Page 14 - link magazine

14 The Link Magazine • December 2005
Annual meeting for growing family centre Centre for optimum health
The West Swindon Family Project holds its Annual General Meeting Visiting podiatrist/chiropodist Alison Deacon from Grange Park has
on Thursday 8 December, 11.30am, at 15 Gainsborough Way, branched out and opened a therapy centre in Groundwell Road.
Freshbrook. Under the name Optimum Health Services, the centre brings to-
Over the last year the project has social services. gether a range of therapy services to promote a healthy lifestyle.
seen considerable physical changes With new responsibilities to set Alison offers biomechanical treatments for back, hip, knee and foot
to the house where it is based and, up family support services in the pain as well as dealing with everyday problems like calluses and corns,
as reported in the November Link, community, there will be a lot of nail-cutting and verrucas.
the functions of the project are go- work for them. Therefore people She is being joined by a dietician, a personal fitness instructor, a
ingtochangeafterSwindonCoun- with a wide range of skills are reflexologist, a hypnotherapist and a make-up consultant.
cil's cabinet agreed it should be needed to join. There are opportunities for other therapists to join Optimum Health
one of the two new Children'sCen- To find out more about the and Alison is looking for someone to open a shop selling health related
tres to operate in West Swindon. project before the AGM, call Julie goods under the Optimum brand. Call her on 525524.
Set up in the early 1980s, the Batson 871303. www.optimumhealthservices.net
project is managed independently Refreshments and a buffet will
by a committee of residents, with be available before the meeting Don't let festive stress overwhelm
representatives from health and commences.
Christmas can be a difficult time for people for many reasons, not
least from the pressure to provide the 'perfect Christmas' whilst costs
can spiral out of control.
r Families come under stress as At a time like this some may
different generations come to- benefit from talking to a trained
gether, spending more time than counsellor who can offer them the
usual in each other's company. space to freely express thoughts
Those on their own can feel lonely and feelings withoutjudging them.
Amazing moving 3D colour pictures. as they are bombarded with im- If the onset of the Christmas sea-
A perfect gift for any expectant ages of happy families. son fills you with dread, A Time
parent to help them bond People can be left feeling anx- To Talk and Charles Miller offer
ious, stressed, depressed or out of counselling services.
with their baby.
control — maybe turning to alcohol See their advertisements on the
or other substances to escape. opposite page.
Could you be a Samaritan?
'I-BURGHLEY
PARK CLINIC. 01793 709580 24/7 x 365 - 18,000 trained Samaritan volunteers nationwide are
24 hour booking line waiting for the call that could save someone's life; 90 of them belong
www.ukbabyscan.co.uk
to Swindon and District Samaritans, writes Martin Forbes.
People call Samaritans
for many reasons; maybe
they are in distress and
despair, perhaps they are
going through some kind
of crisis in their lives, some
may even feel life itself is
just too difficult to cope
with. Whatever the rea-
son, Samaritans are there
to listen in total confi-
dence, accept without
judgement and offer sup-
port for as long as it's needed. ible to arrange duties to fit in with
There are three main ways peo- each volunteer's lifestyle.
ple contact Samaritans. Most of There is a careful selection proc-
our calls are by telephone. Over ess, starting with a simple one-to-
25,000 callers last year contacted one interview. Initial training ses-
our Swindon branch alone. sions run over 6 to 8 weeks (evening
Our e-mail service: jo@ sessions and a couple of Satur-
samaritans.orghad over 1,000 con- days), followed by further train-
tacts, many from the young. ing a few months on.
Lastly, our centre at Curtis Street At the beginning of your Samari-
is open for those who prefer to tans career you work closely with
speak face to face. a mentor to help guide you through
Is there a typical volunteer? your first few months. When you
Absolutely not. Volunteers come do get to take calls, rest assured
from all walks of life: some in full you will always be with another
time employment, some part-time, Samaritan; there will always be
some self-employed, some retired, someone there to support you
some in the forces. Men and when you need it.
women, young and old, each bring If what you have read sounds
their own personality, style and interesting and you would like to
qualities. find out more, please call us on
So do you think you have what 537373 or write to:
it takes? Could you spare the time The Director, Swindon and Dis-
to spend 4 to 5 hours a week and trict Samaritans, 6 Curtis Street,
WEST SWINDON CENTRE TEL: 886871 one over-night session every 5 to 6 Swindon SN1 5JU, and we'll take it
weeks? We always try to be flex- from there.