CSF–Sud de France (11, 09, 66) Pyrénées-Orientales
Newsletter 31st March 2011
ROUND-UP……..
Change of name and wider role for our Active Listeners!
For some time we have had a problem with the name “Active Listeners” for our trained members. The name is historic in that the original CSF, which started in the Poitou- Charente area in 2002, gave mainly telephone support. The term “Active Listeners” was therefore appropriate. However, our Active Listeners in CSF Sud de France provide support in many varied ways, “listening” being a small part of that. We have now adopted the name of “Active Volunteers” to more accurately describe all those members who have followed the two day training programme.
In early 2010, some of our AVs volunteered to cover areas of France where there is no CSF group. Through CSF National, this was put in place in March and one AV has already been used in this way.
The next Training Session for existing AVs will be on Friday, May 13th 2011 at 10am at the CCR.
March 20th Vide-grenier at Baixas
On this lovely sunny Sunday, we were at Baixas with our second hand books, hoping to reach a part of the P-O in which we have no members. Sadly, no anglophones appeared, although we did sell much of our meagre French stock making €29 profit.
Our day was far from wasted, however, as we were approached by a Danish man who was very interested to learn of CSF. He had a friend recently diagnosed with cancer and felt that we could be of much benefit if support was needed in the future. He took some leaflets and, as a result, will be extending awareness of CSF through another part of the anglophone community in the P-O.
Many thanks to Andy and Mary for their help.
CSF Sud (66) Meeting Tuesday March 29th
21 people attended a very convivial meeting at “Les Delices de l’USAP” on Tuesday March 29th. The achievements for 2010 and the goals for 2011 at both National and local level, as well as in the P-O, were summarised by Penny. The most significant points were:
CSF National – this has now been in existence for a full year. At its AGM on March 20th, Hazel Turner (our President) was re-elected as a member of the National Committee which “meets” successfully 6 times a year using the computer telephony system “SKYPE”.
At the end of 2010, there was a total of 641 members of CSF across France, 127 of whom had followed the training programme while 78 were working actively with clients. The year saw 272 new client contacts, up from 200 in 2010.
CSF National sees its main work as providing information and support to the regional associations and places its emphasis on communication through the quarterly magazine, Touchlines, the website and the CSF Forum. The President is involved with La Ligue Contre le Cancer and the Institut National du Cancer (INCa). INCa is a government sponsored organisation which, with La Ligue, has formally recognised CSF for some years.
During the course of 2010 CSF was asked to co-operate in the translation of the INCa booklet, Les Demarches Sociales et Cancer, from French into English. This booklet is now undergoing proof-reading and will shortly be checked by an English GP to ensure that the medical terminology is accurate. It will then be included on the INCa website. CSF has secured all the rights to the publication and it can be distributed through the website and forum, as well as in print.
The 6 people involved in the translation all come from CSF Sud; 3 of them came from the P-O.
Financially, CSF National has a similar policy to CSF Sud: to generate just enough income to cover the outgoings. In 2010, income was a little over €12,000 with expenditure at €5,774. As a result, it is not intended to carry out any fundraising for CSF National this year.
The National goals for 2011 are to continue increasing awareness of CSF and the development of a proper database to improve the provision of information.
CSF Forum – Frank talked briefly about the first year of the computerised CSF Forum which now has a membership of 129. There have been over 5,000 visitors to the site, mainly from France, who have read and/or contributed to the 220 topics. There is no doubt that this is a valuable facility for CSF, wholly endorsed by CSF National as it is yet another way of giving support.
CSF Sud de France – by March there were 99 members of CSF Sud, 31 of whom had completed the AV training. During 2010, 24 new people were supported by our AVs, although this number does not reflect the level of support given. Some clients require on- going support, perhaps requiring input from more than one AV, while other clients simply ask for information. All the clients who came to CSF Sud in 2009, a total of 19, continued to receive support through 2010.
We have established a satellite group in the Tarn area where there is currently no dedicated CSF association. We have one member there who has been trained by us and who is supporting a client in that area, as well as distributing information
.
With a bank balance of €8000 and anticipated expenditure of €5,000, the emphasis during the year will be on publicity and forging better links with the medical profession.
