THE BOROONDARA STROKE SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER

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48 December 2016

The year 2016 has been a busy one for Boroondara Stroke Support Group, our dream of achieving our own home was realized with the opening of the Hub in Kew, leased from the Boroondara Council. The Grand Opening was held on September 6th with some 140 people attending. An enormous amount of toil went into setting up the Hub through obtaining grants, purchasing furniture etc. to outfit our home. A special thanks must be acknowledged to Mrs. Vivienne Harkness for her efforts in coordinating the opening and furnishing of the Hub, but there were many other individuals involved in the processes - too many to acknowledge individually - members of the BSSG as well as people outside the group. For an organization such as ours it has been a remarkable accomplishment and something of which we can rightly be proud. We are now in the process of setting up our activities with the aim of having all up and “running” with a coordinator overseeing operations at the Hub in 2017. Our other big success for 2016 has been the launching of the Sing for Recovery Group, which visits local hospital stroke recovery wards to brighten patients with their melodic tones and providing them with information packs to help assist them in their recovery. This group is going from strength to strength. Again, we must thank Vice President Vivienne for her initiative in setting up this group. I would like to recognize the efforts of our other Vice President Paul Fullerton for his tireless efforts and continual work and upgrading of our BSSG website, also to John Pocock from Yarra Bend Rotary who stepped in as BSSG treasurer at the start of 2016. And last but not least, our BSSG committee, who have had to endure many meetings and tasks this year as we have achieved our Hub dream. Finally, I shall be stepping down as President but continue as a member of the BSSG committee.

Thanks to our sponsors Rotary Clubs of Balwyn, Camberwell, Kew and Preston

The opening of our new Boroondara Community Stroke Hub and launch of Sing for Recovery in September, was a wonderful success and a very memorable occasion. Indeed, we are still receiving feedback from many of the 150+ guests who attended! The success of the event was largely due to the extensive number of hours so many people gave, both physically and vocally. Several factors contributed to the enjoyment of our guests. The wonderful speakers – The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP - Member for Kooyong, The Mayor of Boroondara – Cr Jim Parke, Cr Phillip Healey – our local councillor, Tim Smith MP – Member for Kew, John Pesutto MP – Member for Hawthorn and Fiona Mc Kinnon, who presented a painting by Helen Wilding donated to the Hub by St Vincent’s Hospital. All the speeches were relevant, meaningful and in several cases – very amusing! Adding to the delightful, warm ambience was the singing of the members of Sing for Recovery and the enthusiastic way everyone joined in. Of particular fun was the willing and enthusiastic participation of Josh, John, Tim and Phillip, who all donned t-shirts to sing with the choir! Our new BSSG Honour Board was also later unveiled in the Hub by Josh Frydenberg, on which several people are acknowledged, including justifiably our founder and first president Jenny Cheng and her husband Peter. Following the official activities our guests enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea, donated by our wonderful

The Opening of Boroondara Community Stroke Hub and the Launch of Sing for

Recovery By Vivienne Harkness

Annual Report 2016 By Brian O’Meara

THE BOROONDARA STROKE SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER

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About 10 members of the BSSG recently went on a tour of some of the Recreation and Sporting facilities within Boroondara. This tour was arranged by Rex Hately, the Recreation and Wellbeing Officer at the City of Boroondara. We all met at our new Stroke Hub, piled into the Community Bus that Rex had organised, and headed off. Firstly to the Ashburton Pool and Recreation Centre (APARC), followed by a brief stopover at the Camberwell Petanque Club, and finally to the Balwyn Leisure Centre. We then drove back to the Stroke Hub where Rex had organised an excellent lunch for us. It was really pleasant being able to sit back and chat with Rex while filling our bellies with some lovely sandwiches, wraps, and delicious sweets. Let me summarise what we saw at these facilities. 1. Ashburton Pool and Recreation Centre (or

APARC), located at 8 Warner Avenue, Ashburton, is an impressive recreation facility containing both a 25m indoor and outdoor pool, a warm water hydrotherapy pool, a spa and sauna, a café, group fitness studios, health club and treatment rooms for massage, physiotherapy and other allied health services. A big feature at APARC is their new lift for getting

Boroondara Recreation and Leisure Centres by Paul Fullerton

wheelchair bound people into and out of the indoor and hydrotherapy pools.

