“Story Stones” by CrossReach Writers, Thershold Glasgow
Contents: Life is Good Now - 3 My Swiss Family Story - 5 Having the Time Of My Life - 7 An Organised Life Helps Me To Relax - 9 Sparkling Stones - 11 Time to be Creative - 13 Holiday Time - 15 Mixed Experiences - 17 Volunteer of the Year - 19
Life is Good Now When I was little, a good time in my life was when I was about 12 years old and I had a great friend called Stewart. He had a wee dog called Scamp and I remember we used to dress him up in doll’s clothes and take him round the streets in a shopping trolley instead of a pram! Life is good now because I have carers who support me at home to do the things I like to do and I feel I have choices. Coming to Day Opportunities at Crossreach means this is one of the best times in my life. I like going out and about and with the Community Group I go to the city centre and to Paisley sometimes. I also love the Cinema Group and going to the pictures with my friends from Crossreach. Catherine.
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My Swiss Family Story My mum comes from Switzerland and we go back to visit family every year. I know the journey very well, we get the plane from Glasgow Airport to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, then we get another flight to Zurich, then we get picked up and go by car to my mum’s village which is in the mountains. We stay in an apartment with a balcony, and one time we went by boat to a lakeside hotel for dinner. I think one of the favourite things in my life right at this moment in time is going out with the Friday Social Group. I really enjoyed the Paisley trip and going for a walk and shopping, and I know there are lovely buildings there too, like the Abbey. I have a lot of friends in this group and I like going out with Joan, the worker. Alexis
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Having the Time of My Life
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I live with my sister and her family, and I have my own room which I really love because I have my favourite things there. I enjoy quiet time, but I also love music and I have my headphones and CD Player in my room. You should see how many CDs I have! Abba is my favourite group, but I also love TAKE THAT! I went with my sister to see them in concert just last week – it was brilliant! My room also has my own television and my guitar and keyboard. I decided how I wanted to decorate my room so I have football wallpaper, curtains and duvet cover and my team is Rangers! I also like going out to Day Opportunities because I have a lot of friends there and I enjoy bowling and going out for lunch sometimes and shopping trips. I just came back from Spain and everyone says I look very well, it is a good time for me just now because I think holidays are important to everyone so they can get a break. My hotel was lovely and the food was delicious, but most of all I enjoyed dancing at night! Stewart
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An Organised Life Helps Me to Relax A very important thing for me is that I like to feel in control of my life and to be organised about important things. I am happy just now because I feel I have control so this makes my life good and I am enjoying it. I like to travel by train and my own station is Maxwell Park, from there I can go with a worker into Glasgow city centre. A favourite time for me would be when I go shopping, setting out from Maxwell Park Station, going into Glasgow and buying all my toiletries from Superdrug or Boots. I always keep in good supplies of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. Then I go to WHSmiths to buy some DVDs, then I go down to St Enoch’s Centre and into Tesco’s for some foodshopping, then back on the train home. Being organised is a big help to me because it helps me to relax and then I am free to get on with enjoying my life. Andrena
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Sparkling Stones The present time is a good one for me because I am enjoying life. What matters most to me is my family and I like to go and see them for holidays or else have them come to visit me. Another one of my favourite things is to buy costume jewellery – the sparklier, the better! I have a huge collection of necklaces, rings, bracelets, watches, earrings and brooches, in all different colours of gemstones! If you meet me you might think I am a very quiet lady, but something I love to do is to go the carnival, or the shows as we call it in Glasgow! My favourite rides are The Big Wheel, The Roller Coaster, The Dodgems and The Hobby Horses – I love going up high and looking for miles at the sights, and going round and round till I feel dizzy, and I even quite like bumping into other dodgems! They say you should never judge a book by its cover, well I think I have many secret stories you would never guess just by looking me! Morag
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Time to be Creative One of my favourite ways to spend time is by doing my art work. I like to draw and colour in as it feels very relaxing and I like to be complimented on the results. It is important to me that I get this time and I like coming to Day Opportunities because we do arts and crafts here and I am a very creative person. Another important time in my life is when I go on holiday. Anyone who knows me will be able to tell you that my favourite place is Fuerta Ventura. In fact, I am going there next week with my support workers, so this is actually a BRILLIANT time in my life right now! I am looking forward to going to see the sea again and to having drinks by the pool. Jaq
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Holiday Time I am known as a very cheerful person, so most of the time I think I enjoy my life. The very best times are when I am with my family and we are having fun, and I also like when I see my uncle. I like to watch films and some television, and just now my favourite is “The Simpsons�, and Maggie is my favourite character. I like to talk about other good times too, because I have a good memory and I especially like to tell the workers at Crossreach about my family holiday to Tunisia. I think I will be going on holiday again soon, so I think life is good right now. Laura
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Mixed Experiences I think I talk for a lot of people when I say that my experience of being a patient in Lennox Castle Hospital was not a good time in my life. However, I decided that that was a time I was not going to think about anymore because it is best to concentrate on the good times. I enjoy my life as it is right now very much. I like coming to Crossreach where I know a lot of people and have made many friends. I share my flat with Phillip, and I think we are more than flatmates now, I think we are very good friends. I love some of the simple things in life most of all, like lying back on my own couch with a cup of tea, deciding what I want to watch on television. Exciting things in my life are when I see my family and when I go to visit my friend Anne. I also love going on holiday, and have enjoyed going to Oban with Milly and the workers. The best bits were the fresh air and the scenery and the meals! Jimmy 17
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Volunteer of the Year My name is Millicent Evans, though everyone calls me Millie, and I am seventy-two years of age. I think one of my proudest achievements was being given the Crossreach Volunteer of the Year Award in 2014 for all my fundraising work for charity. I had to go through to Edinburgh to receive my award and to meet The Moderator, and I was also invited to his house to meet his family and have dinner. My year as winner is almost over now and I will be going back to Edinburgh to present the award to the 2015 winner. I thought it might be good to tell you a little bit of what I have done during this year to raise funds for charity. In December I buy presents for some of the homeless people who live in Glasgow and I hand these into the hostel . I hold coffee mornings to raise funds for Cancer Research during the year too. In May I helped with the Triathalon which involved Crossreach service users and staff taking part in swimming or walking or cycling for The National Forum. I also helped to organise a table top sale for funds for the Service Users’ Forum, I helped to set up 19
the first one ever in 2014. A Really great fun time was had by everyone who joined in the Dance-a-thon which I was part of and the money we raised here went to Comic Relief. As you can see, it has been a busy year, and although I am beginning to take life a little easier now, I think I would say that 2014 was one of the most important years in the story of my life and it shows that we can go on achieving all the way through our lives! Millie
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“It’s touching to see the response from participants. Reminding each person about what they have written reminds each person of what they have already achieved. “This group has given its members a sense of respect and confirmation of their value to it, to each other and to their communities. “This is great imaginative work and I absolutely love CrossReach – They are a great organisation to work with.” Annette Allison - Creative Writing Group Leader
CrossReach Threshold Glasgow Day Opportunities Unit 5, Building 5 - The Doge’s Templeton Business Centre, Bridgeton Glasgow G40 1DA
0141 551 9204
CR0101
www.crossreach.org.uk