January 2001

Charity reg.No. 1009671

The National Eczema Society identifies, promotes and advocates quality care, through the provision of information, support and education, and by funding research to find the causes and cures for eczema.

WEST SURREY and N.E.HANTS (England, UK) SUPPORT GROUP

(newsletter updated May 2001 - see link)

This site is the home page of the West Surrey and N.E.Hampshire Support Group of the NES and is used to record details of what we plan to do (fundraising, information displays etc), reports of what we have done, and details of other related items. Since the establishment of the official National Eczema Society home page at http://www.eczema.org the content of these pages will revert to their original intended use, i.e. information of local interest. We will continue to publicize national events however, full details of which will be found on the official page. We hope that you will return here from time to time to 'keep up' with our activities.
Lack of spare time has meant that this site has not enjoyed the regular updates it once had and I am conscious that as such, it has lost some of its value. Rather than put one of those 'under construction' icons on this page, I will just continue to update as and when time allows but will ensure that links to some of the new web sites currently being established by members of the National Eczema Society are shown here. So please check the links over on the other page for details.

Events review - Spring, Summer & Autumn 2000

Rain, rain, rain sums up our activities for the spring, summer and autumn season. It rained for the sponsored walk but despite only three walkers there were a good number of sponsors and around Ł350 was raised. It rained for the Cranleigh Show at the end of June. A date clash with the NES AGM meant that Helen Lovegrove and Avril Vora spent the day covering and uncovering our display with polythene sheeting. However it was as usual a friendly village event and the Society's banner was waved again. It rained a bit for Guildford Festival Market in July. The High Street was busy however and we took over Ł200, which was a big increase over last year.
So, spring and summer came (and went!) but we had autumn to look forward to - and a busy time it has been.
We organised the usual round of coffee mornings and evenings and there was even the occassional glass of wine to be had at some events. Many thanks to all of our generous hosts who help us in the never ending search for sources of funds.
This year, we have had two very special events. The first was an 'Apple Day', organised by one of our committee. This was run in conjunction with a very popular Farmers Market, at which all kinds of fresh produce was for sale. We had two marquee tents. In one we had around 50 varieties of apples for tasting, the other was home to an apple-peeling and a drawing competition plus NES cards and fancy goods. Other games and a juggling display were held in the open air. We met lots of nice folk on the day, sold lots of NES cards and raised funds for the Society.
The second event was also a 'first' for the support group. We organised a combined charity fair, bringing together several local groups under one roof, for the sales of our own charity goods. This was a success also, so much so that we have already booked the Guildhall in Guildford High Street for a much larger event in 2001.

Forthcoming National Events - 2001

Please note that the London office moved just before Christmas 2000. The new address details are:

Hill House, Highgate Hill, London N19 5NA
Telephone: 020 7281 3553
Fax: 020 7281 6395
Helpline: (1pm - 4pm, Monday to Friday) 0870 241 3604

National Eczema Society Annual Conference and AGM

Saturday 22nd September 2001

Full programme details will be published on the Official Web Site in due course.

Skin Information Days

Skin Information Days (details of which are listed below) are organised by the Skin Care Campaign, which is administered by the National Eczema Society. They generally run from 10.00am until 4.00pm, with presentations running from 10.30am. The Days are open to the general public and healthcare professionals and attendance figures are in the region of 300-plus.
The Skin Information Days aim to enable people to learn more about their skin, improve understanding, management and coping skills. The events are open to anyone, whether they have a skin condition themselves or are a carer, family member or have a professional interest.
The Days feature:

Exhibitions of helpful products and services. As well as representatives from many patient support groups, these also include a wide range or pharmaceutical and healthcare companies who can talk to visitors about their products, different ways of managing their skin condition and offer samples to try at home.
A full programme of talks which are informal sessions led by health professionals and focus on all the major skin conditions, such as rosacea, vitiligo and many others, and their treatment. These presentations run for 45 minutes, including time for questions and answers and are open to all.
Details of Days planned for 2001 will be published soon. Please return here for details or visit the Skin Care Campaign web site at http://www.skincarecampaign.org

For membership details or other information about the National Eczema Society, please visit the official home page at http://www.eczema.org

The National Eczema Society sells, through it's trading arm NES Enterprises Ltd a wide range of Christmas cards, Notecards and other goods. For details of the 2000 range, please follow the above link.