19.05.09

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death this week of one of our Montrose members - Helen Robertson.   Helen had been ill for some time but had continued to have a great interest in the activities of Angus Cardiac Group.   Her funeral will take place on Thursday 21 May at 1130 at the Methodist church in Montrose.

13.05.09

The Forfar Group annual barbecue at Forfar Loch will be on 24 June 2009 at 1900 - full details here.

12.05.09

An thoroughly enjoyable outing to Dundee Rep to see the "Al Jolson Story" was enjoyed by over 50 members and was followed by an excellent high tea at the Birkhill Inn.

23.04.09

Sponsor forms for the annual Montrose sponsored walk on Sunday 24 May are available here and, if you would like to display a poster you can download one here.   The walk is 5 miles but a shorter route can be undertaken.   The walk starts at Borrowfield Community Centre, Montrose at 1400 and also finishes there.

29.03.09

The minutes for the last committee meeting on 25.03.09 are available here and, if, after reading, you would like to see the proposal for the "Long Term Conditions" project, please click here.

Pickup times for the theatre trip on 9 May are Forfar 1200, Montrose 1240, Arbroath 1300, Dobbies (Monifieth) 1320, arriving Dundee Rep at approximately 1400.

There will be a "Long Term Conditions" event in the Reid Hall, Forfar on 29 May (1030 - 1530).

There are to be a series of walks provided by Angus Council ("Walk weekly for health") starting on 1 April at Monikie Country Park.

25.02.09

A new nurse led clinic has started in Arbroath where cardiac patients can be assessed by a specialist cardiac nurse and their treatment, etc can be reviewed.   Full details of this new clinic here.

20.02.09

The Angus Cardiac Group is organising an outing on 9 May 2009 to the Dundee Rep Theatre to see "Jolson & Co - The Musical" at 2.30pm.   This will be followed by high tea at the Birkhill Inn.   The cost will be £15.00 for members (subsidised) and £25.00 for non-members.   There will be bus pick-up points in Montrose, Forfar and Arbroath.   Places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis and a £10.00 deposit will be required.   See any committee member for any further information.

03.02.09

The minutes from the last committee meeting on 28/01 can be viewed here.

15.12.08

On 11 December the Angus Cardiac Group enjoyed their annual Christmas lunch at the Links Hotel, Montrose.   Excellent entertainment was provided by Nan, George and Crawford Wishart and enjoyed by 85 members.   Cheques were presented to Diane Cheyne (physiotherapist) - £150.00; Rhonda Hannah and Pauline Crozier (cardiac rehab) - £200.00; Dr Allan Begg (SHARP) - £200.00 and Dr John Irving (BHF) - £100.00.

14.12.08

A message from Mary Ballantyne can be viewed here.

05.12.08

The minutes from the last committee meeting on 6/11 can be viewed here.

15.10.08

The minutes from the recent AGM of Angus Cardiac Group can be viewed here.

12.01.08

Fiona Stewart (Mary Ballantyne's niece) recently abseiled from the Forth bridge and raised £134.00 for CHSS - see "Photographs" page.

01.010.08

The annual general meeting of the Angus Cardiac Group took place yesterday at the Meadowbank Inn near Arbroath and the minutes of the meeting will be available on this website shortly.   Our chairman, Mary Ballantyne, gave an overview of the last year and, for those who were not at the meeting, her remarks are available here.  After the meeting Tom Brighton was awarded honorary membership of the group in recognition of his invaluable contribution over many years- see "photographs" page.

30.09.08

Sam Connelly has presented £200.00 to Angus Cardiac Group and £200.00 to Chest, Heart & Stroke from his recent Golden Wedding celebration.

At the Ian Low centre, Ninewells Hospital, Sandy Watson presented Tom Brighton and Gordon Meldrum with certificates to acknowledge their many years of voluntary service to NHS Tayside - see "photographs" page.

29.09.08

At a recent meeting of the Forfar branch of the Angus Cardiac Group Dr Michelle Watts from Kirriemuir enjoyed a very lively Q & A session with the members.   When she finished she asked that any members who had suggestions for the improvement of health care in Angus contact her at by email michelle.watts@nhs.net

27.09.08

The menu for the 2008 Christmas lunch is available here.

19.09.08

The recent sponsored walk around Forfar Loch raised almost £800.00 for the Angus Cardiac Group.   This was a magnificent effort by those members who organised the event, those who supplied the food and bottled water and those who raised the money through sponsorship - "Well done" to all concerned!

