Join the Solstice Walk Your Way with St Giles Hospice

Sutton Coldfield people are being invited to celebrate the arrival of summer and support St Giles Hospice on June 19 by stepping out of their own front door to take part in Solstice Walk Your Way.

Supporters will be lacing up their walking shoes and fundraising in their fairy wings for a Solstice Walk with a twist this year as the hospice’s biggest annual fundraiser returns in 2021 for a special event based from home.

Fundraisers are being invited to put safety first and walk 5k their way – either on Saturday 19^th or any other day in June – before celebrating with a solstice party in their own garden afterwards.

Taking part in Solstice Walk Your Way this year is Amy Foster from Tamworth, who will be wearing her fairy wings with her eight-year-old daughter Ellanor and husband Daniel. The family was supported when Amy’s mother-in-law was an inpatient at the hospice and has since become a health assistant.

Chloe Herbert, Head of Fundraising at St Giles Hospice, said: “Our Solstice Walk is our largest fundraising event of the year and always has a really magical atmosphere – and we’re hoping to bring some of that spirit back in 2021 now that people can get together in small groups outside.

“We hope that as many people as possible will get together in their ‘bubbles’ to take part and raise some much-needed funds for St Giles Hospice at a time when we have never needed our community more. A lot of people raising a small amount can make a huge difference to the care we’re able to provide in our community, and the Solstice Walk Your Way is a great way to support us with your family or friends.

“After the difficult year St Giles has faced, we need the Solstice Walk more than ever in 2021 and we’re thrilled to be bringing it back. Although we’d all love to get together again for our annual walk through Lichfield we feel that adapting the event is the most responsible thing to do this year in the interest of everyone’s safety and we’d love for hundreds of people from right across our catchment area to join together virtually for an extra-special Solstice Walk this year.

“People who sign up will receive a fabulous fundraising pack full of goodies to really get them in the Solstice Walk spirit. Shimmer on a 5k in your local area, sparkle at your own fundraising party, and shine for St Giles!”

The fundraising pack includes a Solstice Walk Your Way number to wear, a selection of 5k route maps around local parks and trails, a lantern to light for a special moment of reflection at 8pm on 19^th June, biodegradable body glitter and gel, party bunting, cake toppers and fabulous fundraising ideas.

Chloe added: “It’s free to sign up to Solstice Walk Your Way, but by raising just a little bit of sponsorship, you can make a huge difference to the lives of local people living with a terminal illness. If you take part in a bubble of six people and everyone donated £5, you could fund one hour of nursing care for a patient at the end of their life.”

Although Amy Foster has been a St Giles fundraiser for several years, her support for St Giles became more personal in 2018 when mother-in-law Sandra Foster was diagnosed with cancer. Sandra came to St Giles as an inpatient in January 2019 for a couple of weeks, before being discharged and dying at home, as was her wish, a couple of months later.

Amy, who was so inspired by Sandra’s care that she joined St Giles as a Healthcare Assistant, said: “We’re really looking forward to taking part in Solstice Walk Your Way. The Solstice Walk is the only St Giles event I’ve never done before so I’m looking forward to completing the set!

“The event has been adapted in such a lovely way to ensure people can still fundraise and take part safely and I’ll be walking in memory of my mother-in-law Sandra. The care she was given was superb and we just want to give back to St Giles some of the love that we received.

“After she passed away we were helped with bereavement support and the staff were just so good to us, always listening, and they really made a difference.

“I now work with the Hospice at Home team at St Giles so I can see that there are so many people who need the support of the hospice. People who raise funds for the hospice are absolute heroes – the money they raise makes such a difference for local families who are living with a terminal illness. A little support really goes a long way.

“St Giles is such a valuable service for everyone in the community as you never know when someone you love is going to need the amazing support that the hospice provides.”

For more information about Solstice Walk Your Way or to sign up visit www.stgileshospice.com/solsticewalk

For more information about St Giles Hospice and the expert care it provides, please visit www.stgileshospice.com

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Broadcaster’s Sutton Coldfield Town Hall date

Broadcaster and Eggheads host Jeremy Vine will be the next celebrity host of our community quiz on Wednesday 19th May.  The interactive quiz is part of a series of community events and initiatives since the temporary theatre closure, to bring entertainment to audiences at home and keep in touch whilst preparing for live shows to return.

It will also raise money for the restoration of Sutton Coldfield Town Hall.
Jeremy Vine is one of the UK’s most successful broadcasters. In more than thirty years at the BBC, he’s presented Newsnight, Panorama, Crimewatch, Eggheads and Points of View — as well as his daily Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2, the UK’s most listened-to radio news programme and his daily Channel 5 show. 

