HEATH STROKE CLUB  UPDATE  (March 2009)

The Club ,which aims to offer social  and therapeutic care to victims of stroke and respite for carers, celebrated  its 25^th Anniversary in November 2008. The celebration was attended by many club  members , their families and the Mayor and Mayors of Halifax, Councillor and Mrs Conrad Winterburn.T he first Manager of the club, Mrs Betty Honour gave a heart warming talk on how it all began, followed by the Reverend John Jenkinson who was instrumental in setting up the club,  he thanked past and present staff for their good work over the years The Mayor gave his address and after congratulating the current Manager Mrs Maureen Hadlow and her staff for continuing to deliver such a valued and valuable service he cut the celebration cake and refreshments were served. It was a lovely occasion  with a cake stall and raffle ,wonderfully supported by members of  all the churches in our group with many friends old and new. The club, based in the Community Rooms at Heath Church, opens Mon. to Fri and takes aprox. 15 people a day. Anyone can ask for a referral for themselves or relative or friend  by contacting Social Services at Park Road Halifax , or by directly contacting the Stroke Club where staff will be happy to help with the process of referral.

Members are collected and transported by our own buses to Heath Stroke Club on Manor Drive. Refreshments, activities and a good lunch are provided, there is a daily charge for meal and transport.

Two Emergency Places are made available for referrals from The Stroke Unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital. The Stroke Club is inspected and performance monitored regularly by the Contracts section of Soc. Serv. & P.C.T. and by the Trustees  who are the management body responsible for The Club. We are funded by Calderdale Social Services and the PCT trust, in addition to meet costs and have an Amenity fund to the benefit of our members, we need to raise funds .We have been very grateful for bequests and gifts from many kind people.

Our Staff Team is headed by  Manager Maureen Hadlow with two job/share assistant managers, Janet Barrett and Elizabeth Wickenden.  Driver/carers are Bob Lawson, David Rothery and recently appointed Ian Smith. Sheila Sutcliffe and Louise Watson  Carer/escorts and our new cook Hillary Batley make up the team. We are very fortunate to have a great support team of people from Heath Church and volunteers from the local area who  offer help on a weekly basis and willingly step in to help with cooking, coffee mornings, Christmas parties, film shows, and practical support as needed. The staff and trustees are very appreciative of all the support shown by many people to Heath Stroke Club.   

There is occasional opportunity to take part in worship and prayer. For those who wish to take part, our services are conducted by the Rev John Filsak  and Mrs Rev Annette Haigh, assisted on the piano by Muriel Robinson, one of our church members. This is greatly appreciated, by many of our members  who don’t get the opportunity to share worship on a regular basis. Everyone, including relatives and friends are  most welcome to join us on these occasions, dates are usually in the church magazine. Coffee mornings, with cake stall and raffle, are a regular feature of the stroke club, both a means of fund raising and social interaction between our members and friends from church and local community.

 We try to enable social inclusion by going out on shopping trips ,pub lunches ,boat trips, seaside outings etc. (and of course its great just to come out to the club and  see people) an opportunity to meet friends and have a good old natter.

Trustees  Anne Boyd( chair person) Jean Bull (sec.) Lesley Smith,  June Jones .We are supported by  Church Member Liz Riley (minutes sec.). Our Independent Financial Advisor is Trevor Pratley.

Our Funding Bodies are Calderdale Social Services & The Primary Care Trust who allocate funds on a yearly basis to enable us to deliver our service. Training for staff is a priority in order to comply with the requirements of  care standards, health and safety, and to ensure we offer the best possible care to our Members .