Making a Difference @makeadifferencemcr - Tumblr Blog

Susan Johnson (School of Environment, Education & Development) at Manchester Town Hall

Mrs.

National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) campaign ‘Time to Talk about Organ Donation’

The NFWI and NHSBT (supported by Manchester City Council), are working together on a campaign to make sure everyone lets their family know their organ donation wishes. The North West currently lags behind the whole of the UK for Organ, Blood and Tissue donors. The national average for organ donations is 36 %, the North West stands at 29 %; the national average for blood donors is 4 % and is 1% for the North West.

The NFWI and NHSBT launched their campaign at Manchester Town Hall in late May. Manchester City Council are actively working with the NFWI & NHSBT in an effort to raise awareness and in so doing, increase the number of registered donors in the North West. The U o M Busy Bees W I have been actively involved in this campaign and have established links with the Student Union and Students for Organ Donation (SFOD). These groups will be working together over the next 6 months on various initiatives in an effort to increase the numbers of both Organ and Blood donors here in the North West.

If you are not on the register and would like to find out more about the campaign please visit:

organdonation.nhs.uk/wi

or contact Susan Johnson on [email protected]

Spinning to raise funds for North West Cancer Research

On Sunday, 13 November, i did spinning (or studio cycling) for two hours NON-STOP at Victoria Leisure Centre in Southport. My aim was to raise £200 for North West Cancer Research in memory of her friend, Kathryn Curran, who lost her brave battle against cancer. I am pleased to confirm that I have exceeded my target and raised £277.50. It was quite challenging for me but I would do it again for such a good cause. 80p of every £1 you give is used to beat cancer.

North West Cancer Research is one of the biggest and most influential charities in the North West for understanding cancer. With its increased strength and size, it leads the way in the fight against cancer where only world-class research will do. Veronique Rizzuto

I’m a governor at my local secondary school, New Mills School in the High Peak. I was aware of the work of school governors, but hadn’t ever thought it was something I could do - I didn’t know the school, and don’t have children myself. But I am passionate about education, and realised I have one very useful skill from working at the University - the ability to contribute effectively to meetings! I learned more about becoming a governor through the University of Manchester School Governor Initiative, and when I applied, my lack of links to the school was actually viewed as a a strength, as I didn’t have any preconceptions. I now chair the Teaching and Learning Committee, and have been on a couple of interview panels for new teaching staff. I really enjoy being a governor, and it’s a great way of putting skills I have learned in my everyday work to use in the local community.

Felicity Wicks

As a Directorate we are quite disparate and often it’s hard to get people together to ‘make a difference’. To facilitate this I have gathered all the relevant activities related to sustainability, charity and giving and converted them into our own ‘Making a Difference Calendar’.

This is distributed to everyone electronically and printed copies are placed on relevant notice boards. It is arranged in line with the academic year and enables people to prepare for significant events and arrange activities. These might include fundraising events, volunteering for activities or participating in a group activity.

The calendar has been well received and already had an impact in how people approach our green and social responsibility agendas.

Paul Marks-Jones

Making a Difference

Since becoming involved with the Library’s sustainability agenda, I have made a concious decision to being more sustainable in many areas of my life.

At work I aim to ‘reinvest’ back into our organisation through simple things such as buying sandwiches from ‘The Shop’ or buying gifts from The Manchester Museum or The Whitworth. I also ensure that sustainability is a part of the work I am involved in across our library sites.

At home I have established a neighbourhood scheme. I work with my neighbours, local councillors, the police and the local housing association to look at ways of improving our community from reporting littering issues to support 'safe play’ areas for our children.

Personally, I have decided to not replace my car since selling it in early 2015. Instead I now walk, use my bike and car share within my family. I am better off financially, happier, healthier and know I am making a small difference to the world.

Mike Kelly

Raising Money for Cancer Research UK

On May 22nd Sarah Mander, Mirjam Roeder, Lisa Bell, Graeme Heyes and Andrew Welfle ran the Great Manchester Run - a 10K course around central Manchester. In doing so we raised almost £200 for a charity that is close to all of us - as well as getting fitter in the process. We can't wait to do more activities like this again in the future and would encourage anyone and all to take part in next years race too!

Centre for Primary Care tours Hulme Community Garden Centre

As Spring has sprung, the the Centre for Primary Care (CPC) Green Impact team themed lunch in May involved spring planting, this year focusing on herbs. We brought in various seeds and used remnants from the previous year’s gardening themed event to create a CPC indoor herb garden!

