Welcome to our Monthly Briefing for July. This briefing is for you as a group leader/organiser of one of our network of Peer Support Groups. We hope you find the content useful. The Hot Topics section contains information that your members will find useful; if you are able, please share it with them.
This months Monthly briefing is later than usual, so apologies for that. I have had a few days off work to celebrate the marriage of my son, and have been wrapped up in the bubble of love that comes from when one sees ones children married.
June was a very busy month, with several visits to groups, including, Basingstoke to visit the North Hampshire PCSG, Middlesbrough to visit the Teesside PCSG and Ellesmere Port to visit the Wirral and North Cheshire PCSG. It really is good to get out and meet your group members
Two of our Trustees, Steve and Peter joined members from Kidderminster and Worcestershire PCSG at the National Conference for Men’s Sheds . We had our Tackle stand, for what was a very busy day talking to lots of people from across the country about the value of support groups.
Also in June we celebrated Pride , and our Trustee Simon, was out on the streets of London, celebrating London Pride with the members of the Metro Walnut group.
Earlier this month at our the Support Group Leaders meeting, we launched our new Members Portal. We have received some great feedback from those of you who have already used your login details to log on and have a look around. If you haven’t yet logged on, then please give it a go. You will have received your log in details a few weeks ago, if you cant find them, please let us know. The members portal is a sort of online operational handbook for Support Group Leaders. A tool specifically for people in an organising role and will serve as a means of sharing tools and assets, how to guides etc. to help people run their groups .
An important plea. Now that the PCUK directory is no longer up-to-date, it is essential you let us know of any changes to your group contact details, venue address or times of meetings. We can quickly update our website with the correct details, to ensure people can find your group and benefit from the excellent services you provide. Click here to update any of your group info
Do get in touch with me if you would like one of us to attend your support group.
If you would like to shout about an upcoming event, tell us about something that went well, ask a question, or make a suggestion, then please do get in touch.
Have your Say
We are still looking for people to join us as we look to consider how we measure the impact of our Peer Support Groups. We are looking for volunteers to work alongside staff and trustees to look at what information, data and quality indicators we could gather. This work will provide the evidence we all need to demonstrate our credibility to people looking for a Support Group as well as clinicians signposting people to the groups.
July Hot Topics
You will find last month’s Hot Topics by clicking here.
This month , the hot topics contain an opportunity to be part of a research project into Hormone Treatment and also another around communication. Both are paid opportunities. Additionally, you will find latest campaign news and requests to get involved in our work.
Please consider sharing the content directly with your group members.
Prostate Matters
Spring/Summer Prostate Matters
Thank you to those of you who have requested printed copies of Prostate matters, they should be with you early next week.
Those group leaders who keep databases of their members emails, we kindly ask that you forward people the link to the PDF on our website. This quarter’s edition showcases a range of exciting work going on to support prostate cancer care, including the Boys Needs Bin campaign, awareness around the North/South divide, and the launch of the Prostate Cancer Research (PCR) Infopool.
New Facebook Group for Support Leaders and Organisers
PCUK will shortly be closing their Facebook page for Group Leaders. Sign up for our new page here.
