Opportunity to take part in the Kingston Upon Thames on-line Support Group

[Maureen1958]

Just to let everyone know that the IBS Network Kingston Upon Thames Support Group is now taking place over Zoom video conferencing (like Skype), so anyone can attend. It is held on the second Monday of each month at 7pm GMT. If anyone is interested please use the following link to register your place. wholeharmony.synduit.com/IB...

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Hi Maureen

Thank you for posting, I'll have a look.

Alicia

[Eliana5]

Thank you for letting us know. I used Skype a long time..not sure if my phone has the memory to install it. I have an older LG phone that only has 8mg of memory. Can't afford a newer phone at this time. I don't own a computer or laptop. I'll click on your link to see what happens. Thanks!

[xjrs]

Is this an official IBS Network group i.e. under the umbrella of theibsnetwork.org? It seems it is run by a practitioner who is likely to be using it to draw attention to her services rather than someone independent?

[Maureen1958 in reply to xjrs]

Hi xjrs, yes it is an official IBS Network Group. You will find it under the support group section of the IBS Network's website.

I attended one of their meetings last April but it's quite some distance from my home (about an hours drive), so I never got around to going again. But towards the end of last year I attempted to get there again, but was unable to make it because of my IBS. I messaged Andrea, the lady who runs the group, saying I couldn't make it and we were discussing how difficult it is for people with IBS to be able to get to these things and the subject of Skype meetings came up and I said that would be a great idea. Andrea had already looked into this previously. So spurred on by my enthusiasm she said she would look into setting it up which she did and in November she held her first Zoom (video conferencing) meeting.

The problem with support groups is that people think they will attend and get an answer to their problems but of course, as us on this site are aware, life is not like that. Support groups are just that, for supporting and helping each other, just like this site. So the problem is that people attend a couple of times maybe and drift away. So in order to save it, Andrea and I thought we would let the people on this site know about it in the hopes that we can keep it going.

I know only too well that support groups don't last. I ran an IBS support group myself about 15 years or so ago. It lasted about two years but I had to give it up in the end as it was too much for me to cope with along with my IBS and also having to often pay for a room which was sometimes not used. This is what Andrea was finding too, that she was paying for a room which was not needed. I also belonged to another support group for parents of ADHD children but that fizzled out too eventually.

So to answer your question, yes it is official and Andrea is genuine.

PS I perfectly understand where you are coming from though.

[xjrs in reply to Maureen1958]

Thanks for your detailed reply Maureen1958. How great of you to come up with the idea of a Skype or equivalent session. It's so true you have to cancel events sometimes due to your symptoms, so anything involving any form of travel can be problematic. There isn't a support group in my area and using technology can help reach more people at a distance.

[Maureen1958 in reply to xjrs]

Hi xjrs, I have just noticed that when I replied to you earlier, I must have forgotten to hit the reply to you button, so this is just to let you know I replied to you. My reply is below this one, if that makes sense. Sorry I'm feeling a bit rough today and can't think straight!

[Maureen1958]

Thank you xjrs but I can't take the credit for the idea. Andrea had already been trying to introduce the idea without a lot of enthusiasm from others it seemed to me. I think I was just the person that egged her on to put the wheels in motion so to speak.