Important Update on Anaphylaxis

On Saturday 10th August, despite the high winds and occasional shower, many members, members of staff, volunteers and their families and friends enjoyed the 30th Anniversary Picnic at Heron’s Lodge, Guide Centre. It was a delightful event. Activities included live music from ‘Mixed Grill’, a quiz, welly wanging, competitions to guess the number of sweets in a jar, guess the weight of the anniversary cake, as well as a raffle with really super prizes including a Family photo shoot worth £245, a round of golf for 4 people, a cream tea for two and a voucher for a family of four to watch MK Dons. For the children there was a colouring and cake decorating competition as well as lots of games outside. In addition there was a display of the group’s evolution including a time line and many photos from the group’s humble beginnings up to the present day. If this wasn’t enough there was a beautifully decorated and delicious 30th Anniversary Cake to enjoy. A big Thank You goes to all those who worked so hard to make the day such a great success.

This year our group is 30 years old. What a fantastic achievement! It's time to say a big thank you to all those many people – staff, volunteers and members – who over the years, have made this possible, and in particular, to our Founder and Manager Gill. We plan to celebrate with a picnic on Saturday 10th August at Herons Lodge (click for map), 2:00pm until 5:00pm. All are welcome. Bring your own picnic. Tea, coffee, soft drinks and puddings provided. Tickets are now available from your session rep: £5 per Adult …Children under 12 Free. See poster for more details. (Click on the image to view or download an A4 poster).

As a group we have two contracts with the Clinical Commissioning Group. These are now up for renewal and we are seeking your urgent help and support from the borough council with this process. If you live in Milton Keynes please write to your local councillor about this. To find out why this is so important and how to do it please go to the members area .

Last week we heard from the Charity Commission that our application to convert from a charitable company to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation has finally been approved. The main practical benefit is that now we only need to do an annual report to the Charity Commission and not to Companies House as well.

Neil Mercer, Phil Riley, Tim Smith and Ian Spratley from Borderline Crossing will be appearing at York House, Stony Stratford on 5th June as part of Stony Live Week. Also appearing is the wonderful singer Heidi Carascon. There will be a collection for MKCCG during the evening. Tickets are £4.50 and are available from York House or: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/461425

The March 2019 edition of Cardiographic includes important information and advice on how to recognise Spam and Phishing emails. Please click here for Cardiographic and scroll to Page 4.

At our meeting on 25th February we welcomed a new member, Roger Cook. Roger has agreed to serve as a representative for the Tuesday evening session. We received reports from all of our session reps and our officers about what’s been happening with our group recently. You can read the reports in the minutes of the meeting which will be posted on the Committee noticeboard and on our website. Speaking about our website, Steve Persighetti (Tuesday evening member) has been working on a complete redesign and update for the website. We hope to launch it around Easter. If there are any features or particular content you would like to see on the new website you can place any suggestions in the box in the main hall and we’ll pass them to Steve. We also discussed the idea of having an event to celebrate our group’s 30th anniversary this year -possibly a picnic or barbecue sometime in the summer. If you have any ideas for such an event please pass them to your session rep who will bring them for discussion at the next committee meeting on 15th April. Ernie Taylor, Committee Secretary

Our own Derek Mundy [Tuesday PM member, Tuesday AM Blue Shirt and Thursday PM Blue Shirt] has been selected to represent the United Kingdom in the Warrior Games 2019 to be held in TampaBay, Florida, USA . The games are the forerunner to the Invictus Games. Taking part will be wounded warriors from the United States, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom. Last year Derek did a similar event in Las Vegas competing in Archery but sadly got knocked out in the second round. This year Derek has volunteered to take part in: Archery Shooting Cycling Discuss Shot Sitting Volleyball Wheelchair Basketball The games take place in June 2019 and as Derek has to attend training events around the UK he may be missing some MKCCG sessions. I'm sure we all wish Derek the very best of luck and hope to see a medal around his neck on his return.

Some people may develop allergies in their lifetime. People can be allergic to different foods (in particular nuts), medication, bee or wasp stings or things such a hair dye. For the majority of people, the allergy may produce no more than an itchy rash however, in a small minority of individuals an anaphylactic reaction may occur (anaphylaxis). Anaphylaxis is a severe life-threatening allergic reaction. If someone has had anaphylaxis or has been told they are at risk of it, they will be given an auto-injector (pen) filled with adrenaline to carry with them to be used in the event of an anaphylactic reaction. They will normally be prescribed two auto injectors and it is very important that these are with the individual at all times, so that they can be used quickly if required. There are currently three different types of auto-injector that can be prescribed. These are the Epipen ( www.epipen.co.uk ), Jext ( www.jext.co.uk ) and Emerade ( www.emerade.co.uk) . They all contain exactly the same medication. There has been a shortage this year with the supply of some of these auto-injectors although this is improving. This may mean that someone has been prescribed a different one to what they are used to. If this is the case it is no cause for concern as they all contain exactly the same medication. In some cases, the expiry date of the medication may be extended. If you or a family member has one of these auto-injectors, then it is important that you check the expiry date carefully. If it is due to expire in the next couple of months, it is worth chatting to your pharmacist or GP practice to see if the expiry date has been extended. In the short term you may be given one with a much shorter expiry date than usual or a different type if yours is not available. The Anaphylaxis Campaign website contains more information for those that are interested. Kate Olson RGN (Session leader Monday am)