Holiday Reviews

Our intrepid reporter Karen Morrey is here to give us the low down on her holiday on board cruise ship The Grand Princess......

I went with my mum and dad and boarded the ship at Southampton before it set sail around the mediterranean, visiting lots of different places, including Naples, Rome, Corsica and Barcelona. The cabin was an elite one and had comfy beds, two televisions and a mini bar and was a home from home. The boat was very big and there were lots of cocktail parties and things going on. It had 4 pools, 2 saunas, theatres, bars and restaurants. Corsica was my favourite day trip as it had a big market and lots of sweet stalls, all different kinds. We also saw dolphins on our last day trip, to Gibraltar. It was wonderful to see the dolphins from the boat, we got a really close view and it made me feel happy to see them.

Getting to know us....

We also had Tracy Radcliffe in our hot seat for an interview today....

AGE? 36

WHAT DAYS DO YOU COME TO THE OFS? 5 days, Monday to Friday

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SESSION? Cooking and going out into town for a drink

FAVOURITE DRINK? Coffee

FAVOURITE FOOD? Pasta

FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? England

FAVOURITE HOBBY? Playing pool, knitting nancy, singing & dancing and using my new phone

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Red

FAVOURITE MUSIC? Abba, Steps, Take That and Grease 2

Getting to know us.......

Next in the hot seat for our getting to know us spot is Mr Rae Williams......

AGE: 64

WHAT DAYS DO YOU COME TO THE OFS? Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ACTIVITY? Going out to the pub!

FAVOURITE FOOD? Fish & chips

FAVOURITE DRINK? Coca Cola & Coffee

FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? Manchester United

FAVOURITE HOBBY? Singing, music and videos

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Red

FAVORITE MUSIC? Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, The Carpenters and Buddy Holly

More swimming news

Well done yet again to our swimmer Emma Calvert who competed in the National Downs Syndrome Swimming Championship on 24th July at Reading. She took part in 100m breast stroke and 200m breast stroke (8 lengths) and got Gold medals. Also 50m breast stroke which she won silver in and she won another two silvers for the relays. Emma swam quite fast and this is one of the last major races before Taiwan - she is proving she is more than ready, with just a little more hard work on her speed needed. Well done again Emma!

My Days at Work..... by Anthony O'Sullivan

Anthony was interviewed recently about his job and here's what he had to tell us.....

WHERE DO YOU WORK? At the council offices cleaning mobility scooters

WHAT DAYS ARE YOU THERE? Tuesday & Friday

ARE THE WAGES GOOD?! Yes but I'm not telling you how much I earn!

WHAT DOES YOUR JOB INVOLVE? I clean the scooters and clean and brush the floors and paths

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR JOB? I went for an interview

DO YOU ENJOY IT? Yes I like being independent

DO YOU WORK ON YOUR OWN? Yes but there are two other staff too

IS IT HARD WORK? Yes but I enjoy it very much

Getting to know us.......

We interviewed Susan Hornby today for our celebrity style getting to know you spot, and here's what she had to tell us:

HOW OLD ARE YOU? 52

WHAT DAY CENTRES DO YOU GO TO? The Verdin Centre on Monday & Old Fire Station on Wednesday

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO THERE? Football, going for walks and pilates

FAVOURITE FOOD? Pasta but no tomatoes!

FAVOURITE DRINK? Latte

FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? Liverpool FC

FAVOURITE HOBBY? Ten Pin Bowling

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Red of course!

FAVOURITE MUSIC? Relaxing music....

At the Weekend.....

Next in the hot seat for our 'At the Weekend' spot is John Gallagher who told our interviewer Kathryn Hodkinson that he likes going to watch cricket in his free time ....

John said his favourite team is England, along with Lancashire and the last match he watched was the 20:20 between Durham and Lancashire at the Old Trafford cricket ground on 22nd June. He was very pleased that Lancashire won, and it was a good match, he really enjoyed it.

