Quiet for a couple of weeks!

This week we're trying to find other Blogs from people with learning difficulties, so we've not got time to post today I'm afraid. And next week, our enterprising reporters will be out in the field interviewing the Independent Advocacy team in Northwich, so we won;t be here next week but we promise lots of posts the week after!
Bye for now
Blog team

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....

Upcoming Dates for your diary!

September and October are looking to be quite exciting months for us.

We have the Summer ball coming up on Friday 24th September and we got a quick interview with Jill Duffy this morning. It's set to be a good night, starting at 7.30 till 11 at Castle Private Club. Jeff Crawshaw is doing the music, and the dress code is BLING! Ladies, get glammed up, gents get your best clothes on, as there will be spot prizes for the best outfits and dancers. There'll be nibbles too, and for tickets (£3.50 or 2.50 for carers) and more information, catch Jill at The Old Fire Station.

At Wilf's Drop in on Thursdays, this is whats coming up over the next few weeks....

16th September - Mrs Calvert is coming in to help us make greetings cards (there is a charge of £! per card if you want to take them home)

23rd September - to be confirmed....

30th September - Marion Murdoch is going to update us on the Partnership Board

7th October - BINGO!!!!!!!

14th October - to be confirmed.....


And lastly, Neil Dyson, DJ at the Gateway Club, would like to recommend Evita, which is on at the Lowry in Salford, from Monday 6th to Saturday 18th September - check details with the Lowry if you fancy that....

At the weekend.....

Our interviewers have been quizzing two people about what they get up to at the weekend. First up is Nicola Daffern, seen here having her nails done.....

Nicola loves helping her mum at the weekends, sometimes with gardening, and sometimes with babysitting for her nieces Georgie, aged 1, and Daisy, aged 4. Nicola loves playing with them on the keyboard, and in the garden, and she also changes nappies when needed! She feeds baby Georgie when she has a bottle, and Daisy likes pasta and broccoli. The girls sometimes stay over from Friday night all the way till Sunday, but Nicola said she loves it, its not hard work. The girls both call her Aunty Nic!

Next is Rae Williams.....

Rae is now helping regularly with the Blog, and is also going to do a joke corner for our newsletter as he is a very funny guy!

Usually on a Saturday Rae enjoys going to see his sister Joan who lives at Overdene. His other sister, Ida takes him and they have tea and biscuits and watch some tv. On Sundays Rae goes to Ida's house for a sunday roast. He says she is a very good cook and he likes the puddings as well, they sometimes have banana and custard. Ida is 80 tomorrow so we'd all like to wish her a happy birthday!

Ida's not the only one with a birthday in September though, as last weekend Rae had his 65th birthday party at the Owleywood Club in Weaverham on Saturday. Ida went, Sharon, Beverley, Harriet, Lisa and lots of his other friends and family, too many to mention. Everyone had a good night, Rae said the cake was very good, and Tony did the Djing and was also very good. Raee got lots of presents from everyone, his favourite was an Elvis book and he had a book about Cheshire and also the 60's, some ties, cufflinks, hankies, a lovely photoframe and picture from Lisa, a Vera Lynn cd and lots and lots and lots of cards.

Getting to Know us.....

Today we have two more people in the hot seat for our celebrity style interview.......

First is our Ricky, who is now on the Blog team every Wednesday, and second is Patsy, who helps with the Blog and also does a regular wordsearch for our newsletter.

FULL NAME? Richard Foster

AGE? 58

WHAT DAYS ARE YOU AT THE OLD FIRE STATION? Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SESSION THERE? Swimming

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DRINK? Coffee, one sugar!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD? Spaghetti Bolognese

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? Manchester United

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBY? Watching TV - the soaps - especially Eastenders

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Blue

FULL NAME? Patsy Scott

AGE? 57

WHAT DAYS DO YOU COME TO THE OLD FIRE STATION? 5 days a week

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SESSION THERE? Doing the Blog on a Wednesday, and also the beauty session

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DRINK? Whisy & wine!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD? Roast dinner and chops

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOORTBALL TEAM? Manchester United

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBY? Paperwork, writing and colouring

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Red

FAVOURITE MUSIC? Tina Turner, Shirley Bassey, and I like listening to talking books

Our Favourite things.....

This a a picture of Barry Williams, with one of his favourite trucks. It is a Mercedes Actros truck, with the Jack Richards & Son livery on it. It's Barrys favourite as its the newest model and it looks really smart.

More nnext week!

