On Thursday last week, we were just about to hit the send button on this mailing, when we heard news that there was to be a national rail strike on March 16th, the same day as our national conference and AGM in Birmingham. We were suddenly faced with either, continuing with the date with many people not being able to attend due to lack of public transport (not an option) or finding a date which worked for the venue, our speakers and panellists. The rescheduling wheels whirred into action, and remarkably we have been able to reschedule the date with very little extra cost. Those of you who have already booked train tickets should be able to transfer them via your ticket provider.
The conference will now take place on Monday March 20th from 11.00-4.30pm (registration from 10.00am) . We have updated the Eventbrite pages, and if you haven’t yet booked your place , then I would urge to to do so. Additionally, if you are unable to take up your place because of the new date, then please let us know ASAP. To ensure we get a delegate from all of our member groups, in the first instance, we are taking bookings from one delegate per group. However, we are keeping a waiting list so we can allocate spare places to additional delegates once we know how many groups want to attend.
Since we have already sent official notification for the AGM, this will still be held on March 16th, albeit on Zoom. Details will follow soon.
As you will know from previous Monthly Briefings, we currently have vacancies for 3 places on our committed board of Trustees. If you are interested in applying, there is still time to get in your application . Details can be found on our website by clicking here
In other news , last week saw me in Milton Keynes, visiting the wonderful Milton Keynes Prostate Cancer Support group. I drove home in glorious sunshine ,and in my garden snowdrops and crocus are popping up all over the places, all signs that Spring is around the corner .
This month we are saying goodbye to two of our long standing Support Group Leaders. Chris from Reading PCSG, and Jim from Cumbria PCSG, are both standing down after 4 and 12 years respectively. Jim was a founding member of the group in Cumbria and has supported his group throughout this time. Chris has held the position of Chair at Reading for the past four years. We wish them both a relaxing retirement from their roles and thank them for their dedication, hard work and commitment to their Prostate Cancer Support groups.
In other Support Group news, Eastbourne PCSG, who are part of PCaSO, have recently celebrated an astonishing 20 years of providing support to people living with and affected by prostate cancer in Eastbourne and surrounding area. You can read more in this blog here
We are really keen to hear from you . Please share any group news you ,any ideas you have for future campaigns, topics for workshops, meetings etc. Additionally, we love to get out and meet your group members, and let them know about our work .If you would like one of us to come and talk to your group members about our work then please let me know.
We are also keen to replicate the Regional Networking Events we did last year. We have funding available to bring local groups together to share ideas, collaborate and learn from each other. If you would like to help us to run an event in your area, it would be good to hear your ideas.
Finally, below you will see the results from the General Meeting held on 6th February. The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority. Thank you for those who attended, or sent in proxy votes.
Boys Need Bins
Our Boys need Bins campaign (click here ) is gathering momentum. PCUK is hosting a letter writing campaign on their website, asking people to contact their MP highlighting the need for equality in providing bins in male cubicles. And we are keen to encourage men to sign up to a workshop/focus group being held online on March 4th. This workshop will make sure we hear from you and get your ideas and thoughts for the national survey that we shall be launching in the middle of March.
Please encourage your group members to check out this important campaign.
To email your MP, please go to this page on the Prostate Cancer UK website
Hot Topics
One of the outputs from the Support Group Leaders meetings that you told us that you find helpful is our regular Hot Topics section. This slide set can be directly shared with your group members.
This month’s Hot Topics can be found by clicking here.
February Support Group Leaders Meeting
This month the topic for our monthly Support Group Leaders meeting was Engaging with Wider Community Organisations to Promote your Group and Services.
You can find the slide set here
If you do not currently attend our Support Group Leaders meeting, then please consider coming to the next one. The meeting is open to anyone currently in an organising role of one of our support groups.
At our next meeting, we shall be hearing about the work of The Association of Service Drop-In Centres (ASDIC) You can see more about their work here . Aidan and I met with them a few weeks ago, and we believe they are a great organisation with whom we can collaborate and partner.
To view the full monthly briefing click here
