Newsletter 2 October 2008

MRHF send out a regular weekly email bulletin on Thursdays, containing information for all our newsletter email group. For the convenience of our stakeholders and for those who might want to find out more about the Forum, we are also publishing that information to the BHA website. Feedback would be very welcome. If you have any information that you would like us to circulate in a future bulletin, please forward it to MRHF by Wednesday 12.00 pm the day before. Please ring us on 0161 872 4600 or email us at mrhf@btconnect.com if you have any queries.

BHA’s 18th anniversary (1990 – 2008) celebration and Fundraising event.
Thursday 13 November 2008 7:30 pm – 1:00 am
The Place Hotel, Ducie Street, Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 2TP (just behind Piccadilly train station)
Ticket Price: £25

There will be live PA performances from Jaki Graham (hits include ‘Heaven Knows’, ‘Set Me Free’) and Gwen Dickey (former singer with Rose Royce, ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’, ‘Car Wash’).  Supporting artist, local songstress, Julie Gordon will also be performing.    Julie is an actress/singer and has appeared in Brookside (amongst many other productions) and is currently touring as backing singer with Stone Roses!

The evening includes a champagne/drinks reception with canapés, keynote speakers, music and dancing.

Hosts for the evening will be Vanessa Kirkpatrick and Mike Shaft!

As well as celebrating the organisation’s 18th anniversary, the main aim of the evening is to raise money for BHA's ‘Crisis Fund’ in order to continue providing financial assistance to  service users in Manchester and Leeds suffering from or affected by HIV/AIDS.  An extremely worthy cause indeed! The evening will also be an opportunity to further raise the profile of BHA.

See the invitation for details of how to obtain tickets

Manchester LINk Big Tent Event

Tuesday 7 October 11:00 am - 3:00 pm in Piccadilly Gardens
Workshops, updates, health checks.
The final guests for the Health and Social Care Question Time have been confirmed as John Boyington, Chair, Northwest Mental Health Commission, Stephanie Mallas, Director of Brook in Manchester and Richard Caulfield, Chief Executive of Voluntary Sector Northwest.

If you would like to ask any of these a question about health and social care services in Manchester then let the LINk team have it as soon as possible and if you intend to be at the event you can even ask them yourselves. Nearer the event the LINk Transitional Board Members will decide which questions to put to the panel.

As well as the Question Time there will also be stalls, information, healthy food and the chance to find out more about the Manchester LINk and how you can get involved in its work.

Come along to Cheetham & Crumpsall Welcome Centre on Thursday 9 October, from 1:00 pm.
As part of North Manchester Food & Drink Festival the Welcome Centre and Zest are offering the chance to try a variety of foods from around the world.  This will reflect the diverse cultures and nationalities living & working in the Cheetham & Crumpsall area.

There will be a Halal buffet, free recipe books featuring healthy eating recipes (while stocks last), free massage sessions and a free raffle.

This event will be free but you need to collect a ticket. You can pick them up in person in advance from the Welcome Centre, based at the hall at Trinity United Church, at the corner of Cheetham Hill Road and Greenhill Road (tel 0161 795 7139) The Centre is open on Thursdays from 1:00 pm to 4:00pm and Fridays from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.

You can also contact Naomi from Zest on 0161 655 7888 for postal tickets.

Come along and try something new for free!

Muslims and Diabetes

Tower Hamlets PCT have developed a useful website which looks at diabetes and in particular its implications for Muslims - issues such as diet and exercise are covered.  While some of the information relates to Tower Hamlets specifically, much of it is of general interest and usefulness.

See the website here

Breast Cancer Care are again encouraging people to get 'In The Pink' for Breast Cancer Awareness - see the In The Pink website for ideas about how you can be involved.

(And see below for the details of Angela's sponsored head shave!)

Black men living in England have a three times higher risk of prostate cancer than white men, figures show.

They also tend to be diagnosed five years younger

Read more...

Lawyers are lining up to challenge the legality of the new Mental Health Act as fears about the imminent new powers grow among patients.

The legislation was passed in July amid controversy after seven years of opposition from a coalition of 75 organisations.

Read more...

Trainee Money Advice and Financial Literacy Worker
21 hours per week, Scale 5: £18,907 pro rata Fixed-term contract for 21 months (pay award pending) This post is funded by the United Utilities Trust Fund and offers an opportunity for someone with some advice experience to further develop their skills in Money Advice. The post will involve one-to-one debt advice and work with individuals and groups around Financial Literacy issues.
Many of the users of the Centre speak languages other than English. Applications are therefore welcomed from speakers of local community languages.

For more details and an application form please send an A5 SAE to: Jeremy Engineer, Manager, Cheetham Hill Advice Centre, 1 Morrowfield Avenue, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 9AR, or email jeremy@cheethamadvice.org.uk for an electronic version of the application pack

Closing date: Friday 17 October 2008 at 12:00 noon

This was due to be held on 2 October, but has been postponed till the New Year - apologies to anyone who was expecting to attend, but we only learned of the postponement after last week's bulletin went out.

Sponsor my head shave and support Breast Cancer Care - a message from the Forum administrator

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as part of that I’m going to be having my head shaved to raise funds for Breast Cancer Care on 31 October (as long as at least £100 is donated or pledged by that date).*  This is a charity dear to my heart, as friends of mine have been affected by this disease.

If you’d like to sponsor me, an easy way is to make a donation at the Justgiving website – my page is here:
http://www.justgiving.com/angelashead

- if you're a UK taxpayer then the charity will also get the GiftAid contribution from the government.

I will also be happy for you to sponsor me directly, and will have a sponsorship form available in the next few days.  Or if you prefer, you can send a donation direct to the charity (though if you’re a UK taxpayer  they’ll get more money if you go through the website).

The shaving will be a public event, and any offers of venue/video cameras/help with the barbering are very welcome!

Please contact me as above if you have any queries!

* I've already passed the £100 mark, so the hair has to go!