Meeting discussion points- 5th Feb 2013

Coffee Morning – Apologies for our cancelled January coffee morning, our next coffee morning is on Thursday 14th February starting at 10.30am till 12.00pm. It is held at my house so if you fancy coming along please contact us for the address. Refreshments and snacks provided, we do ask for a £2 donation which goes towards the running of the group. This month some of those attending celebrate their Birthday so we have asked Vice Chair David p to bring one of his delicious homemade cakes. Hope to see you there!!!!The Year ahead

Coffee Mornings – These we hope to hold at least once a month at someone’s house for a couple of hours. We hope these provide a further opportunity to meet, chat and have some fun as well.

Quizzes – We hope to hold 2 quizzes this year, due to previous successful ones. The first one of 2013 will be in June, it was mentioned to be on the 1st June, but am just waiting to confirm and will keep this updated.

Ball/Party – We hope to have a summer party this year, with a disco where we will sell tickets to raise money but the main aim is to have some fun. It was mentioned that we are looking to combine it with me and my Boyfriend Gavin’s belated Birthday parties. There has been nothing confirmed yet but watch this space.

Future meetings

March – This meeting is our 2nd Birthday celebration, we will be holding a raffle and ask everyone to bring some snacks or drink to share our celebrations.

April – Our April meeting we will be holding a Easter Bonnet competition where you are all invited to get creative and make you own easer hat to bring along, we will also once again be holding a raffle with an Easter theme.

Future topics

I addressed those who attended the meeting for ideas of topics you wish to discuss over the next few months.

Topics that were brought up were;

Diet – we are considering getting a Dietician to come in to answer questions about diet. Most people with our conditions struggle to control their weight and either need to lose some weight or gain some weight. We all read about various diets we should try and would like an idea of why these are recommended.

Pacing and Relaxation techniques – it was asked to have a discussion about getting the balance between pacing and relaxing right, we understand everyone’s boundaries are different but gaining an idea and tips of how and what to do may help.

Relationships and dealing with people who do not understand – it was raised that a lot of us with these conditions have family members or friends who don’t understand and it is hard for us to deal with these people. After discussion it became apparent that we will probably cover this over 2 sessions, focussing on dealing with people and also gaining confidence in our illness, and learning to not feel guilty about being ill.

Other Stuff

Below are a summary of other things mentioned to be aware off.

Paul’s Book of Poems – one of our members Paul has plans to compile a book of poems focusing on Feelings, this is to be dedicated to his late Mother who he lost last year. When published; half the proceeds raised will go to Cancer research and the other half to Chronic Fatiguers Unite. If you are interested in submitting a poem or some poems please contact me.