinator) on 0121 415 6670.

On Sunday 20^th June Freshwinds Institute of Integrated Medicine (FIIM) team attended the Natural Health Fair in Birmingham to promote the new on line CPD courses and forthcoming post graduate programme due to be launched later in the year. The team was joined by Freshwinds therapists offering taster therapy treatments to members of the public as well as other therapists.

FIIM had one of the largest stands in the show. There was a wide range of treatments available from the practitioners, ranging from Reflexology to Bowen and Tui Na to Reiki, Massage and Hopi Ear candles. For the purposes of a safe treatment, all clients were required to first complete a health questionnaire.

Demonstrations of our on-line courses were done via a laptop with internet access, reinforcing the ease of on-line learning. This generated quite a bit of interest both from visitors and from other exhibitors who enjoyed getting to grips with this new way of learning as well as the whole idea of Integrated Medicine being the way forward.

We hope this was the first of many FIIM events promoting the message of Integrated Medicine education and the benefits of on-line learning. These include cost-effectiveness and flexibility of time and place.

Up and coming events include,

• BSSK show with a talk given by Jon Critoph, Education Development Officer (FIIM) at Grimsby Auditorium, Cromwell Road, Grimsby, DN31 2BH – Sunday 25^th July at 2pm. Talk entitled Integrated Medicine –Healthcare for the 21st Century

• Mind Body and Soul weekend with a talk given by Jon Critoph, Education Development Officer (FIIM) at Clarendon Suites, Hagley Road, Edgbaston
  B16 9SB – Saturday 6^th November time TBC. Talk entitled Integrated Medicine –Healthcare for the 21st Century

Real Talk is a discussion group aimed to enable young people from all over the city to take part in critical discourse of historical and current issues that affect young people in the society.

Real Talk is all about creating spaces for young people which they can utilize as a foundation where they can meet, discuss, network, organise and create opportunities for themselves as well as other young people that live within the local community.

The co-coordinator of the group is Craig Pinkney

In conjunction with Bro Sis/Urban Living and Sankofa Youth Academy, Real Talk delivered a session on Equality and diversity on Saturday 29th may 2010 from 1-4pm @ the Sankofa Centre.

The session explored young people’s views around the idea of Equal opportunities in inner city Birmingham, whether young people thought equal opportunities existed and who they thought the idea around equal opportunities applied to. The session also looked at some of the issues around racism and how young people felt about it, and whether it was an issue that they experienced in their everyday lives.

Dates for the next session will be posted on the web site and Facebook.

Over the course of the past year Maxine Gopsill, a client of Freshwinds, has carried out various fundraising activities to raise money for Freshwinds and this year has successfully raised

£1601.31

 

Fundraising Activity 1: In the Pink

“Hello, my name is Maxine Gopsill.
As a person with cancer, I am myself a client of Freshwinds and I have been receiving regular sessions of hypnotherapy, massage and reiki which have had a real impact helping me with relaxation and managing my pain. Freshwinds is an invaluable charity which has made me feel valued and has helped me through my darkest and most painful days. It has helped me with my self esteem, confidence, pain and general well-being. Even when I am at my lowest, Freshwinds has a solution to enable me to take any direction in life that I choose.

Freshwinds has helped me to change my life completely and has made me feel very enabled and not at all disabled by my cancer. I now have more control over my life, rather than the cancer taking control of me.

IT HAS been a traumatic four years for Maxine Gopsill as she continues her battle to beat breast cancer. The 45-year-old, from Kings Norton, was diagnosed with the deadly disease in 2006 and is still struggling to return to normal life. Because of the treatment she has received, some days she will wake up without any sight, while other days turn into a physical struggle. But despite her troubles, the determined mother-of-three is desperate to help out a local charity group which has been a key factor in her recovery quest. Selly Oak-based organisation Freshwinds has offered endless support to Maxine throughout the four-year period. Its holistic approach to care, by way of providing complementary therapies alongside traditional forms of treatment, is a huge benefit to recovering patients. It has also supplied a number of free confidence-building courses for Maxine and many other patients to help them return to employment. Debt management advice and special massage courses are also on offer to those who seek help from Freshwinds. Without its help, Maxine’s long road to recovery would have been even harder, which is why she is so keen to help raise awareness for the charity. Not only has she dyed her hair fuscia pink to replicate the group’s logo, but she is playing an active part in fund-raising for the charity. During an holistic event at Hawksley Community Centre in Kings Norton, Maxine will hold her own raffle to help raise funds. The event took place March 13 from 10am-4pm.

Source: Birmingham Mail

Fundraising Activity 2: Charity Variety Event

UB40 Tribute Band
Blues Brothers Tribute Band
A 15 Strong Group of Jazz Dancers
A 15 Strong Group of Street Dancers
A Pixie Lott Tribute Act
An Alicia Keys Tribute Act
A Michael Bolton Tribute Act
Plus live music from a DJ

All 250 Tickets Sold! – The Night was enjoyed by all.