Ahead of his rescheduled live talk at the Town Hall on 24 September, (tickets available here), Jeremy has been asked to guest host the virtual community quiz in the meantime, following a successful quiz hosted by The Chase’s Paul Sinha in April. 

The interactive quiz, run by producers InQuizition, will be broadcast live to ticket holders via zoom. It is challenging enough to make players think, but with a focus on accessibility and fun.

Revenue from tickets will go towards a £5 million major renovation of the charity trust-run town hall. The essential renovation works will secure and restore our Edwardian venue for future generations to use and enjoy.

Tickets are £7.50 per device. Audience members can operate as a team or alone at home, or work with friends and family over the telephone or messaging apps.
Quizzers cannot be seen but can message the host and each other live.

Ticket holders will be quizzed on a range of topics from popular culture to geography, history to science, and everything in between.  

The quiz on 19^th May will take place at 8pm, with streaming starting at 7.50pm, until around 9.15pm. To purchase a unique link, or for more information, visit the What’s On page at https://www.suttoncoldfieldtownhall.com or go to SCTH.ORG/VirtualVine. 

Businesses / Teams wanting to take part should contact the Town Hall to arrange a group booking.

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People urged to back summer raffle to support hospice ‘unique care’

The daughters of a musician who spent his final days at St Giles Hospice are calling on people to support the charity by backing its summer raffle.

Claire Barton and her sister Melanie Floyd say that their family would not have made it through their dad’s illness without the help of St Giles.

Claire said: “We are so thankful that St Giles were there for us and they were involved every step of the way during dad’s last months at home and then in the hospice. We will always be so very grateful.

“I hope people will support the St Giles Hospice Summer Raffle. At any moment you could find out that a family member or a friend needs the support of St Giles. It’s our community’s hospice and I want to ensure that it is there in future for families like ours.”

Claire and Melanie’s parents Sue and David – known as ‘Chas’ – Chandler moved back to Lichfield in April 2019 after living in Wales for 13 years. During the previous Christmas the family had all noticed that Chas’s behavior seemed to have changed, and after watching him struggle to cope with the house move Claire and Melanie encouraged him to seek medical help. 

Chas, 72, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer and was put in touch with the St Giles Hospice community team.

Claire said: “Our community nurses, Amy and Katie, were amazing and we couldn’t have managed without them. They organised a care package so mum could look after dad at home.

“After six months of being cared for at home, dad was transferred to the Inpatient Unit at the hospice for the last few days of his life. Amy and Katie made sure that the timing was right for him to go into the hospice, and when they told him he gave us all the thumbs-up, which was his only way of communicating with us by then.

“As soon as we arrived at the hospice we knew he was in the best place, with someone there to help him and us at all times. It was so calm and peaceful and the sense of security, safety and love was just such a massive relief.”

Claire added that her dad received “truly unique care” at St Giles before his death in November 2019. “He was a musician and the nurses would talk to him about his music and listen together to CDs of him playing,” she said. “It was all about the music for him and they tuned in to that and allowed him to share his gift with them, which was lovely for him.”

It costs more than £10 million to provide the care St Giles offers every year and the hospice needs to raise £850,000 each month to keep its services going and continue to support more local families living with a terminal illness.

Tickets for the hospice summer raffle are now on sale at £1 each and prizes up for grabs include a jackpot of £8,000, a second prize of £2,000 and other cash prizes.

Alison Jerram, Individual Giving Manager at St Giles Hospice, said: “We are asking our local community play our 2021 summer raffle – it’s an easy way to support St Giles while also having a bit of fun, with the chance to win fabulous cash prizes.

“With so much of our fundraising continuing to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, our summer raffle is a vital source of income for St Giles. Every ticket sold in our raffle will help to ensure we can continue to be there for local people like Chas and his family when they need us most. 

“Tickets are now on sale and we are so grateful to our community for continuing to support us.”

Anyone wanting to enter the draw can find out more or buy raffle tickets online until midnight on Wednesday, June 30 at www.stgileshospice.com/raffle or by calling the Lottery Office on 01543 434020. The raffle draw will be made on Wednesday, July 14.

For more information about St Giles Hospice and the expert care it provides, please visit www.stgileshospice.com

Phone taken in Sutton town centre

Police are anxious to trace these two youths after a 16-year-old boy was robbed of his mobile phone while waiting for a bus in Sutton Coldfield town centre.

