blue print - Blue Triangle

Winter Edition
Issue No: 26
BLUE PRINT
Merry Christmas and
a happy Hogmanay
The Magazine of the Blue Triangle Housing Association Ltd.
3rd Floor, 100 Berkeley Street, Glasgow G3 7HU. Tel: 0141 221 8365, Email: admin@btha.org.uk
Welcome to the latest edition of Blue Print, the magazine of Blue Triangle Housing
Association Ltd. This magazine is really to showcase our service user‟s views and
activities, but it will also give information on Blue Triangle and its activities. Our
commitment to Blue Print is part of our overall commitment to service user‟s consultation
and involvement in the services they receive and part of that is getting our service users
involved in developing the content of the magazine and its editing. So what you see here
reflects real service user input.
We work across nine local authority areas from Glasgow to Argyll and Bute and we are
always looking to work with partners in the private and public sector to develop our
services and meet the needs of homeless people. So if you are reading this and you are
another charity, or a local authority, or a business in the private sector that has an interest
in donating to charity in some shape or form then get in touch!
Of course, we are all facing challenging times and sometimes we forget what we are
really here for in terms of supporting our vulnerable people to stay in an environment
which is safe and secure, giving them the right skills to live independently and make sure
that we prevent future homelessness. As Chief Executive, I am committed to ensuring
that we deliver quality services to vulnerable homeless people and to training our staff to
provide the best possible support to homeless people during these difficult economic
times. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my staff team for all the work they do
throughout the year – in particular a vote of thanks to Margo Marciniak, Project Worker,
who retired recently after nearly 19 years in our employment.
Over the last few months we have been listening to our
service users when they have been telling us what they
think about the questionnaires we ask them to fill in
during their stay with us, we have been letting them know
why fire safety is important and we have been thinking
about the services we need to develop for the future to
meet their needs. If any service users have any ideas
about the services we need to develop in the future –
then now is the time to let me know!
I hope you enjoy our magazine whether you are a service
user or someone with an interest in Blue Triangle.
Fiona Stringfellow, Chief Executive
Page 1
My Life After Blue Triangle
My name is Shanice and I moved on from Blue Triangle
Kilmarnock two years ago.
In that time my life has changed so much. I have my own
tenancy which I have managed to sustain through gate
keeping and budgeting. I also work full time as a care
assistant, and hope to go on to do nursing once I have
completed my care qualifications.
I never thought I could achieve all of this with the problems
I had in the past, and I know I could never have achieved
this without the help from Blue Triangle. They always said I
could achieve great things and now I see they were right.
I still go to see the staff from time to time to let them know
how I am getting on and would like to thank them for their
help through everything.
Shanice Greer
Well Done Alex!
I did a literacy course with the Community
Learning and Development Team at Dalmuir
Community Centre. The course lasted for about
6 months and helped me to improve my spelling
and grammar. I was asked to come up with a
joke or a story to go into their “An Apple a
Day” Book. Unfortunately they thought my joke
was too rude for the book and they displayed it
in the Clydebank library instead!
I have also been attending other literacy and
computer courses with the Community Literacy
and Development service. I received a
certificate of attendance and a certificate of
Achievement for my courses at the Hub in
Clydebank. The literacy course is finished for
the summer but starts back in September.
In the meantime I am going to Clydebank College
this week to see about another course I can
attend, and am also starting a computer course in
August.
Alex Heaney
Clydebank
Page 2
GOOD LUCK CHANTELLE
Chantelle has recently moved on from Kilmarnock Project.
She has embarked upon a catering course at Glasgow City College and is progressing really
well. In fact, she‟s keen to supply her catering services in the future for one of the Service
User Forum events!!! What‟s more, the rest of us get to sample her efforts on a regular basis her speciality appears to be baking and we are more than happy to give her feedback on her
creations.....yum!
We are all very proud of Chantelle and her achievements. We hope she will be very happy in
her new home and go on to achieve even greater things.
Below are some pictures of Chantelle‟s new flat. Xxxxx
Kilmarnock
My Thoughts
First time I came to BT I was scared. But when I settled in I thought it was brilliant because of
my pal Chris and my best pal Stephanie. Then me, Stephanie and Chris started fighting all the
time so Stephanie moved out so I felt like I had no one left but I knew I had Chris and the staff
to talk to at any time I wanted to.
