Discussions

Age Concern Costa Calida is the local Mazarron based part of Age Concern. Age Concern is a voluntary organization which offers advice and help to the over fifties. This can mean home visits and a sympathetic ear. Life here is getting more difficult, the erosion of the pound, cuts in the UK are affecting everyone, but particularly those older living on fixed incomes. You can access Age Concern at the Cultural Centre on Sector B Camposol on a Wednesday morning. Here you can get advice, and even if it affects the Town hall get immediate help from the clerk who works mornings. If you cant get there then you can always ring the life line Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm on 634 325 408. A social afternoon is planned for Wednesday November 2nd from 1.30 until 3.30pm. Everyone welcome, just turn up. An All Our Yesterdays is planned for November 18th at the Steak Out on Camposol. This do is late afternoon, 4 until 8pm and will be an afternoon of nostalgia and fun! Wednesday November 30th sees a Menu del Dia and entertainment at Avenida on the Paseo in the port. This starts at 1.30pm and costs 10 Euros. Age Concern does need your support. If you have the time why not join them as a volunteer? Or become a friend? Age Concern needs help with its table top sales, coffee mornings, Wednesday afternoon social programme, with home visits. Support is there for our volunteers through an induction programme. You can get tickets on a Friday morning outside the Salud on Camposol B, or in the port outside the underground car park. PS. There is still time to book a stall at the Christmas Fair in the port on the Via Axial !!AM and all afternoon at El Garto Verde on Saturday December 3rd. Phone Graham on 634 140 192. Last year over forty stalls plus Santa plus the restaurant catered for hundreds!

The Mar Menor Golf Society Captains Dinner Dance was held recently at the Intercontinental Hotel at the resort. 150+ owners, families and friends were there to enjoy the sumptuous dinner and presentation of the trophies by the this years’ captain, George Fidler and HAH patron, current world seniors snooker champion Willie Thorne. After the presentation to the golfers, Lesley (HAH founder ), and Nurse Practitioner Lynda Christopher thanked Captain George, the owners and friends for all the support they have given to HAH during the past year. Willie Thorne, thanked the Golf Society for the fantastic evening, the golf, and their usual hospitality, and then had the diners in stitches recalling some of the hilarious moments, and sporting errors he encountered during his career. Little Miss Dynamite, Suzi G then put on a fabulous show with her girls, and soon had just about everyone up dancing.into the early hours. This week HAH volunteers were invited back to the hotel to receive a cheque from Captain George totalling a staggering 4,920€. HAH founder Lesley thanked all concerned, Capt. George, Les Owen, Bob Bushnell, owners, golfers, families and friends for their amazing generosity, the events that they had planned, quiz, coach trip, tombola, the collection tins (144€) where the golfers were asked to ‘show us yer brown bits’. She added that the amount of work they have put into raising this money is unbelievable, and we are so proud to have been able to offer medical assistance to Geoff, one of their own, and to have this association with them all. She also thanked the ‘Friday Frolickers’ for their continued support, and the amount of work and events they hold on behalf of HAH. and said,” they are a fantastic bunch of people, and great fun to be around, it is always a pleasure to meet up with them all.” Les Owen also thanked Ola Golf for their courtesy and help. If you would like to become a HAH carer, please call Angela on 603 517770, fundraising, Lesley 968 134 978, or need medical advice, tel: 633 673 034 or email helpathomespain@gmail.com. Website www.helpathome.es

Willie Thorne is the current World Seniors Snooker Champion. His playing career has been showered with success, with a total of 14 tournament victories worldwide “The Great WT”, as he is affectionately known, was a regular in the Top 16 World Ranking players for well over a decade. Willie is the World Record holder of the highest number of 147 breaks in the history of snooker (190) earning him the nickname “Mr. Maximum”. At the recent Mar Menor Golf Society Captains Golf Dinner, Willie agreed to become the patron of HAH Help At Home saying “He would be proud to become the patron and would consider it an honour”. Willie works closely with many different charities, including being a patron for Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, who he helps to raise money for on a regular basis. Other charities include Sparks, Princes Trust, Froglife & The Variety Club. Top class performers in any sporting discipline are a rare breed but few have the ability to be truly entertaining and liked. A scarce commodity indeed that has made Willie one of the nation’s most popular sporting celebrities and one that HAH are proud to have as their Patron.

