The first Members Meeting of 2023 was held of 15th February at Freemasons Hall Shrewsbury which saw a good number of members attend to hear three very interesting guest speakers. The business update of the Management Committee involved a detailed update by Webmaster Dan Watkins on how he was progressing the development of a brand-new web site for SDN which will solve many of the historic problems we are experiencing with site and will ensure we have a fresh modern site for members to easily interact with.
The Chair Russell Price outlined the progress the committee had made in recovering from the Covid Pandemic and reported the fantastic news that SDN had received a £2,000 donation from the Salopian Lodge of Charity.
The first speaker was Sara Buckley who gave an interesting talk on the proposed Health & Wellbeing Hub and the current consultation process. Sara was closely questioned by members on the implications for people with disabilities and its impact on how they could access important health care. Further details are contained in this link. https://www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/get-involved/current-work/shrewsbury-health-and-wellbeing-hub/
Sara Buckley was also asked some questions by the members the current consultation being carried out. Please see the questions and answers below:
- Is there any representation on the Stakeholder Reference Group from those representing those with disabilities?
- Yes, we have representation from the Shropshire Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly which bring together groups including those with disabilities, and they feedback information from these meetings to their groups.
- Can the group be involved in inputting/contributing to plans for the hub?
- We are engaging with groups including disability groups and want to continue to engage with all groups and welcome their ongoing input.
- What is the timeline for the consultation/hub?
- This is not known at this time.
The second speaker was Richard Pulford who is the Disability Support and Liaison Officer at Shrewsbury Town Football Club. He detailed a long list of initiatives he was driving forward with the club to make match days more easily accessible. He also invited SDN members to join him for an exclusive open day session at the club to see first-hand what happens on match days. Further details will be posted on the SDN web site when known.
The third and final speaker was Wendy Marston, the Community Engagement Lead for the Shropshire Community Leisure Trust who manage leisure facilities across the County including the Quarry Swimming Baths and Sundorne Sports Village. Wendy outlined the existing facilities on offer that cater for a wide range of abilities and provided insights into the current uptake and users of the leisure services. This included new activities such as a Quiet Gym, Chronic Pain management groups and Social Prescribing.
In summary all three speakers gave very interesting and informative talks that were enjoyed by all present. There are certainly lots of new initiatives happening in the County for SDN Members to get involved with.