At our last year’s event (focussing on making our office space greener), we invited a representative from Hulme Community Garden Centre to give us advice about planting and gardening. Hulme Community Garden Centre is a social enterprise that sells plants to the public and offers volunteering, training and horticultural therapy sessions. This year we thought, as it is only down the road from the University, why don’t we visit!

After a quick phone call we learnt that they provide tours of the garden centre to interested groups who are keen to learn about what they do. So we booked a date (12th May) and 13 people from CPC members were treated to a tour provided by the manager, Rachel. After a 15 minute walk from the university, we arrived at the garden centre to encounter an oasis in the city. Much bigger than expected, the site is full of interesting plants and flowers. Several of us remarked straight away how relaxing the place felt, quickly followed by lots of “I can’t believe we haven’t been here before!”

Following a quick chat about the aim of our visit, which was simply to learn more about the centre and what they do, Rachel led us around the different sections, talking about the plants, the various quirky interesting features of the centre, events that they hold, current projects and their plans for the future. We were informed about the important community work that they do and their volunteers who come to tend to the garden. Every week they have different groups that come to lend a hand and develop their gardening skills. Parents and toddlers come to explore nature and there is a well-being session involving horticultural therapy for people with long term mental health conditions and a complex needs session for people with learning disabilities. The tour ended with the offer of tea in the lovely café, which we were very excited about as a new lunch option (the café is open for lunch Thursday – Sunday). We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and we all vowed to return soon. If you want to find out more visit their website or Facebook page.

On the 30th of June approximately 400 postgraduate students came together for the Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (PSRS). PSRS is an excellent event for aspiring students and researchers to network and present their work to wider audiences from various academic backgrounds.

I presented an image (see below) capturing participants engaging in a psychosocial therapy for people with Parkinson’s-related dementias. Parkinson’s disease is a complex progressive neurodegenerative condition that encompasses motor, psychiatric and cognitive symptoms affecting both the person and their loved ones. Management of the disease is usually limited to pharmacological treatment which may not always be suitable for everybody and may include side effects or other complications. Thus, there is a need for a non-medicinal therapy which would take into account the individual differences, strengths and interests of the person, the fluctuating aspects of the disease as well as the involvement of other close family members and/or friends.

Dementia is the challenge of our time. Dementia robs memory, words, connections with loved ones and it isolates. We can’t cure dementia but we can help restore connections, banish the isolation, enhance quality of life, stimulate the brain and have fun with the person with dementia. That is what the research project ‘INVEST in Parkinsonian Dementias’ aims to do.

The overarching purpose of the INVEST study is to trial a novel psychosocial therapy to enhance cognition, quality of life and reduce caregiver burden. The therapy provides an opportunity for people with more complex types of dementias to stimulate their brain, memory, attention, communication and language, leading to laughter, social interaction, enjoyment, recollection of past memories and a shared experience with the loved ones. The therapy is cost-effective, individualised, and has the potential to address cognitive and psychiatric challenges that people face daily and to help restore their well-being.

The INVEST team is introducing the therapy to the wider community by working closely with Parkinson’s UK to provide interactive group sessions in local Parkinson’s UK branches. Early feedback from attendees has been positive and encouraging; people enjoy taking part in the activities and feel there is a need for this kind of therapy for people living with Parkinson’s disease dementia. Throughout the next year the INVEST study team will committedly work towards making a positive difference to society by assessing the feasibility and acceptability of the therapy for people with complex types of dementias.

Sabina Vatter, 2nd year PhD student of Medicine

I recently organised a Dementia Friends information session for my colleagues in the Teaching and Learning Support Office, after attending one of these sessions myself at the STDU. This initiative is really important as it increases understanding of dementia and gives ideas on how to help those with the condition as well as how to support the Alzheimer’s Society’s work. A big thank you to Michelle Kipling from AMBS for delivering the session, I have heard lots of positive feedback!

Isobel Zimsek

#people and processes #submission

Centre for Primary Care Hulme Community Garden Centre tour

As Spring sprung, the Green Impact team themed lunch in May at the Centre for Primary Care (CPC) involved spring planting, this year focusing on herbs. We brought in various seeds and used remnants from the previous year’s gardening themed event to create a CPC indoor herb garden!

At our last year’s event (focussing on making our office space greener), we invited a representative from Hulme Community Garden Centre to give us advice about planting and gardening. Hulme Community Garden Centre is a social enterprise that sells plants to the public and offers volunteering, training and horticultural therapy sessions. This year we thought, as it is only down the road from the University, why don’t we visit!

