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St George’s Community Hydrotherapy Pool

SUMMER FÊTE REVIEW

Saturday 15th August 2015 Welcome to a special issue of St George’s e-newsletter. We wanted to thank every

person who contributed and gave so generously, whether it was by donations of gifts,

money, or time, by volunteering or supporting on the day.

Thanks to each of you, the day was an incredible and enjoyable success. We made a

wonderful profit of £798.03 on the day. This has enabled Friends of St George’s to buy

every piece of equipment on ‘wish list.’ All the items are already in use at the pool.

Please see page 7 for further details.

Our visitors… This was the scene throughout day as a stream of visitors

made their way to the refreshment table and tombola. Many users brought

family and friends to join in the fun.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

Fellow Park Ward Councillors, John Shearman (left) and Richard Ferris (right) are

photographed here with volunteers Jane and June, trying their luck at the tombola.

There were also some other familiar faces. Despite very busy schedules, all three local Park Ward

Councillors took the opportunity to visit.

Councillor John Peach, who is the current Mayor of Peterborough, is seen here with Tom and Karen at

the refreshment table, and chatting with pool users David and Brian.

Councillors Bella Saltmarsh and Chris Ash (Dogsthorpe Ward) and John Okonkowski (Orton Longueville

Ward) also attended.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

Tombola

As always, St George’s now famous giant tombola

proved to be a big draw and success. There was a prize

to suit everyone.

Jane (pictured behind David) who helped organize and

run the stall commented, “What a wonderful array of

prizes on the tombola, the interest and excitement

they raised made it a pleasure to be helping on the stall.

All of the prizes were donated; it was humbling to

realize the extent of the appreciation of pool users and

supporters.

It was a busy, good-humoured day - lots of smiles from

all age groups and all for a good cause.”

Refreshments There also were plenty of refreshments both

inside and out. Although at the start of the

day, the refreshment table was literally

overwhelmed with generous donations of

delicious homemade baking, by the end,

everything had gone.

Outside things were no less hectic. Josh

worked non-stop on the barbecue, firstly

serving sausage sandwiches for breakfast fol-

lowed by hot dogs and beef burgers through-

out the day.

Lucky winner David is certainly

delighted with his prize.

Disability Forum Manager, Bryan Tyler, renowned

supporter of the pool and the sticky bun, is

caught being tempted...

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015 Stalls

Outside was awash with the colour of

various stalls, all of which proved to be

very attractive and popular with

visitors.

From handmade quilts and baby mats to

homemade jams, cards and crafts, there

was something for everyone to enjoy. We

also had a bric-a-brac stall, which sold out

of items very quickly, and a candyfloss

stall for visitors with a sweet tooth.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

It was a similar family event at the ‘Nanna’s Knits.’

The nanna in question was actually lifeguard Josh’s.

It was family affair for pool user and handmade gift stallholder, Trayce, who

brought along her daughter, sisters, and niece, who also ran stalls. The family very

generously donated all their proceeds to the Friends of St George’s.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

The tombola was an incredible success; I saw lots of people with armloads of amazing

goodies they had won. And the refreshments… What can I say: the reception table was

laden with gorgeous looking cakes, and treats - what a display! They were very popular

and very tasty. Rob did a brilliant job with the coffees and teas; I hate to think how

many times he had to fill the kettle.

To have the usual Saturday users in the pool was lovely; it gave visitors the chance to

feel the relaxed atmosphere and to see how enjoyable and important hydrotherapy can

be for people. Tom did a brilliant job managing the pool rota with so many around.

To be able to volunteer, bringing people together, raising money for pieces of equipment

that users have “wished” for, is so rewarding. When I see people in the pool smiling,

having the freedom to be able to move about in the comfort of the warm water, knowing

that this may be the only time that they are pain free – always brings back to me how

vital this facility is.”

The ‘Hook a Duck’ game ensured there was

something to entertain even the youngest

visitor. Lynn (pictured) and Olive ensured

that no child left without a prize.

