Connecting Communities
Introduction!
I have sat here for a while and wondered how I should best start this – my first blog with Sutherland Home Care – affectionately known as SHC. In fact, it is my first blog ever! I guess I should start by introducing myself! I am Krystle and I have recently been appointed the Senior Care Manager for Sutherland Homecare. I have 20 years-experience within the health and social care industry in various levels and positions. This has been within the charity sector as well as various NHS boards. I am originally from the south east of England and have been living in Glasgow for the past 13 years and finally made it to the Highlands in January of this year.
We have also appointed a new project lead – Kareen McConnach who has extensive local knowledge and a great deal of experience through Connecting Communities, which will be invaluable for me! We are both so excited and motivated for SHC to be fully launched!
We are working hard behind the scenes with some wonderful people helping us; Ann Pascoe, Mary-Anne Ross, Sarah Kerr and the many others who keep the cogs turning.
Caring for others is all I have ever known in my work life. I did have a brief paper round and worked in a beach café in my younger years however from the age of 16 – care has been it. I also have experience on a personal level. Whenever someone was sick or receiving end of life care, my phone rang. As the eldest daughter/granddaughter (especially one who worked in the care industry!) it was almost what you could call ‘your duty’.
I briefly moved ‘home’ to Kent at the very start of the pandemic to look after my 96-year-old nan. She had dementia but she was able to live independently in her own home with the help from various family members. Unfortunately, though she had a fall, and it accelerated her symptoms, and it came to a point where they were unable to provide the level of care that she needed; mainly because it involved a lot of personal care and my dad and uncle are both retired and it’s hard for a son to have to provide that more intimate care for their mum. I remember when I was little and my nan made me promise ‘don’t let the boys put me in a home, you have to look after me’. So, I kept that promise.
It was a very emotional time for me, it was a 24/7 job which as many of you know, it can be mentally and physically draining. I think I went 6 days at one point with little to no sleep and I eventually admitted defeat (which now I know wasn’t the case) and asked for help. A wonderful local caring charity sent me a carer to stay with my nan overnight so that I could get some well needed sleep. But can you guess what? I didn’t sleep a wink! I lay there wracked with guilt that a stranger was downstairs with my nan – what if she didn’t look after her the way I looked after her? I went downstairs in the morning and my nan was so peaceful. The place was tidy, and she was content. The carer was lovely, and you could see why she had been employed to do that job – she genuinely cared.
Later that day I remember sitting with my nan and she said her goodbyes to me – she knew that her journey was coming to an end. It was a beautiful day; sky was blue, and the sun was shining. I positioned her bed so that she could see the garden which she loved; you were lucky if she let you walk on her immaculately kept lawn! That night, she passed away whilst holding my hand. I learnt a lot about myself during this time and it made me question everything. This is what it is like for the family members of people who are sick or living with long complex conditions; having a stranger come into your home to look after someone who is so precious to you. This is why I always have treated my patients/service users how I would want my loved ones to be treated. And this is what I believe to be at the heart of SHC – a wonderful team of support workers who will and do have the same outlook on caring.
We cannot wait to share some more updates with you as we move further along with our SHC journey!
I shall leave you with one of my favourite quotes which I believe will resonate with many of the wonderful people who care for others, whether it be for a family member or for work.
“We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give…”
Krystle McCartney – Senior Care Manager
Professional advice for Creative Writing Group
Our online creative writing group had a treat on 5th May when they were joined by television producer and writer Kathleen Beedles who grew up in Rogart and who, in her long career in television, has variously worked as a writer, producer and Consultant, for shows such as Emmerdale, EastEnders, amongst others, plus the Chinese adaptation of Humans, as well as setting up long running shows Tanglin and Kin in Singapore.
The group were set a task ahead of the session to prepare a pitch for a second episode of a fake television series called Sutherland Heights, for which they were given character descriptions and a summary of what happened in an episode. On the day the group had to read out their pitch and were given feedback by Kathleen on their work.
At the start of the session each group member introduced themselves and shared their thoughts and experiences of writing. There was a lot of discussion about opening up with writing and concerns about what people will think of their work. Kathleen was keen to point out that there aren’t many places like the Highlands anymore so any observational work they did would be appealing to those living elsewhere. Group members were also encouraged to capture any ideas and inspiration and see these ideas through.
Although Kathleen now lives in London she was pleased to be able to spend most of the recent lockdown periods at home in Rogart and has, in recent years, realised the benefit of being in the Highlands to the creative life.
The Online Creative Writing Group began in early 2021 and has proven to be a great success. Classes are led by our Hub Project Lead Wendy Simmonds and members have given extremely positive feedback to date including ‘This is glorious. It’s so amenable and such a nice space’ and ‘Wendy has been really supportive and guided me. I would probably have given up by now otherwise. It’s a pleasure to be a part of the group.’
The group were delighted to have Kathleen join them and offer her advice. They hope to arrange an in-person meet-up with her when she is next home and restrictions on groups meeting are lifted.
The Online Writing Group takes place every Tuesday at 11am. If you are interested in joining email wendy@connectingcommunities.co.uk or call 01431 821655.
Helmsdale Dog Show goes online
Our Dog Show took place online on Saturday 24th April after a decision had been taken to cancel this year’s in-person Dog Show. Nine dogs joined their owners on Zoom to compete in classes including Best Pedigree, Best Rescue and Waggiest Tail.
