Events

Future Events

 

Meetings in 2008

All meetings start at 7.00pm and are held at Velindre Hospital, Whitchurch, Cardiff.

Please phone for directions.

August	Thursday 14th	General meeting
September	Thursday 25th	General meeting
October	No meeting
November	Thursday 6th	General meeting
December	???	Xmas dinner?

Past events

May 2008

Friday 30th May was a BIG day for the Group, with the Opening of the Gardens and the Unveiling of the Mural.

This project has been on-going since October 2005.

The procedings started with a welcome to the Guests and a special welcome to the Guest of Honour, Mr Roy Noble of BBC Wales.
Cy Davies, Group Secretary, then made a short speech about PEOPLE and how they had rallied round to help the Group.He thanked everyone who had contibuted to the project and especialy to our families for their continued support for us as patients and our work on the project.

Dr Moss, Honorary President, then said a few words of thanks to the Group for the project and was proud of the progress the group had made in supporting patients.

Mr Roy Noble then rounded off the proceedings with warm words of congratulation to the group and saying how moved he was with the work that goes on at Velindre Hospital.

Some photographs of the Event.

Jacqui Edwards with her work of art. ...........Roy Noble cuts the ribbon to open the garden.

The Mural ............................................Cy thanks Roy Noble

Roy Noble unveils the mural. ................Diane surveys the result of all her effort!

Anne Mart of Macmillan views the garden. .....Thanks to Macmillan for helping fund the day.

 

Part of the finished garden. ................. . Another part of the finished garden.

We are grateful to Macmillan Cancer Support "Helping You Helping Others" grant programme for a their grant of £975 to help us raise awareness of the Group's activities and the refreshments for the Opening of the Gardens on 30th May.
Many thanks to Anne Mart, Macmillan Development Coordinator for Wales, for her help and support in our application.
Anne can be contacted by phone on 01492 593146 or mobile 07834 192207. www.macmillan.org.uk

February 2008
We are grateful to Genzyme Ltd for their kind donation of £500 towards the work of the Group.

January 2008
The Annual General Meeting was held followed by a group meeting.

 

December 2007

Christmas dinner
Twenty one members and guests had a very enjoyable meal on Thursday evening the 6th December. This is the fourth year we have enjoyed a Christmas dinner at the Hollybush Inn.
Some photos of the occasion.

 

Donation of Welsh daffodil bulbs
Our grateful thanks to Richard Arnold and Rhiannon Williams of the Really Welsh Trading Company (www.reallywelsh.com)of Llantwit Major for their very generous donation of 25kg of Welsh daffodil bulbs for the gardens.
They will provide a welcome scene in the Spring to cheer up patients. (Now we have to plant them all !)
The picture shows Rhiannon Williams presenting the bulbs to Cy Davies (Group Secretary).

October 2007
More chipped bark was kindly donated and delivered by David O'Brien (Tree surgeons. Tel 07855781182), who also donated chipped bark last year. We are very grateful to David for his continued support for the Group.

Bulbs were also planted for Spring flowering next year. Thanks to Diane Fletcher for her unstinting support in developing the gardens.

September 2007
We are very grateful to Mrs Jaqui Edwards who has kindly donated her time to producing the mural to go on the wall opposite Room B. Jaqui is a talented artist who loves painting.
She qualified from Caerleon college in 2000 and has produced many murals in the community while working for the Garnsychan Partnership.
She is available to do other murals. She be contacted on 01495 772183.

Transportation of the four sheets of the mural was carried out by Dave & Cy with the loan of a lorry from DP Fencing and Garden Services, with thanks to David Powell for his support again.

Thank you Jacqui for all your hard work for the benefit of patients

Mrs Jacqui Edwards

April/May 2007

More planting took place this month with the help of volunteers.
Young Jack turned out to help with his mum. To prove that Jack really did some work, here is a photo to prove it! Thanks Jack for all your help.

Here are a few more photos of the garden to date.

A maple tree was purchased with donations received from Gareth in memory of his Dad. This was planted as a centre piece of the garden.

Diane and Georgina get to grips with planting and Dave digs himself into yet another HOLE!

Some more of the volunteers.

A view of the garden to date.

Finally, a view of the first garden, planted last September 2006 showing how the plants have matured.

January 2007
A bucket collection was held outside Cardiff Rugby Club before their game against Borders on Saturday 6th January.
A total of £664 was collected by eleven volunteers. Many thanks to them including Rowanne and Ieuan, Ingrid and Peter's children. Thanks to Peter for arranging the collection.
(See the Fund raising page for more details and photograph).

December 2006
22 members and partners/friends/family had a very pleasant evening at the Christmas dinner held at the Hollybush in Whitchurch. A good time was had by everyone, and some of us were even lucky to win a prize in the Raffle!

Many thanks to Peter Smith for running the Cardiff Half Marathon in aid of the Thyroid Cancer Support Group -Wales. He has donated his sponsorship money of £950 to the Group.A valiant effort!

