Group faces end (From Free Press Series)

Group faces end

A WELL-BEING group for people suffering with chronic illnesses in Monmouthshire needs greater financial support from the community in order to survive.

The Monmouth Well-being Group, based at the Bridges Community Centre, Monmouth, is a pioneering project aimed at helping people with debilitative diseases, chronic and terminal illnesses and potentially destructive mental health problems.

Medical professionals and complementary therapists provide a safe environment for patients and offer them a variety of alternative treatments to help them cope with their condition.

The Well-being Group is having a significant impact on doctors surgeries around Monmouth who are noticing a decline in how often chronically ill patients involved in the group, visit their GP.

However, there were concerns a few weeks ago that the group would have to close because of a lack of funding.

The group has since secured £20,000 from Monmouthshire Social Services and Monmouth-shire Local Health Group, which will help the group continue.

In order to sustain the group, they need around £600 per month to employ therapists along with a £5 contribution from patients.

Further funding is needed to sustain the group and to offer a similar service to other patients around Monmouthshire.

Sheila Howarth, 69, suffers from spina bifida and attends the group once a week for reflexology and Reiki. She says the well-being group has helped her feel motivated and to control her pain.

She said: "Because the nerves are trapped in my spine I have no feeling in my foot, but after reflexology I get a tingling feeling and it helps with the pain. I find I can now do aqua-aerobics in the swimming pool. The group makes people feel that they have not reached the end of the line."

Amanda Astley-Jones, a nursing practitioner who runs the group, says she takes 20 referrals a week from GPs in Trellech and Monmouth and visits patients in rural locations around Monmouthshire.

She advocates a holistic approach to helping people with very difficult health issues who would normally be highly dependent on the NHS.

She said: "This group addresses lots of areas. For some people it's purely about social interaction and it is the one day a week they get up, get dressed and come out. For some people who are very sick the nature of their condition is poor and two of our patients died last year.

"I often get the very difficult patients, the ones who are very time consuming, that would go and see their GP three times a week."