11.09.08

The next meeting of the ACG committee is on 17 September 2008 in the Columba Hall, Montrose at 1000 - solely to discuss the forthcoming AGM.   The next full discussion meeting will be on 6 November 2008 in St Margarets House, Forfar at 1030.

05.09.08

Sponsored walk update - Karen Fletcher completed the West Highland Way in 173,806 steps.   The winner was William Watson from Livingstone and second and third were Tom Brighton and Ray Knighton respectively.

03.09.08

Gordon Snedden, Vice Chairman of the Angus Cardiac Group, was recently invited through to Ninewells Hospital to meet with Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing.   At the meeting were six representatives from various patient groups across the NHS Tayside area and they were all given the opportunity to chat with Ms Sturgeon.   Gordon took the opportunity to inform her of the aims and aspirations of the group, the extension of exercise opportunities for cardiac patients (Kirriemuir) and to suggest a widening of these exercise opportunities to encompass other long-term condition groups.  He asked for her continuing support for the “Scottish Campaign for Cardiac Rehabilitation” and discussed the growing problem of obesity, particularly in children.   He also spoke about standardising the services offered by GP practices across Scotland.   After other meetings in the morning Ms Sturgeon then visited a display outside the Ian Low centre where the Angus Cardiac Group was one of two patient groups represented.  In the afternoon, during her annual review with the board she reiterated many of the points brought up by the patient representatives at the morning meeting. See "Photographs" page.

02.09.08

Photographs of the recent ACG Arbroath picnic at Monikie and the Forfar ACG sponsored walk round Forfar loch can be viewed on the "photographs" page.

20.08.08

The Annual General Meeting of the Angus Cardiac Group will be held on 30 September 2008 at the Meadowbank Inn, Arbroath from 1900 - 2100.   A copy of the invitation letter can be seen here.      The minutes for the 2007 AGM can be seen here.    The AGM agenda can be seen here and a proposal form to nominate a member can be seen here.   All these documents can be printed off.

20.08.08

The minutes of the last committee meeting can be accessed here.

19.08.08

With money donated by Netta Foreman five special trampettes have been purchased for use by members throughout Angus.

16.08.08

A new exercise class is starting at Webster’s Sports Centre, Kirriemuir on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 2.30pm. The class will be run by qualified British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (BACR) instructor, Alison Nicoll. The cost for each class will be £2.40, or will be included in the price of the Angus Council Leisure Services Direct Debit Scheme for those who have this.   Anybody who wishes to attend this class (& has not already done so) needs to complete an application form which is available from the sports centre or can be downloaded from this website.  Alternatively, people can be referred to the class via a health professional at their GP surgery. Please contact Webster’s Sport’s Centre for any further information on 01575 574849.

A Health fair is to be held on Thursday 18 September 2008 from 1100-1700 in Montrose Town hall. -  any members who would be prepared to give up some of their time to help should contact Karen Fletcher.

14.08.08

The next committee meeting will be on 17 September at 1000 hours at Columba Hall, Montrose.  

14.08.08

As a result of completing her sponsored walk along the West Highland Way Karen Fletcher has donated £160.00 to ACG - the competition to guess the number of steps was won by Neil, second was Ray and third was Tom.  

£130.00 has also been received from the organisers of the Fettercairn Charity Dance held in May this year.   The dance was organised by Gladys Ingram, Margaret Pirie and Janet Donald and John Dean, Vice-Chairman of Angus Cardiac Group, accepted the cheque  - see "Photographs".

07.08.08

A PDF version of the consultation document 'Better Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Care' is available here.  This is also available on the web at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/chdstroke   Details of how to get involved are on the back page of the document.  The Scottish Government would like to see contributions from people who have any form of cardiac disease or who have had a stroke, their families and carers, the voluntary sector organisations which act as the advocates of people with any kind of cardiovascular disease, and those who have a personal or professional interest in any of the issues covered by consultation document.   The consultation will close on Friday 24 October 2008.

 Karen Fletcher is quite happy to collate any responses.

02.08.08

The Angus Cardiac Group (Forfar Branch) is holding a sponsored walk at Forfar Loch on Sunday 31August - registration is at 1pm at Forfar Leisure Centre.   The walk is 2.8 miles in length but a shorter route of 1 mile is available.  Members from all branches are invited to take part to raise funds for the group.  If you cannot take part then please sponsor someone who is participating.   A poster can be downloaded here and sponsor sheets here.

28.07.08

At a recent event in Arbroath Jennifer McCartney and Lawrie Gallacher were presented with a cheque for £350.00 by Doug Ford.   Sister Ann Cuthill from Arbroath Infirmary was also there - see "Photographs" page.

