Summer 2019 Newsletter

It's summer already! Traditionally in Scotland you can tell summer has
started because the rain is a bit warmer but over the last few weeks
we've been able to enjoy some great weather and the Centre has a real
'feel-good' vibe about it at the moment.

We have lots of news, events and an update on activities for you in this
edition. As always, we do welcome your feedback and suggestions so if
there is anything you would like us to feature or you want to know more
about, please get in touch!

Brenda Retires!

As many will know Brenda, our long serving Groups and Activities
Coordinator has decided the time has come to spend her days sailing,
relaxing and generally getting up to no good (those of you who know
Brenda will appreciate her wicked sense of humour) and she has now
officially retired. Massive thanks from all the staff and Centre Users for
your immense contribution to the Centre. Happy retirement Brenda!
Summer BBQ Success
Centre Users, partners and staff were invited to celebrate summer this
June with a BBQ in the Sensory Garden.

The event noted the ‘soft launch’ of our Climate Challenge Fund project
with a real sustainable theme around the garden; Forth Environment
Link teamed up with Sustainable Thinking Scotland to provide wonderful,
fresh pizzas with delightful organic toppings. Award winning butchers,
Patricks of Camelon also provided amazingly tasty burgers, cooked by
Carol from our Café.

Falkirk Active Travel Hub also came along to talk about the benefits of
cycling and sustainable travel. The event was also supported by Falkirk
Delivers, John McNally MP, Morrisons Falkirk and Solicitors for Older
People Scotland.

Hopefully, with the Sensory Garden complete and the new Kitchen
garden also scheduled to be finished soon, this is the first of many more
outdoor events.
Groups and Classes Update
After our usual wee summer break, our groups and classes are all
restarting over the next few weeks. The best place to find out what our
groups have been, or will be getting up to is on our social media pages.

Look us up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for pictures and updates

on all our activities, including articles of interest and activities from other
charities like National Deaf Children's Society or our partners, such as
Action on Hearing Loss or RNIB.

Continuing Classes

Knit and Natter - This class meets every two weeks on a Monday,
12:30pm - 2pm and new members are always welcome. BSL support is
provided and the group attracts deaf, blind, partially sighted and hearing
aid wearing knitters! A £2 charge is made for refreshments and even if
you are new to knitting or haven't' held a needle for a while, there are
lots of people around the table to help you!

Stirling Knit and Natter - We are also keen to get a regular Knit and
Natter Group going in Stirling. Get in touch with us and let us know your
preferences for a day and time so we can make sure it fits around our
Centre Users.

Voices Off Café - Wednesday BSL class meeting every two weeks at
11am. If you've ever wanted to learn Sign Language but didn't know
where to start, well this is a great option. Led by Caroline our Volunteer
Coordinator and Stacy from NHS Forth Valley and assisted by several of
our Deaf Centre users, we simply ask for £1 donation for tea/coffee,
otherwise the class is free! Complete beginners welcome!

Talk & Sign Group - 3rd Mon every month, 7pm-9pm different activities
each time. This is a great fun group with BSL support and open to
anyone with any form of hearing loss. The group has trips out as well as
evenings in but there are always fun and interesting things to do.

Also continuing is our computing class, available three times a week with
instructor Tom and the reading group with Falkirk Libraries.

New Class

First off an innovative wee class, Martial Arts Style Fitness. David
Black is starting a new class on Thursday 29th August following a
successful trial. Sessions are visual impaired friendly, high energy and
lots of fun. The class uses pads and gloves to get the heart rate up but
do note, there is no actual fighting involved! If this is the sort of class that
would interest you, please let us know.

Next, we actually have an older class on a different day as David's Self-

Defence/Personal Safety Class moves to a Thursday at 11am. This is
an eight week course, open to all, and completely free. Be more
confident when out and about, learn about the law, what you can and
can't do to defend yourself as well as great techniques for escaping from
a threatening situation and disabling an attacker. New blocks throughout
the year.

Returning Groups

Lots of your old favourites are still here, don't worry!

Monday

Blind and Partially Sighted Group: Every fortnight, 10.30am to 12pm

(£2) Returns August 19th.

Voices Off Café (Evening): 6:30pm, weekly (£1.00 donation) Returns

August 19th.

Curling at The Peak: Every three weeks 3.15pm—4.15pm the minibus

leaves from the Centre at approximately 2pm. This activity will return in
September.
Lip Reading Class: every Monday, 5:30pm - 7:30pm returns
September.