CSF Sud (66) – we now have 18 AVs living in the P-O who, together with 2 from the Aude and the new member in the Tarn (all trained with CSF P-O), have given wide ranging and varied support during the past year. It is noticeable that much of this support is language related.
Despite a generous supply of AVs, we are running another training session in June. Some of our AVs have volunteered to help with telephone support across France, as well as supplying practical and language help locally. As a result, we cannot have too many trained volunteers.
Events which have been organised to help us reach our 2011 target of €1,500 are detailed later in this Newsletter.
We feel that we have made significant progress in raising the profile of CSF during the last year. Towards the end of 2010 we made contact with La Ligue contre le Cancer who in turn introduced us to the “reseau soins palliatifs”. This team of nurses, doctors, psychologists and others work together to provide palliative care, usually in the patient’s home. Leading on from that, we met with the Hospitalisation à Domicile team in Prades who have passed our details to the other teams in the Department.
We are also “known” to the doctors at the Centre Catalan d’Oncologie who asked if we could translate into English their radiotherapy advice leaflets. This has been done by one of our members and another has translated the introductory leaflet available at St Jean Hospital in Perpignan explaining “Your Hospital Stay”. Another member is in the process of translating a similar booklet about Hospitalisation à Domicile and, as already mentioned, three members collaborated in the translation of the INCa booklet “Demarches Sociales et Cancer”.
Although we feel that we have made major strides in promoting CSF, we will be continuing in this way in 2011 with the emphasis on publicity rather than fundraising. To this end, we would like to attend events in different areas of the P-O and both extend our membership base and heighten awareness. We will also be looking to produce more translated documents to aid the anglophone community.
After a lively discussion and useful suggestions from members, Penny thanked all those who had helped during the year, making particular mention of P-O Life who give us free advertising space, Blyth Spirit who arrange our printing and refuse to charge for their artwork, Domaine Treloar who invite us to their events and FAB P-O for their support, particularly at the Christmas Fair.
The meeting was followed by a very pleasant lunch.
COMING SOON…………………
6th April Cooper’s Epicerie
We shall be at Cooper’s Epicerie at Argèles (behind the Carrefour) on Wednesday 6th April from 4pm to 7pm. Malcolm Cooper offers a free apero on Wednesday evenings and we shall be providing nibbles to go with the drinks, as well as information about CSF.
Do come and join us, have a chat, a glass and a sausage roll, and take the opportunity to buy British produce. Have a look at their website at: coopersshopargelessurmer.com
24th and 25th April Vin Art 2pm to 6pm
Rachel and Jon Hesford have again asked us to run the raffle at their Vin Art event at Domaine Treloar during the Easter weekend. This is the fifth year of Vin Art, a celebration of wine and art. 12 local artists will be exhibiting their work and there will be ceramics and other hand crafted items on display and for sale.
For further information and details of how to find Domaine Treloar see www.domainetreloar.com
Come and taste the wine, talk to the artists and buy a raffle ticket!!!
15th May Vide-grenier at St Cyprien plage
On Sunday 15th May there will be a vide grenier at St Cyprien Plage in aid of La Ligue contre le Cancer. We have been invited by La Ligue to take a stall. This will be the first time that we have had a presence on the coast and is an excellent opportunity to both introduce ourselves and raise some funds. We will have second hand English books for sale and other small items.
If anyone has anything which might be appropriate, please contact Penny. We do have a serious storage problem, so only small items can be collected. Otherwise, please deliver direct to our stand on the 15th.
Let’s hope that the sun shines – last May, at Ille sur Têt, we were in heavy rain!
August – Tous des Créateurs de Thuir at Domaine Treloar
The Créateurs de Thuir, who produce hand made jewellery, ceramics,textiles, sculpture and other gift items, will be exhibiting again at Domaine Treloar in early August. This year the event will take place in the late afternoon and evening, avoiding the intense heat of an August day which had people wilting last year. CSF have been invited to supply a homemade refreshment stall in the form of fingerfood and “tapas”.
Although the date has not yet been finalised, please dig out your recipe books and come up with some inspirational ideas.
6th to 26th August “Au Coeur du Conflent” Art Exhibition
The art of Michelle Davis, Angela Lanchester and Suzanne de Burgh will be brought together for an exhibition at El Taller, 2, Place Verdaguer, 66500 Taurinya during these three weeks in August.
