The Committee would like to wish friends,family and members a HAPPY NEW YEAR and lets hope 2021 will be a better year !!
Local Group News:
The Network has been successful in our grant application to Foundation Scotland @FoundationScot for 6 months funding given for covid resilience. This is going to give us funds to contract a self-employed development officer part-time to help us widen awareness of the Network and build stronger partnerships with other agencies, as well as helping with and building on some of our current activities.
One project we can start very soon is an online crafting project. This will be held by Zoom and aimed at teaching us new skills. We will be able to organise to send out basic starter kits in whichever craft is chosen to our members. What we need from you is ideas for crafts we can do together, from home, bearing in mind the starter pack that will need to be put together and sent out, and volunteers to show us this craft, or suggestions of people who could do this for us. What are you passionate about? What suggestions do you have? Who could help lead a couple of sessions?
For more in-depth planning and discussion of crafting ideas and to collect names of people interested in each course we will use our Get Crafty with DGMEFM Facebook page (which everyone on the main page is pre-approved to join) but it might be an idea to post the initial suggestions here for now as it has a wider reach. Any Network members not on Facebook who might be able to join in on Zoom and who would be interested, please get in touch with us.
Members Posts / Local Discussions:
Below is a sample from both group Facebook pages this month. Please log on and see what you are missing and feel free to get involved.
Mary Gillespie: Hand coloured picture.
Katrina Muir Little: one from her photography collection.
Myrtle Little: Hand knitted Jumper.
Kath Taylor: Needle Felting.
Eileen Sangye Longworth: Bowl cosy.
Paul Thompson: Silk Paint Card.
Mary Murdoch: Rather festive on-line jigsaw.
Can I ask if you post images on the Facebook page please put the images up separately then I can then add them to the blog a lot easier. Thank you…
Dates For Your Diary:
Meetings – All physical meetings are cancelled until further notice due to Covid-19. In the meantime we are holding virtual meetings to members of the Network and our Facebook page every Thursday for about an hour from 2pm using Zoom Meetings. Zoom is available by app for smart phones and tablets, and in your browser or by app on PCs, laptops and Macs. We find it works best on PC, laptop or Mac, followed by tablet, as there’s more screen space to see all participants. The Zoom link and password is available on our Facebook page or you can get it by emailing admin@dgmefm.org.uk
The meetings have proved popular and it’s wonderful to see members from further outside the Dumfries and Castle Douglas areas who we’ve not had the chance to ‘meet’ before. We now have the ability to continue with them after the pandemic is over. Come along and say hello, bring your questions, your concerns, cheer and banter.
See Upcoming Events for details of meetings with discussion themes or guests.
When we return to our monthly meetings in Dumfries, click here for our video on how to access the new venue: the meeting room at Turning Point Scotland, 22 Newall Terrace, Dumfries.
Articles / Blogs:
#MEAction’s press campaign continues!
#MEAction Scotland’s volunteer wrote this heartfelt article in the Scottish Sunday Express today. Emma calls on the government to listen to #pwME
“Invest in research, Invest in care. Give us a chance to be part of Scotland’s future.” Our volunteer was responding to a request from the paper’s news editor, Paula Murray asking us for a Comment article on the issue we had raised in our press release on the link between #LongCovid and ME.
In the article, our volunteer describes the impact that graded exercise therapy (GET) has had on her and thousands of other people with ME, and her fears that it is being used to treat long-COVID patients who have developed post viral fatigue. The recommendation in the draft NICE guidelines to remove GET gives hope that GET will no longer be used as treatment, but the ME community needs more than this.
‘Like our work?
With your support, we’ll be able to continue our work of public outreach, advocacy, medical education; and growing our peer support community.’
https://www.meaction.net/eoy-2020/
Drug reverses age-related cognitive decline within days
Blood MicroRNA Patterns Linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Does the U.S. spend more money researching diseases that primarily affect men?
TODAY’S BEST PRACTICE WILL BE RUBBISHED TOMORROW
Trial by Error: FDA Approves Web-CBT for IBS; GET/CBT as Tomorrow’s “Rubbish”
BMJ Rapid Response: Long-Covid & ME/CFS by Dr Nina Muirhead
New Graded Exercise Warning On Current ME/CFS Guideline
Proof Chronic Fatigue Syndrome not psychsomatic
NICE, the media and the cultural problem of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)
‘Autoantibodies’ may be driving severe Covid cases, study shows
Updated NICE guidance on chronic fatigue syndrome
‘Long Covid’ guidance urges referral to UK clinics after four weeks
Expert reaction to the BMJ editorial calling for the abandonment of standards
Trial By Error: BMJ Pushes Back Against New NICE Draft
The Mysterious Link Between COVID-19 and Sleep
Congress Approves Over a Billion Dollars to Study Long-COVID: Implications for ME/CFS
America’s healthcare system will struggle to deal with Covid ‘long-haulers’
CDMRP Grants Power New Muscle and Mestinon Studies in ME/CFS
Well that’s it for the first blog of 2021. Stay safe and lets hope we get a chance at some point to meet up again for a chat,coffee and cake.
John
john@dgmefm.org.uk
Hi John thank you for your hard work with the blog . Who knew brain work is even more tiring than physical activity although both are almost impossible at times . Lots of lovely craft work on display , we rally do have some clever crafty people among us . Lots of good research to catch up on someday I hope . Thank you again.xx
Thanks Nancy for taking the time to read it.
John x