Centre Report July 2022

Introduction – Jacquie Winning, CEO

Unbelievably we have already passed mid-summer and I have the

pleasant task of curating our July report! There have been numerous
activities taking place in and around the Centre since our last report in
May, and I can truly say that we are back to “business as usual”.

Speaking of activities, FVSC Team look forward to welcoming you to our

Summer Fayre on Wednesday 20 July from 11am – 2pm. Our family
friendly drop-in event will feature a BBQ, fun and games, craft stalls,
wellbeing activities, an amateur radio demonstration and delicious home
baking for sale. Everyone is welcome and it’s free entry, so please save
the date and be sure to bring some warm sunny weather with you.

Following a staffing re-structure, I’m delighted to introduce our newly

formed Senior Management Team. Linda Burnett has taken up the role
of Interim Operations Manager and Sally Cameron is our new Interim
Fundraising Manager. Both Linda and Sally have produced a brief
introduction for this report to give you a flavour of what they will be
working on. We are looking forward to working together to develop our
strategy and embed our mission and values in our forward plans.

We recently commissioned experienced PR Agency, Quantum

Communications, to support our Charity with media and PR. We have
benefitted massively from this new arrangement, as Quantum were
instrumental in persuading STV and several local news agencies to
release information about our innovative Climate Comic project: Deaf
Falkirk youngsters create climate change comic book | Falkirk Herald
Quantum also encouraged MSP Mark Griffen to raise a Parliamentary
motion, which was supported by 8 other MSPs in Holyrood to
acknowledge this project: S6M-05227 | Scottish Parliament Website

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As always, you can find the most up-to-date information on our Centre
by visiting our website: www.forthvalleysensorycentre.org or by checking
our Facebook/Twitter pages, @FVSensoryCentre. We have our own
Café Tiki Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Cafe-Tiki-at-Forth-
Valley-Sensory-Centre-102575399126090

We also have FVSC LinkedIn page, You Tube, Instagram and Tik Tok
platforms: www.tiktok.com/@fvsensorycentre

If you have any suggestions for items of interest we should be sharing

on our vibrant social media platforms, please get in touch with
rowanferguson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

Linda Burnett - Interim Operations Manager Update

The last three weeks have been a fantastic introduction to the work,
services and ethos of the centre and I have been very impressed by all
the staff and their clearly evident person centred values and approach. 
The key areas that I have been working on is the direct service provision
such as Employability, Energy Redress and the Service Activities and
again I have been impressed by the commitment of staff to deliver high
quality services.  In any new role the emphasis is on building
relationships and getting to know what each of the services deliver and
the last few weeks have been about making connections and getting my
head around the project deliverables.

As part of my remit Jacquie tasked me with reviewing the centre groups

and this task is now underway by using a person centred tool called four
plus one questions to really focus on what’s working and what could be
changed and what we have learned, once complete we will have an
action plan for each group including those that are due to be started
such as the Tinnitus group that will be presented to Jacquie for approval
and sign off.

In employment we are looking at how Duncan can make relationships

with local employers directly connected to the centre and use this

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connection to offer an “ask” around employment/recruitment and
training.

In Energy Redress we are looking at ways of making more connections

with other organisations locally who are also working in the field of
Energy and Environment and about making connections to other groups
particularly within Falkirk Council. The Climate comic has been a very
successful piece of work and this has been sent to over 90 Community
Learning and Development Managers as well as Falkirk Environmental
Services:- The Place.    

I look forward to further develop the service in alignment with the

Centre’s strategy and I am excited about what can be achieved in the
future.

Sally Cameron – Interim Fundraising Manager update

I recently started working one day per week as the Interim Fundraising
Manager after retiring from seescape (previously Fife Society for the
Blind). My time at seescape will help with understanding the needs of
visually impaired people supported by FVSC.

I have worked in the Third Sector in a variety of roles with local, Scottish
and national charities over the past 35 years. I have also served on a
number of boards as a Trustee.

I am currently reviewing fundraising strategy at FVSC and looking at

processes. I am also learning about the services provided, particularly
for deaf people as I have not previously raised funds for this group of
people. I will then identify funding gaps and once this work is completed,
I will be researching suitable Trusts & Foundations to apply to.

