My chosen charity for my year as Lady Captain is TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES, they work closely with local children’s hospices to support families by providing specialist equipment, care support and bereavement counciling for the whole family.
A little bit about me. I didn’t start to learn to play golf until I retired from my work in education. I went to the Saturday morning taster sessions run by Chris Lager at the time, after the course had finished I joined the Academy for a year. The ladies section welcomed me in and encouraged me to get my handicap. They have been a great support to me and I am honoured to be their Lady Captain for 2024.
I’m a trustee and have been involved with the charity for several years. I volunteered to help out when a friend, who I’d known for over 30 years and had worked with, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis around 2008.
He initially received a lot of physical and emotional support from the Therapy Centre that enabled him to cope with the illness and he continues to use the facilities today to help negate the effects of MS in an attempt to improve his and his family’s quality of life. He is currently the Chairman of the charity and along with the trustees helps to provide support to many others in need.
The Therapy Centre relies totally on donations and I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise funds for such a good cause.
The Leicestershire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre (LMSTC) has been supporting people since 1985. Its original aim was to support people with Multiple Sclerosis, but it now supports people with a wide range of conditions, including COPD, Fibromyalgia, Parkinsons, Stroke patients, and sadly in recent years Long Covid. It also provides valuable treatment opportunities primarily by providing oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for people undergoing cancer treatments, diabetes and those suffering bad bone breaks, often from road traffic accidents.
Although a small independent charity, the LMSTC is part of a group of 50 treatment centres who collaborate under the umbrella of the Neurotherapy Treatment centres. The centre opens 6 days each week and relies on the commitment of centre manager and physiotherapists, together with a number of highly committed volunteers. The LMSTC is based at a unit in Freemans Common in the centre of Leicester which provides good accessibility for people from all over the county and the wider East Midlands.
Multiple Sclerosis is one of a range of neurological conditions which is incurable. Any medical drugs prescribed are classed as Disease Modifying Treatments (DMT) which help with some symptoms, but don’t offer a cure. The NHS offers vital care, but in reality most people need to be proactive in finding their own ways of dealing with their condition. This is where the LMSTC becomes invaluable.