Quarriers Aberdeen City Carers Newsletter Dec 2020

Carers’ newsletter December 2020

Dear Carers,

the privilege of serving the Carers in Aberdeen City and we will work with you to build a service that is informed by you, designed by you, and meets your needs as Carers.

Quarriers is delighted to have been awarded the contract to deliver the Carers Support Service in Aberdeen. As an organisation, we provide carers’ services and support in five locations across Scotland including neighbouring Aberdeenshire. We took over the contract from Voluntary Service Aberdeen (VSA) on Monday 7 December and at the same time transferred the Carer Advisors that you will be familiar with from the previous service.

Please have a safe and happy festive break and a happy and hopeful new year.

Gervase McGrath Operations Manager

Getting in touch Quarriers Aberdeen City Carers Support Service

Our greatest challenge is that, because of the restrictions placed on us by data protection regulations (GDPR), we have not received any information about you from VSA. You should however have received a letter from them asking you to give them permission to share your contact details with Quarriers. Please sign and return this if you have not already done so. Once you have, we will then know how to contact you and your Carer Advisor will then be able to make contact.

Alternatively, you can contact us on the telephone number or email address listed opposite.

37 Albert Street Aberdeen AB25 1XU Tel: 01224 914036 Email: aberdeencarers@quarriers.org.uk

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

Finally, I wanted to give this promise to you on behalf of Quarriers; We have been given 1

Quarriers is a Registered Scottish Charity No.SC001960

Meet the team

Helen Donald Carers Contact Centre Worker

Elaine Dukes Parent Carer Advisor

Tel: 01224 914036

Tel: 07917 521852

Email: helen.donald@quarriers.org.uk

Email: elaine.dukes@quarriers.org.uk

Louisa Donaldson Carer Advisor Tel: 07917 521885 Email: louisa.donaldson@quarriers.org.uk

Yvonne Matthew Administrator Tel: 01224 914036 Email: yvonne.matthew@ quarriers.org.uk

Donna Lawie Carer Advisor Tel: 07917 521862 Email: donna.lawie@quarriers.org.uk 2

Meet the team

Arlene Malcolm Carer Advisor

Teresa Massie Carer Advisor

Tel: 07917 521871

Tel: 07917 521862

Email: arlene.malcolm@quarriers.org.uk

Email: teresa.massie@quarriers.org.uk

Useful information Our office will be closed from 1pm on Thursday 24 December until Tuesday 5 January 2021. If you require support during this time, please contact one of the services below.

If you need an urgent social care or community care service, call 03456 08 12 06.

Police Scotland Dial 101 for nonemergencies, otherwise call 999 NHS 24 Dial 111 Samaritans Dial 116 123 from any phone Breathing Space Call free on 0800 83 85 87 Grampian Hub Call 0808 196 3384 or visit www.gcah.org.uk

Hazel Reid Carer Advisor Tel: 07917 521874 Email: hazel.reid@quarriers.org.uk 3

Winter Hugs Carer blog by Alison Cram

The clocks have gone back; the last of the autumn leaves are gathering on the lawn and there’s a hint of frost in the early mornings. Yes, winter is here, and the festive season is just around the corner.

practical and useful things that sprang to mind – from thermal socks to new toiletries. Then I remembered hygge and asked for a subscription to Gardener’s World magazine instead. I love gardening so reading about gardens and planning for the spring will lift the winter gloom. On the same theme, I ordered some gardening books from the library so I can drool over beautiful pictures of flowers and trees and dream of the days when the snowdrops and crocuses will appear again.

The dark days of midwinter can be a mental health challenge for me at the best of times (and let’s face it, a pandemic isn’t the best of times) so I’ve been conscious that things could be tricky over the coming season without the usual activities and distractions.

When I was out for a walk with a friend a couple of weeks ago, we discussed the coming winter and ways of coping this year. My friend lived in Denmark for many years and talked about the Danish idea of hygge (pronounced hoo-gah). It’s all about cosiness, about creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things of life with good people. It sounded like a splendid idea. Meeting with others might be curtailed, but that still leaves room for a little cosiness and enjoying a few treats when we can. And treats don’t have to be big or expensive (which is just as well when you are living on Carers’ Allowance….).

I was on a roll. I popped into the charity shop and splashed out the princely sum of £1.50 on a 1000-piece jigsaw of a beautiful mountain landscape. And while I was in there, I spied a ball of softy fluffy wool and bought it to knit myself a cosy pair of bed socks. Yes, I know all this talk of jigsaws, knitting and bed socks is a bit Miss Marple, but I’ve got to an age where I don’t care anymore. If it works, it works.

Of course, I am not the only one who deserves a little hygge in my life. So, I have resolved to give Dad a few treats too, to make up for the lack of visitors and missing out on his precious weekly coffee morning. Homemade apple crumble and custard, one of Dad’s favourite puddings, is now on the menu tonight.

So yesterday when I came to make an afternoon cup of tea, I didn’t just chuck a teabag in my old mug as usual. I reached into the back of the cupboard and took out my Mum’s favourite china teapot. I made a pot of Earl Grey tea and drank it from one of Mum’s Sunday best china cups and saucers. As well as evoking some lovely memories of my Mum, tea really does taste better out of a china cup.

None of these things will transform life for me or for Dad. It’s not a fortnight’s respite or a holiday in the sun or a cure for dementia. But a few moments of pampering, of savouring cosy things with people I love, can help to keep the spirits up in these challenging times.

When my sister rang at the weekend, we had the inevitable, “what would you like for Christmas” conversation. There are lots of

Why not treat yourself to a little hygge this winter?

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