Sporting Success!

We've had lots of people from the Old Fire Station winnning medals recently- here are just some of them...

Emma Calvert is pictured here with Sue Wilkinson, her keyworker with just some of her recent medals. She got 3 gold medals at the Winsford swimming gala on the 2nd of April, for 200m, 100m and 25m breast stroke.

And at the swimming gala in Sunderland she did really well too - gold in 100m breast stroke, gold in the medal relay and in the freestyle relay, silver in the 200m breast stroke and in the 50m freestyle.

Sean Daniels did well too with 5 medals in backstroke, freestyle and men's relay. The Penguins swimming club that Emma and Sean both belong to won all the relays - what a team!

Emma also proved she's a good all rounder at all sports as she won 3 silver medals at table tennis at Crewe - for individual, double and mixed double. Pete Edwards, Kathryn Hodkinson and Sean Daniels all did well there too, thanks to Ann Calvert for the news.

Jodie Bowyer is pictured here with 6 medals as well! 3 are for table tennis at Crewe Leisure Centre on 16th & 17th April. She got 1 silver for singles, and 2 bronzes for ladies doubles and mixed doubles. Jodie said it was the first time she'd ever played - she thought she was going to watch when she went with Ann Calvert and her group, including Emma and Sean. She ended up playing and really enjoyed it though she said it was frustrating when she couldn't hit the ball properly! Her other 3 medals are 2 gold and 1 silver for swimming in the Winsford gala. The golds were for 25m and 50 m freestyle and the silver was for 50m backstroke. Jodie says: "I love swimming, that's were I met my fiance Richard. Its a stress reliever too for me and calms me down and it helps me get over things. I take my mood out on the water and I feel a lot better after. I go faster when I'm in a mood!"

Belated News - Charity Collections

We're a bit late posting this news but better late than never!

On 18th March which was Red Nose Day, Tim Hughes from Firdale helped raise money when he busked in Morthwich outside Quality Save . Local Band the Weavils are old friends of Tim's and were delighted to see him in the audience. They invited Tim to play percussion with them for a couple of numbers. Tim was keen to do so and was able to showcase his natural sense of rhythm. The crowds in town showed their appreciation and a total of £342.22 was raised. The Weavils often appear at Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival More information on them can be found at www.weavils.com. If you get the chance to hear them play, don't miss it! Thanks to Maureen from Firdale for the news.

Also on 18th March Karen Morrey, Sarah Clarke and Patsy Scott from the Old Fire Station went out with collecting boxes and very fetching daffodil costumes to collect for Marie Curie cancer care. They stood outside H Samuels jewellers and collected two full boxes from generous passers by. Karen says: "it was a lovely sunny day and it was nice to help the charity. We might do it again too, I'd like to."

http://www.btinternet.com/~sarah.j.mckenzie/weavils/weavils-about-us.htm

Cinema Success!

Today was the first Big Screen Tuesday at Weaverham Community Centre Cinema, arranged by Gill from Firdale. There was a grand turn out of over 20 from Dane Walk, Firdale and the Old Fire Station and we all had a fantastic time - thanks Gill!

The film today was Toy Story3 and here's what our guys had to say:

Annie says: "it was a nice film actually, I liked the bit where they put the toys in the box!"

Phillip says: "It was alright, it was nice relaxing watching a film."

Pete says: "it was good watching the film, my favourite bit was when they escaped."

Kurt says: "I liked the escape too, it was good."

Sue says: "I give it 9 out of 10, it was good."

Ricky says: "I give it 10 out of 10, I enjoyed it."

Ian says: "I really enjoyed the film, the best bit was where all the toys fell into the crusher."

Derek says: "It was good today, I liked the bit when they all got in the box."

Kevin says: "I've not been in the community centre before, I've only walked past, I liked it."

Karen says: "Today was alright. My favourite film to see would be Dracula!"

Next week's film is Madagascar - arrive at 10.30 for a 10.45 showing if you want to enjoy the film, you can even take a packed lunch for after too. Hope to see you there...

Phillip's news

Phillip Nield says:

"I've been to the gym today, we walked all the way there and back aswell, and I went on the treadmill. I've also had my hair cut yesterday and I've been to town to McDonalds and had a coke. "

Nice nails!

