Gartec hold Wheels at Work day

Last month, Gartec showed support for their designated charity - Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research. They held a Wheels at Work day in which 10 volunteers spent part of their day in a wheelchair, giving them an insight into and better understanding of how disability affects some of their customers. The day was a great success and, to date, Gartec have raised £1,148 for the Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research Charity. This money is being used to buy an EEG machine, which monitors pain levels for spinal injury sufferers, which then allows therapists to work with the individual to be pain free, or to have pain control.

Gartec’s next fundraising activity for their nominated charity has been a quiz night raffle at the Generous George in Aylesbury, every Tuesday in September.

Action4Youth transforming young people’s lives

Action4Youth provides fun, transformational experiences for all young people, whatever their background, ability or disability, delivering a Young leaders programme to bring through the next generation of youth leaders. They also run 2 outdoor learning and adventure centres  - Caldecotte Xperience in Milton Keynes and Longrigg Xperience based in Cumbria. They work with primary and secondary schools to deliver day and residential mountain and water based adventure experiences and classroom based subject learning to over 10,000 young people a year.

Action4Youth also operate The Duke of Edinburgh award scheme in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes at Bronze, Silver and Gold level, as well as and the government’s own flagship youth programme, The National Citizen Service.

For more information about Action4Youth please contact Michelle Hickman on 0300 003 2334.

Paralympian Naomi Riches breaks record rowing down the Thames

The 2012 London Paralympics gold medallist Naomi Riches broke the record for the fastest women to row down the River Thames solo this week. Naomi, who is registered blind, rowed 165 miles in aid of In-Vision, a charity she is a patron of. In-Vision aims to further research into Infantile Nystagmus, a serious eye condition which affects 1 in 1,000 children. Naomi rowed non-stop from Lechlade to Gravesend in 47 hours and 59 minutes, achieving her goal of completing the course in 50 hours or less.

Healthwatch Bucks needs your feedback! 

Green Banana Marketing have created a video marketing campaign for Healthwatch Bucks, a part of Community Impact Bucks, to encourage Buckinghamshire based residents to leave feedback on their local health services, including hospitals, GP's, Dentists and care homes. Have a look at the Facebook campaign and leave feedback on the Healthwatch Bucks website.

Dogs for Good

Dogs for Good is working with Stocklake Park School in Aylesbury in an innovative project which has introduced a specially-trained school dog, Patience, and a specialist handler to the school’s staff team.

Patience and her handler participate in classroom activities, work with individual students in structured and goal-oriented sessions and also support therapists in the school (eg in physiotherapy sessions), as seen in this video. Together, they work with students to improve educational and therapeutic outcomes, improve interactions with others, reduce anxiety and act as a focus or role model for group learning (eg diet, personal care).

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with students seeming to not tire so easily. “Working with Patience and her handler from Dogs for Good has given an added dimension to the work we can do with the children,” said one teacher. “In particular we can explore subjects such as “caring for others” and “life skills” as well as implementing calming strategies”.

Businesses can find out more about supporting the cost of providing the school dog partnership at Stocklake Park School by contacting Amanda Housego at ahousego@thevalefederation.com.

To find out more about supporting the wider work of Dogs for Good, including sponsoring a puppy, businesses can contact Cathryn Simpson at Cathryn.simpson@dogsforgood.org.

Free NHS Health check on behalf of Bucks County Council

The NHS Health Check service running in the Buckinghamshire district acts as a free midlife health MOT. For adults in England age 40-74 without a pre-existing condition, it checks circulatory and vascular health. These 20 to 30 minute health checks assess risks of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, stroke and dementia.

If you think this would be of interest, contact the Project Coordinator Lauren Ottaway at laurenottaway@tohealth.com for further details.

Barnardo’s bake sale at Clare Charity Centre

Tenants at the Clare Charity Centre dug into their pockets to buy edible delights at a recent bake sale organised by Barnardo’s. The sale raised £97.17 in total.

Macmillan bake sale coincides with Buckinghamshire Business First Hub Open Day

Come along to the Clare Charity Centre on the 13th October to support our bake sale in support of Macmillan, and also take the opportunity to visit the business hub to see all of the facilities on offer to businesses. Book your place on a hub tour here - https://bbf.uk.com/event/hub-open-day-saunderton-october-2016