We have been successful in our application for funding to help purchase a lap top computer for the Group's business. We are very grateful to the Monmouthshire Building Society Charitable Foundation for a grant of 50% match funding.
email mbscf@monbsoc.co.uk


We have also been successful in receiving a grant from Macmillan Cancer Self help and Support www.macmillan.org.uk for £1,156 towards the cost of purchasing booklets about thyroid cancer from the British Thyroid Foundation. The booklets will be given to new patients when they contact us. The grant also helps with stationary and postage costs for these items. Thanks to Anne Mart, Macmillan Development Coordinator for Wales, for her help with our application.

November 2006
The Group is now registered for Gift Aid.
The meeting agreed to purchase 100 copies of the British Thyroid Foundation booklet entitled 'Thyroid Cancer for patients by patients'. These booklets will be donated to newly diagnosed patients who conatct the Group for information and help.

October 2006
On Friday 6th October, ten volunteers from Barclay's bank came along to the hospital to help with laying of the chippings which were supplied by Travis Perkins, Caerphilly.
Many thanks to Barclay's Bank for their very generous donation of £1500 to enable us to buy plants etc for the gardens. Also their volunteers on the day!
Thanks to all the Barcaly's team: Chris Rooney, Sarah Moles, Dawn Olim, Julia Charles, Steph McCarthy, Andy Jones, Ali Maxwell, Katy Hall, Claire Butler and Andy Rollingson who co-ordinated the team.

Some pictures of the day!

September 2006
Plants were bought from Caerphilly Garden Centre on the 22nd. These were paid for as part of Barclay's Bank's donation. Thanks to Andy Rollingson from Barclay's for coming along to help us decide on suitable plants and to pay for them.
Nine volunteers turned out on Saturday 30th to plant the garden area outside room 'B'. All the planting was completed in the morning. Thanks to all the volunteers for a job well done!

August 2006
Meeting held on Thursday 17th. A lady from Swansea has contacted the group with a view to becoming a contact for the Swansea area. Trolley tokens are selling well.
The revamp of the Shower room has been completed and the donation from the group was much appreciated.
Members were reminded of the dates for their diaries of Friday 29th and Saturday 20th September for volunteers to help plant-up the gardens. All volunteers welcome!

July 2006
Seven volunteers came along on Saturday 1st July to work on the gardens. We had 3.5 tons of chipped bark delivered.
Very grateful thanks to David O'Brien (Tree surgeons. Tel 07855781182) for donating this bark and delivering free of charge.
The volunteers spread the total quantity over the garden area. An excellent job in very warm and sunny conditions!

The Volunteers

Original area (October 2005)

Before
Terram laid outside Room A and Room B

After
Bark laid outside Room A and Room B

May 2006
At the May meeting, it was unanimously agreed to donate £1,000 towards the cost of upgrading the shower facility in one of the isolation rooms. This work is scheduled to be completed by the 19th June.(See photos below)

A supply of trolley token key rings has been obtained. These will be sold over the coming months to raise much needed funds.

The garden project is progressing. Weed conrol sheeting has now been put in place over the entire area. Planting is planned for some time in September. A date has yet to be set.

April 2006
Charity status granted on 18th April. Registered No 1113774.

Sarah ran the London Marathon for Cancer Research U.K. and raised over £5,000!

March 2006
General meeting. Application has been submitted to Charity Commission for charity status. Barclay's bank has ageed to help out with the garden project with financial help and staff volunteers later in the year. B&Q have been approached with a request for help under their Better Neighbour scheme.

Volunteers from the group made a start on the garden project by cutting down all the grass and weeds outside the treatment rooms on Friday 3rd March. The strimmer was kindly donated by David Powell of DP Fencing and Garden Services (Cwmbran). The South Wales Argus came along and took photos for inclusion in an article in the paper which appeared on Tuesday 7th March.

Friday 10th March, two volunteers made a start on digging/rotovating the ground. The cultivator was kindly donated by DP Fencing and Garden Services and we are very grateful for their support. (Contact David Powell on 07970 205185 if you require any work on your garden, paviours for drives etc).

February 2006
Congratulations! to David Woolven, who had his thyroid removed 30 years ago! on the 4th February. Keep taking the tablets David!!

January 2006
The AGM was held. The Chairperson and the Treasurer gave their reports. Election of Officers was held. The existing Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary offered themselves for election. There were no other nominations and the three positions were elected unanimously.
Two new members joined us.Congratulations were extended to one of our members, David Woolven who celebrates 30 years without a thyroid! (See above).
Friday 3rd March was decided as the day when we would start to clear the garden site. Volunteers are requested to attend at 9.30am at Velindre and bring along rakes, forks and spades. Gloves will be supplied, courtesy of County Industrial Supplies, Cwmbran.