Staff has been brilliant with me and they listen to you when you are feeling down, I have been
given many chances because of my fighting, demanding, swearing, shouting and everything
else. The staff have been brilliant with me but I keep kicking back in their faces I wish I could
stay here but this isn‟t the place for me but if I could turn back the time I would as this place is
brilliant.
When I do leave I will come back to see staff and I will always remember them but I know they
will miss the shouting.
Emma Curtis
Hamilton
Page 3
Lanark Project
Our Service Users have been busy this year. They have taken part in loads of activities with the
Young Persons Rural Project.
One of our staff,
which were
Elaine, did a sponsored parachute jump to raise funds
used to take everyone to Xscape in Braehead.
Elaine ready to go
As you can
see everyone had a great time.
A wee bit too high
up for me guys!!
All set for Braehead!!
All the Service Users had the opportunity to take part in our weekly Drop In night in the project
and the activities ranged from themed cookery nights to glass etching! We all had a great time
and it was loads of fun designing patterns for our own glasses and T-shirts etc. Here is some pics
of our fun nights at the Drop In!
Did you guess
this was our
Mexican Night?
Curry Night
Pizza Night
Turkish Night
Designing T-shirts
Looking good guys !!
Glass etching
Hy Caramba !!
Finished glasses
All my own design !
Prince‟s Trust came and worked with us for a Brunch Club held every
Monday between 11-1pm. Can‟t beat good food with good company!
A load of the Prince‟s Trust Service Users attended as well as all our
own Service Users in the project. Made for a tight squeeze in the
kitchen but a great time was had by all. On one of the days there were
so many of us that we felt like “sardines in a can”, but it added to the
fun!! Roll on many more of these joint projects!! The food was just as
good and we all had a great feed!
Tasty !!
Page 4
Meet Mr Gomez, he welcomed us to our Hallows Eve! If you could ignore his
looks he had plenty of nice things to eat! As you can see everyone had a
great time. There was plenty to eat and we had a fun time with the costumes.
We think we out- did Mr Gomez. What do you think?
Lanark Project
Mr Gomez
The Dr
Mr
Quickdraw
KILMARNOCK TEAM FUNDRAISING CHALLENGE
Huge thanks to the following members of staff, teams and friends of the Association for their efforts,
creativity and stamina. No amount is too small, and every penny helps us to move a step closer to
our target. Keep up the good work!!!!
FUNDRAISER
PERIOD
AMOUNT
Kilmarnock Team & Community Friends
May / June 2011
£400.00
Steve Cairns
July 2011
£165.00
Hayley Cameron
September 2011
£344.44
Page 5
Eleanor and service users
September 2011
£191.00
Hayley Cameron
November 2011
£ 30.00
Hayley Cameron
November 2011
£128.00
Natalie, Steve, Paula,
Hayley & Eleanor
November 2011
£ 475.00
SUB-TOTAL
Deductions for purchases made
£1733.44
- £ 400.00
TOTAL TO DATE
£1333.44
KILMARNOCK FUNDRAISING
Kilmarnock Project has been busy over the past few months raising some extra money to
enhance the quality of lives for the young people we support via fundraising activities. We have
set an initial amount of £5000 as our target
In addition to the funds enhancing the lives of our young people, we are also committed to joint
fundraising efforts with our night shift worker, Natalie Dick, who has volunteered to travel to
Malawi next summer to help children living in poverty. Natalie needs to raise the costs of her
flights. Natalie is very excited and motivated about her trip and her enthusiasm has rubbed off
on all of us here in East Ayrshire! We are very proud of her!
An initial amount raised in May / June was used to purchase a state of the art cooker so
allowing our young people and their Community Friends‟ to produce mouth-watering, healthy
meals. It will be put to the test next month, when we again provide our Christmas Thank You
Lunch for partner agencies. This was a great success last year, and was particularly lovely as
it was the idea of the service users to organise. Such was the excellent feedback received that
we have made the decision to make this an annual event! Our partners will therefore be waited
on by service users and served a slap up meal prepared by the young people and staff on
9.12.11 and 16.12.11.
