Carers’ Connection

April 2023

Welcome to the April edition of Carers’ Connection, where we are getting a bit creative!

There are lots of health benefits to be gained through creative hands-on activities and a recent research paper suggested that the flow you get into when completely absorbed in something can help to increase your positive emotions and reduce anxiety.

The report also mentioned the benefits gained from repetitive activities like drawing, knitting and painting, which I know many of our carers do, and indeed several of them meet at our office on Albert Street to chat and craft together. It is suggested that this repetitive type of creative pursuit can help to flood our brains with dopamine, the feelgood chemical that helps to motivate us. For many of us, that time out also helps to calm us and, by creating something tangible, produce a feeling of achievement. These are all positives towards supporting our health and wellbeing.

We have been fortunate over the last year and a half to be able to offer carers a creative project supported by artists from Findhorn Bay Arts, covering various creative disciplines such as drawing and painting, music and movement, embroidery, collage, and book art. This project covered all three north Quarriers carers’ services and was funded through a successful application to Creative Scotland. We have now reached the end of the funding and each of the three services have organised their own carers’ art exhibitions. Our Aberdeen exhibition took place over two days in March, and we would like to thank all the incredibly talented carers who lent us their work as well as those who came to view it. For those who were unable to attend we have included some photos of our carers’ wonderful creations in this issue, which we hope you enjoy seeing.

Stay up to date with all the latest news on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ aberdeencarerssupportservice

Joanna McPherson Service Coordinator

Andrew Falconer Team Leader

Tel: 07917 521268

Email: andrew.falconer@ quarriers.org.uk

Susan Middler

Digital and Community Inclusion Worker

Tel: 07917 521886

Email: susan.middler@ quarriers.org.uk

Kyle Fitzpatrick

Senior Administrator/ Triage Worker

Tel: 07554 555027

Email: kyle.fitzpatrick@ quarriers.org.uk

Nicola Black Administrator

Tel: 07917 521879

Email: nicola.black@ quarriers.org.uk

Ann Ross Administrator

Tel: 07917 521869

Email: ann.ross@ quarriers.org.uk

Louisa Donaldson Carer Advisor

Tel: 07917 521885

Email: louisa.donaldson@ quarriers.org.uk

Elaine Dukes

Parent Carer Advisor

Tel: 07917 521852

Email: elaine.dukes@ quarriers.org.uk

Natalia Beaton

Family Wellbeing Worker (Health and Wellbeing)

Tel: 07917 052551

Email: natalia.beaton@ quarriers.org.uk

Teresa Massie Carer Advisor (Enhanced Carer Support)

Tel: 07917 521853

Email: teresa.massie@ quarriers.org.uk

Klaudia Szafran

Family Wellbeing Worker (Enhanced Carer Support)

Tel: 07796 966107

Email: klaudia.szafran@ quarriers.org.uk

Lauren Gardiner Family Wellbeing Worker (Respitality)

Tel 07917 521874

Email: lauren.gardiner@ quarriers.org.uk

Helen Summers

Family Wellbeing Worker

Tel 07917 521862

Email: helen.summers@ quarriers.org.uk

Anna Schmitt

Family Wellbeing Worker (Respitality)

Tel 07917 051489

Email: anna.schmitt@ quarriers.org.uk

Sharon Thom Family Wellbeing Worker (Triage)

Tel 07939 173970

Email: sharon.thom@ quarriers.org.uk

Kath Robertson

Family Wellbeing Worker

Tel 07531 193656

Email: kath.robertson@ quarriers.org.uk

Welcome to the team

Kath Robertson

I joined Quarriers in February 2022 as an Administrator in our Inverurie service and re-deployed to the Aberdeen Service in April this year as a Family Wellbeing Worker. I can say without any hesitation I loved my job as an Administrator and am super excited about my new role in Aberdeen. The people I work alongside are amazing individuals who sincerely care about people and are passionate about the work they do. They are all an inspiration to me. I have been welcomed into the team wholeheartedly and my hope is that I bring the same qualities and a little bit of fun and laughter too.

Most of my career had been in the oil industry until we had another downturn in 2016, which ended in my redundancy. I then found myself in a caring support role for a young man for the next five years, which I absolutely loved, until Covid hit us all and the world changed.

Caring support services have always been a great passion of mine. My husband and I set up a community group to help support those who were marginalised, alone without relatives close by, or anyone who just needed time to be able to meet others in a safe and friendly atmosphere and place. For a few years before Covid, we raised funds and held several Christmas Day lunch events in the Town Hall in Inverurie, which was a joy and privilege to host and great fun for everybody involved.

Cuppa & Catch-Up

We are starting a new drop-in group that will offer a warm space, activities such as crafts and games, helpful books, and other resources. Cuppa & Catch-Up will begin in May, taking place from 2-4pm on the second Wednesday of each month.

You are all welcome to drop in, bringing your cared-for along with you if you wish. You can use the time and space as you want. Feel free to bring along your knitting, your crossword, or just use the time to talk to the team or chat to other carers. You can stay for the whole two hours or just pop in with a question for us. We hope to see you there!

Valentine’s crafts

Love was in the air at the office on Valentine’s Day, with carers crafting lovethemed items and doing wordsearches over coffee. They said they had great fun chatting and were going to look for a Valentine to give their gifts to! Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for news of future craft sessions.

Moving On

We have a new Moving On support group, which will run monthly until August. The group is for those of you whose caring role has changed, perhaps due to the person you cared for passing away or moving into full-time care. This can be a stressful time, and the group offers an opportunity for carers in these circumstances to come together to chat with others in the same situation to gain support and advice. You will find the dates and times on pages 11-12.