In April, I was invited to attend a meeting of an organisation called Pos+Ability.
The group meet on Friday mornings, from 10.00 – 12.00 in the new Leisure Centre. The aim of Pos+Ability is to give aid to people who have disabilities brought on by Stroke, TIAs, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, and other long term conditions. The aims of the group are to: support independent living at home, maintain cognitive skills, help prevent falls, and increase confidence and selfesteem.
The aims in themselves are laudable and for anyone struggling with any of these problems it is easy for me to recommend you try a session. I do not suffer, or live with, any of the conditions listed. But I do have 74 years of living, during many of which I overworked my body with sport and exercise. I am now left with arthritis in many joints, and sciatica. I found that the exercise session the group went through was beneficial and I may well go back. The exercises were gentle and performed sitting down. We had two members of the group sitting in wheelchairs but still doing the exercises to the best of their ability.
That is what the group is all about. You are trying to be Positive about your Ability. Meetings are held in Ely, Soham and Histon as well as Littleport. So if you have a disability that affects your balance, mobility, memory, or coordination why not try the group. The first session you attend is free, so you have nothing to lose but a couple of hours of your time, and 50p for a cup of tea, or coffee, and a biscuit afterwards. If you do not like it, you have no need to go back. It is that simple.
The second piece of news is the Royal British Legion has a monthly Drop-in Centre in Ely on the 4th Friday of the month. It is open from 10.00 – 12.00 in the Ely Cathedral Conference Centre, the old library. It is run by Mr. Dan Francis, the RBL Area Information Officer, and is open to anyone who wants help or has questions. At the moment there are no plans to open a drop-in in Littleport but that could change. Watch this space!
In the meantime the new Poppy Appeal Organiser is working hard to increase this year’s total so please watch out for our collectors on Armed Forces Day and for the Summer Draw. If you would like to contribute a prize to the Summer Draw or perhaps sell some tickets amongst your work colleagues please let either me, the Secretary, or the Poppy Appeal Organiser know.