October Update

All of us will be finding the current Covid restrictions challenging in many different ways but one good piece of news in amongst the gloom is that the Jenner Centre is proving to be an invaluable support centre for a number of organisations. Such is the demand for rooms that if all the organisations who want to use the centre could do we would not have the space to accommodate everyone. At present some 8 groups/organisations, including NHS hearing aid batteries Tuesdays and Fridays 10am – 12noon, are able to provide face-to-face services and some 15 other groups/organisations want to provide services once the restrictions are eased. Quite simply there will not be enough rooms at the Centre to accommodate everyone once life gets back to some sort of normality.

The need in Brechin for a wide range of help and support for people of all ages is unbelievable, and sadly the accommodation is not there to meet the need. The answer is for the Infirmary site to be transferred to Brechin Healthcare Group (BHG) where the need to improve the health and wellbeing of so many in our community would happen if the hub became a reality.

At the present time we are in ongoing discussions with NHS Tayside (NHST) about our business plan, and rightly so NHST must make sure that the transfer of the Infirmary site to BHG meets certain criteria. However, we are concerned that the information being asked of us is both so detailed and almost impossible to answer that it will simply delay the decision on our request beyond the deadline date of 17 January 2021.

We are hopeful for a positive response to our request to take over the Infirmary site and in the weeks and months following the decision we will need many people with a range of skills and experiences to make the Hub a centre of excellence for our community.

At the Zoom AGM, 7.30pm Wednesday 28 October 2020, you will be given more information on our discussions with NHST and the opportunity to ask questions, which we hope we’ll be able to answer satisfactorily.

We hope as many of you as possible will ‘attend’ the AGM for an update on the Jenner Centre, our discussions with NHST, our financial situation and the election of trustees for the coming year.

At present the following people have put their names forward for election :-

Moira Robertson, Nilima Puthu, Irene Gillies, Alison Cameron, Dick Robertson, Hamish Greig, Stanley Callaghan, Lindsay Cameron, Grahame Lockhart.

It is vitally important that we build a strong team for the future development of the Hub. If you believe you have the necessary qualities or would like to speak to/discuss with any of us about how you could become involved to make the health and wellbeing hub a great success we would ask that you come forward and make Brechin, Edzell and the Glens a place of which we can be proud.