Arthur is the vice chairman of the RVH Liver Support Group, an avid Audi petrolhead and an active member of the NIAOC. Recently, he was honoured to be involved with the putting together of the NI Audi Owners Club yearly big run which is going to Enniskillen this year. The Club was founded by Marc and Nicky Edgar several years ago and they are among its many admins. And this is because it now has over 1400 members throughout NI who are very active helping one another on their FB page.

This years big Audi run will be taking place on this incoming Saturday, July 8^th starting off from Sprucefield car park at around 08:30 hrs and heading to Edfield cafe in Fivemiletown for breakfast after which the convoy will drive to Castlecoole, a National Trust property in  Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh and will remain there for several hours. Later in the day the convoy will then head to the beautiful Navar viewpoint where one can see the Belleek shore road, the River Erne and indeed Bundoran and the Atlantic Ocean!!

The year NIAOC offered to help raise awareness of  our charity by including us on their event. A big shout out goes to Nicky, Marc and Andy for putting so much effort into the organising of the Audi run and the raffle on the day. And the RVH Liver Support Group would like to thank them most sincerely for taking the time out to make this run a great success. We are all aware of how time consuming it is to organise and set up events such as this.

If you happen to be in Enniskillen on July 8^th please feel free to call in to see the cars at Castlecoole between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm.

A Just Giving page has also been set up for any Audi members who cannot to attend but  may wish to contribute to the Liver Support Group. The link to the page is below and there is a little story there detailing what the charity does for the community.

  www.justgiving.com/page/arthur-goan-1685114413185-niaoc  

At the recent Volunteer Recognition event held at Crumlin Road Gaol Kay Duffy, Founder of the Liver Support Group, was presented with a special certificate in recognition of 25 years of service to the Belfast Trust as a hospital volunteer. Jim Kilpatrick, Group Chairman and Arthur Goan, Vice Chairman,  were also recognised at the event for their contribution .

The help desk is now back in 6B in a limited format to start with . Our desk is smaller now as the space is mostly used for patients waiting for their appointment. But we appreciate being given the opportunity again to meet with new and existing liver patients. Either Kay, Jim or Arthur will be in attendance on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 09:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs approx. Please come over and say hello; we will love to have a chat!!

The law on organ donation has now officially changed. Since June 1st, we are all automatically “opted in” for organ donations when we pass away. It is crucially important, however, that you still have that “wee chat” with your next of kin to ensure they understand your wishes if you wish to remain opted in and donate. You can still choose to opt out with organdonation NI should you wish  to.

Let us introduce you to Megan, Miss East Belfast!! Megan recently entered for the Miss Northern Ireland competition and has reached the final which takes place on Monday night,  May 22nd, in Belfast. In doing all of this she has raised £3686.89 for the RVH Liver Support Group.  This is very much appreciated and everyone  on the committee wishes her every success on Monday night.

You may have seen an earlier story about James and his great endeavours in support of the Liver Support Group. At the gala dinner James presented Kay Duffy with a cheque for £9020.31, an absolutely stunning amount of money. We would like to thank James and his wonderful family who worked so diligently to make all of this happen.

Pictured at the “Love Your Liver” roadshow with Dr Neil McDougall, liver consultant at the RVH liver unit, members of the British Liver Trust and committee members of the RVH Liver Support Group is Sir Michael McBride, the Chief Medical Officer in Northern Ireland. The British Liver Trust “Lover Your Liver” roadshow visited N Ireland and offered members of the public advice on liver health as well as free fibroscans. This is very important as it serves as a proactive measure to gauge liver health in those who are scanned by this non invasive yet accurate method.

Its been 25 years this year since Kay Duffy OBE founded the Liver Support Group. And to recognise this wonderful achievement the Group held a gala event attended by almost 300 guests which included transplanted patients and their families.  Joining Robin Swann, former NI Health Minister, were senior medical staff from Kings London and Birmingham’s Children Hospital as well as our own highly valued liver unit consultants and nursing staff from the Regional Liver Unit at the RVH.

The RVH Liver Support Group was originally  founded to offer all kinds of support to any person, young or old, who suffers from any type of liver condition irrespective of cause within N Ireland. And this same level of support is offered today. A committee of eight volunteers provide the Group with all of the requisite qualities to effectively manage the Charity and, within, there are three adult patient carers and two child/adolescent patient carers.  These carers offer confidential telephone or face to face support to patients and/or their carers on a daily basis.