Sam Ring, pool user, supporter and a volunteer

recalled her memories of the day…

“The sun was shining, Josh had the sausages

sizzling and the atmosphere was buzzing. The

stalls outside in the sunshine were busy all day,

with various crafts and bric-a-brac being

brought. It was lovely to have so many people

there; it’s not often that all the users,

volunteers, and supporters of the pool have

the opportunity to get together, and have some

fun.

It was a great opportunity for everyone to

have a chat, and enjoy themselves - it really

does show what a brilliant community we have

at the pool – one big family.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

Equipment

The success of the fete enabled the Friends of St George’s to purchase the following

items of equipment for the pool and its users.

Aquastep

This submergible ‘Aquastep’ can help

pool users who need to build up muscle

strength in their hips and knees. It can

also be used for cardiovascular training

- exercises for the heart, lungs and

circulatory system.

St George’s aquatic physiotherapist Pat sent a message saying, “Thank you all for the

aquatic step. This means we have a safe platform to complete lower leg exercises.”

Look out for our next e-newsletter, which will feature, “10 exercises to do with our

new step” from Pat.

New shower trolley rail

The shower trolley is a vital and heavily used piece of equipment at St George’s. It

enables users who require a high degree of support to be safely changed, showered,

and hoisted in and out of the pool. The new rail will ensure that this experience is

improved for both users and carers.

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St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

Sensory Equipment

Everyone’s generosity at the fete also enabled three pieces of sensory equipment to be

purchased: two pool lights and a projector.

Michelle King, Chair of Little Miracles, a group for families that have children with

additional needs, disabilities life limiting conditions, explained the importance and the

role of such equipment.

“Sensory equipment is designed to create a stimulating yet calming atmosphere. It is

great for adults and children. The benefits include improved mood, fewer disruptive

behaviours, reduced anxiety and fear, and reduced self-injury. It can also help improve

communication; many people often find it easier to interact whilst benefiting from

sensory activities. The hydrotherapy pool is already a very sensory environment due to

its relaxing nature, but the sensory lighting is an extension of this that all the pools

users will benefit from.”

Little Miracles hires the pool every week; its users will be amongst those who will benefit

for the new equipment.

http://www.littlemiraclescharity.org.uk/

These two waterproof colour-changing globes have sixteen

individual colours. The globe colour can be held or set to

change at varying speeds as required.

This projects constantly mixing and moving

globules of coloured light will add a new

dimension to sensory experiences at St

George’s.

To see a short recording of this working please

click on: http://www.optikinetics.co.uk/

product/fg7038-6-inch-liquid-wheel

If you or someone you care for would like a demonstration, or to use of any of the

equipment available St George’s during a session, please ask a member of staff.

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Some notes of thanks to:

∗ Friars Pride,

Peterborough, who

generously donated the

food for the barbecue.

Friars Pride Chairman,

David Briggs, is a pool

user and Chair of the

Friends of St George’s

CIO.

∗ Everyone who very

kindly donated prizes for the tombola, and cakes for the refreshments stall.

∗ Tesco at Werrington for the donation of gift vouchers for the tombola. Also thanks

to Ivan for arranging this.

∗ Tara who single-handedly lifeguarded throughout the day.

∗ Duane for taking some great photos for the picture round of the fundraising quiz .

∗ Jane, June, Karen and Rob for organising and setting up the tombola ready for the

day - there were around 150 prizes to be sorted out.

∗ All our volunteers - Josh, Jane, June, Karen, Rob, Sam, Olive, David, Ivan and Lynn -

for helping man our stalls on the day.

∗ All our independent stalls holders for offering their wonderful products for sale on

the day, and in particular, to Trayce and Nikki Smeeton and their family for

generously donating all proceeds made on the day to the Friends of St George’s.

∗ Howard Smeeton for the barbeque.

∗ Everyone who came to support St George's and helped make the day such a success.

St George’s Summer Fête: Sat. 15th August 2015

There is always someone in

the kitchen at parties and

on this occasion, it was Rob,

who misses the fun…