Getting to know us.....

Today in the hot seat we have two more of our gentlemen from the Old Fire Station.....

First is Mr Jason Cross...

AGE? 28
WHAT DAYS DO YOU COME TO THE OFS? Monday to Friday, 5 days

WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE ACTIVITY THERE? I like going to the library to look at airplanes on the internet

FAVOURITE FOOD? Curry or spaghetti on toast

FAVOURITE DRINK? Soft drinks

FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? Liverpool FC & England

FAVOURITE HOBBY? Helping my nana with her garden

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Blue or red

FAVOURITE MUSIC? Robson & Jerome, Take That and Dirty Dancing

And next is Mr Robbie Griffiths....

AGE? 46

WHAT DAYS DO YOU COME TO THE OFS? Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ACTIVITY THERE? Playing pool

FAVOURITE FOOD? Cheese sandwiches

FAVOURITE DRINK? Lager

FAVOURITE FOOTBALL TEAM? England

FAVOURITE HOBBY? Football

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Blue

FAVOURITE MUSIC? Cher

Recommended by us.................

Coming up are a number of things that some of us want to see and do, and want to tell everyone about!

Neil Dyson (left) would like to recommend The Bohemians - A Night of Queen at the Northwich Memorial Hall on Friday 22nd October at 7.30 - tickets are £15.

Rae Williams (right) will be watching The Last Night of the Proms on BBC1 on Saturday night. At least before his birthday party starts, as that is also on Saturday night!

Firthfield Pet Shop Visit

On 18th August some of the people from the Old Fire Station had a treat at Firthfield's petshop, arranged by Denise Hewitt, where they got to see and touch some of the animals and birds there, usually kept inside cages. Sorry we have no pictures, but we did interview some of our service users............
Susan Hornby got to hold a red snake, which was at least a couple of feet long, and said she liked it very much.
Emma Calvert and Patsy Scott both got to hold Polly, their African Grey Parrot. Patsy said she liked it as the feathers were very soft when she stroked it. Emma also said it was nice to stroke her and Polly could talk and said things like 'Are you alright?' which was good.
John Clapham liked the rabbits and guninea pigs best, and Derek Powell held the snake and the parrot too and said the snake was very smooth, not shiny or wet, but the rabbit was his favourite. Karen Morrey also bobbed in and liked the animals very much too.
A good day was had by all and a big thankyou to Firthfield.

Wilf's Drop In Photos

On the 12th August at Wlif's Drop In, Glitty Cherian from Dane Walk treated everyone to a talk on life in India, where she lived as a child. She answered lots of questions and told us lots of fascinating facts about the weather, food, weddings etc, and showed us all her lovely outfits. She also brought along some sari's and some of the people at Wilf's got to try them on and give everyone a twirl. They all looked lovely, including Karen from Dane Walk, also pictured above.

Holidays with Help - Special Report

Last week lots of us went to Chichester with Holidays with help and today, Barry Williams (above top left) and Rae Williams (above bottom left) give us the low down on how it went, interviewed by Ricky Foster (above right) and Jackie Goldstraw.

Barry and Rae both enjoyed it very much. The Baker's bus (Barry liked it as it was a Scania one) picked everyone up at the Memorial Hall at 8 and they set off down South and arrived at tea time. Both said their rooms were lovely and very comfortable, with their own bathrooms.

The entertainment was good with something different every night, ranging from a funny comedian who did impressions ( including one of Michael Crawford), to singer Shane Hampshire who was also very good. Richard Platt got up on stage and helped out the juggler on the Thursday night, and on Tuesday there was a fancy dress night. Rae went as James Bond, as did Charlie Royle. Hazel Clarke was Michael Jackson, Jean Clarke was Dolly Parton, and Patsy Scott went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Kevin Heath was John Wayne for the night, Dean Lord was a wild west cowboy, Richard Platt was a dashing cavalier, and David Kelsey was a scary monster. Everyone who took part got a keyring torch because they'd made such an effort.

The day trips were also fun, our guys went to see HMS Victory and got to go aboard, which Barry said was very interesting and a very windy day; Rae said he saw where Nelson fell and died, and he banged his head, as he's very tall, but he is ok!

The food was very good too, Barry and Rae both had porridge and toast and marmalade followed by a fry up every morning which they really enjoyed, and was Rae's favourite. Roast Beef and Yorkshire and gauteaux was Barry's favourite meal.

All in all a good time was had by everyone, and they would heartily recommend it!

More next week.......