Centre Report April 2024

 

Centre Report April 2024

  1. Introduction – Jacquie Winning, CEO

Welcome to our latest quarterly Centre Report, where we bring you up to date on our progress on how, with your help, we deliver our vision to create opportunities for people with sensory loss live inclusive, confident lives.

We started this year with a real sense of optimism and I’m delighted to say this proved to be well-founded.  We were absolutely thrilled to learn that we have been awarded a total of £200,000 over a three year period, thanks to the generosity of the National Lottery Community Fund. This funding will enable us to expand our organisation’s capacity to deliver much needed social activities for people living throughout the whole of Forth Valley. In order to enable us to deliver this ambitious project we are recruiting new team members including a full Time Operations Manager, full time Business Development Manager and part time Deaf Advocate.

The applications are open until the end of April, please feel free to share these with anyone you think may be interested. Links to the job roles can be found here, please click the links to find out more:

https://goodmoves.org/vacancy/a4sP1000000I1wvIAC/Deaf-Advocate

https://www.brucetaitassociates.net/vacancy/96

https://www.brucetaitassociates.net/vacancy/95

Our Centre remains busy and popular. During the period Jan – March 2024, 500 people used the Sensory Room, our groups and classes were attended 2658 times, our café was visited 2197 times and there were 908 health clinic appointments.

I wanted to share some recent customer feedback and remind you that we always welcome your feedback and we try very hard to ensure that everyone has a positive experience of our Centre and Activities. We had positive feedback over the past few months both from a range of people.

For example, one regular Centre User contacted us to say how pleased she was with the transport we arranged to help her attend our Stirling group as the 2 volunteers who picked her up were “absolutely lovely, kind and very helpful!” Activities Co-ordinator Linsey thanked the Centre User for her kind words and passed on their thanks to volunteers Duncan and Colin.

Social Security Scotland hired a room from us in February and commented on our lovely Centre and welcoming staff. They were also delighted that the venue was warm as most other venues used previously had been freezing. Our Cook, David received much praise for his soup which was also a highlight of their event. Feedback was passed on to relevant Team members and David, especially was thanked for his delicious soup.

We received some complaints due to a few teething issues with the regulation of our new heating system. One of our Teams were struggling with fluctuating heat in their office space which reached tropical highs of 30C at times. Our Welcome Desk Team, Jamie and Rowan responded quickly to address this recurring issue, flagging it immediately with the Heating Installation company who addressed the problem. We apologise for the occasional fluctuating temperatures around the Centre and ask people to inform us of any issues as soon as possible so we can work with our supplier to enable the heating system to run as effectively as possible.

Thanks to our Staff, Volunteers and Partners for helping to create such a friendly, welcoming environment which, as our attendance numbers confirm, encourage people to keep coming back.

  1. Community Fundraising – Rowan Ferguson, Community Fundraiser

Our fundraising year started off on a slightly sad note as the first round of fundraising we undertook in 2024 was our GoFundMe page, to raise funds and replace the vandalised window in Café Tiki. For all this was a sad way to start the year, our spirits were soon lifted as we managed to raise the £350 goal in just under 1 week thanks to our generous Centre Users and the local community.

Our Sensory Singers choir have already raised £118.58 this year thanks to a fabulous performance at FV Royal Hospital.

We have been busy with our regular Welcome Desk competitions. So far, we held a “Guess the Ice Cream Flavour” raffle, which raised £85, sold handmade Valentine’s Day hearts, sold over £100 worth of Easter Goodies, knitted and donated by our fabulous Knit and Natter participants. Our gorgeous decorated Handbag Raffle will be drawn on 19 April. Thank you to everyone who has donated, well done to all lucky winners and watch out for our next competition.