Our beauty group all have glam nails ready for the Valentine's day disco. We went to Anita's nail salon this afternoon and Anita and Carol gave Annie, Kathryn, Suzy, Patsy and Tracy all a lovely manicure and this is the result!

If I won the lottery.....

David Kelsey comes to the Old Fire Station on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and this is what he says he'd do if he won the lottery:

"I'd paint the swing bridge in Frodsham as its always rusty! I'd paint it white as its nice."

Rae's post

Yesterday I went to see The Kings Speech which was around 1925, 1934 and 1939. It was about the queens father who wanted to learn how to speak properly. He had a man learning him, and the man had a wife and two daughters, australian. Colin Firth was the King and Mrs Simpson and also George V who died in 1935 was in it, and Queen Mary too and Churchill. My favourite bit was the bit where the were all on the balcony waving and he spoke to the nation. He was there with his wife and two daughters Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. I was quiet for a full hour and I enjoyed it, I'd give it 10 out of 10!

Even more news!

We didn't all fit onto one post today!

So next up is Annie Hodkinson, who is also having a week off tai chi for a change!

"I went out last Friday to the pictures at Crewe with Mary and Neil and Sarah and Elaine. Elaine said it was brilliant. We saw the Kings Speech, it was funny. The best bit was where someone shot the man, it was really funny. We went out for tea before we went and I had steak and drinking chocolate in a cafe, it was nice. Drinking chocolate is my favourite. On Friday afternoon we went to Viva and I had some there too. "

Anthony Hodkinson is pictured with Annie above.

"I walked my dogs at the weekend - a black and white collie and a labrador called Ben. At breakfast in the morning collie climbed on the table and ate my breakfast! Our Ben is a good lad, he didn't eat my breakfast, he is a nice dog, he licked me and gave me his paw. "

Heather Priestner has also joined us for a minute:

"I'v been feeling a bit sick, I've not been well but I'm feeling better now. I've stayed in bed and rested. I went out with my sister Susan too, to have my hair cut, it feels nice."

Next up is Jamie Walker:

When we took photos this morning, Jamie's photo was labelled 007 - which as Jamie is super cool, just like James Bond, was a lucky chance! Jamie said:"Oh yeah".Jamie played table tennis last week and was a gent and let the ladies win. He said he enjoyed it. Each Tuesday the group alternates tabole tennis and aquafit and Jamie enjoys table tennis most! He's definetely got the moves at aquafit though! We asked Jamie if he was looking forward to Dr Who coming back - "oh yes!" Would you make a good Doctor Who Jamie? "Yes!"

Lots of news today!

Good morning from the Old Fire Station! We've got a very big blog group today as the tai chi group have joined us as there's no tai chi at the memorial hall. So we'd better get started with all our news....

First up is Derek Powell:

"I went to Warrington yesterday for a day out, looking around the shops with my sister. We got some bargains from the charity shops. We had lunch at the market cafe - cheese burger and coffee. It was really nice - 10 out of 10! The market is quite big, its all been changed around and its much better now - I'd recommend it for a day out. There's a new arcade, its all nice and new. On TV I watched Harry Hill on Saturday and the funniest bit was when he was fighting with some women."

Next is Mr Barry Williams:

"I looked on the Royal Mail website today but there were no pictures of lorries on it but we found some on the Big Lorry Blog. I'm getting a new truck soon, a Foden one. I've been to Sandbach market twice recently but didn't find any bargains. We went to the fish and chip shop for lunch and had pie and chips, peas and gravy which was nice. My favourite place to go on the bus is Sandbach, and Crewe too. I missed ice road truckers the last couple of weeks as someone had eastenders on, I'm going to try and catch it Friday."

Next up is Sue Taylor:

"I've had a new haircut this week."

The rest of the Blog group say:"its very very nice, its very smart, its lovely" so thumbs up to Sue for your new look!

