Having seen the sculpture of HM The Queen, that will ultimately be the statue to be installed in Romsey, last weekend I am completely in awe of anyone with artistic talent. Amy Goodman created the beautiful War Horse statue that is in the Memorial Park, and this new work by her is absolutely incredible. The Hampshire Open Art exhibition is still on going and I can firmly recommend the exhibition in Broughton Village Hall which continues over the Bank Holiday weekend.
This week I was at Southampton General Hospital to see a valve replacement procedure performed. I can remember Heart Valve Voice coming to Parliament with their Heart Bus in the Autumn of last year, and have been trying to schedule this visit to the General ever since. It was last postponed due to the General Election.
The amount of co-ordination required by the team carrying out the operation was phenomenal to watch, and the patient should be up and about tomorrow ready to be discharged from hospital. The TAVI procedure drastically reduces recovery time compared to open heart surgery and I am hoping to be able to host an event for Heart Valve Voice in Parliament later in the year.
At the beginning of September RomDag are hosting their brilliant DemFest at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens again. This will be the first return to the event since Covid and dementia awareness was a significant topic for correspondents of mine during the General Election. I was pleased to send a copy of the flyer to everyone who had previously contacted me, but dementia awareness is important for all of us. Romsey was one of the first dementia friendly towns (possibly the first) and I well recall the importance Theresa May placed upon Ministers doing dementia awareness training. It is also crucial that we remember those caring for loved ones with memory loss, it can be incredibly hard on them, and RomDag does a fabulous job of providing advice and support.