British Ambassador encourages cooperation between social services and English speaking charities As part of his visit to Murcia, the British Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, attended a workshop with local English speaking charities and social services to help improve the support offered to vulnerable British nationals living in the area. As the British population in Murcia has increased tenfold since 2002, all parties were keen to get together and discuss how working together could help them to better support vulnerable and elderly British nationals. The workshop, part of the Alicante Consulate’s ConeXiones programme, was the first of its kind in Murcia, and was organised with the help of YoVoluntario, the Murcia regional government volunteer support organisation. The Ambassador was able to see the local English speaking charities find out from social services exactly what was help was available and also discuss how they could work together in the future. They all agreed that it is vital for British nationals to be registered on the padrón in their local towns as without this, they cannot access social services assistance. Leopoldo Navarro Quilez, the head of Yo Voluntario, started the event by explaining to the local associations what support Yo Voluntario can offer and also how to ensure that they are legally registered in Spain. He encouraged people to use the resources that are available in Spain and thanked them for their hard work in supporting British nationals. During his talk at the event, the Ambassador said: “I am delighted to launch ConeXiones in Murcia. The rapid increase in British population in the last decade has meant that it is essential that there is an adequate support network. It is impressive to see representatives from social services from all the main town halls where there is a significant population working hand in hand with British and Spanish charities to support those who are in need.” As this is the first time that the Ambassador has visited the Region of Murcia, he also took the opportunity to meet with the President of the Region to discuss issues around property and the new airport that is being built. Additionally, he met with the Honorary Consul in Murcia, Antonio Berdonces, and the Delegado del Gobierno for Murcia where they discussed the location of the Honorary Consulate and contingency planning. Charities that attended the ConeXiones event included Age Concern Costa Cálida, MABS Murcia, Royal British Legion, Help at Home and Help Mar Menor. From the Spanish side, Caritas and Cruz Roja attended as well as social workers from the key town halls where British nationals live, such Mazarrón , Los Alcazares and San Javier.

HAH Help at Home are launching a new monthly social group on Wednesday 19th October, 11am at the Garden (formerly El Jardin), Isla de Sol (behind Euro Marina) in Los Alcazares. The main purpose of the group will be to integrate people who are recovering from illness, who feel a little isolated, or would just enjoy making new friends. All are welcome. C Companionship H Health care A Advice T Talking T Therapy E Enjoyment R Relaxation S Socialising If you would like to find out more about HAH Help at Home, visit our websitewww.helpathome.es, Telephone Angela on 603 517 770 or Lesley 968 134 978. If you need help, or medical advice, please call Lynda on 633 673 034.

has anyone gone through the process of registering for health care on reaching UK pension status? if so maybe you could answer a query. Our local social security office want the dependents part of the form filled in by Newcastle, it was not filled in when we got it so we assumed we had to do it and put in the neccesary details. whilst they have accepted the primary claim for my wife as a pensioner they keep stating that Newcastle must fill in my dependents part too. Have Newcastle made a mistake or the local office. Have emailed Newcastle to ask but these things take so long, also want to know how other local offices deal with this process. thank you

Does anyone know of a chiropracter in the area who speaks English?

We have been asked by our translator, Audrey Haigh to advise people of the car parking situation at the new Los Arcos hospital del Mar Menor. As you turn into the hospital, there is a free car park on the right. A little closer, and at the back of the hospital are the long term car parks with an hourly charge of 94c (daily rate of 9.40c.) The urgencias Car park is free for the first 30 mins, but the charges are then astronomical eg. 1 hour 1.15c, 3 hours 19.65, 8 hours 52.40c, max daily charge of 65.50c. Please be aware of these charges before you park, as waiting times in the hospital can sometimes be quite long.