Tuesday

Stirling Visually Impaired Group: 2nd Tues of every month, 11am to

1pm (£2) Returns August 13th.

Blind and Partially Sighted Reading Group with Falkirk Libraries

returns 17th September 10am -11am new members always welcome.

Wednesday

BSL OAP Group: Weekly, 12.30pm-3pm Returns July 31st.

Bo’ness Group: Last Wed of every month, 1pm to 3pm (£2) Returns
August 28th.

Art Class: Fortnightly, 1pm to 3pm (£5) Returns August 21st.

History Group: 1st Wed every month, 10am to 11.30am £2) - Outing on
4th September, Gladiators exhibition with guide Tessa Asquith-Lamb.
Maximum of 12 attendees so book quickly! Cost £5 (excluding transport)

Lip Reading Group: 1st and 3rd Wed of every Month, 10am-12am a
peer support group for people with hearing loss who want to sharpen up
their lip reading skills. Returns September.

Thursday

Braille Class: Every week, 10am to 12pm Returns August 22nd.

BPS Computing Class: Every week, 1pm to 3pm (£5) Returns August
22nd.

Friday

Walking with Braveheart: A gentle stroll around the local area with the
Braveheart team. Guided walks, lots of chat and open to all. Plus it’s
free! Meet 11:15am for an 11:30am start. Walks last up to an hour
depending on route. Please dress for the conditions. Well behaved dogs
welcome on a lead.
News and Events
Urban Eye Test Set To Launch In Falkirk

See Hear Falkirk launched Scotland’s first ‘Urban Eye Test’ in Falkirk at
1:30pm on 29th July.

Designed to encourage people to think more about eye health, The

Urban Eye Test uses special vinyl panels which bear the legend “Can
you tell the exact time on the clock?” placed at the point that a person
with average vision, or 6/6 vision, would be able to read the exact time
on a clock a set distance away.

There are two locations in Falkirk, one right here in the Sensory Garden
and another using Falkirk's famous steeple in the town centre. Local
celebrity, Barbara Bryceland was present at the launch.

The Urban Eye Test has been made possible thanks to funding from
The Scottish Government’s See Hear Strategy. Anyone using the Urban
Eye Test is encouraged to visit their optician for a NHS funded eye
exam, especially if they are not able to clearly tell the time on the clock.

The initiative is being taken forward by See Hear Falkirk partners; Falkirk
Council, NHS Forth Valley, Forth Valley Sensory Centre and RNIB
Scotland. Optometry Scotland, Falkirk Delivers and local MP, John
McNally are also supporting the Urban Eye Test.

Look out for the panels and encourage friends and family to give it a go!

Diabetic Retinopathy Window

Another addition to the Sensory Garden in the near future will be a

specially created window which replicates the condition, Diabetic
Retinopathy. Again, the aim is to encourage everyone, even if they feel
their eyesight is fine, to get a regular check with their optician.

Early diagnosis can mean treatment is much more effective and

progression of any sight loss can be delayed for longer.
Be sure to check our social media pages to find out when it has been
installed. Here's a sneak peek of the window under construction.

Two new appointments for FVSC!

Forth Valley Sensory Centre recently welcomed two new starts with
Linsey Stocks arriving as Groups and Activities Coordinator and Kirsty
Banks taking up the role of Project Manager for Climate Challenge Fund
Project; ‘Making Sense of Energy Saving’.

Linsey joins from Morrisons where she was the Community Champion
for Falkirk, working closely with a wide range of local schools and
charities. Kirsty spent over ten years with Stirling based Town Break and
has lots of experience of working with vulnerable people, including those
with sensory loss.

Groups and Activities form a key part of Forth Valley Sensory Centre’s
service to blind, partially sighted, deaf and hard of hearing people in
Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire. The Centre offers outreach
groups as well as a wide variety of classes, including; knitting, art, self-
defence, walking, curling and a conversational BSL class.
Making Sense of Energy Saving is a new project, which aims to make
information on climate change accessible to people with sensory loss. At
present, little information on how to save energy, reduce carbon output
and cut energy bills is available in accessible formats. Kirsty will be
working across Forth Valley to help people get the support they need.

