Message from our Chair

Welcome to our website.  It’s nice to welcome the sunshine back, even if it does mean having to water the plants. I trust that you had a good May with all the bank holidays and the coronation to watch, whatever your views it must be said the UK can certainly be proud of its pomp and ceremony.

Not a lot to report this month, mainly as I have been out of action due to a detached retina at the end of April, this was repaired and reattached almost immediately at the Queen’s Medical Centre, on 21st April, just a couple of days after being confirmed. I was very impressed and grateful for this very quick response, considering what we read about the current huge waiting lists. It’s a bit difficult getting about with only one eye, but I will have to wait and pray that my vision returns.

This was followed by me having a planned total knee replacement to my left knee at the Park Hospital on 22 May (had the right knee done last year), Amazingly only kept in one night and discharged after the Physios (pain corps) knew I could cope at home. Just a lot of exercises, physio and pain control for the next six weeks and then hopefully somewhat back to normal.

Crutches and one eye, a real-life Long John Silver ‘me hearties’.  Thankfully our Vice Chair has taken over in my absence helped of course by the rest of the committee. My many thanks.

Hoping that you can attend June’s meeting, please remember to enter the John Godber Centre for our monthly meetings via the car park, and as always, please book in at the desk on arrival and, as importantly for Health and Safety, ensure you sign yourselves out if leaving early.

Please also try and wear your name badges so that we all know who we are speaking to, 500 members are a lot of names to remember and of course turn off or silence your mobiles during the meeting.

If you feel that you can be part of the committee, please enquire what it entails, as next year, we have several committee members coming to the end of their six year term and we cannot exist without certain officers in place.

Please don’t forget to volunteer for the tea and coffee rota, if we all volunteered, we would only have to do so every 4 years.

Melvyn Francis, Chair

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