26.07.08

ACG Montrose have raised a magnificent £1566.10 through their recent sponsored walk (£950.60) and coffee morning/sale (£615.50).

22.07.08

It is with great sadness and sense of loss that we have to report the sudden death yesterday of Alec Masson, a longstanding member in Montrose.   Alec made a huge contribution to the Angus Cardiac Group over many years and our thoughts are with his wife and family at this difficult time.   Alec's funeral will take place on Friday 25 July at 11 am at Collier's Chapel of Rest, Broomfield Road, Montrose and thereafter to Sleepyhillock cemetery extension.

12.05.08

The latest minutes from the last ACG committee meeting can be accessed here.

12.05.08

Netta Foreman, an ACG member at Forfar, and her family, have donated £400.00 to the Angus Cardiac Group.   The money was given in lieu of presents at a double golden wedding celebration and is very much appreciated by ACG members.

22.04.08

The Angus Cardiac Group's sponsored walk takes place on Sunday 25 May 2008.    It starts at 2pm at the Borrowfield Community Centre. . In addition to the 5 mile route, there is a shorter route (approx. 2 miles) for those who cannot manage the longer distance and for those with children (& dogs) who require something a bit shorter.  On the same date Sam Connolly is running in the Forfar Marafun with sponsorship going to Cancer Research.

A poster for the  walk is available here and can be printed off if required.    Sponsorship forms can be printed off here.

21.04.08

The latest minutes from the last ACG committee meeting can be accessed here.

21.04.08

Karen Fletcher and Karen Small, who between them produce the Angus Cardiac Group newsletter, are appealing for news, stories, recipes, photographs or anything else that members can contribute for the next (and future) editions.

21.04.08

A letterhead has been produced to standardise any correspondence emanating from the Angus Cardiac Group.   The letterhead can be printed off here.

21.04.08

A "Scottish Campaign for Cardiac Rehabilitation" has been launched by an alliance of patient organisations, health professionals and heart charities (co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation) creating one powerful voice to champion the cause of cardiac rehabilitation.

Click on the appropriate heading to access relevant information

• A Guide to Campaigning

• A Briefing setting out what we want from the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland

• A Factsheet setting out the current cardiac rehabilitation position in Scotland

• A Sample Letter you could send to your local MSPs

• The UK Campaign Petition

The British Heart Foundation website is at www.bhf.org.uk and, if you have the appropriate software, you can view a podcast on their site, regarding this campaign, or by clicking here.  (N.B.this will take a considerable time to download!)

10.04.08

A donation of £400.00 made by Kirriemuir Golf Club was received by members of Angus Cardiac Group recently - see "Photographs".

04.04.08

Information regarding the future of health care in Angus has been received from Angus Community Health Partnership - please click here to read.

A meeting regarding the above is to be held in Forfar on Saturday 19 April 2008 - details here.

30.03.08

Plans are being finalised for a new mobile night time service to bring medical assistance direct to patients' homes as part of a new overnight service which will be trialled, initially, in the Forfar/Brechin/Montrose areas of Angus.   It is intended to replace the current overnight facilities in the minor injuries units in these burghs.   Full details are available here.

17.03.08

At the annual Angus County Sports Award held on 25 March in the Reid Hall, Forfar, Roly Hill, an ACG/phase IV member, was presented with the 2008 award for "Services to Sport".   Roly has been involved with athletics for over 30 years as an administrator, official, umpire, coach and helper and continues to pass on his knowledge to young athletes throughout Tayside.

27.02.08

Angus CHP is holding a series of Focus Group meetings with patients, representatives of voluntary and support organisations, and the general public on out of hours services to patients seeking non-emergency care.   This would consider how NHS24, Minor Injury Units and the Scottish Ambulance Service work together.   Dates are 28.02.08 - 1400 -Links Health Centre, Montrose;   04.03.08 - 1900  - Whitehills Hospital, Forfar;   05.03.08 - 1400 - Damacre Centre Annexe, Brechin.   Anyone who would like to participate in one of these focus groups should telephone 01307 474158.

NHS Tayside is interested in hearing about patient's stories for possible inclusion on a publicly available website.   Anyone who would like to be involved should contact Rhona Guild at rhona.guild@nhs.net or telephone 01307 474898.   For more details click here.

Residents of Angus are invited to attend at three public meetings to put forward their views on planning for the future of local health services in Angus.   The first meeting will be on 01.03.08 at 1000 in Montrose Academy.   The other meetings are at Arbroath on 22.03.08 and Forfar on 19.04.08 (Venues have not yet been arranged but as soon as they are available they will be posted on this website).

