Health & Wellbeing

Northamptonshire based dementia campaigner Pete Middleton has been awarded the prestigious Coronation Champion title by the Royal Voluntary Service. Five hundred volunteers were selected from 5,000 nominations to become the nation’s Coronation Champions. The awards were designed by Her Majesty The Queen Consort, as she and His Majesty The King were keen for the Coronation to be used to recognise and reward those who go that extra mile in their communities.

The youngest and oldest active plasma donors at Birmingham Donor Centre people are urging people to register and give it a go.

They’re supporting the first ever NHS Plasma Donation Week [started w/c April 24], launched to boost donor numbers since donation restarted two years ago. Alice Stannard, aged 17 and four months, is the youngest person to donate plasma at Birmingham’s donor centre during 2023.

The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, a West Midlands-based charity which helps thousands of people across the UK each year and offers a range of services for people struggling with their emotional health and wellbeing is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Established in 1973 in Sandwell as a charity originally affiliated to Mind, Kaleidoscope Plus Group have five decades of experience in providing mental health support to thousands of people across the UK.

A high number of young people in England - about 170,000 aged 16 to 24 - unknowingly have risky high blood pressure, experts are warning.

That is about five in 100 young men and one in 100 young women, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Although it may not cause symptoms or problems to begin with, it puts extra strain on the heart and blood vessels.

To coincide with Earth Month, end of life charity Marie Curie has installed electric vehicle charging points at its nine UK hospices, including its Hospice in Solihull, West Midlands.

The project, which was partly funded by Arnold Clark who has supported the charity for several years, will enable visitors, patients, and staff at the hospices to charge their electric cars whilst working or visiting. The initiative was made as part of the charity’s sustainability plan. Marie Curie has committed to follow in the footsteps of the NHS and reach Net Zero emissions by 2050 (2045 in Scotland).

A care home in Solihull made a resident’s wish to attend the Pride of Longbridge car show come true.

When lifelong car enthusiast, Bob Guest aged 97, a resident at Care UK’s Blossomfield Grange, on Worcester Way, told team members he wanted to go to a car show – and the team quickly organised a special visit to a local event to make his wish come true. As part of the wishing tree initiative, the team at Blossomfield Grange encourage residents to submit wishes, no matter how big or small, whether they’re related to something they’ve never been able to do, or something they’d like to do again.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s Remy Lloyd has been announced as a finalist in in the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Hero Awards, which are held at Birmingham’s Grand Hotel on Friday 28 April.

Remy, who is the Outreach Manager for Access & Inclusion has been nominated by Grand Theatre Memory Café users for her work supporting those living with Dementia in the multiple services that the Grand Theatre offers, both on site and within the community. In 2019 she developed a fortnightly dementia café with a theatrical twist.

With over 11,900 people living with dementia in Birmingham, many of whom are in relationships, Alzheimer’s Society has issued some relationship guidance to help affected couples better maintain their relationship following the charities recently launched ‘Ultimate Vow’ campaign.

Dementia can put a strain on a romantic relationship. This can be caused by the person’s difficulties with memory and communication, as well as changes in their energy levels, motivation and interests.

With the government announcing the launch of the 'swap to stop' scheme, in which one million smokers will be offered vape starter kits in a bid to make the nation "smoke free" research has revealed Walsall as the second city already most in pursuit of smoking cessation.

Residents of Walsall searched related terms at a rate just below that of Inverness with 488 searches per 100k, that is 283 per 100k, or a massive 138% over the national average.

One benefit of scientific research is how expanding knowledge in one area leads to breakthroughs in another. In the United States, research designed to protect astronauts from radiation exposure in space is helping to fight cancer on Earth. An astronaut working on the International Space Station for six months faces as much radiation as 1,000 chest X-rays, according to NASA, America’s space agency.

The new Chair of the volunteer managed, member-based forum, Birmingham Health, Safety and Environment Association (BHSEA) has been announced as Wayne Bishop, Health and Safety Manager of family-owned construction business, Speller Metcalfe based in Malvern, Worcestershire. The appointment was officially made at the Association’s Annual General Meeting at Walsall Football Club, Walsall.

Neil Male has been appointed as the new Chair of trustees at the Kaleidoscope Plus Group and will be starting with immediate effect. He will be taking over from Chris Mills who has served as the Chair of trustees for three years.

The Midlands based charity helps thousands of people across the UK each year and offers a range of services for people in need, struggling with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. Neil, who has been a non-executive director at Kaleidoscope Plus Group for three years, is recognised as a transformational business leader in the Midlands.

A local Burntwood man is making a heartfelt appeal for people to support St Giles Hospice in their 40^th anniversary year, after the charity cared for his wife, Anna, before her death in May 2021. Matt Morgan, 49, said his final farewells to Anna just a day before their 7th wedding anniversary.

Speaking about Anna’s journey, Matt said: “Anna was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and, after a long journey, it was deemed ‘not curable’. That’s when St Giles Hospice came into the picture. St Giles supported Anna with respite visits, medication management and Hospice at Home care.”

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that clinically vulnerable children aged 6 months to 4 years should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine.

Although young children are generally at low risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19, infants and young children who have underlying medical conditions are over seven times more likely to be admitted to Paediatric Intensive Care Units.

A 56-year-old man living with Parkinson’s is going to cycle nearly 1,400 miles from Liverpool to the Polish-Ukrainian border to raise money for Parkinson’s UK and children’s charity Terre des hommes. 

Gary Shaughnessy, from Tadley, will be joined by seven friends, and they will cycle around 100 miles every day for two weeks. Gary, who is Chair of Trustees for Parkinson’s UK and the Z Zurich Foundation, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015 and he is determined to not let the condition define him.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is advising the public that effective immediately, children age 12 years and younger can access free medical care at The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

In a statement, the Ministry said the decision comes in light of the increase in admissions being experienced at the Bustamante Hospital for Children as a result of respiratory illnesses.