Today 23rd September 16 members of FAST received training on defibrillators and the use of oxygen and resuscitation. The cost of this was 2593.00 Euros and President of PALS Ken Payne made the cheque presentation to trainer Pascal Kolb of Cardioprotec in the company of representatives of PALS and FAST. This brings the total contribution of PALS to FAST this year to just under 11000 Euros and this includes the provision of defibrillators, oxygen bottles, manikins for training purposes, emergency trauma bags, a printer and today’s training costs. There is a commitment by PALS to continue to finance equipment for FAST in addition to that identified by the 112 service in Mazarron. To date PALS have donated over 170,000 Euros to the local emergency services, have been forerunners in raising 6300 Euros for the Lorca Earthquake disaster and are joint monitors for the CAFÉ fund, aiming to raise money for a new ambulance in Mazarron, 38000 Euros already in the bank on this and a big Concert at the Bahia Hotel on 1st October to swell the fund even more. FAST Coordinator Karen Moore acknowledged the continued assistance of PALS and also thanked the Sensol Hotel on Camposol for providing accommodation at special rates and for allowing the training session to take place in the Hotel over a two day period. FAST have only been in full operation for some 3 months now but are recognised as valuable team saving lives on the Camposol Urbanisation. Interest in forming other FAST teams in the Mazarron area has been under discussion. For further information FAST 968 970 626 or PALS /CAFÉ 626 460 465.

Hi I hope someone can help me my wife as just come out of hospital after a stroke and we need to register for a doctor on camposol we went to mazarron health centre today Friday 23/09/2011 they told us to go back on Monday as our Spanish is limited we need to know what we have to take with us on Monday.and is there an interpreter available or where we can find one.Any help on this would be great Thanks Mick

It is 1 year this month since HAH started their fantastic Help at Home service, and to celebrate, they are holding a birthday party at the Novo Carthago Restaurant/bar in Estrella de Mar, Los Urrutias on Wednesday September 28th from 8pm. There are only a few tickets left for this popular venue’s Super Savoury Buffet and Mr Entertainment, Tony Lincoln will be on hand to make the party go with a swing Tickets are only 5€ (a non-fund-raising event), tel: Lesley 968 134 978 for details. Over the past year, HAH are extremely proud of the fact that help and advice has been given to over 100 clients aged from 6 to 96 years old, and with varying problems. Some are still being cared for, and more are asking for our help on almost a daily basis. HAH founder Lesley Eburne said “Lynda, our own Nurse Practitioner has had phenomenal success with so many of our clients, and our carers have been an amazing support team. Over the past 3 months, our volunteers have been averaging between 200-400 hours per month, and all this help is offered FREE to the clients. Our fund–raisers have worked so hard to ensure that sufficient funds are available to pay for our Nurse, the volunteer’s expenses and running costs.” We are planning more events, check the AngloINFO What's On Guide or our website www.helpathome.es for details. If you would like to offer a few hours to suit yourself, to help others in their own homes, please call Angela on 634 344 040. For other information/tickets etc., Lesley on 968 134 978 or email helpathomespain@gmail.com

OK this is not a joke, someone I know newly arrived needs some help! What is the best Spanish denture fixative here. Believe they use Wernets in the UK which is a powder and they haven't found anything equivalent here yet. Can anyone help with advice?