2. The Camberwell Petanque Club, located at 64A Through Road, Camberwell. For those who don’t know what petanque is; it is the French version of the Italian sport of bocce. It is played with things called boules and cochonnet.

3. Balwyn Leisure Centre (BLC) is located at 230 Belmore Road, Balwyn North, along with the Boroondara Sports Complex (BSC). Between them, these facilities boast numerous areas to help keep you fit and healthy. Activity areas include: outdoor 50m pool, outdoor diving pool, stadium, health club, gymnastics stadium, café and group fitness rooms.

Boroondara is also home to Hawthorn Aquatic and Leisure Centre (HALC) in Linda Crescent, Hawthorn just beside the old Glenferrie Oval. HALC contains an outdoor heated 50m pool, an indoor warm water pool, health club, health suites, café and group fitness rooms. There is also Kew Recreation Centre (KRC) located at 383 High Street, Kew - just up the road from our new Stroke Hub. It contains a 25m indoor pool, sauna and spa, café, group fitness rooms, health club and treatment rooms for massage, physiotherapy and other allied health services. All these facilities are operated by very professional and enthusiastic staff from the YMCA, and all facilities employ exercise physiologists who are specially trained to develop individualised programs for people with disabilities. The City of Boroondara is to be congratulated for providing these fantastic facilities in Boroondara, and for their policies of diversity, inclusion, participation and accessibility which are reflected in the design and operation of these facilities. Many thanks to Rex for arranging a tour of some of those facilities.

So what are we going to do with that new information? We know that getting strokees and carers to recreational facilities like this is often a difficult job that requires considerable ‘thinking outside the box’. But, with 2017 coming up very soon, maybe we can make New Year’s Resolutions to become members of one or other of these excellent facilities. Maybe our BSSG Committee members could help us to identify better ways of getting us there on a regular basis.

Sing for Recovery supporters – Via Verona, Rox, Cocoa, Wood Frog, Tassals and the Viennese Bakery; all cafes and bakeries from High Street, Kew. We are so grateful for their continued support and our guests were so impressed! Heartfelt thanks are also due to all our speakers, the Boroondara Council, our many volunteers, including those from the Stroke Association of Victoria, the occupational therapy students from Latrobe University, Adam Bostock, Professor Mary Galea, Marlena Klaic and members of BSSG and Sing for Recovery. A video of the occasion will soon be available for viewing at the Hub.

THE BOROONDARA STROKE SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER

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BSSG Contact Details: PO Box 2260 Hawthorn, 3122

www.bssg.org.au President: Vivienne Harkness, 0417 054 511

vivienne.harkness@bigpond.com Editor: Michael Shallard

michael.shallard@gmail.com

stenciling and stamping. The handmade Christmas cards are available to purchase for $2 each, with all proceeds going to the BSSG. If you would like to purchase some beautiful Christmas cards, please contact Vivienne on 0417 054 511. As there has been a lot of interest in the running of Art and Craft sessions, more sessions will be available next year, with different artists leading the way! Stay tuned for an exciting year ahead! The BSSG is here for YOU. Please let us know what activities you may interested in, so we can start more activities at the Hub that are specially catered to you. We welcome all ideas and are always open to suggestions to make the Hub the best it can be for our members. Our best contact currently is Vivienne for all activity enquiries.

This year we have successfully trialed two new activities that are here to stay at the Hub - Art and Craft, and Able X and M Hand and Arm Therapy.

The Able X and M machines were generously funded by the Stronger Community Program, and our contact Marlena, from the Royal Melbourne Hospital [RMH], has been to visit the Hub to provide instructions how on to best use the system. The specially made machines and system have been scientifically proven to improve arm movement in participants with chronic stroke disability. Rosalind, our resident Able M user (pictured) has said that she has seen “improvements in arm movement and concentration” while having “fun playing games”. All members who use the machines have a profile in our folder to record their efforts and track their progress. We are able to run the two machines simultaneously at the Hub and have recently purchased a specialized chair that is comfortable to use with the machines. The sessions currently run on Tuesdays 1000 - 1200 and Thursdays 1300 - 1500. Please contact Anita on 0400 984 228 if you are interested or just want to have a go! With the professional guidance of staff from the RMH, the Able X and M Therapy may help you gain valuable movement in your hand and arm. For more information and recovery stories, visit http://www.im-able.com/. The Art and Craft sessions, run on a Thursday afternoon from 1300 - 1500, have been a lot of fun for our members. Over the last 4 weeks the group have made Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper. Catherine and Bill, our talented artists (pictured), have taught the group techniques of painting, using watercolours, cutting, glueing,