Sue said she's looking forward to Tai Chi again next week. She showed us some of her tai chi moves with Pete and Annie at Wilf's Drop in last Thursday where Anne Marie cooked sweet and sour chicken and rice and we had a quiz about the Chinese New Year. Paul told us how to say Happy New Year in Chinese too. Sue said "It was fun."

richard's post

I enjoyed aquafit this week especially when we did the twist!!

i'm looking forward to going out on the bus again with Margaret tomorrow

All our news from the Old Fire Station today...

Today, we've got Tracy Radcliffe in with us aswell, so Tracy's up first....

Tracy said: "I went shopping in Winsford last Saturday - I bought a new DS game - the Mario Brothers - its really good but my favourite is Sonic the hedgehog. I've been busy at home all week, doing cleaning, and I cooked tomato soup for Gemma as she was ill. I like cooking, I help out at Wilf's drop in on Thursdays and take everyone's dinners out to them.

Rae Williams says: "Yesterday I went to Warrington and had lunch in a cafe and had beans on toast and met another man called Ray! I bought myself a newspaper and we went into the pub near the bus station for a cup of coffee which was nice. We looked in lots of different shops, I like Warrington, its nice to visit, and my niece lives there."

Barry Williams says: "My new favourite truck company is James. C.C. Ferguson. I have one of their model trucks, I like the colours which are a black cab with a white roof, red chassis and wheel hubs and blue curtain sides. They have pctuires of Highland cattle and bagpipers on the cab sides near the door. I went to Sandbach market last week which was really good, we had lunch down the road and had lunch at the chip shop which I'd recommend. I had pie, chips and gravy and it was lovely."

Derek Powell says: "I went to Tabley near Knutsford at the weekend, to look around the shops. There were lots of charity shops and we found some bargains. There were lots of different shops and its well worth a visit, its nice to try somewhere different for a change. We called at The Smoker pub for a coffee- it was a nice place, I'd go again. We bought some pasties from the cake shop for our lunch - they were lovely! "

Cheshire FM Visit and meeting the Cheshire cat!

Last week instead of our usual Blog session we invited some of our friends from Firdale over so we could interview them about their visit the week before to Cheshire FM radio in Winsford.

Staff Hayley Cove and Joan Taylor came over with Amy Bamford, Claire Wilson, Joanne Moore, Tracy Mason, Tim Hughes, Christopher Brown, Wendy Angles and Lorna Edwards and we made them welcome so they could tell us all about it.

Karen Morrey very helpfully took all the notes and worked very hard whilst the Blog group asked lots of questions, and this is what we found out:

The Firdale group hired the Freedom mini bus and Paul Watson drove them all over. They arrived at the Verdin Exchange where they were met by the lovely man in charge, Mike Worthington. They were shown around and said the building was great, and nice and warm too as it was a cold day! They went up in the lift to the Radio Station and were introduced to lots of nice people, including Big Al, the famous DJ! He mentioned them live on air and dedicated a Boyzone song to Firdale as well. They were shown the computers that control all the records being played, and everything else and how some things were taped in advance so even if someone needed the loo they could nip out and not leave the radio silent!

Then, a special guest came in to see them - it was the Cheshire FM mascot, the Cheshire Cat! He was very tall, nearly as tall as our Rae Williams, but not quite! He was too tired to go for a drink with them, so he went home to bed, but back downstairs, in the cafe, Mike bought everyone elsea drink.

Everyone told us what their favourite thing was about the visit: Hayley loved seeing everyone's faces when the Cheshire Cat came through the door and Joan loved looking around the studio and seeing how it was all done. Tracy and Claire's favourite was the Cheshire cat, Amy really enjoyed being out together as a group, Chris anad Wendy and Jo loved the music and Jo was dancing too, and Tim really enjoyed speaking to the DJ about how everything worked and said he really knew his stuff! Lorna liked being out and about.

All in all, everyone said they had a lovely day, and we really enjopyed hearing about it too, thanks guys.

Just a quick one today!

We're not doing our usual big blog today as we have some special guests from Firdale come to tell us all about their visit last week to Cheshire FM Radio! So watch this space next week for a full report!

Bye for now from us all at the Blog group, plus, Christopher, Jo, Tim, Wendy, Claire, Amy, Tracy, Lorna, Hayley and Joan from Firdale

More Christmassy Stuff!