Centre Manager Jacquie Winning said; “We are delighted to have

brought in two high calibre and experienced people who have so much
affinity for the needs of our Centre Users. Both these roles require great
understanding and communication. We are confident that Linsey and
Kirsty will continue to improve the level of support and assistance we
provide for people in Forth Valley of all ages who have a sensory
impairment.”

Both roles include funding from The Scottish Government’s Climate

Challenge Fund (CCF) via Greener Scotland. The CCF is a Scottish
Government grant programme, managed and administered by Keep
Scotland Beautiful. The CCF provides funding and support for
community groups to help tackle climate change by running projects that
reduce local carbon emissions.

Please make them feel welcome and feel free to speak to Kirsty or
Linsey about their new roles.
Climate Challenge Funding Secured!

We were successful in our recent bid to the Climate Challenge Fund,

securing over £100,000 for our 'Making Sense of Energy Saving' project.

Not only has this enabled the appointment of Kirsty to manage the
project but it will also see some upgrades to our Centre too.

After a competitive bid process, we have appointed local company,

Falcon Electrical, to replace all the Centre's lights with state of the art
LED units.

There are several benefits. The new lights will mean there is a
consistent light level throughout the building. Not only that, but they are
flicker free and produce a near daylight quality light. This is much better
for people with sight loss as it means there is less need for people's
useful vision (if any) to adjust and contrast levels will be higher making it
easier to spot hazards and shapes.

As part of this £14,000 upgrade, we will also see a reduction in our

energy bills and carbon footprint. We hope it will encourage Centre
Users to realise the benefits of energy efficient lighting in their own
homes and take steps to reduce their own carbon output.

Kirsty will be engaging with all our groups, and the wider sensory
community to talk about climate change, carbon reduction and energy
saving in the near future. The work has been made possible due to the
funding from The Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF)
via Greener Scotland. The CCF is a Scottish Government grant
programme, managed and administered by Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The CCF provides funding and support for community groups to help
tackle climate change by running projects that reduce local carbon
emissions.

Falkirk Doors Open Day - 14th September

An annual event which celebrates access to special places or buildings

across Scotland, Doors Open Day 2019 for Falkirk is on 14th and 15th
September.

As part of the celebrations, we will be opening up the Sensory Garden

on Saturday 14th September between 11am and 1pm. Forth Valley
Sensory Centre is the proud beneficiary of the “Adopt a Sculpture”
programme. We have a fabulous tactile sculpture called “Big Wave
Vortex”, by Tom Allan, located within our Sensory Garden.

If you haven't seen Big Wave Vortex yet, then you really should come
along and take advantage. Handcrafted in Italian marble, personally
selected from the quarry in Italy by the artist, the work is inspired by the
rolling waves of Scotland's coast.

Other Doors Open Days will be taking place across Scotland throughout
September. You can find out more on www.doorsopendays.org.uk and
watch out for the hashtag #DODSCOT on Twitter for places advertising
their own events.

Bingo Crazy - 27th September

The first of two upcoming fundraising events, the first being a Prize
Bingo Night on 27th September at Chapel Hall, St Francis Xavier’s
Church in Falkirk.

Doors open at 7pm with 'eyes down' at 7:30pm. There will be large print
bingo cards for people with sight loss and BSL support will be available
too. This is a Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) event and families are
welcome although we would ask everyone to drink responsibly.

Tea and Coffee will be available on the night. Price depends on the
number of books you wish to play but prices will be kept to a minimum.
Join us and compare Billy for a great evening of bingo.
Sculpting The Senses - 11th October

Our first official public Art Exhibition "Sculpting The Senses" starts on
Friday 11th October at the Falkirk Town Hall (upstairs area). Running
until the end of the month, the exhibition will open with a special viewing
afternoon for friends and family. After that, the exhibition will be open to
all and it will be free to look around

All items will have been created by our blind and partially sighted Art
Group under the direction of tutor Brendan Gallagher. This group meets
fortnightly on Wednesday, 1pm - 3pm and returns 21st August. Cost is
£5 and as usual, new members are always welcome.

Race Night 25th October

Last year our Race Night raised £600 for Centre groups and activities.
This year, we hope to get much more having shown it is a great, fun
format!

Family friendly, this is another BYOB event at Chapel Hall, St Francis

Xavier’s Church 7pm-9pm. There will be lots of prizes on offer and there
are opportunities to sponsor races and horses too which could lead to
bigger winnings. Speak to reception if you'd like to sponsor a race or a
horse for the evening!