Reaseheath Certificate

Well done to David Pendlebury for gaining a Pre Entry Agricultural Animals Programme certificate from Reaseheath College.

Kathryn Hodkinson and Tracy Radcliffe interviewed him for our Blog and he said that he had enjoyed going to the college on Thursdays very much, and made lots of friends including Andrew and Jodie. He did lots of writing for his folder and worked with cows, guinea pigs, rabbits, sheep and pigs. He said he liked cleaning out the pigs and putting down fresh hay and clean straw for them, and would very much like to go back to the college in the future and visit the staff there, including Chris.

Sports Day #2

Here are some more pics from Nantwich - we have Elaine Bratt playing tennis and Pete Edwards celebrating a win. We think Pete, and some of our other OFS footballers should also have been on the World Cup team and Elaine might have done very well at Wimbledon too!

Sports Day!

On 24th June some of our service users went to the Disability Sports Awareness Day at Nantwich and here our some pictures...

They got to try lots of new sports aswell as some old favourites, and below are Chris Craven playing football. (We think he should have been in the World Cup team, we might have won!) Also Claire Brandon, playing table tennis, and Kevin Moss and Jonathon Oswell having a go at archery.

They all enjoyed their day a lot. More pics to follow on next post.....

Goody boxes for our armerd forces....

Yesterday, everyone at the Old Fire Station sent off two boxes that will be sent on to cheer up our armed forces out on the front line. One was designed for a woman, one for a man and they included things like toothpaste, deodorant, dice, dominoes, cards, pens, envelopes and paper - anything we could think of that they might like. We wish them all well, and a safe return home.

20 past 12 dance in Chester

Some of our Frodsham service service users and staff are now famous! Follow this link to You Tube where you will see them taking part in the 20 past 12 dance in Chester:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWnQmNy3sBk

Rosie Kelsey, Paula Radcliffe, Julie Lomax and Liz Rowlands can all be seen joining in - Ashley Wilson was keeping out of trouble and minding the handbags for the ladies!
The dance took place at 20 past 12 on Friday 2nd July to help raise the profile of the London 2012 Olypic games. Dances were arranged all across Cheshire, and nationally too and it looks like everyone had a lot fun.

More Swimming Success!!

Well done again to our swimmers in the gala last weekend at Sheffield National Games - all the top swimmers were there. Our team of 33 won 19 gold, 22 silver and 17 bronze medals between them and were the top team there! Peter Edwards, Kathryn Hodkinson, Emma Calvert and Sean Daniels all from the Old Fire Station did brilliantly so well done guys ......

Mamma Mia!

Hello again!

This is a bit of a late report, as we did the interview ages ago, but have only just got chance to type it up - sorry.....

Our reporters Annie and Karen interviewed Nicola Daffern about her trip out to see Mamma Mia, the Abba musical......

WHERE DID YOU SEE IT? Liverpool

WHAT DATE WAS IT? Tuesday 8th June

DID YOU LIKE IT? Yes it was fab, great fun, everyone should go and see it

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG? Dancing Queen

WHAT OTHER SONGS WERE THERE? Loads - Take a chance on me, I have a dream, Thank you for the music, Knowing me knowing you, Money money money......

WAS THE DANCING GOOD? Yes and the costumes were OK too

DID YOU GO FOR A MEAL ASWELL? No, we didn't have time as the bus took us, but we had a lovely picnic on the bus

WHO DID YOU GO WITH? My mum and Sainsburys

More next week.........

Sorry about the short Blog this week; its our staff planning day today so none of the service users are in to do the hard work...... More next week!

Independent living.....

Rosie Kelsey and Paula Radcliffe moved into their new home in Helbsy on 6th April, which was a very big step. They had a housewarming party on 29th May and friends, family and neighbours all had a good time. The ladies helped prepare a wonderful buffet which everyone enjoyed, and

Paula organised all the music including their favourite, Abba. The ladies both attend Frodsham Community Day Services. They are settling in well into their home and loving their new independence, including having their own front door keys.....