25.02.08

A SIGN newsletter has been received and can be viewed here.

21.02.08

The following request has been received from Nicola Richardson .......

I am a university student conducting a research project into the attitudes to exercise of patients with CHD (pre and post diagnosis). The survey is completely anonymous and takes about 5 minutes to complete a simple series of questions, I would be grateful if you could provide a short description to the more detailed answers. If anyone can help in the follow up discussion after the survey data is collected I would be very grateful.  Please email me on nicola.richardson1@yorksj.ac.uk if you have any queries or would like to assist further. Thanks for you help. Nicola

 My survey is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XHaoXs4nWZ_2bvjl96IspVlg_3d_3d

10.02.08

The minutes of the last ACG committee meeting can be accessed here.

26.01.08

A letter has been received from Gail Smith, NHS Tayside, asking for names of those wanting to attend a focus group in relation to minor injuries units in Angus.   Details of those interested are required asap.   To read the full letter click here.

A letter has been received from Angus Citizens Advice Bureau regarding a major new advice service.   For full details click here.

10.01.08

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, a few days ago, of the Reverend John Barr LLB.   John had been a member of our group since 1994 and, along with his wife Mary (who predeceased him two years ago), they were regular attendees at group meetings in Montrose and played an active part in the activities of the Montrose Branch.   A number of members attended the funeral at St Andrews Church in Brechin.

01.11.07

Arrangements are in hand for the Christmas lunch (1230 for 1300 on 13.12.07).   Full details are being posted out to all members (along with a request to update personal details) but if you would like a sneak preview of the lunch menu click here.

Professor Gordon Peterkin (who talked to the Forfar Branch recently) has emailed an article on the computerisation of personal medical records which he thought might be of interest to our members.   Read the article here.

15.10.07

Click here to view the new brochure, compiled by Karen Fletcher and produced by the NHS at Kings Cross.   It gives details relevant to both the Phase IV exercise class and the Angus Cardiac Group and will be distributed widely to surgeries, libraries, leisure centres, etc

27.09.07

Click here to read the minutes from the recent EGM.

Click here to read the minutes from the recent AGM.

Click here to read the new constitution agreed at the EGM

22.09.07

The next meeting of the Angus Cardiac Group in Arbroath will be held in the Saltire Leisure Centre on Tuesday 25 September at 7.30pm.   The speaker is Steven Cameron, a community dietician in Angus, who will give a healthy eating talk entitled "Your health is in your hands".   During the talk Steven will encourage audience participation with topics such food labelling, protective fats, portion sizes and alcohol and salt intakes.   There will be coffee/tea and biscuits available during the evening and the meeting will close around 9pm.   All are welcome, whether members of ACG or not.

21.09.07

A new exercise class started at Carnoustie today - photographs here.

20.09.07

An EGM was held in Forfar to ratify the new ACG constitution.   The AGM followed when Mary Ballantyne was elected as the new chair.   Tom was thanked for his chairmanship and the huge contribution that he made to the group and was presented with an engraved decanter as a token of the group's appreciation.   Full details of the changes to the committee and office bearers will be made available on this site shortly.

04.09.07

On 29 August 2007 at the Ranger in Forfar the committee made arrangements for the forthcoming Annual General Meeting at the Plough Inn in Forfar.   The AGM will be preceded by an Extraordinary General Meeting  to discuss, and hopefully approve, the new constitution for the group.   The minutes for the 2006 AGM can be seen here.   The proposed new constitution can be seen here.   The agenda for the AGM is here and for the EGM here.   The committee vacancies are here and a proposal form to nominate a member can be seen here.   All these documents can be printed off.

19.08.07

The next committee meeting of the Angus Cardiac Group is on Wednesday 29 August 2007 at 1000 at the Forfar Ranger Centre when a very full agenda will be discussed.

20.07.07

An enjoyable picnic/walk was held by the Arbroath group at Crombie Country Park where 21 attended (photographs here).

19.07.07

A digital projector has been purchased and is held at Forfar.   It is available for use at Arbroath, Forfar and Montrose if required.

09.07.07

A donation of £500.00 has been received from the Forfar branch of the Foresters so that a digital projector can be purchased for use by the Angus Cardiac Group.   The cheque was received by Tom Brighton who thanked the Foresters for their very generous donation - click on the "Photographs" link for picture.

30.06.07

A donation of £100.00 has been received from Forfar Inner Wheel on 20 June 2007 and this cheque was gratefully received by Mary Ballantyne on behalf of Angus Cardiac Group.

