Centre Report July 2025
Centre Report – August 2025
Introduction– Jacquie Winning MBE, CEO
A warm welcome to the summer edition of the Centre Report where you’ll find a summary of Centre news from the last couple of months, details of current activities and an overview of what we have planned. I hope you enjoy this update and welcome your feedback.
Recent News and Events
Centre News: April–July 2025
1. 5K a Day in May Fundraiser – Target Exceeded!
Our “5K a Day in May” fundraiser was a huge success, with each participant walking, running, or cycling over 155km throughout the month—the equivalent of travelling from The Centre to Oban! We are incredibly proud of everyone who took part and helped raise vital funds for The Centre’s ongoing work. We surpassed our GoFundMe target of £2,500 before the end of the month, thanks to the generous support of our community. Every penny raised through this initiative will go directly toward supporting our services and activities. The 5K a Day group page remained active throughout May, with ongoing donations and encouragement shared during the final stretch. All-in, the initiative generated £3,502 for The Centre.
2. Falkirk FC Raffle
In June, we launched a Falkirk FC raffle featuring two exciting, signed prizes:
• A signed goalkeeper jersey from this year’s winning Falkirk FC team
• A signed, match-used Falkirk FC football
Raffle tickets were available for just £2 a strip from the Welcome Desk, and the raffle was promoted across our social media and on-site posters which helped to raise a grand total of £350. Many thanks to centre user Gordon McNeil for the donation of the football and IT Tutor Tom Paterson for the donation of the jersey.
3. Sensory Singers at Forth Valley Royal Hospital
Our Sensory Singers Choir performed at Forth Valley Royal Hospital on Monday, 2nd June. The group sang in the Atrium from 10:30am to 1pm to raise funds and awareness for The Centre. Volunteers and supporters helped collect donations and create a vibrant, engaging atmosphere on the day. The audience enjoyed the performance so much that they generously donated £164.50!
4. Volunteering Update
Since May, 3 new volunteers have joined us to support gardening, events, arts and cookery. This has taken our total number of volunteers to 63. We’re actively recruiting for more roles, including drivers and sighted guides. All volunteers are encouraged to complete their PVG updates to ensure we remain compliant under the new legal framework effective from April 2025.
5. Volunteer Thank You Celebration – Pancake Day Edition
On Friday, 6th June, we hosted our annual Volunteer Thank You celebration. Following the unavoidable cancellation of our original Pancake event, we decided to bring Pancake Day to our volunteers instead—and it turned out to be a tasty success!
Our volunteers enjoyed a fun, relaxed atmosphere filled with pancakes, laughter, and themed games. The celebration provided a lovely opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to our volunteers for their dedication, time, and energy they bring to the Centre. We couldn’t do what we do without you!
6. Blooming Marvelous Garden and Plant & Seedling Sale
Our garden and floral displays look amazing, thanks to the tireless and skilful input from Jean our volunteer “Head Gardener” and her growing band of “budding” garden enthusiasts. We have been hosting a plant and seedling sale every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning and supplies and chutneys were sold at our Summer Fayre. All plants are grown in our Kitchen Garden by our garden volunteers, with proceeds going toward garden maintenance and development.
7. Vision Zone – Sight Loss Technology Showcase
Vision Zone, facilitated by Optilec, returned to the Centre on Monday, 9th June. This popular event featured exhibitions of the latest technology, products, and information for people living with sight loss. We were joined by organisations including:
• Newsline
• Optilec
• RNIB
• Triple Tap Tech
• Orcam
• Sight and Sound Technology
• and more
The event was free to attend and offered visitors the chance to speak with representatives and explore assistive devices.
8. Summer Garden Party – A Roaring Success!
Our Garden Party took place on Friday, 18th July and brought sunshine (after a very heavy shower!), laughter, and community spirit to The Centre. Highlights included:
• A picnic-style lunch and refreshing mocktails
• Fayre-style games including the legendary Sponge Splat
• Handmade items and information stalls
• A relaxed atmosphere in our beautiful Sensory Garden
A special attraction was the giant LEGO dinosaur, part of the Camelon to Falkirk Dino Trail, which proved popular with visitors of all ages. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this fun and memorable afternoon! Thanks to your generous support the Fayre raised £1460.
9. Summer Hamper Raffle
In July we ran our Summer Hamper Raffle, and we reached out to staff and supporters for donations that fitted the summer theme. Items such as BBQ accessories or anything summer-related were welcomed. All of these generous donations were collected at the Welcome Desk. We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who generously contributed to make this raffle a success. The raffle was drawn on 25th July and raised £327.
10. Living Well With Sight Loss
We announced our first ever Living Well With Sight Loss course, taking place at the Centre on 5th and 12th August. Delivered by Sight Loss Ambassador Laura Cluxton, the course offers valuable information and advice on a range of topics including understanding benefits, maintaining independence, everyday living tips and gadgets, eye health, hobbies, and support services. Participants will be encouraged to learn from each other’s experiences and share practical tips throughout the sessions.
