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Islanders with ‘hidden’ conditions are getting a helping hand from The Channel Islands Co-operative Society.
Grants from The Society’s Helping Hands initiative are helping the Guernsey post-natal depression (PND) support group, brain injury charity Headway Guernsey, along with the Access for All and We All Matter, Eh? campaigns. A total of £4,530 has been distributed across Jersey and Guernsey this year.
‘As a community retailer, we recognise the importance of giving others a helping hand and it’s the same with charities. Even small projects can make a big difference, which is why the Helping Hands initiative was set up in 1995 by our former chief executive Allan Smith. Since then, around £250,000 has been donated to good causes across the Channel Islands,’ said Greg Yeoman, the Society’s chief marketing officer.
Headway Guernsey received £530 for information leaflets. Philippa Stahelin, executive director and trustee, said: ‘They might not be eye-catching, but these leaflets help people with brain injuries and their families understand how they are feeling, covering topics such as fatigue and memory loss, and help them feel that they’re not alone. They also help us deliver re-learning skills after brain injury and getting them back into the community as soon as possible.’
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, who chairs the Guernsey PND Support Group, said the £1,000 donation from Helping Hands would help raise the profile of post-natal depression and the support available on the island.
‘Guernsey has one in eight mothers who suffer from post-natal depression (PND), and our trained volunteers provide peer support and sign-positing to medical assistance and professional services for suffers of PND. Raising awareness helps people to identify the condition in themselves, as well as friends and relatives. It encourages women to seek assistance early, which is essential,’ said Deputy Dudley-Owen.
Another £500 has been used for videos and a factsheet to raise awareness of fibromyalgia, recognised as a chronic pain and fatigue condition, as part of the island’s Hidden Disabilities campaign.
‘Their donation will help fund this campaign enormously, helping to educate people so that they can understand what it’s like to live with a hidden disability. You can’t see fibromyalgia, so how can you understand what it is like unless someone tells you? Then you can begin to see how you might be able to support or help the person who has a hidden disability,’ said Jo Bourgaize, the coordinator for the Guernsey fibromyalgia support group.
Access for All has also received £500 and is planning to use the donation to offer up-to-date advice on accessibility from projects it has worked on its website to benefit the whole island.
‘We need to make Guernsey more accessible for everyone. We have an ageing population and a large number of people with disabilities. To do that we need to work with the whole community. The best way is to have real-time information online about reviews of projects that we are doing as many people have the same issues for examples putting in ramps and widening door frames,’ said Richard Evans, chair of Access for All.
