Triveni Media launched its channel on Facebook and YouTube on Saturday, 19 June. Gurdas Dhadwal (Solicitor) was on the guest panel together with another Sandwell Lions member, Bimla Khumb. The event, which was a great success, was hosted by Shibani Nagda who was responsible for setting up the online channel.

Since Saturday’s launch group has reached over 30% of its £5,000 target. If you are interested in making a donation, you can do so with the following link:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/trivenimedia?fbclid=IwAR1oli8w6Cep3JX2Ye67s-MsQSxRs8TcHxB5sXwBLVxKkL6pzAywqGl57u0

Sandwell Lions Club are a volunteer organisation providing support for individuals, groups and good causes in our community, helping and supporting our partner organisations and responding pro-actively wherever and whenever they can.

Elisabeth Whybrow, Head of Private Client at RMP Solicitors, continues to be actively involved with BrumYODO and the festival, and RMP are once again sponsoring the festival along with professional bodies STEP, Solicitors for the Elderly and The Arts Council England. 

Today, Elisabeth and team are involved in running a Death Café at Oldbury Library.  You can also take advantage of their expertise at the wills workshop in Birmingham at John Lewis Community Hub on Friday at 1.30pm.

“This May 10th -19th 2019 we are bringing you more high quality of myth busting, conversation inducing, death themed events. 

We kick off the Festival with A Life of Brian at the Electric Cinema a Movie Eat-Along presented by Conjurer’s Kitchen, and then follow up with talks and tours at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, a stunning series at the Coffin Works with literature and talks, then there are opportunities to meet Soul Midwives and End of LIfe Doulas, visit a Crematorium and to take part in practical workshops so you can make sure you have all the information you need to plan the funeral you want.”

– BrumYODO   https://brumyodo.org.uk/

Sandwell Lions, is a local charity run by volunteers dedicated to serving the needs of the local community. Set up in 2009, it serves the six towns that make up Sandwell, and is part of the Lions Club International, the largest service organisation in the world. Originally set up in 1917 to help people with sight problems and blindness, the charity has already improved eye health and eye care in particular for hundreds of millions of people around the world. However, the charity continues to grow with the Lions Club International aiming to impact over 200 million lives through service by 2020.

Gurdas and his Lion’s in Sandwell help to do this by supporting a range of people across the country and the world. As you may have seen in our previous post about the Sandwell Lions, whilst Gurdas has been volunteering with them he has, amongst many things, participated in fundraising, welfare and social activities. Most notably Gurdas has worked to support the local food bank, helped the Friends of the Thimblemill Brook with litter picking, and personally visited Guru Nanak Mission Netarheed Birdh Ashram in Punjab, India to donate to the residential educational facility for blind people across Punjab.

Gurdas joined the Sandwell Lions to selflessly help others and, as President, is supporting the charity and its members to give back even more to those in need locally and further afield, to allow individuals to realise their full potential.

At the end of another hugely successful fundraising year for Cure Leukaemia, that has allowed the charity to increase its influence in the fight against blood cancer, a host of awards were distributed on an afternoon when, in truth, all the nominees and supporters were winners.

RMP was very proud to sponsor the Volunteer of the Year award and congratulations go to Jaymz Goodman, Adam Joyce, Matilda Elwell and family, John and Debbie Riley, the Price family, Anne and Jason Green and Natalka Greenwood who were honoured in the category.

We are also very proud to share that a Cure Leukaemia 15th anniversary accolade was awarded to Kevin Jones, Director at RMP .  Kevin helped launch Cure Leukaemia back in 2003 and is still with the charity as secretary.   

If you would like to support the wonderful work for the charity you can do so through their Just Giving page by clicking here.

Sandwell Lions have also started the annual Sleigh runs.  Look out for Santa!

We would love to see you there.

Everyone should look after their mental health wellbeing whether you have a diagnosed mental health illness or not. It is important for us to take time for ourselves to ensure our mental health and wellbeing is not forgotten, to keep our mood lifted and to not let things build up too much.

Cure Leukaemia run many fundraising events centred around sports and exercise; the Great Birmingham Run, London 2 Paris  & Velo Birmingham & Midlands bike rides, Race to the Stones, the Three Peaks Challenge and many, many more. However, these events can be beneficial for you as well as for the charity.

Exercise, of a variety of formats, has been found in research to have a positive effect on mental health and wellbeing. It has been found that individuals who regularly exercise experience better moods than those who do not. Not only can regular exercise improve your mood and your mental health, but it can also act as a prevention. Evidence from research has found that regular physical activity can protect against the development of depression and prevent your mood from getting too low. Other research has also found that exercise is as beneficial for improving depression and anxiety as forms of therapy.

