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Hospice Peterborough offers The Healing Journey
(Peterborough) – Hospice Peterborough offered a new program, The Healing Journey, for the first time this winter. Participants were happy to share how this group helped them cope with the challenges of living with serious illness. “From the first session – I have felt calmer and more accepting of situations.” “The techniques we covered and learning how to focus inward has given me different ways to cope with my illness and helped me stay relaxed during treatments.” “ I have found that the mind and attitude can be healed just like the body can be healed” Specially trained staff and volunteers at Hospice Peterborough are ready to offer Level One of ‘The Healing Journey’ once again. Originally developed as a cancer care program by Alastair Cunningham in conjunction with Princess Margaret Hospital, Hospice Peterborough is making this exciting program available to people with any serious illness.
“We are fortunate that Green Shield Canada’s Community Giving Program gave us the funds to get this program off the ground in our community.” says Linda Sunderland, Executive Director of Hospice Peterborough. “We knew we needed to expand our Wellness programming to meet the needs of more and more people living with multiple health issues and wanting to learn ways to manage extended treatment regimes. The Healing Journey gives people practical tools that can help right away.”
The Healing Journey teaches tools of healthy thought management, relaxation, visualization, and meditation: powerful helpmates in self-care, symptom relief and healing. The carefully crafted educational components of The Healing Journey, along with goal setting and peer support, help participants to gain a greater sense of personal empowerment and well-being.
Research has shown that participants who have integrated The Healing Journey tools into their daily lives have benefited from a reduction in symptoms such as nausea, sleeplessness, anxiety and pain. This program offers people sustaining ways to actively participate in their own healing along-side and following medical treatment; and provides tools and support to help people cope and move forward.
The program consists of five sessions and will run on Tuesday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30 on June 4, 11, 18, 25, & July 2. Eligible participants include people who are newly diagnosed with any serious illness, are experiencing a relapse, or are in active treatment. And, like all programs at Hospice Peterborough, it is offered at no charge.
For more information or to reserve a spot (spaces are limited) please contact Jan Stirling-Twist, Wellness Program Developer, at Hospice Peterborough at 705 742 4042, or by email at jstirlingtwist@hospicepeterborough.org
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Farm to Table Food Tours
One of the last summer’s success stories will be hitting Downtown Peterborough again this June.
The Farm to Table Peterborough Downtown Culinary Tour will be operating from June until September – and trying to continue a streak of sold out events celebrating the shops and restaurants of the Downtown core.
The weekly tours, which visit six downtown businesses each week, showcase local boutique food stores and downtown restaurants, highlighting small batch, artisan food production and local/seasonal cooking. They run from 1pm to roughly 4pm each Wednesday, leaving from the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market.
Each venue provides generous samples of their products – including some wine and beer samples.
“Last year was pretty fantastic,” smiles Owner/Tour Operator, Donald Fraser. “It took off immediately, with both patrons and businesses eager to climb on board. By the end of the summer, the vast majority of bookings were a result of word of mouth.”
Reviews have been universally positive.
“Raves,” glows Fraser. “In fact, most people come up and thank me individually after the event. Several people have come back for second tours. The word of mouth – the buzz – has been fantastic.”
The reason for its success?
“Really, it is the business owners and chefs who have made these tours so popular,” he admits. “We have so many incredibly talented business people downtown. And they are all characters – all so good at capturing the attention of patrons and tour participants. These people are artists. They are educators. They are showmen and showwomen. And they have been absolutely wowing their audiences. It’s been a genuine pleasure to watch them do their stuff and sample their incredible foods.”
The tour has been particularly successful in showcasing Downtown Peterborough.
“It’s been some great direct marketing for all of the businesses on board,” explains Fraser. “We’re introducing new customers to restaurants and shops across the core and letting chefs and owners wow them with their talent, personalities, and incredible foods. We know that many of these patrons are going to come back. We also know that they are going to tell friends, families, and colleagues about their experiences. Add this to the media outreach and social media outreach, and you have thousands of people being introduced to these businesses.”
The tour has attracted a wide array of participants.
“What has been incredible is the diversity of people coming out,” says Fraser. “We’ve had cottagers, people from communities outside of Peterborough – Lakefield, Bridgenorth, Young’s Point, Ennismore, Millbrook – groups of people from local workplaces, retirees, students… You name it. So many of these people have spent time in the downtown without ever frequenting these businesses. And so many of them are now vowing to return to these great shops and restaurants.”
The success of the tours has led to valuable partnerships with the GPAEDC, Peterborough Tourism, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, and the DBIA.
This year Fraser promises to add more tours to the roster – doing some special evening events, some new regional trips, and even some East City tours.
For more information on the tour, including schedules, please visit www.ptbolocalfoods.ca or call Farm to Table Peterborough at 705-977-0604.
