Our first wedding…

In today’s blog we celebrate a wedding, courtesy of Angela Jones, advocate with Cancer, Older People and Advocacy programme partner, Age Connects Cardiff and the Vale:

Mr Davies and Mrs Geasley are a couple who have been receiving some support from the Cancer, Older People and Advocacy team in relation to organising their finances, as sadly Mr Davies has terminal prostate cancer and his affairs needed sorting out to safeguard his partner’s future. 

We were delighted as part of the support we provided, to be able to assist in the organising of their wedding! A first for the Cardiff & Vale Cancer, Older People and Advocacy project! 

 

A truly lovely day where family and friends were able to spend a joyous afternoon helping the newlyweds Mr & Mrs Davies to celebrate their marriage and enjoy some quality time together, whilst he was receiving treatment in a local hospice.  Marie Curie Hospice were marvelous in facilitating the wedding and even the press were on hand to highlight the couple’s happiness.

 An afternoon that meant so much to many people, and helped secure some happy memories, and as part of the Cancer, Older People and Advocacy project I am privileged to have been allowed to also have been part of the organising of this special event. 

Angela Jones, Age Connects, Cardiff & the Vale

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Often patients have no-one or family are too closely involved and frightened themselves..

Many thanks to Sue from Knowsley Pensioners Advocacy Information Service (KPAIS) for today’s very personal account of a cancer diagnosis:

When I started work, as Administrator on our Cancer, Older People And Advocacy project in 2014, never did I imagine I could end as a possible service user!

In April last year, after a routine mammogram, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  To say your world turns upside down is an understatement!  A lumpectomy and course of radiotherapy followed fairly quickly afterwards.

Sue

Immediately, after the diagnosis, I actually felt a sense of relief. During that interim period, your imagination plays havoc with you and you imagine all sorts of horrid possibilities.  But apart from them saying ‘we got it all wrong Sue’, the prognosis I received was most likely the best I could have hoped for. However, my partner was devastated – he’d lost his wife to breast cancer many years ago. But he came up trumps and became my ‘brick’ throughout my journey.

I had a supportive partner and family around me – someone to confide my fears in and to accompany me to the many hospital appointments but it made me realise the importance of the Cancer, Older People And Advocacy project, having someone there just for you, to speak up for you, sort things out for you, to talk to when you’re frightened, listen to what the professionals are saying.  Often patients have no-one or family are too closely involved and frightened themselves. An independent Advocate can make all the difference.

Sue, KPAIS

I was first interested in the role because my own family have been affected by cancer

Today, Susan Chrisp from AgeUK Northumberland introduces herself:

I’ve recently joined Age UK Northumberland as the Case Support Officer working on the Cancer, Older People and Advocacy Project.  I was first interested in the role because my own family have been affected by cancer and I understand how important it is for people who have cancer and their families to be supported during this difficult time.

Susan

I was really pleased when I was offered the job at Age UK Northumberland and  I currently work one day per week at Age UK and my role involves supporting the Project Manager and Project  Team to deliver the Project.  

My background is in teaching, mainly working with people who are least engaged in education and I also work on a Project which helps older people combat loneliness and social isolation.  By working on the Cancer and Older Peoples’ Advocacy Project I can use my background and knowledge to contribute positively in Northumberland.

Susan Chrisp, AgeUK Northumberland

A day in the life of……..a peer volunteer advocate

Our thanks to Jill Wallace, who is a peer volunteer advocate with programme partner Advocacy in Barnet, for the following enlightening blog post:

So irritating, I have woken up so early as usual; the habit of waking as if I am going to work never seems to stop.  Priority is to feed my cat Izzie and have my first of many cups of tea and read my book before the newspaper is delivered.

Jill

There is an advocacy support meeting today which I am looking forward to as there will be quite a few new volunteers attending. I think it is such a great opportunity for the new volunteers to meet other advocates and have the opportunity to listen to the variety of work we carry out. We have a speaker at each monthly meeting and try to book other organisations working in Barnet; the information can be so useful to people that turn to Advocacy in Barnet (AiB) for support.

Very interesting support meeting ; it was very rewarding chatting to the new volunteers during our coffee break to hear that they felt relieved and happy at the level of support available to them at all times.  Today’s speaker will be of great interest to some of our clients; a family business that can offer bespoke meals delivered as and when required at a very reasonable price.

I have arranged an initial visit accompanied by Georgia, a trainee Social Worker working with AiB as part of her training. As the meeting was from 10 – 12 am we have plenty of time for a nice lunch and chat together before our visit at 2pm at Finchley Memorial Hospital. So far I am really enjoying my day! Spent lunch with Georgia discussing how much she had enjoyed and learned from working with AiB. Hearing how this had helped her as she was coming to the end of her training was very enlightening.

We visited our client Mrs A, age 90, at Finchley Memorial Hospital.  After explaining the support AiB could offer, and obtaining signed authority to act on her behalf, Mrs A spoke of the concerns she had regarding where she would live once discharged from hospital as she was aware that she was physically unable to live independently. Happily we were able to point out that Mrs A did have choices and advocacy would be happy to liaise with all the professionals involved to ensure that her opinions and decisions are listened to.  We discussed with Mrs. A the action we would be taking on her behalf to ensure they met with her approval.

Georgia had taken notes during the meeting which ended at 3.15pm; we spent 15 minutes discussing Mrs  A’s case.

Arrived home just after 4pm having had a very varied day, bit tired but pleased.

Jill Wallace, peer volunteer advocate, Advocacy in Barnet

A very Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of our readers and contributors.

We have great news to start off the New Year. As you may know we were shortlisted in November in the UK Blog Awards for this blog. Our entry is in the best Health and Social Care Blog category. OPAAL had to put out a big call to our members, stakeholders and friends encouraging them to help us through the initial public voting phase. We were up against some much larger organisations with a bigger social reach than us.

We must have secured a very strong number of votes because on Monday we received the news that we have been announced as a finalist, which means we eagerly await the judge’s vote later this Spring and in the meantime we have a new ‘finalist’ badge to display on our blog! We would also like to thank all of you who voted for us.

It’s brilliant to have this recognition for our blog. We work tirelessly to secure new content to keep it fresh and our delivery partner projects work hard to make sure we have something new, interesting and timely to share.

This news will encourage us to keep writing; it’s great to be starting the new year on such a positive note!

We’re so happy to be showing the world the impact of independent peer advocacy and that #advocacyworks.

Marie McWilliams, OPAAL