THE Tweed Valley Huffers N Puffers and Dicky Tickers Support Group is a new health group on the Tweed which founders say was desperately needed.

Group founders Ron Parker and Diana Montgomery both suffer from emphysema and saw the need for a support system in the Tweed shire.

Mr Parker said the group is for like-minded people who wish to offer support to one another.

“I had previously attended cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation at Murwil- lumbah Hospital for eight weeks, and that is where the idea came from.

“But this group is not just for people who have been through that program; this group is here for anybody who has a lung and heart complaint,” Mr Parker said.

“There is no immediate support group in the Tweed area like this and it is something that was very much needed. The aim of the group is to help people get out there and have someone to talk to.”

Mr Parker said there is no need to suffer alone, and he urged members of the community to come and help each other.

“We will be a registered group with the Lung Foundation and we will meet every second Thursday of the month at the Condong Bowls club,” Mr Parker said.

“I would also like to thank Tom Kennedy, the chairman of the Condong Bowls Club, for allowing the group to meet at the club.”

Mr Parker said that while attending rehabili- tation sessions is helpful, there is still a call for ongoing support groups on the Tweed.

“After the eight-week rehabilitation course finishes you just go back out into the world and back to your life, but you still need some kind of support,” Mr Parker said.

For further information on the Huffers N Puffers and Dicky Tickers Support Group please call Mr

Parker on 6676 2294.