About us

 

 

 

Who are we?

 

The Association covers all kidney patients attending the Colchester Dialysis Unit, and membership is available to their families, friends and carers. We are affiliated to the NKF. Staff from the Dialysis Unit are also welcomed to join as Associate Members.

 

 

What we do...

 

We are a small group of people consisting of patients, transplanted patients and nursing staff who meet every 4 to 6 weeks to organise events and fundraise for the patients at Colchester Dialysis Unit. Our fundraising efforts include raffles, coffee mornings and other fund raising events etc. We organise a Christmas party each year, social events. In 2013 we took a boat trip on the River Orwell with a full English afternoon tea which was thoroughly enjoyed by patients, staff and families.

 

 

Where do we come from?

 

The patients come from a very wide area from the coastal towns of Clacton on sea, Harwich, Brightlingsea, Walton and Frinton and surrounding villages (known as theTendring Hundred area) and from the historic Roman town of Colchester and its surrounding district of towns and villages including Halstead, Marks Tey, and Tiptree.

 

 

What is dialysis?

 

There are 120 patients who receive mainly three weekly dialysis sessions of approx 4 hours. There are 3 shifts a day, morning, afternoon and twilight sessions from 7am through to 11pm.  All of us suffer from kidney disease. Some are fortunate enough to have a transplant but for many of us dialysis is for the rest of our lives.

 

The constraints of dialysis often makes patients feel isolated, depressed and disrupts many social and family occasions. Sitting on a bed/chair for long sessions connected to a machine while your blood is cleaned is no fun and even though you are next to a fellow patient you often don’t get to “know” them. These social events have proved popular and are a very important factor in our dialysis life.