INNER WHEEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017


Beat Conference Report Nottingham 4th April 2017 - Zena’s Chosen Charity


When your teenage grandaughter shows signs of an eating disorder, you want to help and so Association President Zena did just this. She announced that Beat would be her chosen Charity for the year. Not only to raise funds for Beat’s helplines, which are open 365 days a year, but also helping to fund the Young Ambassador programme, for young people who have recovered from anorexia, bulimia or binge - eating disorder. With training, these volunteers share their message of hope and recovery in schools, healthcare environments and the media. These serious mental illnesses can be caused by a combination of genetic, biological, psychological, social and environmental factors. They are not, as many people think, about food, but a way for people to cope with their lives and feel in control.


Creating awareness of the first signs is paramount to making a fuller and earlier recovery, so watch for changes in your grandchildren’s behaviour and encourage them to speak to a GP or Beat as soon as possible. Signs include disappearing to the toilet after meals, becoming obsessive about food, and distorted beliefs about body size. Have they started exercising excessively? Do they struggle to concentrate? Eating disorders affect people of all ages. 15% of calls to Beat’s Helplines last year were in fact made by people over the age of 40.


Canine Partners Report From Nottingham


We so often hear that it’s inadvisable to work with animals in the Arts, but in the case of people with disabilities, there is no better choice of help and support than a Canine Partner.


‘Because dogs don’t do depression’ we were told by the presenter Malcolm Wells MBE, they are well suited to cheerfully helping their owners with practical tasks every day from picking up something the owner has dropped, to opening a door, loading or even unloading a washing machine, despite the difficulty dogs have in walking backwards!


The training begins with puppies aged between 6/7 weeks old and after about 2 years,they are almost ready to become an assistance dog.


Bringing together a trained and fully socialised dog with an adult or child can take a while. Disabled people have very many different needs but once a perfect match is found the results can be amazing. Owners have their independence restored, their confidence returns, (wheel chairs are a barrier to chat!) they no longer feel isolated, there is less fatigue and pain, and above all peace of mind for the whole family.


Thank you letter from BEAT


Zena has received a letter of thanks from Andrew Radford CEO of Beat thanking us for our donations- this appears in full on our website. innerwheel.co.uk


8. Hundred live endlessly by the garden? (8)


There are 2 main training centres and a number of puppy training satellites around the UK ,none of which is government funded.


Zena presented an £8,785.00 cheque to Malcolm for Canine Partners, the result of our collection at the morning service.


Elaine Morris - D9 Publications Committee


There were gasps when speaker Robert Spooner showed on the screen a photo of his beautiful teenage daughter Mel (who first became ill at 13) followed by a photo of her marble headstone showing she had died aged just 30. Mel left school, becoming a senior Cambridge Scholar, then a Paediatric Doctor. Her body organs were affected by starvation through denial of food, resulting in heart failure.


Finally Zena presented a £15000 cheque to Beat, raised by Inner Wheel members.


Elaine Morris Young Carers


Lydie Saint-Marc spoke about the work of the charity Young Carers- the largest charity supporting unpaid carers in the UK. It was created in 2012 from a merger between The Princess Royal Trust and Crossroads Care. The charity benefits from 60 years experience and knowledge.


There are 7 million carers in the UK who save our society £132 billion a year. Caring can have a negative impact on health and well-being, resulting in stress and depression.


There are 700.000 young carers in the UK who take on the responsibility for physical and personal care, performing tasks not normally expected of a child. Young carers find it difficult to juggle school with their caring role. Taking part in hobbies is often impossible due to lack of time.


John McCarthy CBE


1943 days. As a young reporter John McCarthy was assigned to Lebanon for a month. He admitted to a certain excitement to be in a war zone, which despite the devastation, seemed to be attempting to carry on - taking children to school, setting up market stalls – against a back drop of gunfire. Then a new threat emerged, the abduction of Westerners. Time to get out. En route from the city to the airport, his car was ambushed. His initial reaction was that it felt like being in a movie. But the presence of a gunman soon brought him back to reality. He too had been “taken”.


That journey ended at a large building. On down a spiral staircase only to be pushed into a small cell with a filthy mattress. This was his prison for two months. At first he tried to rationalise the situation. Had they stopped the wrong car? Why kidnap him? This would soon be sorted out.


His time was filled with doubts about his own worth. It was also a time of fear as he heard other prisoners being beaten. Out of the blue, one day he was told, “Get ready to go!” Not quite what he had anticipated, he found himself in a larger cell with a man he described as a crazy - looking guy with unkempt hair and beard. It proved to be a remarkable meeting of minds and sowed the seeds for his friendship with Brian Keenan.


In all he was moved fourteen times. Occasionally a book would appear, ranging from the classics to Mills and Boon romances.


The two men kept their spirits up by talking of all the people they had known and all their favourite places. This was a great way of expanding their horizons.


So how did he keep going through all the times of fear and loneliness? For him it was always that light at the end of the tunnel, that undying hope to see his family and friends back home. John McCarthy captivated his audience, with equal mix of seriousness, humour and determination.


Dorothy Cree 9. This appears to be the home of a well - built fellow? (8 5) 11


Young Carers supports carers of all ages via a network of 150 local organisations called Network Partners. They deliver practical advice and information, supporting young carers by organising clubs and holidays – giving them time to be children.


Grants are given to young carers- last year over £1.2 million – made possible by support from Comic Relief and other such organisations.


Lydie thanked Inner Wheel members for their support and concluded with a short video which highlighted the support needed by the young people.


Audrey Davies D5 The Classic Buskers


The conference hall was full on the Tuesday evening of the Nottingham conference, with most people there attending under a faint sense of duty while wondering exactly what the evening had in store and what the Classic Buskers had to offer. Several sat near the exit so that, if necessary, they could beat a quiet retreat if the evening was not to their liking.


Bang on cue, on to the stage walked 2 young men in casual, but smart, clothing, one of them carrying, or wearing rather, an accordion, and the other carrying what looked like an instrument that my late mother would have called a Penny- Whistle. Without further ado, they started to play, and so began an evening of amazing virtuosity, musicality and fun, with an astonishing variety of wind instruments being played with total mastery, all brilliantly accompanied by the accordionist, who, in addition to being a most accomplished musician, was also a hilarious comedian.


The music played by these brilliant young men ranged from popular songs, to Mozart, Schubert and even Wagner, with “The Ride of the Valkyries” being played as none of us had ever heard it before. The audience was lost in admiration and enjoyment, and no-one left before the end, wherever they were seated!


The wind player, Michael Copley, is a very distinguished musician who plays more than 40 woodwind instruments, and who has performed recorder concertos with such groups as the Academy of Ancient Music and the English Chamber Orchestra, while the accordionist, Ian Moore, is an organist, conductor and composer and the founder of the acclaimed Cambridge Voices, having been a choral scholar at King’s.


The conference organisers are to be warmly congratulated on providing such an unusual, enjoyable and amusing evening for all the delegates.


Eulanwy Davies IW Club of Llangollen D18


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