Tag: banner

Celebrating Community Centres

A SPECIAL DAY AT ROYSTON WARDIEBURN

Now that the Community Centres Crisis is over -at least for now – I feel more comfortable writing about a community event I attended in Royston Wardienurn last week.

The rebuilt Royston Wardieburn Community Centre opened ten years ago, and a day of events celebrated not only that milestone but also the completion of two notable projects completed by groups based in the community centre.

The centre’s Spring Chickens group produced ‘Living Through Lockdown’, a publication that captures the highs and lows of life under lockdown – and the importance of community and companionship offered by groups like the Spring Chickens in combating loneliness and isolation through these darkest of days.

Guest speaker Elizabeth Bryan from Age Scotland spoke of the damage caused by Covid and congratulated the group on it’s fine piece of work. The Spring Chickens then presented their report to a packed audience of invited guests.

That was impressive enough, but there was more to follow.

Royston Wardieburn’s Time for Change project participants worked with other groups from across the area to create a hand-stitched quilt that beautifully illustrates the local scenes and important places in the local area.

I was delighted to be invited to say a few words before the quilt was unfurled by members of the group:

ROYSTON WARDIEBURN: THE UNVEILING OF THE QUILT

Hello everyone, I’m delighted to be here with you today at this special event. I’ve been fortunate enough to have participated in many memorable events here over the years.

Royston Wardieburn is a centre that holds many fond memories, so it gives me great pleasure to be asked along to unveil the quilt/banner – you choose! – and thank you to the management committee for inviting me.

I know plaques are unveiled, and banners can be unveiled, but quilts? Do you unveil a quilt? Unwrap a quilt, maybe. Or how about defrock, even? Now that I’ve seen it close up, I’ve settled for unfurl!

But whatever we call this ceremony, before I have the honour of performing the task – perform makes it sound like I’m going to do something really spectacular – I’d like to give you some background to this impressive piece of work and thank those who have been involved in the process.

The quilt came about as a result of a collaboration between the Time for Change history group and the Time for Change crafting group. Lifelong Learning Worker Lynn McCabe worked with the Men’s History group and they used material that was first researched by the Power to the People group when they were doing their own local history project back in in 2012. I remember that group well and it does seem like a long time ago now!

The History Group saw presentations and participated in local tours before choosing their final selection of symbols and images to represent the area’s history. One a person note I was disappointed to find that there is no place for the Jubilee Supper Room!

The women from the Time for Change crafting group then took over. They worked with other local groups and designed and stitched the symbols on to panels which were then joined together painted and decorated to create the banner. Their work was supported throughout by artist Jess Howarth.

Many of the women had never stitched before so what you will see shortly really is an amazing achievement.

As you can imagine, given the scale of this project there are many organisations and individuals to thank for their support and involvement:

  • Royston Wardieburn CC management committee who funded the Time for Change programme of activities
  • Nancie Massey Charitable Trust for funding the artist workshops, and EVOC for their contribution.

Then there are the individuals: All the local activists who have helped to preserve the area’s rich social history – and, like today, helped to create a little piece of new history, too!

Local historians including Ian Moore, John Dickson, Bill Weir and Kenneth Williams.  I would add others like Andrew Boath of the original Granton History Group, and local man George Scammell, who I’ll come on to later.

Betty McVay, Donald McDonald and the late Jenni Marrow, local activists who each gave up huge areas of their homes to house community archives.

Then there’s Jen at Screen Education Edinburgh, which many of you will still fondly remember as Pilton Video, who supported the history group by providing film achives.

And don’t forget Lynne and Lorrane, Lifelong Learning Workers here at RWCC.

And finally, Jessica Howarth, the community-based artist who put her heart and soul into creating this wonderful quilt and made it all possible.

Then there are all the groups who contributed, made and stitched and painted images and squares:

Both of the Time for Change Groups – the crafters and the history group.

Royston Wardieburn’s After School Club

Granton Youth

RW’s Spring Chickens group.

Power to the People group, and

Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden

I do apologise if I have missed anyone. Please show your appreciation for all those who have been involved in this impressive collective effort.

Now, earlier on I mentioned George Scammell, who is one of the local characters who has helped to paint the area’s rich tapestry. George’s particular skill was model boat-building.

Geeorge’s greatest creation was a huge model of the Great Michael, a colossal warship which was built in Newhaven harbour and at the time was the biggest ship in the world.

George’s hand-crafted model was mighty too – so mighty that he couldn’t get it out of the hoose when it was finally completed!

The ship finally went on display at The Peacock in Newhaven before moving on to Ocean Terminal. I would imagine that flitting was a lot easier than the first one!

