The first Leg Club in the Cwm Taf University Health Board area based at
Waun Wen Community Centre, Trebanog will be officially opened on Wednesday
28th November 2018. The initiative is part of the Cwm Taf #YourLocalTeam
campaign to highlight the range of services now available in the community.
To commemorate the occasion Cllr Steve Powderhill, Mayor of Rhondda Cynon
Taf, Professor Marcus Longley, Chair of Cwm Taf University Health Board,
Professor Keith Harding CBE, Medical Director, Welsh Wound Innovation
Centre (WWIC) and Trudie Young, Trustee of the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation
will be attending the weekly Leg Club.
Waun Wen Leg Club is the latest in a network of Leg Clubs which are run
under the guidance of the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation (LLCF)
Leg Clubs provide community-based treatment, health promotion, education
and ongoing care to people of all ages who are experiencing lower leg
problems. They are based on Ellie Lindsay OBE’s award-winning Leg Club
model of care which encourages patients to take an active interest in their
treatment.
With the help of volunteers, Leg Clubs provide a friendly, welcoming
atmosphere where members with lower leg problems can share experiences,
offer peer support, and have fun and enjoy refreshments together. It is run
on a drop in basis and no appointments are required.
For many this is their one outing of the week; helping to reduce the social
isolation often associated with lower limb conditions like leg ulcers, and
to provide emotional support which is beneficial to the healing process.
Waun Wen Leg Club is in now in its second month and patient numbers are
steadily growing and there is a well-established group of volunteers
chaired by Margaret Tegg, last year’s Mayor of Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Margaret said: “The aim is to make this more of a social event instead of a
clinical event, bringing people into the community with the aim of
combating, in some cases, loneliness or isolation. It’s going pretty well
and numbers are growing and as chair I am proud to be involved in it.”
Rhondda GP David Miller, locality clinical director, said: “I recently
visited the Leg Club and there was palpable enthusiasm for the initiative
from everyone – Leg Club members, volunteers and nurses. Interestingly
there were some sceptics amongst the patients on week one, but they have
kept coming which speaks volumes.”
Encouraged by this success, the community nursing management team aim to
open more Leg Clubs across Cwm Taf over the next few years. There are
already plans for a second club to open next year in Merthyr Tydfil, with a
site identified, and two more to follow.
Waun Wen Leg Club is held at Waun Wen Community Centre every Wednesday from
9:30am to 12:30pm. Anyone with lower limb problems is able to attend for
treatment or advice.
For more information, or if you are interested in volunteering, please
contact Caitlin Jacob, Primary Care Development Manager at
Caitlin.jacob@wales.nhs.uk
