Solihull Osteoporosis Support Group

Meetings

The meetings for 2012 will be held at either
John Palmer Hall, Union Road, Solihull, or
Shirley Community Centre, Stratford Road, Shirley,
starting at 2.00 pm.
Please check the venue carefully.
The cost is £1.20 per meeting, including refreshments.
Raffle 50p per ticket.

Thursday 8 December (2011) - John Palmer Hall
Christmas Quiz and Tea Party
There will be a good crowd from our exercise classes attending this event, so come along and join in the fun.

Thursday 26 January - John Palmer Hall
Pensions Service
Francis Beirne, Partnership Manager of the Pension Local Service, will be giving a talk on benefit entitlements. Francis also does home visits to ensure older vulnerable people are aware of all their benefit entitlements.

Thursday 15 March - Shirley Community Centre
Dietician from Solihull Hospital
Helen Mercer, Specialist Dietician in public health nutrition and weight management.

Thursday 17 May - John Palmer Hall
Your Tax made interesting
by our own Treasurer, Roger Davis, retired Chartered Accountant.

Thursday 14 June - Shirley Park
Annual NOS sponsored walk
Please note this event starts at 10.00 am in Shirley Park.

Thursday 4 October - Shirley Community Centre
First Aid in the Home
Jennifer Holloway will give a talk on first aid in the home, with an emphasis on falls and balance.

Thursday 6 December - Shirley Community Centre
Christmas Floral Decorations
demonstrated by Dawn, and followed by tea and mince pies.

Please note that at the Treasurer’s request the next AGM will take place early in 2013 after our financial year has closed, and every Jan/Feb thereafter.

Coffee mornings

In Spring 2008 it was decided to organise a regular coffee morning at a central location with good access to buses, car parks and shops.

The aim was to encourage members of The National Osteoporosis Society who do not attend the exercise classes, and those who do, to come along and chat over a cup of coffee. This is an informal occasion held in an area set aside for our group. 18 people attended the first coffee morning and although attendance varies from month to month they are well received by those who come along. There will not necessarily be a member of the committee on hand at every coffee morning.

Coffee mornings are held on the first Monday of the month
including Bank Holidays
from 10 am.

The venue is the Wetherspoons Assembley Room,
Poplar Road, Solihull (next to Lloyds Bank).

Fundraising events

Walk of Achievement

Thursday 9th June 2011

We returned to Shirley Park again this year for our annual sponsored Walk of Achievement. The weather was perfect for walking – not too hot, but sunny and bright. Fifty-two people turned out to complete as many kilometre laps as they could. For some, two or three laps were a personal achievement, but the fittest went on to complete ten or eleven circuits.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the National Osteoporosis Society. They have asked all their members, staff and support groups to record the total mileage of any walks they do to try and reach a target of 25,000 miles. We converted the kilometres completed on our walk into miles and submitted our total of 236 miles. Not a bad contribution to their target.

During the afternoon, just as the last walkers were finishing, the sky darkened. We hastily packed the gazebos away as a few drops of rain started to fall.

The sponsorship money is now being collected. This will be used towards the work of our own group, but we will also be making a contribution to the work of the National Osteoporosis Society. The final total raised will be announced in a future newsletter.

Waitrose Hall Green
Community Matters

Every month the staff at Waitrose nominate three local charities from those putting in a bid to receive a share of a donation of £1000. Customers are given a token to drop in a box at the checkout for their favourite of the three charities. At the end of the month the £1000 is divided according to the percentage share of the tokens. Solihull Osteoporosis Support Group had stiff opposition from two cancer charities, but we were still very pleased to receive £220. All the charities nominated during the year were recently invited to a Cheese and Wine evening to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Community Matters scheme.