The competition was judged by Lucy Rogers from Easter Ross Vets and included, for the first time a class for Best Rescue. This category was won by Jessie the Lurcher who was adopted by Stefan Teufl and Lorna Barton in Brora at the end of 2020 after her previous adoption was unsuccessful. Jessie also then went on to be awarded Best in Show. Morag Macpherson in Helmsdale rescued her Husky/German Shepherd Cross Bandit from Abu Dhabi after he was left at a boarding kennel and never collected by his owner. Bandit won the top spot in the Most Appealing Eyes class.
In addition, as the event was online local puppy owners were able to enter their young dogs which would not normally be possible in standard Dog Shows. Maisie, the 8-week-old Toy Poodle and Pomapoo Cross, owned by Tracy Collins of Golspie, was therefore able to join and won the judge’s heart, being awarded the accolade of Dog the Judge Would Most Like to Take Home.
Seven-month-old Womble the Whippet, owned by Kirsty Robertson from Thurso, scooped both the Waggiest Tail and Best Pedigree and displayed some very good behaviour while Lhasa Apso Pudsey would surely have made his owner Simone Severn of Helmsdale proud by winning the Best Lockdown Hair award.
Ruth Whitaker of Helmsdale introduced her Miniature Yorkshire Terriers, Magnus and Loki, describing them as ‘huge dogs in little dogs’ bodies’. Magnus was announced as the Best Small Dog while the award for Best Large Dog went to Max the Lurcher, owned by Wendy Simmonds, our Project Lead for the Helmsdale and Golspie Villages Hubs. Ruth’s little Loki won the Best Puppy. His great character shone through, impressing Lucy, our judge.
Sarah Kerr, Communications Manager, said of the event, ‘With us having to cancel the Helmsdale Dog Show for a second year, we really wanted to give local dog owners a bit of a treat and something to look forward to as lockdown comes to an end. We were very pleased with the turn-out and although there were significantly less dogs than we have had at the Helmsdale Dog Shows in the past, it was a manageable amount and people were able to get a chance to find out more about each other and their dogs. We’ve had some really positive feedback from those who took part and the dogs were so well-behaved on the day.’
We are back for the New Year
We go into 2021 facing tougher restrictions again, but our Dinner To Your Door, Grab ‘n Go Bags and Online Art ‘n Blether classes will continue. Find out more about these and our other areas of work in our latest newsletter below.
How COVID-19 is affecting our work
The current COVID-19 pandemic is presenting numerous challenges for us in terms of service delivery. Find out how we are managing this here.
[Updated 25th March 2021]
Full details of the challenges we have faced, the opportunities we have encountered, the work we are doing and our view for the future post-pandemic can be found here:
Connecting Communities Coronavirus Policy and Action Plan – last updated January 2021
Dementia Friendly Communities Hub and Art ‘n Blether Remobilisation Plan – last updated March 2021
We have continued to keep our Dinner To Your Door and Grab ‘n Go Bags services going as we know how important our hot and convenient meals are to so many of our customers. Thanks to grants from Foundation Scotland and The National Lottery Community Fund, we have been able to provide this service throughout the pandemic and, from 27th April 2020 extended the service to cover Dornoch and Embo. For more information see the Dinner To Your Door and Grab ‘n Go Bags pages.
On 17th March 2020 the decision was taken by our Senior Management Team to close both our Helmsdale and Golspie Village Hubs – this decision was taken in order to protect our valued Hub members at a time when they were being advised to stay indoors and not join social gatherings. Our team are continuing to stay in contact with our Hub members through online activities, helping them with shopping etc.
The same day we decided to suspend all Art ‘n Blether classes for the same reason. Our art tutor, Anne, organised some outdoor art classes following this, but with the announcements and advice from the government that followed these were also suspended. Anne has hosted some Facebook Live art sessions, which can be found on the Art ‘n Blether Facebook page. Online Art ‘n Blether began in January 2021. Please contact us if you are interested in joining future online or in-person art classes.
In November 2020 we started a Walking Group in Helmsdale. These walks were suspended in late-December due to the tightening of restrictions taking place. So far these were just short walks, but we hope to offer longer walks as well as walks in other areas of East Sutherland when restrictions are eased sufficiently.
The management team have also been busy behind the scenes in preparing for the introduction of Sutherland Home Care and the Caring for the Carer programme. More details on both of these projects will be available soon.
We apologies to anyone who has been affected by the closure of suspension of any of our services.
If you have any questions about any of our services at this time please contact us here or call us on 01431 821655.
We wish you all the best in the coming weeks and months. Stay safe and well.
The Connecting Communities Team
Art n’ Blether arrives in Brora
In January, Art ‘n Blether classes begun in Brora and we have welcomed some wonderful new and experienced artists to this increasingly popular project.
For more information about our Art ‘n Blether classes click here.
Introducing Golspie Village Hub
In October 2019, we opened the doors to Golspie Village Hub for the very first time, and it has proven to be a great success.
Golspie Village Hub takes place at the Masonic Hall on Station Road on Thursdays from 11am to 2pm with the option to stay for the full duration or pop in and out as you please. Each week we host an activity or live music and lunch is available too.
Click here to find out more about Golspie Village Hub and see what is on this month.
