I think it must have been the second Wednesday when one of the housekeeping ladies asked me how I enjoyed the holiday and hoped that I would be writing a blog as they always looked forward to it. Thanks Claire. There was now no way that I could get out of having something posted. Kate was sorry that she couldn’t help me with this blog due to prior commitments in her diary. So, this is all down to me. I just hope the censors in Bearsden (1) do not redact too much! I dictated this onto my phone as soon as I got home. I didn’t want to forget anything that happened during the holiday.
This was a great group, some of us having booked 12 months ago. Often referred to as the ‘Rusty Nailers’ from the drink of choice of some of the group. Iain wasn’t feeling too wonderful on the first Tuesday morning as he and Jim were up late on Monday night catching up on what they had been doing since September and probably had one too many! Alec had never heard of RN before let alone tried one. He was easily persuaded by Iain. He said it slipped down easily and made an inappropriate joke that had everybody falling about laughing. Ian missed Kirsty’s irrepressible personality – she’s usually in our group but was on a previous holiday.
Alec and Douglas were seated with me for meals. I knew Alec from before covid when he was a day care guest. It was amazing that Douglas knew Alec from when he lived in East Lothian. They had long conversations about their time before Alec moved up to Fort William.
I tried to emulate Jackie and went Googling in November to find out if there were any shows playing during this holiday. There was nothing to entice me to the Playhouse or the Festival Theatre, so I tried the Brunton (2 ) in Musselburgh. The Jersey Beats were doing a nationwide tour of small venues which included a gig on the Sunday in The Corn Exchange, Haddington. The reviews were good, so I emailed Leuchie’s Guest Engagement Manager, Victoria , to see if she could get me a ticket. She got back to me with the good news I had the last wheelchair space. The audience were enthusiastic, the average age must have been around 70+. They sang along with all the songs word perfect and in tune, I almost heard them above the band! It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by a capacity of 400. I was in the front row and in the interval, I engaged in my favourite pastime of people watching. I saw one person with a Zimmer, four with walking sticks and one lady supporting her mother all going to the loo. Victoria my carer for the night took great videos.
Me and Victoria front row about to watch Jersey Beats.
I showed the videos to guests. Lorraine said she had surfed the net and included the Usher Hall and not found anything that she wanted to see. She was disappointed to miss the show as that would have been just right for her.
I thought I heard a German voice in the Quiet Room. I beckoned Silvie over and asked what part of Germany she came from. She said she was from Bavaria. I said I had very fond memories of going to Lindenberg in 1966 with Steve, a good friend from school, which had a link with the Oberalschule in that town. We stayed with our pen friends, Feps and Pablo. Silvie said her brother lives in Lindenberg, his children go to the Gymnasium, which is the new name for the Oberalschule. Silvie said she would email her brother and ask whether he could trace, Feps and Pablo to see if we could link up again after all this time. It is a small town, population 12,000, which makes it more of an amazing coincidence!
The costs of running Leuchie are huge, not helped this year by the increase in Employers NI contributions. Mark is always working hard to attract potential donors and often invites them to visit and see the work that is done here. I was pleased to be alongside Jim, Ann, Lorraine and Iain to describe our conditions and how we benefit from our stays at Leuchie to a potential donor who had been shown round the building and talked to the staff.
I arrived at Leuchie with a pressure sore and asked Louise if she would look at my ROHO cushion on the wheelchair. I thought it was a bit soft and aggravating the issue. Niamh pumped the cushion up and Louise expertly ran her fingers over it and adjusted the pressure. Another one of the great services offered by Leuchie. I found a recliner in the Quiet Room which was the right size for me. I could take the pressure off, and Katie got my position right with the aid of two small bean bags. This recliner was popular, but I managed to get transferred into it in the morning before anyone else could lay claim to it. One afternoon I found Mark, the CEO, sitting on it and I had to politely ask him to move! I did feel the benefit of it, far more comfortable than being in my wheelchair all day.
The comfiest recliner in the world?
I was being transferred back to the wheelchair by Katie W and Gill. I haven’t ever laughed so much during a transfer. Katie was hilarious with her banter. The transfer was so efficient, and I was back into my wheelchair in the blink of an eye. Maybe Care Assistants should be given a short introduction to how to become a stand-up comedian during the January training break! Katie W is instantly recognisable with her green tunic … does she wear it just to upset Jim L!
I used to be good with spreadsheets when I worked as a PA. I started to set up one to record my weight and blood pressure and graph the figures to make them easy to view. When I wanted to add new data, I found I had forgotten a lot. I asked Kevan if he could help. He didn’t take long to complete the graph and now I can see that I have nothing to worry about! Great work from one of the many experts who guests can call upon.
Iain is always keen to highlight to care assistant’s things that can help the guests. He was pleased that he could point out one area for improvement on his evaluation form on outgoing Thursday. He had started a jigsaw on the table at the back of the Quiet Room and found that every morning he came back to continue working on it there was a chair or other obstacle under the table so he couldn’t get his wheelchair in. It’s great to have the opportunity to feed back like this.
Early in the year Elizabeth told me about the partnership between Leuchie and Sky. Part of the agreement is an offer for an engineer to visit guests houses to fix technical issues. Gemma from Sky came to me and sorted quite a lot of things with my phone and Ring doorbell. A very useful hour. Sky have donated a 65 inch Sky Glass tv which is now in the Quiet Room at Leuchie and was used to show the MotoView (2) In front of two MOTOmeds. It was also used for the film one evening. Kevan said he hadn’t had the training to set up voice activation, a key part of the TV. You will be able to explore this when you next go on holiday.
Katy Ku talked to all of the guests towards the end of the holiday to see if they wanted to book for 2026. A lot of us did including new guests Alec and Douglas who said it was a great group and they really enjoyed their stay. Iain asked Katy if she would contact Kirsty to see if she would rejoin the group next year.
Thanks to my support workers Sheree, Heather and Lynn who transcribed my scribbles into something worthy of being posted.
Notes
(1) Bearsden on the second floor is the office where all the senior management have their desks.
(2) The Brunton Theatre has had to be closed as it is made of RAAC. All events have been moved to other venues in the area.
People
Claire – Housekeeping; Kate – Digital Marketing ; Iain – Guest (G) ; Alec – G ; Kirsty – G ; Douglas – G ; Jackie – G# ; Victoria – Guest Engagement Manager ; Lorraine – G ; Silvie – CA ; Mark – CEO ; Jim – G ; Ann – G ; Niamph – Queen Margaret University physio student ; Louise – Physiotherapist ; Katie Ke – OT ; Katie W – CA ; Gill – SCA ; Jim L – SCA ; Kevan – Enabling Tech Co-ordinator ; Elizabeth – Head of Enabling Technology ; Katy Ku – Bookings Manager
Abbreviations
CA – Care Assistant ; SCA – Senior Care Assistant.