After a quick phone call we learnt that they provide tours of the garden centre to interested groups who are keen to learn about what they do. So we booked a date (12th May) and 13 people from CPC members were treated to a tour provided by the manager, Rachel. After a 15 minute walk from the university, we arrived at the garden centre to encounter an oasis in the city. Much bigger than expected, the site is full of interesting plants and flowers. Several of us remarked straight away how relaxing the place felt, quickly followed by lots of “I can’t believe we haven’t been here before!”

Following a quick chat about the aim of our visit, which was simply to learn more about the centre and what they do, Rachel led us around the different sections, talking about the plants, the various quirky interesting features of the centre, events that they hold, current projects and their plans for the future. We were informed about the important community work that they do and their volunteers who come to tend to the garden. Every week they have different groups that come to lend a hand and develop their gardening skills. Parents and toddlers come to explore nature and there is a well-being session involving horticultural therapy for people with long term mental health conditions and a complex needs session for people with learning disabilities. The tour ended with the offer of tea in the lovely café, which we were very excited about as a new lunch option (the café is open for lunch Thursday – Sunday). We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and we all vowed to return soon. If you want to find out more visit their website or Facebook page.

Reinis Jones, Postgraduate Student

#environment #submission

Supporting a Long Standing Female Institution, Girl Guiding UK

As a current Graduate Intern at The University, I volunteer for the 9th Withington Rainbows every Wednesday. For all of those unfamiliar with the organisation, the Rainbows is part of the Girl Guiding UK organisation and supports the youngest girls in the organisation (5-7 yrs). I originally started to volunteer with the Rainbows in my first year of University as I wanted to help those less fortunate than myself and contribute to the wider community, as, as a student I feel often it is easy to become absorbed into a bubble of student life. Many of the girls who come to Rainbows are from poorer backgrounds and are not given the same attention at home as they are at Rainbows. Other girls have severe learning disabilities and when they first join are shy and nervous. The most wonderful and rewarding part of volunteering for the rainbows is seeing how these girls grow into confident young children, a million miles away from their timid, shy self when they first joined. The rainbows offers a space for girls to relax and enjoy themselves away from school, and unlike school, there are no rules and girls are allowed to talk and laugh amongst themselves. It is a truly wonderful organisation and I will continue supporting the organisation wherever I go.

Joanna Dawson

#community engagement #submission

A group of us from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences took part in Give and Gain day on Friday. We did this at Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens in Didsbury. The majority of the day was spent moving felled wood to make edging for a pathway and then filling the newly defined path with woodchips.

The purpose of this was to make the woodland area more accessible to people with restricted mobility. This area of woodland is also near a nesting area for lots of birds so by making a clearer defined pathway, the birds are less likely to be disturbed.

Giving Voice Communication Challenge with Girlguiding UK

In October and November 2015, teams of University of Manchester speech and language therapy students, led by myself, held communication awareness workshops in 9 Girlguiding Units in Bolton, in support of the RCSLT's Giving Voice campaign and I CAN, the children's communication charity. The Giving Voice campaign raises awareness of the speech and language therapy profession and the needs of people with communication difficulties, and our workshops aimed to increase awareness of what it means and how it feels to have a communication impairment as a child.

166 girls aged 5-14 years participated in the workshops at which they engaged in various activities and games that required them to communicate without talking. Girls were encouraged to use various alternative means to get their messages across, including using gesture, facial expression, and drawing. These activities led onto discussions reflecting on what it might be like and how it might feel to have difficulties using language on a day to day basis. Girls of all ages commented on how frustrating, confusing and upsetting it might be to have a communication impairment, reflecting on how having a communication impairment might impact on sharing information and expressing emotions, as well as forming relationships with family and friends. Adult Girlguiding volunteers present at the workshops commented on how well the girls engaged with and enjoyed the activities. Many of them reported that their own awareness of communication impairment had increased through participating and that they would consider exploring other disability awareness activities in the future.

Speech and language therapy students involved in the project felt that participation not only gave them an opportunity to learng more about the Giving Voice campaign, but also to develop skills working with children, delivering workshops about communication difficulties, as well as various interpersonal and professional skills crucial in the workplace. As project leader I've developed skills in coordinating a large scale project involving various organisations, and have grown in confidence in my ability to lead peers and work with people from various backgrounds.

Speech and language therapy students will continue to support I CAN and Giving Voice throughout the year at various fundraising and awareness raising events, including our annual ball in June, and work from our project with Girlguiding will be displayed in the UoM Student Union on 8th February.

Lusanda Donnelly

Project Leader & 4th Year SLT Student

A thank you for your donations to Lifeshare

A thank you message from the MECD Faculty Project Team:

Over the past few months, you may have seen our various campaigns helping to support local charity,Lifeshare.

