Welcome to our Monthly Briefing for May. This briefing is for you as a leader/organiser member 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 month’s poster group is Burton PCSG. They were invited to take part in a “Well Being” event held in conjunction with Burton Albion Community Trust at their hub in Casey Lane Burton.
At the event, they took the opportunity to raise prostate cancer awareness and the work of their group to members of the public. If you have similar news to share, please get in touch.
It has been a busy month: we have been welcoming new groups from across the country following the announcement of our partnership agreement with Prostate Cancer UK. We are also supporting the set-up of some new groups, the most recent in North Dorset. I am sure you will join with me in giving all our new Support Group Leaders and Group Organisers a big Tackle welcome.
An important plea. Now that 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.
Our June meeting will focus on the work of Prostate Cancer Research and the Infopool. Further details are below. I shan’t be at the next Support Group Leaders meeting but I look forward to seeing you all in July when we will finally launch our Members Portal.
Do get in touch with me if you would like one of us to attend your support groups, over the next couple of months, I have trips to our group in West Wales for their AGM, as well as visits to 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.
Boys Need Bins
Thank you for sharing this important campaign with your members.The past month has seen some big leaps forward for our campaign.
The letter writing campaign to highlight the lack of equality for men disposing of pads in male cubicles has been completed almost 2000 times. Do let us know if you have written to your MP, and what their response was. Several questions been asked at various committees in Westminster which is great news.
Lots of places are starting to trial bins in male cubicles, we have been asked to supply our logo for bins at Cribbs Causeway shopping centre, and the Dept for Transport in Wales are trialling bins in Chester and Cardiff train stations, with a view of extending to other train stations and bus stations as well! Do let us know if you see any of the Boys Need Bins bins out on your travels.
We have also heard from PHS Group, who are the UK’s largest hygiene providers and as part of their work into male incontinence, they are looking to extend it’s product portfolio by introducing incontinence waste bags. They would be looking to sell the bin and the bags as a bundle for organisations to make available in their public washrooms. Before they decide this, they are looking for men to trial the bags and let them know what you think about them. This would be a quick feedback form. This will help them decide if this proposition is worthwhile to support those dealing with incontinence. If you are interested in finding out more and receiving some bags for you and your group members, then you can email kellygreenaway@phs.co.uk
Tackling Representation Survey
To make sure we get enough responses for our Tackling Representation Survey we need a last big push and there is still time to complete and share .
We’re working with METRO Charity, to gain anonymous feedback from people, like yourselves, to understand more about the full range of people who use peer support groups and better meet the needs of the diverse population living with prostate cancer in England and Wales.
We need lived experience from individuals to help shape how we (Tackle) can improve our inclusivity and accessibility to those who lead and use prostate cancer support groups.
If you could share 10-15 minutes of your time to fill out the below it would be much appreciated. Although the feedback will remain anonymous, there is a chance to submit your email to be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Gift4All voucher. The winner will be chosen at random.
Please support us in our efforts to reach as many people as possible with our survey by distributing it to your group members. The link to the members survey for your group members can be found here.
June Support Group Leaders Meeting
At our May Support Group Leaders meeting, we ran a session on facilitating round table and supportive group sessions. These are sessions which many of our groups use, as a way to encourage members to share stories and experiences of diagnosis, treatment and ongoing consequences of treatment. Take a look at the slides here for more information
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 the organising role of one of our support groups.
At our next meeting, we shall hear from PCR on their Infopool project . As well as updates on campaigns and news in our regular Hot Topics section.
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 contains important news from Prostate Cancer research about their Infopool project.
This month’s Hot Topics can be found by clicking here.
To view the full monthly briefing click here
