Annual General Meeting 2000

Durham & Chester le Street Branch
Alzheimer’s Society

Annual General Meeting
Council Chamber, Civic Centre
Chester le Street

7.00 P.M. Tuesday 23 May 2000

The Agenda was as follows:

A G E N D A

2.Minutes of Annual General Meeting held 23 June 1999(copy attached)

3. Reports:

• Branch Chairman
• Branch Manager
• Assistant Branch Co-ordinator

5. Election of Officers and Committee Members

6. Any Other Business

7. Address by Caroline Griffiths, General Manager. Psychiatry of Old Age Services, County Durham & Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust: "Strategy for Mental Health Services for Older People"

The Branch Chairman, Patrick Nethercot, opened the meeting just after 7 p.m. with the following words:

Good Evening. I would like to welcome everybody here to the Annual general meeting of the Durham and Chester-le-Street branch of the Alzheimer's Society. The society is the major charity in the UK, and one of the major ones world-wide, helping those caring for people with various forms of dementia, of which the most well known is Alzheimer's Disease. For the carer and their loved one, such distinctions don't matter, the ruination of their lives is equally devastating, and so the society seeks to help all. It also a major player in the area of research into the causes and perhaps one day, a cure.

Here in Durham and Chester-le-Street, we do what we can, and our branch manger, Jennifer Brown, will tell you later about the work done in this area by the branch. Unlike many societies, the Alzheimer's Society is very open, and so the AGM is a public meeting.

Councillor and Mrs George Cowper, Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Durham City

It is especially good to welcome here Councillor and Mrs George Cowper, Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Durham City. We rely heavily on the goodwill of the two councils whose area we serve - long may that continue.

Dr Angus McGregor

As you can read in your copy of the annual report, the origins of this branch go back to the mid 80s when Dr Angus McGregor, a clinical psychologist then based here in Chester-le-Street, answered the need for some support for carers. Much more fashionable these days, but a bold step then. So it is particularly good to be able to welcome Dr McGregor here tonight. Without his foresight and determination to help, none of us would here at all.

Much of the credit for the success of the branch goes to my predecessor, Councillor Mrs Sheila Hubbard of Chester-le-Street District Council, whom I am also pleased to welcome.

Our guest speaker tonight is Caroline Griffiths who will be speaking about the way forward in this area for services for older people with mental health problems, of which of course Alzheimer's and Dementia are major ones. With her is Malcolm Haddick, Operations Manager Older Persons for Durham County Council Social Services.

That's quite enough from me for now, so we will move on to the agenda, which everybody should find in front of them, along with a copy of the Annual report.

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held 23 June 1999

Reports

As you will read in my written report, my involvement with the Alzheimer's Society started with my own mother's affliction with this terrible disease some years ago. Seven years ago, she was presented with an award for Community Service by the then Bishop of Durham, Dr David Jenkins. She had always tried to help where she could, and the contacts and skills she developed in a lifetime in journalism and broadcasting helped her. She started and ran more than one caring service in her time, the last for sufferers of macular disease, which causes loss of vision mainly, but not always, in the elderly. She badgered people to help on the phone, wrote to people and generally cajoled help for her causes quite ruthlessly. By the time of her death last year, she couldn't put a sentence together. And in between those two points in time is a long and painful decline. But many carers live with seeing their loved ones wither away over a much longer period - Alzheimer's is sometimes referred to as the "Long Good Bye" and with good reason. Who knows what lies ahead for any one of us?

When Sheila decided she would stand down from the chair last year, I was elected, although I confess, I thought my contribution to the branch was my computer expertise. But Jennifer has a way of drawing skills out from people and getting them to use them for good of the branch. I have tried hard to learn at top speed details of the work of the society and about dementia. I went to London to attend a "New Chair's" at national office which was very useful. There were notices at the door and leading the way upstairs to the offices saying "New Chairs This Way." A man delivering office furniture remarked he thought it was very thoughtful of them! I have tried also to get round the work of the branch "at the coalface" so to speak.

The branch could not run without its people, and I would like you to note especially the people I have mentioned in my report, both staff and volunteers, all of whom give their utmost and beyond in the service of the carers and the ones they love.

Thank you for listening.

• The Chairman's Written report (included in the Annual Report)
• Jennifer Brown, the Branch Manager, then gave a summary of her written report. Jennifer also prepared the report on the Home Support Service, part of the Annual Report.
• Debbie Keenan, Assistant Branch Co-ordinator and responsible for the Day Care services, gave a report thanking many people, and summarising her written report.
• Jennifer and Debbie also include a report on the Carers' Support Groups in the Annual report.

Annual Accounts

Election of Officers and Committee Members

It is now my task to hand over the conduct of this meeting to Mark Walker, the Alzheimer's Society regional officer for the north of England, but before I do, I would like to make mention of four people who are not standing for the committee this time. The Vice Chair, Margaret Patterson, Doug Hubbard, Betty Mordue and Janet Creighton have all been members of the committee for many years, and have helped oversee the growth of the branch from its small beginnings to the thriving organisation we have today. I would like to say a special word of thanks to them for all their hard work, and for them to be assured that their successors, among whom I include myself, will take the best possible care of the legacy they leave us.

But now, Mark will conduct the elections.

Mark Walker, Regional Officer, Alzheimer's Society.

Mr Jeffrey Slack and The Rev. Bryan Middlebrook

Any Other Business

Money, as you will have heard, is a constant preoccupation of the branch, and raising it is very hard. We are always looking for ways to generate income, but few are as strenuous as climbing Africa's highest mountain. Yet this is what Anna Beech proposes to do, and on the way, hopefully raise some money. Anna would like to talk to you now for a few moments about her venture.

Anna Beech

(If you would like to sponsor Anna, either for her African Adventure or for the Great North Run in September which she intends to do for the branch, please contact us by phone or email.)

Caroline Griffiths

Address by Caroline Griffiths, General Manager. Psychiatry of Old Age Services, County Durham & Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust: "Strategy for Mental Health Services for Older People"

Our speaker tonight is Caroline Griffiths whose title is nearly as long as the Queen's! I have had the privilege of working with Caroline in developing the Strategy she is going to talk about this evening. My contribution has been a very small part of this, although useful I hope. But in order to achieve the best services for older people, much hard preparation has to be done, and it is Caroline and her team who have been doing this. As I mentioned earlier, another key player in this strategy, Malcolm Haddick from Social Services is here as well, and I know that both will be more than willing to answer your questions afterwards, so you can get them ready during the talk.

Malcolm Haddick

He closed the meeting with the following few words:

Refreshments

That brings us to the end of this AGM, but not to the end of the evening. The branch has a hidden army of ladies who insist on remaining anonymous who make crafts to sell at branch events and do many other things as well. One of them is preparing the mouth watering refreshments which I am sure you are eager to taste. Our thanks to them also and all who have worked hard to put this meeting together. Neither of course is it the end of branch's work. Our focus now is Awareness Week which is just seven weeks away, seven weeks I am sure will race by. Programmes of the events are available and we would love you to come along and support them. So, with that, the meeting is closed. Please eat, mingle and chat.

Malcolm Haddick of Durham Social Services makes a point to Debbie Keenan (Assistant Branch Co-ordinator), Teresa Pryer (Branch Secretary) and Jennifer Brown (Branch Manager).