December 2005 -
A total of 20 members,friends and family had a very nice Xmas dinner together at the Hollybush pub in Whitchurch on Friday 9th. Raffle prizes were handed out to those who were lucky enough to win a prize! A good time was had by one and all!

We would like to thank County Industrial Supplies of Pontnewydd, Cwmbran for their very generous donation of equipment for use by our volunteers in the garden project.

November 2005 -
Meeting held on Thursday 17th November.
Discussed the progress of the Charity status application.
The Group now has an entry in the Macmillan Directory of Cancer self help and support groups 2005/2006.
Member volunteers were asked to partake in a survey to be carried out by Macmillan next year.
The gardens project was discussed. We are pleased to recognise the kind donation of £25 in vouchers from Scott's Garden products to enable us to purchase weed killer for the gardens.
The art faculty at the UWIC has been contacted with a view of having students partake in the design of a Mural for the wall opposite one of the isloation rooms.

The group decided to purchase a quantity of keyrings /supermarket trolley tokens with our logo on.

October 2005 -
Meeting held on Thursday 6th October. One new member joined us.
Discussed the need to progress our application for charity status. The Macmillan regional conference to be held in Coventry on 4th November would be attended by representatives.
Members were requested to complete a survey from the Bristol Cancer Help Centre on Healthy Eating with Cancer.
Another batch of leaflets was shared between members for distribution to GP surgeries and health centres.
A volunteer has been found to help with designing the proposed gardens outside the treatment rooms at Velindre hospital.This project will take place over the next six to nine months.
No response received from the South Wales Echo/Barclay's appeal for a share of the funding.
Dates for meetings for 2006 were agreed.
The Christmas dinner was confirmed for the 9th December.

August 2005 -
General meeting. Reviewed success of leaflet distribution and wristband sales, which was very successful in generating much needed funds for the group.
The website will now be permanently funded by Torfaen Borough Council which will be of financial advantage to the group.
One new member joined us and was made very welcome.
The date and location for the Christmas dinner was discussed which will be in the Hollybush pub in Whitchurch on either Thursday 2nd or Thursday 9th December. Date to be confirmed after booking made.

June 2005 -
The Leaflet design was approved and 300 leaflets were produced for us by Val Aston, Patient Information Manager at Velindre Hospital. Many thanks Val.

April 2005 - Twelve sets of brightly coloured bedding and duvets were purchased for use in the Isolation rooms. This was the completion of the first objective of the Group.

March 2005 -
A very interesting talk on fund raising was given by Anne Pash, Regional Appeals Co-ordinator for Tenovus. A video, made by Tenovus, was shown entitled "Living with Cancer".

January 2005 -
Talk on Thyrogen.

December 9th-
Sixteen members and partners and friends enjoyed a Christmas dinner at the Holleybush Inn, Whitchurch

October 2004 -
Talk on radio-active Iodine ablation treatment given by Sue Hooper, Principle Physicist in the Nuclear Medicine Department of Velindre Hospital.

A five mile sponsored walk was organised by the Chairperson, Gillian Parry on Sunday 26th September 2004.

25 people attended and the walk took a route from the Philanthropic pub in Pontywaun near the Cwmcarn Forrest Drive and proceeded along the tow path of the Risca branch of the Monmouthshire canal to Risca. After the walk, other fund raising events took place. A raffle was held and three people voluntered to have their heads shaved and two others had their backs waxed (Ouch!).

The South Wales Argus gave us good coverage.See article below from the South Wales Argus of Tuesday 28th September 2004.

Gillian strides out to raise cancer funds

GWENT thyroid cancer patient Gillian Parry enlisted the support of friends, family and fellow patients for a fun day to raise money for Wales' biggest cancer centre.

Mrs Parry, from Chapel Farm Terrace, Cwmcarn, wanted to give something back to Cardiff's Velindre Hospital for the treatment and care that has helped her bounce back from the disease.

And the 39-year-old, whose story was featured in the Argus last Saturday, said the fundraising effort had surpassed expectations.

"We had a lovely day and I'd say we've raised about £1,000, hopefully more. But we're amazed because we weren't expecting anything like this. We were only hoping for a couple of hundred," she said.

Mother of two Mrs Parry required treatment with a radioactive pill following two operations during which her cancerous thyroid gland was removed.

She had to be isolated for several days in a special room at Velindre, then had several weeks where her children were not allowed to live with her because she was too radioactive.She is now waiting to be told that she is clear.

Almost two years on, fellow members of the Tenovus Thyroid Cancer Support Group, which is raising money for Velindre, came to Pontywaun for a day of fundraising events.

"We did a sponsored walk in the morning from the Philanthropic pub, through Risca on the canal and back," said Mrs Parry.

"We had 25 people along and it was supposed to be four miles, but I think was more like five.

"In the afternoon, my ex-brother-in-law came along and had his head shaved, so did a friend of mine with very long hair, and my dad, Tudor Edwards, had his back waxed.

"That was very painful, but he said, `I'm raising money for my daughter,' and sat there, grimacing!"