28.06.07

A very successful barbecue was held near Forfar Leisure Centre and 46 members and friends enjoyed a walk and talk by the local countryside ranger (Mhairi) followed by an "Eat as much as you can" barbecue with the food prepared and cooked by Angela and friends.   We were extremely fortunate with the weather with some warm sunshine during the walk and the rain holding off until after everyone had left.   Our grateful thanks go to Mhairi, Angela and friends, and those members of the Angus Cardiac Group who contributed, in various ways, to a very enjoyable evening.

14.06.07

Phase IV application form is now available to download here

18.05.07

On 14 May, at the Saltire Centre, Arbroath there was a celebration of three years of funding for Angus Long-term Exercise Programme for People with Coronary Heart Disease.   Peter Bates, Chairman of Tayside NHS Board, was the principal speaker and other speakers gave their view of the success of the scheme.   Photographs of some of those who attended are viewable here

22.04.07

Sam Connelly finished the Lochaber marathon today in a time of 4 hours 51 minutes and 3 seconds on what was a very dreich and rainy day.   The winner of the "Guess his time" competition will be announced at the next evening meeting of the Forfar Branch this Wednesday, 25 April.

21.04.07

Alison Nicoll, Phase IV instructor at Forfar, has been honoured by Angus Council as "Employee of the Year" in all the Angus Sports Centres.   Ron Ashton, the council's Director of Neighbourhood Services, presented Alison with a framed certificate.   Laura Deacon and Jane Doig, who are also Phase IV instructors, were both finalists in the competition.

18.04.07  

A new exercise class is starting in Forfar from Wednesday 2 May.   It will be taken by Laura Deacon and will be based in the fitness suite.   A time has still to be agreed with the Leisure Centre and will be posted in the PROGRAMME as soon as it is known

05.04.07

Angus Cardiac Group is organising its annual sponsored walk in Montrose on 27 May.   Posters with details are available here and sponsorship forms are available here.   If you are not participating in the walk then please sponsor one of the walkers.   Further details from Tom Brighton or John Dean.

01.04.07

The latest ACG newsletter is available here.   You will need Adobe Reader to read the newsletter.   If you do not have Adobe Reader then it is available here as a free download.

If you are a member of the Angus Cardiac Group and you are happy to read your newsletter on this website please click here to stop the delivered version.

12.03.07

One of our members, Sam Connelly, is running a full marathon (26 miles) at Lochaber on 22 April and is looking for sponsorship to raise funds for the Angus Cardiac Group.   Rather than have sponsorship with no benefit to the sponsors Sam is donating a bottle of whisky which will be won by guessing what his finishing time will be in hours, minutes and seconds.   If anyone would like to sponsor Sam (at £1 per guess) then please contact him or Karen Fletcher (contact details on "Contacts" page of this website). 

Sam's personal profile is that he is 72 years of age and started running 20 years ago.   He has been a member of Forfar Road Runners for many years and "specialises" in bringing on new runners until, inevitably, they are faster than he is!   Sam has a very strict cross training regime and trains every day.   This will be his 57th marathon.  

Sam has had a triple bypass and  is a member of  the Forfar branch of the Angus Cardiac Group.   He attends the Phase IV exercise classes at Forfar on Mondays and Fridays and is an inspirational example to others who have had major surgery that so much can still be accomplished.

He is staying on in Fort William for an extra day as he wants to climb Ben Nevis on the day after the marathon!

Everyone is wishing Sam well for his marathon challenge and  a fitting tribute to him for all his effort would be to ensure that, by sponsoring him, he raises a large sum of money for the Angus Cardiac Group

 16.03.07

Angus Cardiac Group (Arbroath)

The next meeting of the Angus Cardiac Group in the Saltire Leisure Centre is on Thursday 29^th March at 7.30pm when the speaker will be Helen J Brady, Heartstart Discovery Co-ordinator and Health Shops Manager for the Directorate of Public Health based at Ninewells Hospital Health Shop. Helen will be talking about Heartstart Discovery which has been working with the public in Tayside since 1997 and is designed to give people the skills to deal with an emergency situation. These skills include early recognition of, and how to deal with, someone suffering a heart attack, or dealing with an unconscious person who is breathing or who is not breathing and performing CPR on someone who is choking or someone who is bleeding profusely. Any of these situations can occur at any time of the day or night at work rest or play and being able to cope with them can perhaps save someone’s life.

 Helen says that anyone from the age of 10 upwards can be trained in the techniques required and she is currently working on a schools initiative training teachers who will then train pupils in their schools.

 If you want to hear more on the subject and see Helen demonstrate some of the techniques why not come along to the meeting – you don’t have to be a member of the Angus Cardiac Group to attend.