THE latest community news from Tywyn

Rotary Club

ON 2 November, Clare Bailey from ‘Mind’ visited Tywyn Rotary and gave a very interesting talk.

Clare is from the local Mind association, Ynys Môn and Gwynedd Mind, based in Caernarfon, and is the only full-time person there in an office of five.

All local Mind associations are independent charities in their own right and are responsible for their own fund raising which takes up a lot of Clare’s time.

Mind’s work is to provide help and support to the huge number of people who suffer from various forms of mental ill health.

Mental health problems have now become the largest reason for absence from work and at least a quarter of the population experience them at some stage in their lives.

The stigma attached to mental health problems is a major part of the problem, creating a barrier that too often prevents people asking for help.

Anxiety and depression are among the most common forms of mental illness but other conditions such as bi-polar are prevalent. Mental health problems can have a big impact but with the right support people recover and live full lives.

Clare and her colleagues provide a range of services from one-to-one counseling to special groups and workshops.

They hope to be able to start offering services in Tywyn but are limited by the resources available.

Their current programme costs £170,000 p.a, but the area they support has seen a huge increase in referrals to them and they struggle to meet the demand.

They support many people who face long waits to be treated by NHS mental health teams, who are themselves grossly overstretched.

Garden ClubAN excellent illustrative talk was given by Jennie Steel on Tuesday, 10 October. This was the first meeting of Tywyn Garden Club after the summer break. Twenty-five members were present. A drop in numbers since last year, but all enjoyed Mrs Steel’s garden in Shropshire near Craven Arms. The photography was beautiful, showing a tidy wild flower garden, with shrubs and hedges, especially designed to attract the bugs, beasts and birds, both day and night, bringing her garden to life. Mrs Steel is a writer of many wild life books, a teacher and a speaker. Diane Bishton gave the vote of thanks.They have a library of books with new books added this season. Also a table for plants, seeds etc for swop or sale. Also time for a social chat after the talk when tea, coffee and biscuits were served.The next meeting will be in Tywyn Baptist Church on 14 November, at 7pm for 7.30pm, when the guest speaker will be Sue Walker, whose talk will be “The challenges of gardening in Greece”.If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]