Some of the other ventures have included sponsorship for The West Highland Way; a
sponsored fast; “Reveal the Cake”; selling unwanted items; ticket sales and a raffle.
The following people and companies kindly made donations towards our raffle and event, to
make the evening of 28.11.11 in Memory Lane a fantastic success - The Fenwick Hotel,
Kilmarnock Project, The Horizon Hotel, Kilmarnock Football Club, Steve & Linda Cairns,
The Galleon Centre, Grange Street Car Wash, The Palace Theatre, Bella Mani Salon,
Asda, Belmont Academy Pupils, Marjorie Younger, Shirley Holland and Shona
Monaghan – we appreciate every single gesture!!
We hope to be able to update you with more good news during the first quarter of 2012, with a
variety of events planned, including a Battle of the Bands Evening, where local bands have
pledged to wave their fees and donate all the ticket money to the project!!
Hayley Cameron
Project Manager
Page 6
Page 7
Thanks to Jim and his team for the paintwork,
Pearl and staff for the interior design, service users
for the choice of pictures, mirrors and all the soft
furnishings. Good job done by all.
Colin
Project Manager
Hamilton
Page 8
Thanks NEXT!!!
“Next” shops gave us a large monetary donation which we used to buy
freeview boxes for all the rooms and the satellite flats at Lanark Project.
We had enough money left to purchase a laptop for service users to use
and to buy a Wii and some games to be used on
our “Drop in Nights”.
The service users have had some really good
times in the Drop in Nights with the Wii as can be
seen from our photos.
“Next” have been very good to
us over the past two years and
we have received donations from them ranging from
ladies pyjamas; ladies boots; dresses; men's jeans to
name but a few and they are still donating into the
project!!
Everyone at Lanark can‟t thank “Next” enough. So from
all of us:
My Blue Triangle Experience
When I moved into the Hamilton BT I have had my ups and downs.
Being homeless is not easy for anyone but it‟s even harder when you have no family or support
from loved ones you can only get on with it. Even though I have lost a lot I have gained much
more friends, advice and even support for any issues I may have and believe me I do I don‟t hide
from problems I go to the staff and they drop what they are doing to listen to my crap I don‟t know
where I will be next year hell I don‟t even know where I will be tomorrow but I do know I‟ll get
better and better until I have reached my goal.
Sean Brand
Hamilton
The winners of the Service User Prize Draw are:
Findlay Lamont
Natalie Bone
Demi Campbell
Hanna Tedesse
Lanark Project
Kilmarnock Project
Lochgilphead Project
Sauchiehall Street Project
Congratulations to the winners, who will each receive a voucher for £25.
Many thanks to everyone who completed questionnaires during the July to September period.
Page 9
A big THANK YOU from Somerset Place
Thanks to all who contributed to our „Guess the teddy‟s birthday‟ competition. The draw took place
on Monday 28th November and was overseen by our own independent adjudicator, Donald
Stewart. Two people guessed the correct date of March 22 nd and their names went into a hat, with
Donald drawing the winning name. The prize hamper was won by Margaret McLaughlin and the
competition raised a total of £559 which will be used to fund activities for our service users over
the festive period. Congratulations to Margaret and thanks again for all your kind donations.
Margo Marciniak’s Retirement
Early in 1992 Margo attended an interview for a
project worker post at Kinnaird House and Ian
Batt conducted this interview then offering
Margo the post.
This was the start of a successful career with
BTHA lasting almost 20 years, over these years
Margo went on to work at Dorothy McCall
House (now Somerset place), SUSTAYN,
Helensburgh floating support, Paisley and
eventually Renfrew in February 2007.
Margo has supported hundreds of service users over the years as well as being a fantastic
colleague. During her time at Renfrew alone Margo has supported 66 service users.
It‟s been a delight to have worked with Margo over the years and she‟ll be missed by staff and
service users alike.
On behalf of BTHA I would like to wish her a long and happy retirement and in her picture you‟ll
see her being presented with a commemorative cheque from the management committed.