Hi, I need the number of the dentist on Sector B of Camposol, or the name so I can look it up? Much appreciated. Jane

The Summer months in the Sahara desert region are unbearably hot and difficult with temperatures rising to above 55 degrees, so each year the association Vacaciones en Paz bring some of the children from the Tinduf refugee camp in a remote part of Algeria, to Spain for a little respite. This year San Pedro del Pinatar welcomed five of the children who stayed with Spanish families. The Vacaciones en Paz charity is very close to the heart of President Jane Cronin and members of the ADAPT Association. We met with Visitacion Martinez Martinez, the Mayoress, and Silvia Egea Morales, Councillor for Citizens Participation, at San Pedro Town Hall and with Nuria Mesa of Vacaciones en Paz to whom Jane handed over a cheque from ADAPT for 1,500 euros in order to help them to continue with the wonderful work that they do. ADAPT members also brought smiles to the faces of the children, who range in age from 8 to 11 years, when they presented them with large bags of toys. ADAPT resumes after the Summer with the monthly meeting at Castelar College, San Pedro, on September 3rd at 11 am.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure Please Act Now! The Help Murcia Mar Manor Cancer Support Group wishes to advise the men and women who live in the Murcia Region that the A.E.C.C. has kindly offered screening for breast and cervical cancer for women. The real cost is €120 but the A.E.C.C. is asking for a donation of only €60. This procedure is carried out at the AECC clinic in Alicante. For men a blood test and screening is offered by a urologist specializing in cancer of the prostate at a clinic in Torrevieja. The normal cost is €80 but the AECC are asking for a donation of only €40. The people wishing to take part in this programme do not require to be in possession of a medical card but are required to register beforehand with: Megan Johnston and pay the donation. Each individual will need to provide the following information:- Name and address, Date of birth NIE number. Please call Megan on 680 393 257 Monday to Friday 10am until 5pmor the HELP Murcia Mar Menor office in Los Alcazares on Tel: 968 570 059

HAH Help at Home decided to run down fund-raising activities during the summer as so many volunteers were away, or had family commitments. Having said that, two weeks ago, their volunteers clocked up a massive 163 hours of FREE care in the community. In the past 9 months, they have helped over 60 clients, and are still actively involved with 17. As responsible healthcare providers, HAH will be working with the Spanish national care providers ie- hospitals and clinical centres, to facilitate the service to an improved level of care to the British speaking public. The new hospitals have gone a long way to achieving this, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the patient experience. Adequate systems of the past are now out of sync with modern information sharing, which has been proved to HAH by patient's comments and the lack of information post discharge. HAH will endeavour to work with the authorities to improve this urgent situation. Volunteer Nurse Practitioner Lynda Christopher will now be asked to provide her services to HAH on a paid basis. Lynda has current and validated British Nursing Registration BSc (Hons), NP, RGN, RSCN, DipCh SP and is also registered with the relevant Spanish Authorities and thus is able to work here in Spain legally. She can provide health advice on a wide range of subjects due to her many years in secondary and primary care. You can contact her on Tel 633 673 034; Lynda has already formulated a few advice sheets which can be found on our website www.helpathome.es some of the information is complemented by some pictures, kindly allowed to be reproduced by hospitals in the UK. More information sheets are in the pipeline. Lesley Eburne (HAH founder) was delighted that Lynda was now securing her very valuable role within HAH , and thanked her for the tremendous amount of work she has already given us as a volunteer.. She went on to thank HAH Costa Blanca and Paul Cunningham Nurses for their help over the past few busy weeks, and commented "It is so good for our charities to work together this way, and that we can share so much experience, resources and expertise to help so many people who suddenly find themselves in distressing situations." If you have a few hours to spare on an ad-hoc basis and would like to help to care for someone, please call Lesley on 968 134 978, or Jackie (care services) 968 575 231, or emailhelpathomespain@gmail.com.