We want to thank everyone who donated to our summer toiletries and winter warmers appeals. The response has been incredible. We feel overwhelmed by the kindness of colleagues from across the University who spent their time donating items to help the homeless and vulnerable people of Manchester.

Our summer toiletries campaign raised a grand total of 1,288 (approx.) items which included 487 soaps, 235 toothpastes and 80 bandages – plus many more! We donated these items earlier in the year and it was great to see bags upon bags of toiletries fill the table.

Thanks to the success of our summer toiletries campaign, we launched our winter warmers appeal. As the days were getting colder, we felt it was time to seek clothing and food/drink items to help keep the homeless warm throughout the winter.

In the two months we ran the appeal for – the response from colleagues was (again) staggering. We managed to collect approximately 1,500 items of clothing along with 223 food and drink items – plus enough tea and coffee to make 570 cups of tea and 335 cups of coffee.

In December, members of our team visited Lifeshare and spent the day sorting through the winter warmer donations. It was great to see how some clothing and food donations were sent out straight away – others were put towards the charity’s Christmas drop-in service which was a really humbling feeling.

As a team, we would like to say a special thank you to the following people:

Our colleagues in the IT Support Centre (Mike Thorpe, Martin Putwain, Kim Comer - plus the rest of the team!) for offering their space to be the south campus donation point and for storing all the items.

A special thanks to the porters in the Kilburn Building who helped to move the goods around making it easy for donations to be collected!

Marc from Sackville Street Building’s Stores team for driving the team and a van full of donations to the charity on a busy Monday morning!

The Microwave and Communication Systems Group in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering for their donation of £92 which will be used to help support the charity’s Christmas activities.

Everybody who attended Rachel Brealey’s EPS Faculty Coffee Morning - ‘Cans for Cake’ and swapped their tinned food for tasty treats.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone who donated - your donations will make a huge difference to those in need.

Throughout 2016 we aim to continue supporting Lifeshare so keep your eyes peeled for future activities about how we can continue making a difference.

Read more: http://mecd-uom.tumblr.com/post/135771958846/thank-you

Would you like to help raise vital funds for conservation work in Northern England?

Conservation charity the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is seeking volunteers in Greater Manchester to manage pin badge boxes.

The RSPB was founded in Manchester’s leafy Didsbury in 1889 where a group of ladies were opposed to the barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats. This fashion was responsible for the destruction of many thousands of egrets, birds of paradise and other species whose feathers had become fashionable in the late Victorian era.

The RSPB’s pin badge boxes are one of our most successful fundraising tools. Last year our pin badge boxes in the North of England raised almost £200,000 for conservation. All the money from our pin badge boxes and collection tins stays in the region, helping to conserve our local nature reserves and educational programmes.

We are looking for local volunteers to visit pin badges sites near them every 4-6 weeks to empty the donations, count the money, top up the box with new badges and bank the money. By hosting a box you would be doing your bit to help conserve nature.

Currently we have a team of a dozen volunteers in Greater Manchester and we are looking to grow the scheme significantly in the coming weeks. Ruth Ellul (Senior Development Officer at The University of Manchester) is the volunteer area coordinator for the Greater Manchester region. She works closely with the Northern England Community Fundraiser Vicki Lamb, who is based at the Lancaster office.

The RSPB makes a difference in Manchester through our engagement work with schools and our Dove Stone nature reserve just outside of Oldham. As a team we communicate with the public about the work we do and the impact we have on local wildlife, showing how important it is to save nature. We communicate with various school groups, getting them out in the wild exploring and seeing nature at its finest.

Once a year we send our volunteers a certificate to say thank you and volunteers are also invited to attend our thank you event so they can see where the money goes and how it helps to protect and save nature. You would have the chance to meet people and chat to them about the RSPB.

For more information, please contact: Ruth Ellul 07825 592644 [email protected] www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/volunteering/471-northern-england-independents-pin-badge-box-minder

My friend and I completed the Moon Walk London Marathon on 13-14 May 2016 - which is a 26 mile route through the night in decorated bras! The photograph is a before and after shot. The only thing still working after 7.5 hours was our smiles. It was a little chillier than Rio, nevertheless 15,000 walkers brought a little heat to the capital during the night’s carnival themed MoonWalk. Organised by breast cancer charity Walk the Walk, this iconic night-time challenge brings women and men together from all over the UK and the world as they unite to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Our Just Giving page is still open for those that wish to donate

https://www.justgiving.com/Michelle-Alison72

Michelle Kipling, Alliance Manchester Business School

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