Annie Hodkinson also joined our Blog group today as the snow meant lots of trips out couldn't go ahead as it was too slippy.

Annie said she had a lovely traditional Christmas dinner at the Memorial Hall, soup, turket and Christmas pudding and she really enjoyed it and would recommend it. She says people should be very careful because of the snow.

Below are more pictures of our 1940's party including Sue in her navy costume with a runners up certificate for losing at football all year. Sarah Clarke won the prize raffle and is pictured with our very own Mrs Santa Claus Margaret Wetherspoon!

And a bit more from us.....

Our roving reporters Karen Morrey and Tracy Radcliffe have been interviewing people in the Old Fire Station today to see what they've been upto and what they like and here's what they all said:

Elaine Bratt has been enjoying joining in and getting out and about with her friends form the Old Fire Station, aswell as keeping up with Coronation Street!

Charlie Royle has been enjoying playing football with John on Fridays, going out into town with Phillip and John on Fridays, and watching Manchester United too.

John Clapham has been enjoying watching films on Sky and watching Manchester play football.

Lisa Hoyle likes the Old Fire Station, Rae Williams, watching Coronation Street and Holby City on Wednesdays and going out with Margaret and Sue.

Phillip Nield has been enjoying going out to town with his friends, and to the gym and has been very healthy! He's also been helping clear up this lunchtime so he's been brilliant!

And the ladies themselves - Karen likes knitting and Manchester United and Tracy likes her knitting nancy, watching Coronation Street, going out into town and listening to music...

More next week

Bye for now

The Blog Team

More recommendations.....

Barry Williams is up next and this week his news is that his Jack Richards visit has been rearranged to the 4th December which he's very excited about - he's looking forward to sitting in one of their trucks very much. And he also sends best wishes to Carol who has a bad back, and we all hope she feels better soon.

Rae Williams has been to Chester again and had jacket potato and beans for his lunch - very healthy! And he got a Bert Weedon cd - he is a guitarist from the 50s 60s and 70s and Rae says its like the Shadows - very soothing, not too noisy so give it a try if you fancy something new.

Derek Powell has been out and about to the Christmas Fair at Castle last Saturday at the church. He won a bottle of wine in the raffle, and had a good wander round. We've been busy trying to make up some quiz questions for Wilf's drop in tomorrow anfd we worked out whilst doing it that its only 38 days till Christmas now so we'll all need to get thinking about Christmas shopping!

Ricky Foster would like to thank the staff at kimberley house for lovely fish and chips last night!!!

Patsy Scott and Charlie Royle have both been on holiday last weekend with Holidays with Help to Pontins and had a lovely time. Patsy enjoyed singing to Rule Britannia and Charlie Royle enjoyed having a pint!

Jackie Goldstraw, who is a support worker would like to thank Ricky for doing some of the typing this week, which is is getting very fast at, and is trying her best to do some new clocking in cards for everyone, so bear with me! And I've also been on a steam train back in Staffordshire, which was very exciting!

Nicky Turnbull is a senior and is looking forward to all of us from the Old Fire Station going out for Christmas lunch at the Memorial Hall in December - watch this space!

Denise Hewitt who is a support worker is waiting for her invite to the Royal Wedding next year!

More next week!

This week - we recommend......

This week, we're shortstaffed at the Old Fire Station, so we've got lots of guest contributors to tell us what they've been upto....

Tracy Radcliffe has been to Grozone this week and was cutting the salad crops and tidying up the beds and did a really good job. She thinks people should give it a go as they'd really enjoy it.....

Chris Bebbington, who is a support worker also enjoyed this this weekend, and they all met Mark Radcliffe, Radio 2 DJ , who was there too. And they'll also be on TV on Wednesday 24th on the People's Millions slot on ITV Granada Evening News - make sure you all watch it, and vote for the funding for the project as its very worthwhile!

Jane Cook has been keeping up with the news and says the big celebrity news this week is about Prince William marrying Kate Middleton - she says watch the news next year for baby news from them too!

Denise Garner who is the manager at the Old Fire Station recommended visiting the Blitz Museum in Telfords - she says they change all your money into old victorian coins, and you get to go shopping there in old money!