The artists, who express their art using different media, all now live locally, using their paintings to reflect their feelings for the area and the people beside whom they live.
The artists will generously be making a donation to CSF from the sale of any of the art on display.
This exhibition partly coincides with the Pablo Casals Festival at Prades which falls between the 26th July and 13th August. As Taurinya is not far from Prades, why not take the opportunity of enjoying both?
10th August “At Home” at Caixas
For the last two years, in September, we have had an “At Home” at Caixas to enable members and supporters to get together informally. This year Frank and I will be away during September and October and we would therefore like to hold a similar event in August. To avoid the heat of the day, we are proposing a relaxing afternoon and evening get together. This year we have chosen a Wedenesday in the hope that those with gites will not be heavily engaged in change-overs which tend to fall at weekends in the High Season.
Do make a note NOW of the date!!
Active Volunteer Training dates for 2011
It is hoped that all our AVs will be able to make some of the training days which alternate between formal sessions with Rob and informal workshops. The proposed dates are as follows, venue to be notified if not stated:
Friday May 13th with Rob at the CCR Friday July 1st Workshop Friday September 2nd with Rob Friday November 4th Workshop
6th and 7th June – Two day Active Volunteer Course
The next two day course for prospective AVs will be held on June 6th and 7th.
Join us and find out what CSF is all about!
Attending a course does NOT mean that you are obliged to take on the role of providing telephone support. We ask all our members who wish to have contact with clients to attend the two day AV training course, as it is felt by us, in CSF Sud, and also at CSF National, that the course gives invaluable preparation. If you feel that you have skills which we could use, maybe hospital visiting or giving language help, then please consider joining us.
Contact Penny for more details or talk to any of our AVs at the above events.
OTHER…………………………..
Radiotherapy; the what, how and why by CSF member Richard P. Holloway MSc PhD MInstP
This year marks the centenary of Marie Curie’s second Nobel Prize, for her work on the chemistry of the radioactive element radium. The discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen a few years earlier in 1895 and work that followed, notably by Curie and colleagues, established a branch of science that led directly to the development of modern radiotherapy.
Since those early pioneering days, major developments in radiation physics, engineering and technology, as well as significant advances in the understanding of the biophysical processes involved, have transformed radiotherapy into its central position in the treatment of cancer today. A report from the Royal College of Radiologists in 2003 refers to a European study which found that of all tumours successfully treated, 49% are cured by surgery, 11% by chemotherapy and 40% by radiotherapy; 40% is a remarkable achievement considering the technical complexity of radiotherapy and its relatively short apprenticeship compared with some other disciplines.
Arguably then, radiotherapy ranks among the most important medical advances of the last century, though considerable technical and scientific challenges remain. In a series of short articles to follow I will discuss the scientific basis of radiotherapy, some of the techniques involved and future prospects for emerging therapies.
I hope this will be of interest.
Richard P. Holloway MSc PhD MInstP
Membership of CSF
Membership of CSF Sud de France costs only 10€ a year. That sum is used to help cover the costs of providing a service in the CSF Sud area and beyond.
If you would like to join, contact Penny for a membership form, or down load one from the CSF Forum at www.csf-forum.org in the Regional Notice Board section for Sud de France. Do not hesitate to telephone for more information.
Help Needed
If you are able to spare some time to help with any of the above events, please contact Penny. Help in any form would be very welcome, including supporting us by attending the event!
We would also be pleased to hear from you if you know of any event which we could usefully attend to extend awareness of CSF in the P-O.
Anything for the Newsletter?
This Newsletter is a way to keep our members and supporters aware of what is happening with CSF in the P-O, but I would also like to make it interesting and informative.
We are particularly lucky that Richard has offered to write a series of articles for us on a topic which is both fascinating and pertinent.
Do you have anything which would be of interest to our readers? Or would you like to follow Richard and write a series of articles? If so, please drop Penny a line.
And finally
DON’T FORGET, you can find out more about CSF by looking at the CSF website and also the CSF Forum
I also hope that this newsletter has proved useful and informative. The next will appear in June 2011.
Penny Parkinson
Caze d’en Roque Jalaire
66300 Caixas
Tel: 0468 388 128
E-mail: pennycsf66@gmail.com