When looking at exercise in this sense, this includes aerobic exercise such as running and cycling, but also anaerobic such as body building and flexibility training. The improvement in mood also does not only happen with regular exercise. It has been found that after just one period of exercise your mood can be improved, and anxiety reduced, for a few hours up to even an entire day.

Although it has been found that exercise in general, and of several types, can improve your mood and protect your mental wellbeing, there are some specific benefits for distinct types of exercise. Many of the big events planned by Cure Leukaemia centre around running and cycling, so we are going to look at the specific benefits of these two forms of exercise.

Running

Running is often seen as a fantastic way to improve your mood and has a positive impact on your mental health. It has been found from studies that 74% of runners feel running is good for their mental wellbeing. When looking at how running helps to improve your mental wellbeing it has been found to:

Help you to sleep better:

Benefits of running that have been found include heightened daytime alertness, quicker onset of sleep, deeper sleep, and the reduction of symptoms of those with insomnia and sleep apnoea. Lack of sleep can have a detrimental effect on your mood and mental health, so ensuring you do have a good night’s sleep is very important.

Boost your self-esteem:

Running is closely linked with greater self-esteem. Studies have found that individuals who achieve faster running and improve their skills each time exhibit higher levels of self-esteem. Having higher self-esteem can keep your mood lifted as you feel better about yourself.

Alleviate any anxiety:

Running has been found in studies to reduce anxiety symptoms and help you relax. Some studies have found that running may work as well as medication to relieve anxiety.

Decrease symptoms of depression:

There have been many studies that have concluded that running, jogging or brisk walking reduces the symptoms of clinical depression. Research has found that running is as effective as an intervention for depression as psychotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which are very well known and respected treatments for depression.

To register your interest for the Great Birmingham Run 2019 or any other running challenges email Georgia@cureleukaemia.co.uk

Cycling

In research, an incredible 91% of respondents to a study rated cycling as fairly or very important for their mental health, which is more than those who said it benefited their physical health. Some of the ways cycling can improve your mental health and wellbeing are:

Reducing stress:

Cycling has been recognised to reduce tension, which is recognised by many cyclists. It has also been found that exercise such as cycling reduces your levels of cortisol, which is known as ‘the stress hormone’. It is important to find a way to reduce your stress levels otherwise too much stress can build up and have a significant impact on your mental health.

Reducing anxiety:

Cycling stimulates the release of endorphins, which are known as ‘the feel-good hormones’, which can lead you to a feeling of mild euphoria. This feeling reduces anxiety and generally makes you feel happier.

Allowing calmer thinking:

Taking a ride on a bike promotes mindfulness, which is where you focus on the sensations of the present moment, relieving your mind of any racing thoughts you may have. Cycling invites you to stay focussed on balancing, pushing the pedals and concentrating on where you are going. This offers your mind a break and helps to stop any thoughts becoming too overwhelming. The sheer joy you experience going fast and experiencing the elements has been described by cyclists as helping to relieve them of any undesired or pent-up feelings.

Giving a sense of identity:

Cycling has also been found to give people a sense of identity and belonging. It does this through connecting you to others through cycling and by you assuming and maintaining the identity of a cyclist. This gives you connections to interact with by meeting new friends and gaining mutual support, and a purpose through a new identity, which in turn will ensure a more positive mood.

So why don’t you think about completing one of the events organised by Cure Leukaemia and do two wonderful things at the same time; raising money for an amazing charity and ensuring that you are improving your mood and mental wellbeing.

To sign up for Velo Birmingham & Midlands on Sunday May 12th 2019 click HERE

To register your interest in cycling London 2 Paris from September 12th-15th 2019 email Georgia@cureleukaemia.co.uk

References

Cyclescheme. (2017). Cycling and the mental health benefits. Cyclescheme. Available at https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/community/featured/cycling-and-the-mental-health-benefits. [Accessed 17.07.18]
Feighan, M. and Roberts, A. E. (2017). The value of cycling as a meaningful and therapeutic occupation. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(5), pp. 319–326
Fox, K. (1999). The influence of physical activity on mental well-being. Public Health Nutrition, 2(3a), pp. 411-418.
Mikkelsena, K., Stojanovskaa, L., Polenakovicb, M., Bosevskic, M., Apostolopoulosa, V. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Maturitas, 106, pp. 48–56.
Peluso, M. A. M., and de Andrade, L. H. S. G. (2005). Physical activity and mental health: The association between exercise and mood. Clinics, 60(1), pp. 61-70.
Rasa, C. (2017). 10 Mental health benefits of running. Competitor Running. Available at http://running.competitor.com/2017/07/health/10-mental-health-benefits-running_165899. [Accessed 17.07.18]