New Activities at the Hub by Juley Thai

Vale Peter Harkness

Our BSSG member Peter Harkness was travelling with his wife Vivienne on board the Sea Princess, when Pe-ter suffered a severe stroke as the ship was ap-proaching the Torres Strait Islands. They were evacuat-ed to the Thursday Island Hospital where Peter and his family were shown the ut-

most kindness and care, until he passed away on Saturday 22nd October. Peter’s funeral was later enriched by the beautiful singing of our own BSSG Sing for Recovery choir and the attendance of hundreds of people at their parish church - Holy Trinity, Kew followed by the wake at MCC Kew Bowling Club. Peter loved and greatly appreciated his association with BSSG, and in particular his weekly bowls, play-ing with his “young men”! Vivienne and her family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks for the wonderful contribution of the Sing for Recovery choir and for the invaluable support they have received from the members of BSSG.

THE BOROONDARA STROKE SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER

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For over a year now, a small group of writers from the Boroondara Stroke Support Group have contributed stories from their life experience into a booklet called “ Recollections 2015”. Carolyn Cuming is the Coordinator.

Carolyn explained to our group that we all have moments in our past life which can be of interest to others, and it does not need to be about stroke.

Short stories help you to stimulate your brain - and it is a step toward larger writing groups. We also have ‘mentors’ (experienced writers) to offer assistance.

Stroke survivors often say: “I can’t write”, but the feeling that their stories would prove of little interest to others is just not true. You can stimulate your brain a little and think about highlights from your ‘post-stroke’ life.

If you are interested please contact Carolyn on 9819 5758 and join the Life Writing Class. The address is first floor, 584-586 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn - next to the Hawthorn Library. However, we may operate from the Stroke Hub if there is sufficient interest from the members of the Boroondara Stroke Support Group. We would love you to join in and give us a try. At present there have been four members who have participated and we need more people. We meet on the first floor and there is a lift for easy access. There are also disabled parking spaces next to the building.

An alternative to the traditional fruit cake mixture but equally delicious. You need about 2 large carrots for this recipe. Can be made 2 weeks ahead and stored in an airtight cake tin in the refrigerator. INGREDIENTS 280g chopped seeded dates 250g sultanas 450g can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup 360g coarse lay grated carrot 60g chopped walnuts 125g butter chopped 200g brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 2 eggs beaten lightly 150g plain flour 150g self raising flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD Line deep 20 cm round cake pan with 3 layers

of baking paper bringing paper 5 cm over the edge of the pan.

Combine dates, sultanas, undrained pineapple, carrot, nuts ad sugar in large and stir over heat without boiling until sugar dissolves.

Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes until mixture is thick and syrupy.

Remove from heat and stir in soda. Transfer mixture to large bowl, cool to room

temperature. Stir eggs and sifted dry ingredients into

fruit mixture. Spread into prepared cake pan. Bake in slow oven (about 150ºC) for about 2.5

hours. Cover hot cake with foil - allow to cool in pan.

Pineapple and Carrot Fruit Cake By Liz Berryman

Life Writing Group by Bill Berryman

IMPORTANT NOTICE RE BSSG CHRISTMAS PARTY

It has been decided, for several reasons, that the BSSG Christmas Party will now be held on Thursday, 15th December - NOT the

8th as originally advised.

The party will be held at the Hub - 533 High Street, Kew from 11.00am - 2.00pm.

The party will include:-

a delicious lunch

carol singing

decoration of Santa hats and Christmas stockings

possible drop ins by local VIPs

belated presentation to Jenny and Peter Cheng

lots of fun and laughter

Parking could be difficult so if necessary please use the circle driveway to drop off and then park elsewhere.

For catering purposes - it is imperative that you reply to this invi-

tation, by either emailing Michael Shallard (michael.shallard@gmail.com)

or calling Michael on 0438 512 350 by Friday, 9th December.