Kincorth Courier – July 2014 - Issue 5 Chairman’s Report Unfortunately I have been hospitalized and ill recently, but I have been kept up to date with all developments via text and emails, and have been very impressed and proud of my colleagues. We all volunteer our time for the good of the Kincorth and Leggart community. We recently raised funds for new equipment in the play park and are now working to raise more funds so the we can provide Kincorth with its own BMX skate park, we feel this would be an excellent facility to have in our community. We continue to liase with First Bus amongst others. Our meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month and are attended by Police and Local Councilors. Public are welcome to attend and we are always looking for new members, when you can have your say about your community. And finally on behalf of the Community Council, Local Councillors and Police Scotland we would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Roy Wilson on the sad passing of his wife Mary who was our Chairman on the Community Council for a number of years before they took retirement. Mary will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Kind regards, Graham Bennett, Chairman 1 Kincorth – All Wheeled - Skate Park We are continuing with our endeavours to get our own all wheeled, skate park in Kincorth Circle. We will keep you updated of developments. We have been extremely lucky to have gained sponsorship from Aberdeen Forward and Aberdeen Harbour Board so are hopeful of building works beginning in 2015 – watch this space. Some of the recipients of funding from Aberdeen Harbour’s Community Action Fund, which will donate around £120,000 to local good causes in 2014. From left, Mairi Cowan, of RSPB, Brian Allan, of Altens and Cove Community Association, Fiona McIntyre, of Greyhope Bay Project, Colin Parker, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Harbour, Catherine Cowie, of Kincorth and Leggart Community Council. Aberdeen Harbour Board pledges support for Kincorth Skatepark as part of £120,000 Community Funding Programme Aberdeen Harbour Board is to provide funding support to Kincorth and Leggart Community Council, with the aim of bolstering the Council’s plans to complete the construction a new skatepark in Kincorth Circle by mid 2015. 2 This funding is being made available by the Board as part of a £120,000 annual sponsorship programme, designed to assist a host of local charities and good causes. IT classes for pensioners at Altens & Cove Community Centre; the RSPB’s hugely successful Dolphinwatch project at the Torry Battery; the construction of a new end-of-life care home for the elderly by the Simeon Care at Bieldside; and a study looking into the feasibility of a marine discovery centre close to the Harbour, are just some of the other 16 projects to receive sponsorship in 2014. The Harbour Board’s ‘Community Action Fund’ was launched in March this year, with applications being considered from dozens of applicants. The short list was chosen, based on a specific criteria designed to support initiatives relating to the environment; health and wellbeing; or skills and talent and awards were then made to community groups, or local charities. Funding is allocated for one, three and five-year sponsorship periods, and the total funding will amount to approximately £120,000 every year. The Community Action Fund has been set up to enable Aberdeen Harbour Board to strengthen its relationship with its stakeholders and, in particular, with local groups which have strong links to the Harbour, including charities that provide Aberdeen-based support for communities in Orkney and Shetland. Speaking at the launch of the sponsorship programme, Chief Executive Colin Parker said: “Rather than seeing ourselves as having a relationship with the local community, we believe that Aberdeen Harbour has been part of the local community for many centuries. We are delighted at the response to our Community Action Fund and believe it cements our roots in the community and ensures that local charities and good causes can continue to thrive and 3 develop with the Harbour’s support for years to come". Applications for sponsorship by Aberdeen Harbour Board open again in February 2015, and can be accessed via the ‘Community Page’ on Aberdeen Harbour Board’s Website www.aberdeen-harbour.co.uk . Playpark improvements Your Community Council have been recognised with a certificate for taking part in the Scottish Civic Trust, My Place Awards. This is the first time that we have been recognised Nationally as having an input into changes in our local area, so we are naturally delighted. The Newsletter Needs You! You may have noticed that your Kincorth Courier has been growing. This involves many tasks and duties which include: • Making contact with people and gathering information for advertising • Putting the Courier together into the format and style we are continuing to develop • Organising distribution throughout the area We are currently looking for people to join our band of volunteers and if you can offer to help with any of these tasks, please get in touch. If you would like to find out more before committing to anything, we would be happy to have an informal chat with you. SURGERY NEWS We are delighted