Centre Attendance Figures
During April, May, June and July 2025, 644 people used the Sensory Room and our groups and classes welcomed 3277 attendees. Cafe Tiki was visited 2874 times and there were 800 visitors through the door for NHS Appointments. The monthly break down of visitors is as follows:
April May June July
Groups and Classes 818 917 698 844
Sensory Room 185 148 131 180
Health Clinics* 230 181 185 204
Café Tiki 864 747 692 571
What Was On: April – July 2025
Falkirk Deaf Club participated in a public consultation in collaboration with Macmillan one-to-one service. The one-to-one service team consists of two part time Community Care Nurses and Two part time Health Care Support Workers. The one-to-one team are supported by NHS Forth Valley’s Lead Cancer Team. The group members were presented with a series of questions and were able to advise the MacMillan team of the types of adjustments that should be made to the one-to-one service, that would offer wider inclusion for Deaf BSL users and their families. For example, encouraging wider family participation in appointments and offering counselling to not only the person impacted by Cancer, but partners and children.
The Lipreading Group Class members participated in a Public Consultation in May, this time with the Team from Artlink, who have been commissioned by Falkirk Council to engage in community participation for the design of Falkirk’s new Town Hall. The consultation was centred around the senses; colours, scents and textures that evoke happiness, good memories and fun times. All feedback was captured in individual art pieces. Jill Bradshaw, the class Tutor, was also asked to engage in a recorded one-to-one session that talked specifically about a service for Deaf people who don’t use British Sign Language and instead rely on Lipreading and some residual hearing.
The Centre was delighted to welcome Jayne Brown to the role of Development Manager in May. Jayne arrived with 20 years of experience in the charity sector andis passionate about empowering clients, volunteers, and teams to reach their full potential. Her positivity has been felt throughout The Centre and in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire where she is working to expand our reach.
Laura Cluxton (Sight Loss Ambassador), Lauren Gilmour (Deaf Awareness Advisor) and Rowan Ferguson (Customer Engagement Assistant and Community Fundraiser) took part in an episode of The Extremis Publishing Podcast during which they were interview by Dr Tom Christie about their roles, The Centre and accessibility. The episode is likely to be posted online in September and we’ll be sure to promote it when it’s available.
Mondays
• Jill’s Lip-Reading Class for beginners met in the Tech Hub from 10:30am to 12:30pm.
• The Knit and Natter group gathered from 1pm to 3:30pm, with accessible patterns and free wool provided. Transport was available to attendees.
• Jill also held an afternoon Lip-Reading session in the Tech Hub from 1pm to 3pm.
• FHSCP Sensory Services Voices Off class ran in the Halls from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, taught by tutor Stephen Joyce.
Tuesdays
• Town Break charity hosted their social group sessions in Hall 3, supporting people with dementia and their families.
• Accessible IT classes took place in the IT Suite in two sessions: 1pm–3pm and 3pm–5pm, led by IT Tutor Tom, who assisted participants with devices adapted for sight and hearing loss.
Wednesdays
• Falkirk Deaf Open Club resumed their bingo sessions in the Halls from 12:30pm to 2:30pm.
• Slimming World with Jacqui McMenamy met in the Halls from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
Thursdays
• FVC Braille Class met in the Meeting Rooms from 10am to 12pm with tutor Christine. The class is full, but interested participants are encouraged to get in touch for future places.
• Volunteer-led Voices Off BSL class took place in the Tech Hub from 10:30am to 12pm, run by Val, Fiona, and Linda.
• FVC IT Class was held in the IT Suite from 1pm to 3pm, with bookings managed through Forth Valley College.
Fridays
• Braveheart Walkers meet weekly at 11:30am in the Sensory Garden for walks of varying lengths around Camelon, returning to Cafe Tiki by 12:30pm.
• IT Class held from 11am to 2pm with Tutor Tom.
• Deaf Club meet in the Halls on Friday evenings from 7pm to 10pm for dominoes and BSL practice. New members were welcomed and invited to contact the group chairman, John, for more details.
Saturday (1 per month)
• Bricks ‘n’ Pieces Lego Group run by Laura and Joe Cluxton from 10am-12noon. All welcome.
What’s New: July–August 2025
Group Updates
• NEW BSL Open Evening – Bellfield Centre, Stirling (Thursday, 24th July, 6:30pm–8:30pm)
This introductory session welcomed potential attendees to meet tutor Manjeet and learn about the structure of the course. The Level 1 BSL Class began on Thursday, 7th August at the same location. We are delighted with the level of interest in this new course.
• NEW Men’s Group – First gathering: Friday, 15th August
This new group will provide a welcoming space for men in the sensory community to connect and socialise.
Feedback
In response to feedback from the April Centre Users Group (CUG) meeting:
• CUG and Board meeting dates have been reviewed to ensure that where possible, they don’t take place in the same week.
• A guiding white line was repainted along the route from the train station to the Centre, improving accessibility for visitors.
• A note of thanks was sent to Active Forth recognising Damian from the Mariner Centre’s work with visually impaired people.
• An Etiquette Document, designed by centre users to raise awareness of sensory requirements when researchers are seeking input from people with lived experience of sensory loss was introduced alongside a record to track research requests.
• Updated Volunteer Expenses information was added to the FVSC website.
Summary
Many thanks for taking the time to read our update. Why not come and visit us soon to find out more about what we offer or take part in one of our wellbeing activities? Café Tiki opens Monday to Friday 9am–3:30pm and offers fresh home-made soup, daily specials, fairtrade teas and coffees and a wide selection of home baking. Our Sensory Garden is always open during the day when the Centre is open.
If you have any questions, suggestions or requests, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Jacquie Winning MBE CEO, August 2025
Email: jacquiewinning@forthvalleysensorycentre.org