January 2012

What is Headstart

Headstart is a local support network for patients and staff. It is open to anyone who has undergone treatment for Head Neck Cancer. Family and friends are also warmly welcomed to attend our usually very fun, friendly and informal meetings. You will find this is the place to find NEW friends.The Headstart group is presently run by a multidisiplinary team from within the Queen Victoria Foundation Trust in East Grinstead, the Kent Oncology Centre at Maidstone, and the Medway Maritime Hosipal in Gillingham. We run social events and meetings, and are always open to new ideas and and ways to bring support. We hope you will find the information interesting and useful, if you need help do not hesitate to contact one of the team. Headstart is designed for you, so if there is anything you would like to see Headstart offer or would like to see on this website, please let us know. Meet the team > here. We would be delighted if you would like to make a donation, please see below for details.

There is an important announcement on the Tips and Information page about how the Government will deal with dental care for Head and Neck Patients. Please sign the petition if you can, and help sway support in favour of free dental care.

2012 for Headstart will herald in the arrival of some changes. The first will be the new Logo design which will appear on our flyers and leaflets, and eventually throughout the website.

Another change will be the arrival of the eagerly awaited publication of the updated and re-written version of Food Glorious Food by Brooke Quinteros. This has been quite some time in the pre publication stage due to many problems encountered by Brooke along the way. The most difficult one being the cost of printing such a book in as professional a way as possible without costs being prohibitive. Fortunately, as proud runners-up in the Mouth Cancer Foundation support group awards in 2011, the prize money, some £1000 will hopefully cover the print run expenses. Brooke would like to thank everyone for their contributions to the new publication. Of course our trusty original booklet is still available for download. Go to the Tips and Information tab at the top of the page.

The Headstartblog will now cease to operate as of the end of January 2012. The idea for the blog was to provide a platform for members to contribute their stories/ideas etc. This pre-dated our ability to have full control of our website content. It is now possible to contact Headstart directly via our email address with any suggestions/thoughts in fact anything at all which may be of interest. The Photo Album will continue as per normal to archive each event meeting, and provide a window into meetings past and missed.

The Photo Album site is accessed as follows, go to www.myalbum.com/index.php?m=myalbums. You may now need to Log in. Put our email address headstartnews@gmail.com in the username box, and headstart in the password box to gain full access.

*************************************************************************

Meeting people

Headstart holds six meetings a year in Maidstone, Queen Victoria and Medway hospitals. These informal get-togethers are a great opportunity for patients and their carers to meet others and to swap stories and tips.

Our next meeting will be on

Saturday February 18th Medway Hospital in the Post Grad Centre at 10am. (signs from the various car parks will help show you the way). There will be an OC Meeting before the event in the Maidstone Oncology Centre on Tuesday 7th February at 6pm.

Donations

Donations enable us to provide resources, vital medical equipment and to meet the needs of patients and their families and carers for their future well-being. Please send your donations to;

Debbie Hannant, Richard Watts Unit, Medway Maritime Hostpital, Windmill Road, Gillingham, KENT ME7 5NY.

Please make cheques payable to HEADSTART.