I will also be reviewing the Centre User Fundraising volunteer group to

see how this can be supported.

I will be working closely with Jacquie and Linda to help to develop the
strategy for FVSC which will help to provide a clearer more targeted
picture for fundraising, going forward.

I am very much looking forward to working with the whole FVSC team .

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 1. Centre Groups and Activities – Linsey Stocks, Activities Co-
ordinator

As you may have noticed, many of our groups and classes have paused
for the summer, but fear not there is still much happening here at the
centre and many things coming very soon.

Our Sensory Singers have one more session lined up for the summer on
Monday 11th July, followed by a performance at Klondyke Garden
Centre, Polmont on Saturday 16th July, 12pm-2pm. We hope this will
open doors to our Singer giving more performances in coming months.
As well as performing at Klondyke, the choir will be recording their
rehersal so that it can be played by our resident DJ at the Summer
Fayre, so if you’re able to make it along keep your ears tuned for our
Sensory Singers coming soon!

Talk and Sign group, for adults who are deaf or hard of hearing, will be
continuing throughout the summer, with an exciting trip planned for
Sunday 24th July. The group heads to Pittenweem for some outdoor
swimming followed by a well-earned journey to Anstruther for some Fish
and Chips to warm us all up! We also are planning to paddle board at
Kinghorn Loch in August, so lots of action packed activities lie ahead for
the group. We have a Talk and Sign Facebook page that you can check
out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/563620681215344 for
updates. This group meets on the third Monday of the month from 7pm-
9pm.

Our newly refurbished Training Kitchen is now in place and looking

wonderful, which means that our cookery classes have made a very
welcome return! We have quite the waiting list already but if you’d be
interested in one-on-one cookery lessons with our very own DeafBlind
Cook David Black, please get in touch. David’s accredited training
sessions cover, food prep, starters, mains, and desserts over a three
week course. Training is available for anyone with sensory loss.

The most exciting event on our calander this month is the Summer
Fayre. We will have stalls furnished by our very own Knit and Natter
Group, Baking by our wonderful staff team, an information stall for both
the Centre and the Social Care Partnership, a bbq and the all-important
raffle and bottle stall. We will also have games in the garden and the
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tech hub and a variety of stalls from local makers that includes our Art
Group Tutor Val who will be selling her crafts. This should be a great day
for everyone and is a fantastic chance for everyone to come and see all
the brilliant things our centre has to offer.

Please check our website and social media for details of returning
groups and classes, these will be updated shortly. In the meantime, if
you would like any additional information on any of the groups that take
place here at the centre, please get in touch with me directly
linseystocks@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or by phoning the centre on
01324 590888.

2. Volunteering – Hannah Wilson, Volunteer Co-ordinator

Volunteer thank you week has come and gone, but we’re still just as
thankful for our Volunteers as always! Thank you to everyone who
attended and thank you again to all our amazing volunteers. The event
was a great success and it’s all because of your smiling faces and hard
work.

Rachel, our volunteer gardener, has been doing some amazing work in
our gardens recently, despite the somewhat less than stellar weather!
Her first batch of berries have been harvested and are now being used
for our smoothies and cakes in our Café Tiki. Please stop by if you’re
interested in trying out some of our Centre grown produce. Rachel has
also been cultivating some seedlings for selling at our Summer Fayre
and will be providing a bonsai care demonstration and plant stall.

Speaking of, the planning for our Summer Fayre is now in full swing! For
the past month, I have been contacting volunteers about roles they may
be interested in during the event and involving some in our preparation.
The lovely Amna and Chrislyn have been designing posters to advertise
our stalls and let’s just say, our hallways and stalls will be looking very
chic on the 20th! All of our volunteers are welcome and invited to come
along and attend the event however they would like and for however
long they would like.

We still have our internship programs throughout the summer months.

Young volunteer Rosie has been helping David and Carol in our Café as
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part of the “Career Ready” program and has been making several of the
cakes and main meals for sale. She’s doing a fantastic job and has really
blossomed into her role. We’re very grateful for her working so hard
despite being on her holidays! Please say hello when you’re in the
Centre.