There has been a change in the way we receive Co-op Community Funding. Until February 2024, a donation was made by Co-op to your chosen cause depending on the amount you spent in store. With this way of raising funds, we secured over £612.95 from Membership Rewards. The Co-op Christmas Campaign added an additional £225.69. Now it no longer matters how much individuals spend but the donation is based on how many people choose FVSC as their Charity cause. We will find out the final total in November 2024, and the more people who select FVSC to be their nominated good cause, the more funding we will receive. The Community Fund doesn’t only help us, it also provides an opportunity for all Co-op Members who sign up to win £500 for themselves as well as an additional £5000 for their chosen charity. There will be 10 lucky winners of this every month! All you need to do is spend over £5 in store to be entered into the draw.

Our first fundraising event of the year was something a little bit different, we hosted an Adult Easter Party and Egg Hunt for adults with learning disabilities, many of whom are regulars in our Sensory Room. The event was a huge success. We welcomed over 30 people to our Egg Hunt with even more attending the Easter Party. We raised £543.90 and received many comments from attendees about the the need for events such as this. They were over the moon with our efforts and look forward to attending future FVSC community events.

Future events are already being planned and we have in mind the following events:

  • A Garden Party during the summer holidays with an array of different activates, a buffet and possibly some mocktails (and good weather)
  • An evening Halloween Quiz in late October
  • Our famous Winter Fayre will once again take place on the last Friday of November with stalls, crafts, food, fun and games.

 

Please feel free to speak to Rowan if you have suggestions for future community fundraising events. All ideas are valued and are a massive help to us as a small charity, trying to make an impact on the local community. Contact: rowanferguson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

In preparation for events, we would also like to remind everyone that we are always delighted to receive donations for our popular tombola and bottle stalls. Please feel free to hand these into our Welcome Desk. Thank you J

  1. Sight Loss Ambassador – Laura Cluxton

Laura has had an exceptionally busy few months meeting people to talk about living with Sight Loss, speaking at events and spreading the word about the Sensory Centre.

In January, Laura met with the Council Licencing Board to talk about Sensory Awareness in Bars/restaurants and shops selling alcohol. Following on from this meeting Laura has been invited to attend a Licencing board meeting to discuss the issues further with licencees and explore solutions to help make things easier for B/PS and D/Deaf people.

Laura provided a tour of the Centre to the new UK Senior Management Team members from RNIB. She also delivered a Sensory Awareness talk at the Speirs Centre (Library) in Alloa, attended the Community Breakfast at the Cochrane Hall in Alva and visited the Resource Centre in Sauchie to make connections and arrange to speak at their monthly meeting.

During February, Laura participated in a Scottish Government transport consultation to raise awareness of Centre User needs in the wake of plans for cycle paths. Laura also spoke at the Ladies Guild in Larbert and attended to the Urban Stirling H&S Partnership meeting to represent FVSC.

During March, Laura took part in the Digital Citizens Panel with Alliance Scotland about the digital switchover, gave a talk at the Church of the Holy Rood in Grangemouth, attended the Centre Disability sports planning group meeting and helped create a survey, provided a tour for a Social Worker and facilitated a VI Taster session at the Hive in Dollar which featured aa talk on industry in Clackmannanshire by a local historian. In addition, Laura visited Callendar House in Falkirk to advise on how to make things more accessible for blind people. She also provided a talk to a stroke group and co-presented a workshop with other FVSC colleagues at the Scottish Vision Strategy Conference. If you would like to arrange a talk or tour by Laura, please contact: lauracluxton@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

  1. Youth and Family Support Worker – Susanne Robertson

The Youth Group has enjoyed a wide range of activities including:

10 pin bowling, Innoflate, dance teacher led Dance Party, pancake making, clay craft, oobleck/gloop play, science night (lava lamps, water fireworks and dry marker art) and games.

A suggestion to improve our service was to provide more opportunity for the young people to meet up.  This has been addressed by providing some additional afternoon sessions during school holidays and in-service days.

We gained 3 new regular users across 2 families.

