Welcome to our Monthly Briefing for June. 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.
Last month saw me visit a number of groups, including a trip to one of my favourite areas, West Wales. I spoke at the AGM of the West Wales PCSG (pictured above). It was lovely to chat with several members and learn more about the group.
We have continued to welcome groups joining us following our partnership with Prostate Cancer UK and look forward to welcoming them at future Support Group Leaders meetings. This month several of our Trustees and a couple of volunteers, Allan Roper and Andrew Gabriel, attended the Oncology Professional Conference. It was a fabulous event, and they collectively spoke to over 200 healthcare professionals.
Talking of the Support Group Leaders meeting, at the next one on July 4th, to be held at 7.00 pm, we shall be launching our long-awaited Members Portal. The Members Portal is a space for Group Leaders and people in an organising role to be able to share resources, chat with each other about running your support group and find information to help you run your group. A sort of digital handbook. Please do not miss this important session; we will be taking you through the features and, following the meeting, will give everyone their login details so you will be able to access the portal.
At our last meeting in June we had a very informative presentation from our partners Prostate Cancer Research on the Infopool, you can find their presentation here. Please support this important project by encouraging newly diagnosed men to access the tool, and also by asking your members to sign up to share their stories.
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. Over the next couple of months, I have trips to the Wirral & North Cheshire PCSG, Teesside PCSG and Burton PCSG. It really is the highlight of my working week (and the odd weekend) to get out and meet you all, hear your stories and engage with your group members.
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.
Spring/Summer Prostate Matters
The latest edition of Prostate Matters is now available to view online or download as a 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.
If you would like to order copies for your group members or to distribute via your networks, please complete the form linked below no later than midday on 30th June
Have your Say
Join us as we look to consider how we measure the impact of our Peer Support Groups. We need your help to do this, and 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. Email Aidan
Hot Topics in the News
You will find last month’s Hot Topics by clicking here. Please consider sharing the content directly with your group members.
New Facebook Group
New Facebook Group for Support Group Leaders and Organisers. PCUK will shortly be closing their Facebook page for Group Leaders. Sign up for our new page https://www.facebook.com/groups/626528149370944
