A Rough Guide To Tuesday Evenings

Many of us can remember that it felt a bit scary coming to the group for the first time, meeting lots of strangers and not knowing what to expect. We hope that having a rough idea beforehand, of what happens during the evening, will help you to feel more comfortable about joining us.

Members tend to arrive from 7p.m. onwards and tea and coffee are available on arrival. We try to get settled and seated by 7.30p.m. We do our best to clear up and leave the building by 10p.m. If you have not received a copy of our programme please ask someone. We have a 'white board', on which you will see the names of the complementary therapists and time slots available that evening. If you would like a therapy, please write your name against one of the available times. As places are limited, priority is given to people with cancer, followed by carers and then others.

The seating is arranged in a circle and the volunteer facilitating for the evening will welcome members, give out information, ask if anyone has any news, remind us what is on the programme for the evening and introduce the guest speaker if there is one. At this point, before the programmed event starts, we usually have our 'circle'. This takes the form of a brief relaxation (just a few minutes) which may include a short reading or visualisation, finishing with the joining of hands around the circle to reaffirm our friendship and support for one another. Please do not feel that you have to join in with this if it will make you feel uncomfortable.

At this time, usually around 8.p.m, the therapists start the therapy sessions, and the remaining members stay for the speaker, or whatever is programmed. This is usually planned to take around 45 minutes (except for yoga night, which is longer) so that there is time afterwards to chat, visit the library and so on.

The library of books and tapes is made available by a volunteer every Tuesday evening. You can borrow books for up to four weeks and will be issued with library tickets. Please note that the library usually closes by 9.30p.m. There are also leaflets and booklets for reference and minutes of committee meetings are available for perusal.

On the first Tuesday of each month, vitamins and minerals are on sale at trade prices, between 7p.m. and 7.30p.m. Cheques only please, no cash.

There is a register for members to sign-in and a donation bowl is left out during the evening. As we do not have a subscription fee, we invite members to make a small contribution when they attend. We suggest £1 per person, or per couple, but whatever you can afford is perfectly acceptable. This helps towards refreshments, stationery, postage and so on. We hope you enjoy your first evening with us and look forward to seeing you again.