Help! Our Health product shop in Mazarron has recently closed down! We used to buy our Pure Essential Oils (i.e. Lavender/Eucalyptus etc ) to splash on Bed linen at night, not the oils to pour on candles for incense burning, which are readily available in the Chino Bazaar but not the essential oils we use. We managed to get a couple of bottles "Ancient Wisdom" of each essence from a Stall at the Fiesta here on Camposol but there was nothing on the labels to help contact the suppliers i.e. the stallholders selling it.Can anyone help to resolve our problem by telling us of somewhere locally or not too far away from Camposol/Mazarron who sells these oils or where there is a health product shop please.M & M

Over the past few months, members of Mar Menor Golf Club Walkers have been busy raising funds during their weekly walks, and last week saw Ann Payne from the ‘walkers’ present a massive cheque for 800€ to HAH Help at Home president, Paul Eburne. Gordon Payne said “ we have a friend Geoff here who has benefited so much from the quick response from HAH and so much help and advice from Lynda their Clinical Lead, that we all wanted to give something back.” Geoff is now back to playing golf and indeed hopes to organise a fun run for HAH later in the year. Geoff told Lynda that, on behalf of HAH, he would now like to visit other stroke victims to tell them of his experience and help in their recovery. Joining us at the presentation were members of the Friday Frolickers & Golfers , (some who are also ‘walkers’), who have done so much for HAH in the past. Les Owen from the Frolickers then came forward with 2 very full collection boxes and a bag which together contained a further 491€. He told Paul that this had been made up of donations, an auction, and the generosity of the people at the Resort who are so pleased to have Geoff back ‘playing around’! He added, “ we are delighted to continue to support HAH as they work so hard, and Geoff is a perfect testimonial to the wonderful work they do”. Lesley Eburne (HAH founder) thanked everyone for their generosity, announced that Lynda, after 8 months as a volunteer, would now be asked to become a paid member of HAH. She added ‘To employ our own ‘district Nurse’ was our first goal, and due to the generosity of our local communities, this has been made possible sooner than expected. You have all contributed, so we applaud you all for making this happen”.If you would like to become a HAH volunteer, Telephone Jackie on 968 575 231, or email helpathomespain@gmail.com. For health issues telephone 633 073 034. Visit our website www. helpathome.es.

MABS Cancer Support Group is Registered Charity number 7261. This number covers MABS in its entirety: four Main Branches (Marina Alta North and South, Murcia and Marbella) and several Branch Area Offices including, Valencia, Jávea, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Calasparra, Fortuna and Mar Menor. MABS HQ is in Jávea and, for the past 12 years, the Group has been run very successfully from this location. In fact, the Group has been getting better and more efficient as the years have gone on. In order to streamline operations, the first Branch Office Directors were appointed in September 2010 to head up the main Branch Offices and their attached Area Offices. In June 2011, it was decided to amalgamate the Mazarrón and Murcia Branches. While most of the Mazarrón volunteers have readily accepted the change, sadly a minority of the volunteers have resigned, considering themselves downgraded to an Area Office. This is not the case; there is no downgrade, simply a new reporting line via MABS Murcia, resulting in smoother running and greater efficiency all round. To dispel any rumours, MABS Committee and all Branch Office Directors feel it essential to let everyone know, whether they be volunteers, members, patients, doctors, nurses, carers, drivers, translators or buddies taking a share in the great work that MABS does, that MABS Mazarrón is alive and well, is growing daily and continues to serve the community which has come to rely on them so much. All MABS events in the Area Office of Mazarrón are going ahead; that includes the Caribbean Night with Barrington on 20th August, the MABS Race for Life on October 23rd and the Christmas Fayre in November. All monies raised in Mazarrón will remain in Mazarrón to help those affected by cancer in that area and, following the completion of a full service and related remedial work, the MABS car continues to be used to transport our patients to and from hospital appointments. Let's please be clear – at MABS Mazarrón it is business as usual! There are two official MABS websites: www.mabscancersupport.org and www.mabsmurcia.com. Any other websites purporting to speak in the name of MABS Cancer Support Group are nothing to do with registered charity 7261.

Hi does anyone have an experience with camposol dentist or have had any treatment there, I am looking for english speaking dentist preferably , but I am a very nervous patient and just wanted to know where others would recommend. Thanks for any comments