Dean Lord says he's been to the dentist, and would NOT recommend this! But he's getting sorted out so its all OK really!

More in a minute!

This week - we recommend.......

Hello again!


We had a week off last week as we had Irene Threlfall come in from Holidays with Help and she showed us lots of fabulous pictures and answered all our questions too - so we'll write that up for our next newsletter. We just sent out a newsletter covering what we were upto in September and October, so if anyone wants a copy let us know at the Old Fire Station!


Anyway, this week, here's what the Blog team have been up to and want to share with everyone.....

Barry Williams, (pictured 4th from left) enjoyed his trip to Winsford last week on the bus. It was an Arriva bus, and the driver was lovely. They went to the fish and chip place in the shopping precinct for lunch, which Barry said was very nice! They went in Asda too and Barry bought a bendy bus which he's very pleased with and has pride of place at home. His visit to Jack Richard's lorry yard is going to be a week on Saturday so watch this space after that for a special report....

Derek Powell (pictured 3rd from left) very much enjoyed lunch at the Dingle Centre last week. Its on the main road in Winsford and serves lunches Tuesday to Fridays at 12pm. It's open to people who are 50 and over, or other groups by arrangement and every week on Tuesdays, a group from the Old Vic goes and joins in. Derek said its a nice place, and we get a nice meal - one week we had a lovely macaroni cheese pie, and jam sponge for dessert. Its very good value too, under £2 and you get a cup of tea. They are lovely people there and always make us feel welcome, so give it a try!

Ricky Foster (pictured far left) had a good time at the Old Fire Station last Friday at our special Halloween Buffet. He enjoyed the hot dog and fries, and Sue Wilkinson's lovely parkin cake. We decorated everywhere with scary spiderwebs and Halloween ghosts and witches and all our friends from Frodsham came over too so it was very nosiy but good fun. Lots of people dressed up as witches, wizards and scary monsters and prizes were given out. There was apple bobbing and lots of Halloween balloons too and after lunch a balloon fight broke out which our Ricky had good fun with. He never stopped smiling and gave as good as he got!

In the evening, Dane Walk organised a Halloween Ball at Castle Private, so all the decorations got sent up there. The balloons didn't last that long though as they all got popped by Paul! Barry and Rae both went aswell as lots of other people. Barry had a scary Frankenstein mask on, and black hair, and Rae was Count Dracula too. Rae won some aftershave in the raffle, and Barry enjoyed a tipple or two!

Rae Williams (pictured far right) went to Chester yesterday with his companion and went to a lovely cafe in the market for lunch, and had a very healthy baked potato and beans. He bought a Merseybeat CD which he said is good, he would recommend it. He would also recommend Chester market which is where he got it from, as it was very good value.

And lastly, Jackie (pictured 2nd from right, at the back) would recommend aquafit for keeping fit. Yesterday I did the deep end class and am very very tired today!

More next week, Bye for now from The Blog Team

Out and about - The Old Vic reports

Have you tried....?

A group from the Old Fire Station now meets regularly up at the Old Vic on Castle and they've been getting out and about on Thursdays and are going to let us know what they think about different places to visit.

This report is about The Book Shop (formerely a Little Chef) situated on the A556. It is easily accessible using the number 82 service bus, which drops you right outside! The return bus stop is directly opposite but please take care crossing the road.
The shop has a good selection of books and cds (Barry would like to go soon as it has a transport section!) and it also has disabled toilet facilities.
There is free tea or coffee (Ricky recommends the coffee!) and it can be enjoyed in the small indoor seating area or outside, weather permitting. Why not take your sarnies...

The Old Vic rating for The Book Shop is 6 out of 10.....

Coffe Morning Photo from 23rd June...

We've just been given a photo we thought everyone might like to see - from the Coffee Morning we held in aid of Learning Disability Awareness Week back in June. Steve Robinson, the Chief Executive of Cheshire West and Chester came to visit our day services at Frodsham - he is pictured here with Rosie Kelsey. A good day was had by all.

Thats all our posts from today but we'll give you more news about what we've all been up to next week, watch this space....