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CSF NEWSLETTER: SEPTEMBER 2021
1st September 2021 - 30th September 2021
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Hello Everyone
I haven’t had much time for walks over the last couple of months so today was full of surprises. I expected to see a barren landscape and indeed the Mairie has done a good job in keeping the undergrowth clipped.
But they can’t keep the wild fennel from wanting to show off its bright yellow flowers. It’s everywhere and cheers up the scrubby open spaces. Something else which insists on being seen is the humble vine. Its tendrils twist themselves around all the brambles and bushy shrubs which have taken over this bit of land – it was once upon a time dominated by vineyards. Some of them are even offering small bunches of wrinkled, purple grapes.
Apart from my bumper crop of figs this year, 10 at the last count, there’s very little to please me in my garden. I thought I had a cistus crisis! Scantly clad in clusters of shrivelled leaves, my plant is still green but looking very sorry for itself, droopy and downcast. Then, on my walk back through the wood behind the house, there were hundreds of cistus bushes and, guess what, their branches were black and sparsely leaved.
Everything has its own way of dealing with a long hot summer and we should never underestimate the force of nature.
Reading & Info
Cat Hartley of CSF Languedoc has been awarded the British Empire Medal.
https://cancersupportfrance.org/cat-hartley-receives-british-empire-medal
« More money will be targeted at research for the most difficult cancers to treat, including lung, liver, pancreas and oesophagus. There will be more investment in MRI scanning machines to improve detection » (Connexion newspaper Aug 2021)
Read what our President Pat Lockett had to say about this when she was interviewed on the radio last month. (Sorry about the « busy » Connexion site! Do please persevere.)
Charges to be announced at « Urgences »
Click on this link to find out about new charges being Introduced at Hospital Emergency Rooms from September 2021
https://forum.cancersupportfrance.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1394
Information Days
These informal meetings will take the form of a morning and an afternoon session.
Some of you have already signed up for this and we will let you know a date very soon.
In the morning we will talk about CSF – history, aims, how it supports etc. There will be a bring and share lunch. Then in the afternoon there will be an Introduction to Active Listening for those who would like more detailed information about the role of an Active Listener.
You don’t have to be a CSF member. This is a good opportunity for everyone to discover more about CSF and the support we give to English-speaking people in France who are touched by cancer and to find out how you can be involved.
Please contact Maggie (sud-maggie@cancersupportfrance.org) if you would like to join us. You can stay for the whole day or just for the morning session and of course all are welcome to bring and share lunch.
Drop Ins – don’t forget your Pass Sanitaire please!
Wednesday 1 September, Pablo’s Bar – Céret, 10.30
Do come along to Pablo’s. They are happy to have us sitting outside at tables which is great news. We look forwarding to seeing you.
Wednesday 15 September, Villa Lafabrègue Prades, 10.15-12
Please come and join us outside in the garden for coffee, tea and books. Please note, we start at 10.15. The address is 15 Avenue Louis Prat, 66500 Prades.
Monday 20 September, Laroque, 10.30-12
The Café des Artistes is a great venue for meeting up. There will be masses of books of course so bring your own paperbacks for exchange. You can buy a coffee and take two books. Come for a chat, meet friends or bring family.
Events
Thursday 2nd Sept – Sunday 5th Sept Cycle for Life 2021 – Carbonne to Fronsac
This is happening next week! But it’s not too late to sign up!
Known as the Garonne Challenge, the bike ride will follow the Parcours Cyclable de la Garonne for virtually it’s full length, from glimpses of the Pyrenees at Carbonne to ending up right in the mountains alongside the river at Fronsac, not very far from the Spanish border.
We have three of our own members participating in this very worthwhile Cycle for Life event. Hazel Turner, former CSF Sud President, and her partner Geoff, and Lucy Guernah who lives in the P-O and has supported the Walk as well as the Cycle Ride in the past, with her family.
If you would like to support them here are their links:
www.alvarum.com/hazelandgeoffturner
https://www.alvarum.com/lucyguernah2
I do urge you to please contact Sasha Hendersen admin@cancersupportfrance.org asap if you would like to get involved.
There is no official deadline and we’d welcome people turning up on the day if they wish. As long as they have a Pass Sanitaire and sign a disclaimer form on arrival, we would be happy for them to join.
Sasha has said it won’t be a problem for anyone signing up last minute. The more the merrier!
Check out the Facebook page and our own website.
If you have already registered, you can start fundraising by going to www.alvarum.com/charity/2039/challenge/2226.
Thursday 9 September Walk for Life Prat de la Fargue – Maureillas
Our own Activity for Life event is the Walk for Life.
We have now had confirmation from the Mairie that we can go ahead with this event!
We are going to be celebrating – we have waited so long for this day when we can at last relax and get together and raise a bit of money and have a jolly good time doing it!
Please note: those taking part in the walks and pétanque must present a Pass Sanitaire
As you know there will be two walks. The longer one, of 8 kms, takes around 2.5 hours and climbs above Maureillas with some lovely views. The shorter one, around 1.5 hours, follows a similar route to previous years, again with lovely views, and is essentially flat.
Coffee will be served from around 9am
The long walk sets off at 9.30am and registration is from 9am.
The short walk sets off at 10.30.
There will be pétanque for those who wish for something less energetic.
To supplement your picnics, there will be savoury food available, as well as cakes, and of course wine, beer and soft drinks.
Music is from 2 Partout, that is Rosie and Maurice playing jazz sax and piano, and we are supported by “Musiques à Maureillas”.
If you would like to participate in one of the sponsored walks, it’s never too early or late to contact Penny Parkinson (sud-penny@cancersupportfrance.org)
As always, if anyone can’t join us on the day, we would be very grateful for donations of bottles or gifts to the lucky-dip stall. Please let me know as soon as possible so that I can arrange pick-up or drop-off. Thank you.
Below are the A4 posters for this event, in English and French. If you know somewhere you can display it then please do. Some café owners and local shops are often pleased to do so when they know who were are! It may help to point out the La Ligue connection at the bottom of the poster. Many thanks.
Looking ahead
Wednesday 13 October CSF Sud – Autumn Open Meeting – Perpignan
Well, it looks like it’s all systems go for this much delayed get-together!
We’ll be at Le Mas des Arcades Hotel in Perpignan again. (840 Av d’Espagne, 66000) It’s in the area called Porte d’Espagne, on the roundabout opposite Darty.
We start with coffee at 9.45. The meeting begins with a brief update on all the CSF news.
Our main event is of course our speaker and we are very pleased to have with us Charles Van Oudenhove who is a doctor in the Palliative Care Mobile team in Perpignan Hospital where he has been working for the last twenty years.
He and his team go wherever they are called in the P-O, hospitals, clinics, retirement homes or to people’s homes – helping doctors and nurses give the best palliative care possible.
This will certainly be an interesting talk.
The meeting will finish with a three-course lunch.
Of course a Pass Sanitaire will be necessary for all attendees.
I will be sending an invitation to everyone very shortly, which will include the lunch menu.
Please remember that if anyone is struggling or needing help, the CSF telephone and email helplines are always open. We are there for everyone needing assistance at this time as well as for those affected by cancer. There is also lots of information on our website. |
Diana Eastaff