Over the years George built many, many boats and I would get regular calls to go and see the latest one to get pictures for the NEN. The trouble was that there were just too many models for one wee Granton flat. There were models – finished, half-finished and barely started – on every inch of flat surface.

And where there wasn’t room for a model there was an ash-tray! The house was thick with tobacco smoke and it became really difficult to navigate your way through the boatyard obstacle course get to the latest creation.

On my last visit, the inevitable happened and there was an almighty ‘CRACK’ when I stood on something ship -shaped. “Oh, no! Which one is it, George?”

“Dinnae worry yersel’, son” he said. “That was just a spare lump of wood. I was  going to make the Titanic but you’ve saved me the bother! Ye’ve sunk her!”

Now, just before we perform The Unveiling of the Quilt – that really should be a song or a Highland Reel! – I will close by emphasising the importance of our community centres and projects like this one.

History is not just about dates on a calendar from days gone by, of battles fought long ago, of kings and queens and stately homes. WE have history too. Our communities have history – a proud history that’s more relevant to local folk than the date of the signing of the Magna Carta or the Battle of Agincourt.  

Our communities’ stories need to be told. And the Time for Change quilt is now the first entry on the next page in our very own Local History story.

Support you local community centre!

Helping hands – Hundreds of them

Powerful tribute to hospital staff

At first glance it looks like any other tribute to our NHS staff – a rainbow taking pride of place on the wall of a busy corridor.
 
But on closer inspection, it’s clear this rainbow means more than most. It is made of up more than 300 coloured hand-prints, alongside more than 300 names and a simple message – ‘These hands helped, held, healed and honoured … together we were stronger’.
 
This rainbow is a very powerful, personal tribute to every single member of the Emergency Department at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
 
Consultants, porters, nurses, domestics, even the volunteers who gave their time at the height of the crisis – they’re all there, side by side. No hierarchy, no pecking order, just one team. A family, in fact.
 
Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Department at the QEUH, along with every other area of the NHS, have been working under a level of pressure very few have ever experienced.
 
The effort they put in and the resilience they showed – keeping smiling and keeping supporting each other every day – was something that Leanne Kennedy and Karen Hughes, both Senior Charge Nurses and Emergency Nurse Practitioners in the department, wanted to make sure would never be forgotten.
 
“Myself and Karen wanted to do something to recognise the efforts that people were putting in when they came to work,” said Leanne.
 
“COVID has been the first big crisis that the department has had to deal with since the opening of the hospital and, once we’re long gone, we wanted to leave something as a permanent reminder of who they were and the amazing work they did.”
 
They knew they wanted to do something special, but the idea for the hands came from Karen’s sister.
 
“We were batting around some ideas of what we could do and I happened to mention it to my sister. She works in M&S, and she mentioned the rainbow of handprints that used to welcome people into the store. The idea came from there really.
 
“We tried to think of ways to do it, but eventually approached a sign company and asked them for help. They were happy to be involved and the company donated the sign for free, which we’ll always be grateful for.”
 
In July last year, the finished sign was put up in the corridor used by ambulance crews to bring patients into the department. Staff were thrilled, and Karen and Leanne were delighted to see their dream become reality – a special thank you to every member of the team.
 
“It’s wonderful to see everyone’s efforts recognised in this way,” Karen said. “When this crisis started we had no idea it would still be going nearly a year on. The way the team has dealt with it – the way they’re still delivering the very best care after all this time – is something I’ll always be proud of.
 
“At the beginning we all clapped every Thursday for our NHS. But even if we clapped every second, every day, I still don’t think we could do enough to say thank you to the amazing people who work here.”
 
Alan Whitelaw, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Director for Emergency Medicine at the QEUH, said: “All our staff are working extremely hard and face unprecedented pressure just now. Gestures like these, large and small, go a long way in helping raise morale and reminding us we’re all in this together.”


 Denise Wilkinson, Lead Nurse at the Emergency Department, said: “This has been a really difficult time for our staff. They have endured long days, wearing hot and sweaty PPE, yet they have kept going and even now, after all this time, they are delivering a fantastic level of care.
 
“We have a lot of fairly newly qualified staff – how they have dealt with it has been phenomenal. In fact, I don’t know how everyone in the team managed to keep going and support each other through this. I’m so proud of them all.”
 
The banner in the Emergency Department may carry the names of the hundreds of staff who work there, but Leanne wanted to pay tribute to all staff across the NHS in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and beyond, who have played such an important part throughout the pandemic.

However, she had special mention for the emergency services who work day in, day out with the Emergency Department, and whose badges also appear on the banner.
 
Helping hands – hundreds of them – a fitting tribute to just one part of the NHS that is doing so much to keep us all safe.