Jane Harvey
Renfrew Project Manager
“ I really enjoyed the years working
with BTHA and all the different
service users but am also looking
forward to my retirement and would
like to thank the management
committee for their lovely gift”.
Page 10
Glasgow Museum Of Transport
I arrived in the UK as an asylum
seeker in April 2011 after fleeing
political turmoil. Initially I was in
London but the UK Border Agency
arranged for me to be moved to
Glasgow Scotland. I had not heard
of Glasgow and was not sure what
to expect when I arrived here.
After living in a couple of different
temporary places I was moved to
Blue Triangle Housing
Association: Sauchiehall Street
Project. Since moving to the
project I have settled in Glasgow.
Support staff at the project have helped me to make sure I receive the benefits that I am
entitled to. Staff have also assisted me to apply for various college courses. The outing to the
transport museum was a fantastic way of learning about the history of Glasgow. I am looking
forward to settling in Glasgow and making it my new home.
Elizabeth.
My Big Challenge
When I first arrived in the UK I was very
worried about how I would look after
myself in a strange country. I knew it
would be a challenge. When they told me
I was moving to Scotland Glasgow I was
confused and scared as I did not know
where it was. As an asylum seeker I was
looked after by The Y.M.C.A. I lived in a
temporary shared flat. When I received
word that I had been granted permission
to stay I was excited but they also told me
I had to leave my accommodation and I
was handed an eviction notice to vacate
my flat. The Refugee Support Team got me a place at Blue Triangle Housing Association
Sauchiehall Street. The support staff have helped me with registering with a local dentist and
doctor, they have also assisted me with benefits and getting to know my new surroundings.
Hana
Page 11
Glasgow City Tuk Tuk Tours
We were picked up at 3 o‟clock at our home in Blue
Triangle Housing Association Sauchiehall Street
Project. The Tuk-Tuk is a 3 wheeled vehicle which
was good fun as the side doors were open, the
wind was coming in so it did get a bit cold
especially for the girls who are from Ethiopia and
Eritrea in West Africa.
We set off and Graham (Support Worker) got a bit
clicky with the camera. We all took some pictures
as we drove through the streets. We learned a lot
about Glasgow from the driver who narrated as we
drove, even me and Graham that are from
Glasgow learned some interesting facts about our city.
Hana and Genet were amazed to see men in kilts as they thought that they were skirts. There
were many men in full highland dress as it was the world pipe band competition in Glasgow
Green.
Ryan
Halloween
It was a great party, enjoyed by all
and as you can see some of us
looked better with our faces
covered!
Annie Thomson
Housing Support
Renfrew
Page 12
MEET RUDOLPH
Lanark’s Puppy!!
AAhh! Isn’t he cute?
Rudolph was donated to us by Elaine one of our Housing Assistants. Many thanks‟ Elaine!!
He is one of the trainee guide dog puppies and if he passes each of his training assessments we will
have him for the next two years.
Watch this space for updates!!
Down
1. The first visitor of the New Year arrives bearing gifts (5,7)
2. A traditional gift brought by the above (4)
3. A traditional poem which is sung at Hogmanay (4,4,4)
5. It is fired in Edinburgh at the stroke of midnight (6)
Win a £10
voucher
Across
4. A country which begins celebrating New Year 11 hours before Scotland (9)
6. A U.S. state which celebrates New Year 10 hours after Scotland (6)
7. Another annual event which is celebrated with fireworks (7,5)
Please send your entries to: The Blue Print Team, Blue Triangle Housing Association,
150 Holland Street, Glasgow G2 4NG
Page 17
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Page 14
Smoked Ham Pasta
recipe donated by the Renfrew project from their own Easy Meals cookbook
Ingredients
400g tub of cooked smoked ham
1 small onion
1 red & 1 green pepper
10 cherry tomatoes
1 jar of mayonnaise
1 bag of pasta twists
Salt & pepper to taste
Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Cook pasta and allow to go cold
Chop onion, peppers & smoked ham
Cut in half the cherry tomatoes
Put all ingredients into a large bowl and mix in jar of mayonnaise
Allow to chill in the fridge for an hour
Serve with crusty bread