11 November 2021
Write up by Hilary Croydon
Although face to face meetings are held in Norwich and at Feering, near Colchester, in non-covid times, this zoom gathering was expanded to include the whole of East Anglia to give people who can’t normally travel to a meeting the chance to meet others. We were joined by some of these, as well as by old friends, in a very relaxed and informal get together.
We shared experiences of covid and of vaccines and their side effects. Most had been able to book their covid booster and their flu jabs. However, some had found that the facilities available at vaccination sites were not always fully described on the online booking site, for example, giving the impression that there were no disabled toilet facilities when, in fact, there were.
Our discussions covered swimming, gyms and physio. The options of three wheeled bikes, electric bikes and static bikes were considered as well. The joys of a mobility scooter combined with a Motability car, with a hoist in the back to lift the scooter in and out, were clear. We shall look forward to seeing it in action once face to face meetings can start again. One member had had a very positive experience with an online falls prevention course provided for those in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (https://healthyyou.org.uk/services/falls-prevention/). Several people shared experiences of using Functional Electric Stimulation (FES) to assist walking though, in some areas, funding for this can be an issue. It seemed that the availability of Blue Badge parking spaces is reducing in some town centres and pedestrianised roads are forcing people to walk further than is comfortable for them. The majority of us were still waiting for a genetic diagnosis despite some having been members of the 100,000 Genomes Project from the very beginning. However, it was encouraging that more people are being told that reviews of their PIP entitlement will be deferred, sometimes for extended periods.
We talked about the pleasure we get from our gardens and from the variety of bird life we see in them.
We plan to meet again at 2.30 pm on Sunday, 10th April 2022. This will either be face to face at Feering Community Centre, Feering, near Colchester, CB5 9QB or by zoom. Watch out for the publicity nearer the time and we hope you’ll be able to join us!