Officers have launched an appeal, asking the public if they recognise the two youths.

Police want to talk to them about the robbery which took place at the Number 5 bus stop on Lower Parade in the town on 8 April at around 4.10pm.

The 16-year-old had his mobile taken by two youths, who later boarded the same No 5 bus as the boy.

The pair were wearing face masks and had hoodies up.

One was descried as 5ft 6ins, wearing a light grey tracksuit with grey trainers. The other was 6ft 3ins, wearing a dark blue hoody and blue jeans.

The pair got off the bus at Duke Street.

Police have asked witnesses to call them on 101 quoting 20/153282/21.

Weapon found as police launch Operation Sceptre

Police in Sutton Coldfield have recovered a knife from the town’s railway station as part of a week-long campaign.

Knife crime is a serious issue in many parts of the country and has tragic consequences and creates too many victims.

West Midlands Police are conducting Operation Sceptre and the week long campaign will see officers conducting weapon sweeps, knife arch operations , and extra high visibility patrols.

They have been working alongside colleagues from the British Transport. The knife was recovered on Monday morning by neighbourhood team officers from Sutton Coldfield who say the knife taken off the street will help make journeys safer.

Police are urging the public to play their part and remain vigilant and made the following appeal:

• If you see ,or suspect some one has a knife then call 999.
• If you find a knife, make a note of its location and report this immediately.
• If you think some one you know may be considering getting involved with knife crime, or has contacts with those that are then report this to the police or visit: http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org 

Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111

Collaboration highlights experiences of Sutton Coldfield people living with multiple sclerosis

Sutton Coldfield people directly affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) have told their stories and offered their honest insights into living with the condition in a new book.

Collected Stories: Living with Multiple Sclerosis has been developed to provide a learning resource for health professionals across the UK and was released during National MS Awareness Week (19-25th April, 2021).

The book is one of the outputs from a research project carried out by St Giles Hospice, Keele University and members of the hospice’s MS support group.  

The project began in 2018 and involved focus groups and interviews designed to help understand the experiences of people with MS in accessing hospice care and support. It was conducted by Professor Sue Read and Teaching Fellow Dr Sotirios Santatzoglou from Keele University, Dr Emma Hodges from St Giles Hospice and participants from the hospice’s MS groups based in Whittington and Sutton Coldfield.

Following the study, the research team were so inspired by the experiences the group shared that they spoke to participants about how they might want to share their stories more widely. 

Professor Read said: “I have been involved in the production of books previously as a way of sharing important life experiences and supporting healthcare professionals to learn and reflect on their practice.  The group wanted to have their voices heard so they asked us to support them. It was a pleasure to help them do that as an outcome of the research.

“The book incorporates a wonderful, unique collection of stories that provides powerful insights into the impact that multiple sclerosis has on the individual, their families and professional carers.”

Contributors include people living with the condition along with volunteers and staff at St Giles Hospice. The book also features a foreword written by community historian Professor Carl Chinn, who offers a moving account of his childhood experience of living with his own grandfather who was diagnosed with MS in the 1950s.

The powerful testimonies in the book feature the life stories of several people diagnosed with MS, highlighting their different experiences, the philosophies and coping mechanisms that have helped them through the years and the actions of the wider community that have helped or hindered their daily lives.

An exercise instructor working with the MS groups at St Giles and a hospice member of staff have also contributed to the collection, revealing how their own preconceptions have been challenged by their experiences and the insights they have gained as a result.

Dr Emma Hodges, CEO of St Giles Hospice, said: “Research is a small but important part of our strategy at St Giles. We support a range of national research studies and also design our own in order to improve patient care and/or community support for people with a terminal illness.  In all of our research we aim to proactively involve the people we support.

“We are extremely grateful to members of the St Giles MS groups who shared their stories with us and wrote with such thoughtfulness, dignity and compassion. We hope that their candour and wisdom will help us to better understand their individual and varied experiences of MS and to shape our services more effectively to support their needs.

“We also hope that their insights will be useful to professionals in the wider community as they learn from the real MS experts – the people who are living with the condition every day of their lives.”

For more details of the book or to buy a printed copy or downloadable version, visit www.stgileshospice.com/MS-book

All proceeds from the sale of Collected Stories: Living with Multiple Sclerosis will support St Giles Hospice and help fund vital care for local people and families living with a terminal illness.

For more information about St Giles Hospice and the expert care it provides, please visit www.stgileshospice.com

For further information or for any media enquiries please contact gary.young@stgileshospice.com or Gary Young on 07855 926123.