Tickets will be £5 and include tea, coffee and buffet, plus a raffle ticket.
BSL support also available. Come along with family and friends for a fun
packed night out.
Charity Shop

We had our Charity Shop event in June and raised just over £1000!
thanks to everyone who donated, purchased or volunteered, including all
our Centre partners. Picture shows Abi from Blind Veterans UK, Gillian
from NHS Forth Valley and Emma from Falkirk Council all doing their bit
in store to serve customers. We also have to thank our army of
volunteers and staff from DWP and Social Security Scotland for helping
with the set up and take down of the store.

A postcard from… Orkney, with Jim

McLean
AN ORKNEY ODYSSEY

So it was off on a road trip to the above islands with my mate Billy, yup
that companion again.

Stopping at Invergordon on the way there to see the murals painted on

quite a few gable ends of buildings depicting a fire, pipe band parades,
and in the railway station departing soldiers going off to war, terrific stuff.
Then we stopped again at Helmsdale a place I’d been to before for me
to show Billy the monument to the people cleared from the inland straths
during the infamous highland clearances. Then passing another
historical place called Badbea and if I have room, I’ll tell more about this
place.

Onto Thurso where we intended to camp for the night before catching
the ferry from Scrabster across to Stromness in the morning, ah well the
best laid plans gang aft awry! There is a campsite where Billy had
stopped before but it wasn't open yet as this was early May but had a
huge expanse of grass. We spoke to a fella in a huge motorhome who
said he was looking after site for his mate and we couldn't stay there. I
looked about at nearly 200 yards of grass with no one there and asked if
we could stop for one night anyway; “no no” said the wee jobsworth. No
use in arguing, so we went round to the ferry port at Scrabster to find
that a ferry was coming in soon and was returning to Stromness that
night. HURRAH!

Twas a beautiful sunny night with the sun going down on our left when
we sailed past the Old man of Hoy and this was simply wonderful to
behold. Red cliffs with the shadow of the column being cast on them
behind, awesome views and we were very lucky to see this, so the wee
jobsworth did us a favour, ya boo sucks to him.

We found our campsite at Point of Ness and pitched up for the night,
lovely views all around, and after something to eat and a couple of beers
sleep came easily after a full but great days travelling.

In the morning we found our hostel where we were staying for the next
three nights, I am too auld to camp that long. Sylvia, mine host,
welcomed us and took along the road a wee bit to show us our place
which was brill, a house called Harbourlea that we had to ourselves
huge kitchen with all we needed, unpacked then off for our first tour.
Nothing is too much trouble for Billy when we go anywhere and we
followed signs to wherever we fancied with no particular itinerary. So in
no particular order over the next four days we visited, Skara Brae,
awesome, The Ring Of Brodgar, less so but still terrific, Brough Ness,
stunning scenic views and Scapa Flow.

The Italian Chapel. Now this place was built by Italian Prisoners Of
War's during World War Two and is simply wonderful to behold. The
locals look after it now and it still gets members of families of former
POWs visiting from Italy.

We crossed over to Hoy to see if we could get close to the Old Man, now
Billy has a niece on the main island who has holidayed on Hoy so we
went to find out where. Driving to Rackwick where an old cottage serves
as a sort of hostel, very basic, we passed a gravestone fenced off just
off the road so we stopped to check it out. The story of Betty Corrigal is
very very sad which I am not going tell here but you can find it online but
be warned.

Rackwick on Hoy is a wonderful scenic place on a sunny day that day

but it must have been bleak many times also. Right on the coast with
rolling waves coming in when we were there gave us brilliant photos.
The path to the Old Man starts there but signs warning us of dodgy
clifftop paths and a two to three hour round trip made us think better of it.

Kirkwall and a visit to St Magnus cathedral gave us another great place

to see. I love the architecture of these places and if you look carefully,
you might come across mason's marks in columns etc. from centuries
ago.

Just touring about and stopping here and there gave us a fantastic trip,
met some really nice folk with great stories. The fella who runs the
campsite and his wife run evenings in a pub with songs and storytelling
of the islands, just our luck we were leaving in the morning but if ever
there was a reason for going back!!

That’s all folks!

We hope you have enjoyed reading our news and we are always
interested to hear your views, so please get in touch with Martin Allen
martinallen@forthvalleysensorycentre.org if you have any comments or
suggestions for future editions.

Forth Valley Sensory Centre, July, 2019