Welcome to the Fountain Centre’s first virtual newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading all about what we have been up to and the exciting plans we have to continue to operate safely, if somewhat differently, during these tough times.
The Fountain Centre’s aim is to provide information and support to anyone affected by cancer in the local area. Like everyone, we are having to make adjustments to our services to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our patients and carers.
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We will have to continue to be flexible according to the changes in the Covid-19 regulations and the local situation. But we know the need for support is there now, more than ever.
We want to keep you informed with the latest information, so we will update you regularly by newsletters and provide information on our website about services available. For information about what services we currently offer please see our website www.fountaincentre.org
It has been an interesting six months to say the least, with regards to the provision of our face to face service. We stopped our face to face services at the beginning of lockdown and slowly introduced a virtual service. Our emotional support service operated
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virtually alongside acupressure, reiki, meditation, hypnotherapy, yoga, EFT and exercise. This would not have been possible without the help of our amazing volunteers who stepped up to help us to continue to support our patients.
With careful consideration and planning, we have begun to take baby steps to start re-introducing our services face to face and settle in to our ‘new normal’. To date we have re-introduced massage, reflexology, acupuncture, reiki, manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) and our wig service back in to the centre with more to follow. We are not at capacity quite yet but we are definitely working towards it which is a wonderful feeling. We will continue to run our virtual service alongside our face to face service for the time being.
Any updates to our service will be posted on our website.
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Each year, about 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK. It is more common in women who are age
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aged 50 and over. Baps, cha cha’s, boobs, knockers, bazookas, jubblies or melons. Whatever you call yours, it’s important to check your breasts regularly.
HOPE – Help Overcoming Problems Effectively.Are you living with or after a cancer diagnosis? Macmillan Cancer Support and Hope For the Community CIC have partnered to deliver
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this 6 week free online group self-management programme.
The programme focuses on topics including resilience, smarter goal setting, priorities and values, living positively with fears for the future, eating well and stress management.
You can click here for further information or to book yourself a place. You can also put yourself on a waiting list for future dates.
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For the first time ever - Fountain Centre Christmas cards are available online, from
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the Cards for Good Causes website
They will also be available in the Cards for Good Causes shops at the Maltings, Farnham (opening 24 October) and The Old Sweet Shop on Haslemere High Street (opening 27 October), as well as from the Fountain Centre.
£4.00 per pack of 10, no foil or glitter so easy to recycle. Hurry while stocks last!READ MORE
Studies have shown that physical activity levels tend to reduce significantly after a cancer diagnosis
... and remain low for many years after treatment is completed.
Our exercise classes are specifically tailored towards helping patients maintain their fitness before, during and after treatment. Our therapists are specially trained to ensure all exercises are undertaken safely.
If you would like to find out more or book a session please complete our registration form here.READ MORE
Join us on Friday 11th December for the Fountain Centre’s Big Christmas Quiz!
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It promises to be a fun event so pop it in your diaries now and more details will follow in our next newsletter!READ MORE
2020 started with so much promise for the Fountain Centre! Our much-loved fashion show was to be held in March and plans were under way for a fantastic show! We had other events in the pipeline and were discussing how to introduce some different fundraisers for our patients and supporters. And then covid-19 hit
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The first casualty was our beloved fashion show. Right up to the last minute, we hoped we would be able to hold it and it was a very tough decision to cancel. It was definitely the right decision, but I have absolute faith that we will hold the show again when we are able. Suddenly as the Fountain Centre’s event manager, I was facing a diary of cancelled events but still a need to raise funds. Many charities immediately went down the route of virtual fundraising – quizzes, games etc. We decided to take a breath and not rush into anything. The pandemic caused a huge impact on everyone’s personal circumstances and we did not want to add to anyone’s burden either through their time or money during this tricky period. As time went on and the circumstances of lockdown became clearer and a bit calmer, we joined the virtual fundraising world (we decided virtual interaction was better than no interaction) with some events being a great success and others not so!! We quickly learned that the world of virtual communication was one we had limited experience in!!! Maria may never host an online bingo game ever again!!!
