Thanet community news: Sainsbury’s Westwood, Margate Rotary, Pilgrims Hospices and Thanet macular support

Garlinge 1st Scouts collecting at Sainsbury's Westwood Cross

Sainsbury’s Westwood

Sainsbury’s Westwood  would like to thank local community for its generosity during December.

QEQM League of Friends collecting in store

You raised an amazing £7,678.11 for local charities and groups

Pilgrims Hospices

The festivities have passed, now you can help Pilgrims Hospices by giving up the bottle and giving them your bottles!  Join the dry January campaign and give up your drink of choice for 1 month! Save money, #Pilgrimsfeelgood

You can help support your local hospice in simple ways:

Give Pilgrims Hospices your bottles! Over £4,500 is raised directly from bottles donated to the hospices each year! Give a bottle, any bottle. More bottles equal more funds! Give your left over, sealed and full bottles and they will turn them in to cash for care. #Pilgrimsfeelgood These can be any bottles; alcohol or non-alcoholic, bottles of soap or household bottles!

Just drop them into your local hospice Canterbury, Thanet or Ashford.

Every bottle donated is used by the fundraising teams in Ashford, Canterbury and Thanet to raise vital funds for local hospice care.

Join in this January, every generous donation from our amazing community helps to make sure Pilgrims can be there for the next family who needs them.

Visit www.pilgrimshospices.org/event/dry-january-give-a-bottle/ to find out more or e-mail [email protected] the team will be very pleased to hear from you.

Each year Pilgrims Hospices give care and comfort to over 2,400 people in east Kent coming to terms with an illness that sadly cannot be cured.  The charity support patients to live life as well as possible until the very end, free from pain and distress.

Rotary Club of Margate

Sixty-four Christmas meals were delivered by 26 Rotary Club volunteers over the festive period. Meals were prepared by the Royal Oak in Ramsgate and paid for by funds raised at the Christmas collections at Sainsbury’s , Morrisons Margate and the street collections.

Thanet Macular Society Support Group

Macular Society 

A Margate-based support group for people with sight loss is moving to a new day, time and venue for its monthly meetings. From Wednesday, January 15, the Thanet Macular Society Support Group will meet on the third Wednesday of each month, from 10am-12pm, Age UK, Randolph House, Zion Place, Margate CT9 1RP.

Run by local people, in partnership with leading sight loss charity the Macular Society, the group is one of more than 400 of its kind in the UK. It offers vital information, encouragement and friendship to people who are affected by macular disease.

Guest speaker at the group’s January meeting will be Macular Society regional manager Stella Black. Stella will be demonstrating a wide range of helpful equipment such as lighting, magnifiers and other aids, which make everyday tasks easier for people with sight loss.

Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK. Nearly 1.5 million people are currently affected and many more are at risk. The disease can have a devastating effect on people’s lives, leaving them unable to drive, read or see faces. Many people affected describe losing their sight as being similar to bereavement.

There is still no cure and most types of the disease are not treatable. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common form of macular disease, affecting more than 600,000 people, usually over the age of 50.

Stella Black, Macular Society regional manager, said: “This group is here for anybody affected by macular disease and we want to encourage people to come along. Friends and family are also very welcome.

“It’s good to be able to learn from each other’s experiences and get tips. The peer support can be so helpful. Our groups can really help people increase in confidence and become more independent.

“The group invites guest speakers on a variety of subjects, including macular conditions and their impact on our daily lives. The meetings are also social occasions where we can chat over a cup of tea.”

For more information about the Thanet Macular Society Support Group, please contact Stella Black on 01306 644 908 / 07494 467 980, or email [email protected]

For more information on macular disease, call the Macular Society on 0300 3030 111 or email [email protected]