Volunteer Stephen Smith has successfully completed his training

program with the Canal College and has graduated in style! We’re all so
proud of his dedication and want to give him a round of hard-earned
applause.

We are still hunting for sighted guides to support our volunteer mini bus
drivers, car drivers to support us by bringing Centre Users to and from
groups and classes, and for garden volunteers to help Rachel
throughout these (hopefully!) scorching summer months. If you are able
to help us with any of these tasks or you know anyone who would like to
volunteer with us for any other role, please get in touch with Hannah at:
hannahwilson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or by phoning the centre at
01324 590888.

3. Welcome Desk – Rowan Ferguson, Customer Engagement

Assistant

Our Tech Hub is coming along nicely and we have some new products
for Centre Users to test. Volunteer Co-ordinator Hannah and I met with
Sight and Sound Technology to try out some new accessible equipment
which we are now displaying in the Hub. The main product we thought
would help Centre Users is the all new Ruby 10! This has the usual
features of a ruby reader but can do so much more including text to
speech, taking pictures and saving previous photographs so you can
read information later.

We also have a new Echo Show available for Centre Users to try. This is
aimed at Blind and Partially Sighted individuals and can be extremely
useful. Not only does it have the same features as an Amazon
Echo/Alexa or Fire Tablet it also includes ‘show’ mode. When this mode
is activated you can then show it things like breakfast cereal, it will first
read the brand and kind of cereal it is but if you ask for more information
it can tell you all about the calorie and dietary content per serving, and
so much more. With all the accessible features it could be a good
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investment for a BPS individual. Please do come to the Tech Hub to try it
out for yourself.

We also have a new loop system installed in the Tech Hub, making it
event more accessible to all for friendly chats, meetings and equipment
demonstrations.

If you would be interested in testing out any of the new equipment or

even just coming in for a look, please give me a call on 01324590888 or
email rowanferguson@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

Our Welcome Desk fundraisers are going well… the last competition
prize was a Cocktail Hamper in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee. Entrants
had 100 cocktails to choose from to cater to all tastes and whoever
picked the winning cocktail won the hamper. The lucky winner was
Marion Rennie who attends our Knit and Natter group. Well done
Marion!

We are now trying to find our Tin Lady a name, a competition suggested
by Centre User Catherine Carmichael. Pre-pandemic we had a similar
fundraiser to name our Tin Man ‘Douglas’ so we started thinking the Tin
Lady deserves a name too. If you would like to have a go at naming the
Tin Lady then pop by our Welcome Desk, each guess costs £1 and the
winning name will be announced at our Summer Fayre (20 th July).

On a final fundraising note, we are in need of some bottle donations for

the Summer Fayre. We have an abundance of alcoholic beverages but
are looking for some alcohol free drinks and other bottles (e.g. shampoo,
conditioner, washing up liquid). All donations are welcome and as ever
we are very grateful for all the donations we receive.

4. Climate Challenge – Sara Burns, Energy Redress Co-ordinator

This June we saw our Climate Comic Launch! We had been working
with Windsor Park Primary School to create our Climate Comic that the
pupils designed. The comic included a quiz, a peanut butter and banana
bread recipe (from our very own cook David) and a comic story from the
pupils about why not littering is both good for the environment and
makes places safer for wildlife. Mark Griffin MSP – who supported the
BSL Act, 2015 - even brought a motion to Parliament to support our
Comic which we were thrilled about.