We are now embracing the “new normal” in all areas of the Fountain Centre services. The Fountain Centre is open again but for the foreseeable future, we cannot get together as we used to. We have to look at how to move forward in these challenging times as we have no knowledge of when we will be able to meet in bigger groups again. So what is the new normal? We understand the need for our patients to see people in the flesh and are reluctant for all our fundraising and gatherings of any sort to be of a virtual nature. However, the FC is a charity and, as such, we need to continue to raise valuable funds to keep our service running and improving as needs are changing.
A much-loved part of my job is to create the events people love to attend and to see their happy faces during these events. I don’t want that to end!! So the challenge for me is to find creative ways to hold events that people will enjoy while adhering to all covid social distancing regulations to keep everyone safe. We have managed to hold an open garden morning, thanks to the lovely Georgie Harvey, but our options are limited. We are so grateful to those of you who continue to raise money for us at home. If you are interested in doing some fundraising, we have compiled a list of ideas that might be helpful but anything goes! We would love to hear about them and support you in any way we can through our social media.
For me, finding creative ways to raise funds online is the way forward for the foreseeable future. Perhaps an online auction, interviews with our patrons, a virtual Camino Walk which I am particular excited about. We are looking at all different ideas. And any suggestions would be most welcome!!!
Times are changing and so must I! Watch this space!!!
Community Engagement During Lockdown Like all charities we rely heavily on our local community and local business’s to support us by donating time, support, awareness and the all-important pennies. So how has Covid affected us?
...I have been the community engagement person for the Fountain Centre for the last 18 months and I enjoy nothing more than going out and meeting people from all walks of life. When we went into lock down in March my initial reaction was oh my goodness what are we going to do?. But like all of us at the Fountain Centre I adapted, and although unable to physically see people technology stepped up and “Zoom” became the new face to face.
The past six months has been extremely trying for us especially with all our fund raising events being cancelled. Covid doesn't stop Cancer and our services have been used throughout and due to the Covid fall out we are now getting busier, the reality is these still need to be funded.
One thing that Covid 19 has shown us is the importance of supporting your local community and individuals. I see this as not only vital but as a real positive community contribution. We have seen this first hand with individuals and local business’s still offering support to us and organising virtual events to raise money for us. We are extremely grateful to all the supporters and as companies start to re-open I really hope I will be able to return to visiting these soon.
From a personal note I truly believe everyone has the ability to help someone or a charity in their own way. This could be from simply making contact with someone, volunteering, buying local or raising funds. If everyone looked around at their local community and got involved the ripple effect would be amazing. Covid may have stopped so many things but it will not stop us from caring and continuing to support people in the most stressful times.
If you would like to find out ways you can support us then please do not hesitate to contact me on kas.girdler@nhs.net
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Thank You Corner, our chance to say thank you to people who have supported our work recently We always like to say thank you publicly, though some of our supporters prefer to remain anonymous. Our warm thanks for all your generosity – in money or in kind go to
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Anna Nation
Derrick Smith
Diana Lovelock
DJMataZ
Dylan’s Ice Cream
Elliott’s Coffee Shop
Emily Barber
Georgie Harvey
Gordon Smith
Ishgar Skincare
Jan McCall
Jean Harrison
Jeff Gower and friends
Jo’s UnLtd
Kehinde Images
Lisa Tonge
Loseley & Guildway Charitable Trust
Marion Dante
Mind-Body Medical
Penningtons Manches Cooper Foundation
Rowena Hodgson
Richard Holgate
Sophia Bastone
Steve Keywood
Steven Rolph
Susan Thornton
Tesco Guildford READ MORE
The Fountain Centre St Luke’s Cancer Centre, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust Egerton Road, Guildford Surrey GU2 7XX