 

A Peer Support Group has been established for parents and carers of children who are deaf or have hearing loss.  This was established as a direct need identified by parents of the Youth Group.  We have now met 3 times and the discussions have been extremely interesting.  Each member has meaningful experience that can help one another with some of the practicalities and emotions connected with their journey.  This is a very new group and still evolving.  In-person meetings seem most beneficial, but we have also set up a Whatsapp group and closed Facebook Page as other channels of communication and support.

 

  1. Groups and Activities Co-ordinator – Linsey Stocks

In addition to the ongoing programme of 30 groups and classes, I have picked out some highlights: In Feb we delivered Cybersecurity Workshops, these went well with the potential for additional workshops in future around online banking/security.In March we started up a Sports Focus Group to determine what sporting activities might be of interest to centre users, we will run an evaluation until 22nd April to find out more, and then have a meeting with Forth Valley Disability Sports and Scottish Disability Sport to see what our next steps might be. Our Sensory Singers Choir had a successful performance at Forth Valley Royal Hospital on 25th March, where they showcased our talented, enthusiastic singers to a very appreciative audience. The Sensory Singers are open to new members, no audition required. They meet fortnightly on Mondays 10.30am-12pm, £5 per session. We are promoting of two new Centre groups, the Lego Group started on Saturday 13th April 10am-12pm, and will run monthly, £5 which includes, lots of Lego fun and refreshments. We also have a Dance Class starting on 9th May for an initial 4 week trial, 7pm-8pm, £5, led by experienced dancers Brian and Avril Muir who will teach participants Ballroom, Latin, and Popular Sequence Dancing. If you would like to find our more about any of our groups and activities, contact Linsey direct: linseystocks@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

  1. Volunteer Co-ordinator – Hannah Wilson

In January, our garden team hosted their first workshops! They taught members of our Deaf community and the pupils of Windsor Park how to make sustainable fat balls to feed our local wildlife over this cold spell and showed some of our Centre users how to make recycled plant pots and the correct way to plant different kinds of seeds. It went down a tweet!

Our garden is going from strength to strength under their loving care. Soon we will have our first set of crops this year for our café and kitchen. Their latest project is scarifying an unused patch of grass outside the Centre to turn it into a pollinator paradise of apple trees and wildflowers.

We have had a few new volunteers start recently with the Centre. These include Louisa, who is doing her Duke of Edinburgh award, Jane, who will be helping us with driving, Linda, who is helping out David with his cookery classes, and Fiona, Shannon, and Eilidh who are now part of our garden team. Please say hello if you see them in the Centre. They’re very keen to be involved and take part how they can.

Our second Royal Conservatoire event went fantastically well. The Conservatoire is very eager to continue working with us hosting these events as they’re a great opportunity for their students to practice and be involved in communities who aren’t as recognised as they should be. Please keep an eye on our social media for upcoming events.

We had an amazing training session with FEL in February covering Deaf awareness and some basic British Sign Language. We covered the essentials in the first half and for the second half our amazing Kara and John took over and taught the BSL. The group adored them so much that they’ve booked another session! We’re looking forward to hosting them again. In the first week of June, we will be hosting our Volunteer Thank You celebration. Planning is currently underway, so if you volunteer with us, please expect an invite very shortly! It’s sure to be great fun and we can’t wait to see you all there. If you would like to find our more about our volunteering opportunities contact Hannah: hannahwilson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

  1. Summary

Thanks for taking the time to read our latest report. I hope this has given you a flavour of what’s on offer from FVSC. It would be great to see you at the Centre or at one of our outreach activities across Forth Valley. Our Sensory Centre Café is open to the public, Monday to Friday 9am – 3:30pm and offers fresh home made soup, hot meals and a selection of fairtrade teas, coffees and home baking. Our Sensory garden is always open during the day when the Centre is open. We look forward to welcoming you.

If you have any questions, suggestions or requests, please get in touch.

Jacquie Winning CEO, 18 April 2024

e-mail: jacquiewinning@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

www.forthvalleysensorycentre.org @FVSensoryCentre

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