to link with Kincorth Courier and grateful of opportunity to deliver health related information hopefully pertinent to the local community. Whilst some of the information may be around services within Kincorth 4 Medical Practice, we recognise that not all in the locality are registered with us ... so will aim to keep things fairly generalised . Dr Alasdair Jamieson , GP ,Kincorth Medical Practice One of the challenges facing Kincorth, as per nationally, is support to our growing Elderly population. Kincorth has a high proportion of Elderly residents -- many will have spent all their adult lives here. However being as it is .. built on the side of a hill .. getting out and about is that bit harder for the Elderly in Kincorth. Loneliness has a major effect on physical and psychological well being and is a big issue for many Elderly folk in our midst. Does this affect you ? .... or do you have spare time to help ? (volunteering helps your own health too !) If so then why not contact the Befriending organisation ... www.befriendingaberdeen.org.uk or phone 896339 (Mon -Fri 9-5). Just an hour a week can make a big difference ! Update from Cove Bay & Kincorth Medical Centre – May 2014 Changes at the Practice Dr Senthil Govindarajan left the Practice on 14th February 2014 in order to take up a new post in Australia - we would like to wish him and his family all the best for their future there. Lyn McDonald, our Practice Pharmacist, has also taken up a new post at ARI. Lyn helped us run our Epilepsy & Blood Pressure clinics as well as undertaking other prescribing projects. Pharmacist Claire Douglas is replacing Lyn and starts with us soon. Sheri, one of our Kincorth receptionists, has also decided to move on and taken up a post at Cornhill Hospital. Shanna Yeats has recently joined the reception team at Cove. We are delighted that our Nurse Practitioner Janet Ede has increased her working hours with us at the Practice. 5 Dr Linzi Lumsden has now completed her Coil training and is running coil clinics at Kincorth. Public Holidays 2014 The Practice will be closed on the following Public Holidays: Monday 22nd September 2014 Thursday 25th & Friday 26th December 2014 If you require urgent medical care during these times you should still call the practice telephone number (0845 337 1170) and your call will be transferred through to NHS24 or you can telephone NHS24 direct on 111. 6 Bowel Screening A key aim of the Scottish Government, which we share, is to improve survival rates from cancer. One of the most significant factors in this is early detection. Many will have seen adverts supporting early detection of lung and breast cancer fronted by Sir Alex Ferguson and Elaine C Smith. If cancer can be detected at as early a stage as possible then treatment is generally more successful and tolerable. Ideally for some cancers it is best to identify these before they cause any symptoms - hence breast and cervical screening have been undertaken for many years. A more recent cancer screening programme has been for bowel cancer. Everyone between the age of 50 and 74 is sent a bowel screening kit every two years. This basically checks for blood within a bowel motion with further investigation if positive. Uptake of this screening programme nationally however has to date been a bit disappointing. There may be many reasons for this including perception that the screening test is a bit messy (it shouldn’t be), a fear of the tests and treatment if positive, and a general “head in the sand” factor (more common in men than women!). This is unfortunate as bowel cancer, one of the most common types of cancer, is readily curable for most if found at an early stage. If you have lost your kit or for any other questions please phone 0800 0121 833. Please therefore, do not ignore the brown envelope from Dundee when it comes in. If you have loved ones, friends, acquaintances or folk you look out for in this age group please also prompt/cajole, nag them to return their kit. Blokes, this is much easier than what ladies put up with from smears and mammograms! Don’t throw these out or leave them in the drawer to be done sometime. Lives will be saved if more of these kits are returned … yours might just be one of them. For further information on bowel cancer and screening please visit www.bowelscreening.scot.nhs.uk Local Councillor Contacts are : Neil Cooney – 01224 486920 email - ncooney@aberdeencity.gov.uk Callum McCaig – 07748 320635 Email - CMcCaig@aberdeencity.gov.uk Andy Finlayson - 01224 346617 Email - AFinlayson@aberdeencity.gov.uk 7 KINCORTH COURIER ADVERTISING FULL PAGE £70 HALF PAGE £35 QUARTER PAGE £20 BACK PAGE £80 Full payment of all ads must be received by the copy deadline. The Community Council is not responsible for the contents of any advertisement placed in this newsletter nor the reliability or quality of any goods or services offered therin. Inclusion in this newsletter should not be taken as an endorsement of the advertiser by the Community Council. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Community Council unless that is so stated. If you wish to advertise in forthcoming Courier’s please call Catherine on 07986 781915 or alternatively email her on catherine.cowie1@mypostoffice.co.uk. The Courier is a quarterly publication. 8