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The pupils who participated in the project were awareded the coveted
Blue Peter Green Badge. A triumph to be very proud of.
We recently found out the comic won the First News Innovative News
Project award! The children will be featured and sent a prize by this UK
wide organisation.
Those who made it along to our celebratory event last month might have
caught up with Home Energy Scotland who were on hand to offer
practical advice on how to save energy in the home. They are also on
hand to help apply for grants for any bigger energy saving measures in
the home like cavity wall insulation, double glazing or new heating
systems! Catch up with Sara if you are interested in learning anymore
about Home Energy Scotland grants.
Getting advice doesn’t need to be about retrofitting your house – even if
it’s just querying a bill or submitting a meter reading please do get in
touch if you need any accessibility support or advice! A quick reminder
that bills will go up again in October once the price cap is reviewed. It’s
easy to forget about Energy Bills in the middle of summer but it’s
important to recognise that this will be a more expensive winter for
everyone. Especially with the rising cost of food and fuel – knowing
where your money is going is getting more and more important. 
Sight Loss Ambassador Laura Cluxton and I have been on a number of
visits and we are keen that as many people learn about our projects as
possible. We have been visiting the high flats in Falkirk to talk all things
Energy Saving and Sensory Loss. We will also be basing ourselves at
the Stirling re-use hub which has a whole host of different sustainable
projects which are worth checking out. Keep updated with our social
media to know when we’ll be there and pop in to centre with any
questions or email saraburns@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or call
01324 590888!

5. Duncan McPhee, Employability Co-ordinator

I have recently undertaken a number of networking visits including:

Regular attendance at FV Chamber of Commerce network hubs to raise

awareness of the project and to encourage local employers to consider
offering employment opportunities to people with Sensory Loss.

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I also have a meeting planned with Forth Valley College Student Union
who are coming to visit the Centre to find out more about the services
we can provide for students with Sensory Loss.

Schools have now broken up for the summer and I intend to pick up on
visits to schools again in the Autumn. In the meantime, I am engaging
with the Howgate Centre and employers, including Tesco, to encourage
them to recruit people with sensory loss.

I have assisted a client with sensory loss to prepare for a job interview at
a local garden centre and we are currently awaiting the outcome of this.

If you would like to find out more about the employability project, please
don’t hesitate to get in touch with me for a chat:
duncanmcphee@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or give me a call on
01324 590888. My working days are Tue/Wed/Fri

6. Sight Loss Ambassador – Laura Cluxton

Since my last update I have been continuing to host many tours, which I
really enjoy, its lovely to see the reactions from our visitors of how
impressed they are with our wonderful centre and all it has to offer. It
was nice to have a visit from the Macular Degeneration Society from all
over the country, the ladies from RVS (Royal Volunteer Service) and the
team from Seescape in Fife who are currently moving premises and are
looking for some inspiration for their new centre, just to mention a few.
Alliance Scotland invited me along to their Conversation Café to take
part in an Informal Learning Session to talk about Assistive Technology
and my role at FVSC. Hannah and I, along with Rowan and my lovely
volunteer, Caroline Storey, delivered Sensory Awareness Training to the
Argyll Museum at Stirling Castle. In the near future I will be checking out
the accessibility of their Audio tour for visitors. I was delighted to host an
Information Stall at Tillicoultry gala to engage with people in
Clackmannanshire, it was a busy day with lots of interest in our stall.
Sara Burns and I have been teaming up to combine awareness raising
on living with Sight Loss and Energy Redress. We had our first Drop in
session to speak to residents at the High Flats near Callander Park in
Falkirk and we have another session planned in the village of Callander

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where we join forces with the RNIB Connect group. We have something
similar in the pipeline in Alloa... watch this space!

You can contact me directly to arrange a Centre Tour or ask about

outreach services. email: lauracluxton@forthvalleysensorycentre.org or
T: 07769637833

7. That’s all folks

Thanks for taking the time to read our summer update provided by our
amazing FVSC Team. I hope you enjoyed it. Please visit our website
www.forthvalleysensorycentre.org to sign up for our newsletter. We will
launch our Summer Newsletter at the start of August. Feel free to pop
into the Centre over the summer to enjoy lunch or try some of our
delicious home baking at Café Tiki. Why not have a picnic in our
Sensory Garden which is looking fantastic thanks to our dedicated
garden volunteers. Chat to any of our team, and find out what we can
offer you. If you have any questions, suggestions or requests, I would be
delighted to hear from you. Please get in touch.

Jacquie Winning CEO,

12 July 2022

e-mail: jacquiewinning@forthvalleysensorycentre.org

www.forthvalleysensorycentre.org

@FVSensoryCentre

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