primus plus newsletter 12th. edition may 2012 1 primus...

PRIMUS PLUS NEWSLETTER 12th. EDITION May 2012

WELCOME!

Welcome to the twelfth edition of the Pri-mus Plus Newsletter, written by members, staff, and volunteers for the members. Contributions for the Summer 2012 news-letter need to be in by Friday June 29th 2012 please. Pages 1,2 Saturday Plus, Sewing. Page 3 Drama. Page 4 Drama, The allotment, ‘Out and About’, Rudyard Carvery. Page 5 Shopping Stockport Market, Puss in Boots, Carers’ Lunches. Page 6 Wetherspoons, Woodford Park Garden Centre. Page 7 Etherow Park, the White Hart, Page8 Theatres, Portland Basin, Cheadle Mosque. Pages 9,10 Cooking. 1 Craft days, Music. Page 12 Creative Art Workshop, Yoga. Page 13 Volunteers and Students. Pages 14, 15, 16, Life in Japan, Sushi Page 17 Upstairs Downstairs, My Week. Page 18 Family News, Travel to Primus. Page 19 Easy Go, Easter Bonnets, Graham retires. Page 20 St George’s Day, Writers’ Corner Page 21 Kieran’s blog. Page 22 Writer's Corner continues. Page 23 Poetry anthology, Mark Jones Reps.’ Committee. Page 24 ShelterBox. Page 25 Book review, Jokes Page 26 Birthdays, Diary dates.

Free places are available on Saturdays from 9:30 –3:00 for people with disabilities, who

have unpaid or informal carers. Lunch and transport is provided.

To find out more telephone 0161 474 8288

At Saturday Plus there is an exciting mix of crafts and other activities. In the morning there is usually a cookery class on offer in the fully adapted kitchen where members can make all sorts of delicious food to take home. Colin enjoyed making scones and Easter buns and Vivienne loved the salmon and potato tartlets which we made for Na-tional Pie week. A long and ambitious project was the construc-tion of a blue dragon to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon which is to be entered in the Stock-port Carnival. The head was con-structed from 2 large milk cartons and a bal-loon. The members then covered it with papier

mâché and the eyes, and

eyebrows were sculpted out of this. The whole head was then covered in thick PVA glue to make it smooth. Some members then had a go at airbrushing it with paint. Janice and some Primus members helped decorate it with a long strip of cloth for the body.

PRIMUS PLUS NEWSLETTER 1

The jaws open and close and a scaly effect was created using fish net stockings!

A puff pastry pie

Work in progress on the dragon


February 15th Deborah has been making a hot-water bottle cover today. She says, “I am sewing a teddy bear’s face for the cover. It is brown with yellow eyes.” Jamie has already knitted a baby's pink dress. He says, “With the help of Janice I made a pink and yel-low flower and a purple and white one and sewed them on the dress.” Jennifer is making a dragon hand puppet, “I am sewing it together. The colours are green, yellow and orange. It is all going to be sewn by hand. It has got bright eyes. It's nice to make something good to take home.” Heidi is also making a pup-pet, She says "It is green with yellow and orange and beautiful blue eyes with se-quins down its back.” February 29th Jennifer, “Today I am finishing my dragon puppet.” Heidi is continuing with hers...”I will think of a name for it when it is finished.” Deborah “My hot-water bottle cover is nearly finished. I am looking forward to using it.” March 14th Susan W ‘”I finished my hot-water bottle cover. I am giving it to Peggy.” Anupa “I finished my jewel-lery roll today. It was my idea to do it and Janice helped. It has red hearts and blue stars on it with a green base. It is patterned on the outside.” Jennifer, “I am now making a tea-cosy. It is pink.” March 28th Janice says, that today, “They all worked very hard and they’ve learnt a lot. They all do neat stitching.” Heidi, Jennifer and Susan are making tea-cosies.

Some Saturday Plus members enjoy making hand crafted cards and others have done some sewing or altered garments. Members are currently busy painting bunting for the Jubilee celebrations. Members also have the opportunity to be accompanied to the nearby market or to attend events at the Town Hall or Plaza. Learning support is available for those who want to improve their literacy skills. Either Sonya or Ann cook a lovely lunch. In the afternoons some like to play board games or Bingo. Jester the parrot occasionally visits. “He’s a real charmer” says John. Volunteers make an enormous contribution and support members in a range of activities as well as helping the staff. Paul appreciates the help he gets from volun-teers and staff Adele and Lucy are currently on placement. Anupa says “The volunteers are brilliant friends.” Mary T thinks, “The Saturday sessions are su-per. The staff are excellent– always.” Carol A says, “I like doing different things. Ann does some quite exotic dishes with us (in cook-ing) that you couldn’t buy in the shops.”

Sewing with Janice February 8th-April 18th

2012

Janice is a volunteer who runs a sewing group for Primus members on Wednesdays. Here is a diary of these activities. February 8th Today Sue began tacking the waistcoat which she is making. She started sewing it on the ma-chine. She is enjoying the sessions and says, “I can wear it when it is finished. It’s also reversible. One side has flowers and the other is burgundy.”

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Dragon hand puppet


Anupa is making a bag holder for her walking frame. Sue C. says. “I am making a Marilyn Monroe costume for Drama. I can’t wait to finish it and put it on. The drama is called ‘A Night at the Movies.’ I started with a long piece of cloth and cut it into 4. We gathered it at the shoulders and under the bust. It’s going to look very glamorous.“ April 4th, Jennifer “Today I’m sewing ‘tea-time’ onto my tea-cosy. I am enjoying this activity.” Heidi “I am making an Easter mat. I am working hard at putting on the Easter bunny.” Susan “I am sewing a tea-pot by hand onto my tea-cosy. I like sewing with Janice.” Anupa “I am sewing the letter ‘A’ on to the bag. This is to hang from my walking frame.” Jamie ”I am doing knit-ting . I have lots of wool. I’m knitting socks for my footballer.” Deborah “I have nearly fin-ished my hot-water bottle cover. I am sewing the face onto the cat. The ears are al-ready sewn on.” Anupa is repairing her hand-bag today. She says, “ The lin-ing came undone and it ripped. I had trouble finding my mobile phone. I was going to get a new bag from Matalan and then I thought, why don’t I re-pair it? I brought it to Janice and she said this was something I could do myself. I have pinned it to-gether and am sewing it with small stitches.”

Heidi says” My mat is now a Spring mat. Karen-Louise likes the bunny’s tail. Janice cut a circle out of felt and cut slits all around it. But I got it tangled. Janice says that it actually looks better because of the tangles. I like doing things to make my flat nice.” Jennifer says, ”I’m mak-ing a blue beach bag with decorations on it. I’ve got a green fish, an orange sea-horse and a yellow starfish. On the other side it will say ‘Holiday’. I enjoy sewing and I like the company.” Jamie is now making a bed cover for a friend’s birthday. It’s going to be blue with an orange teddy on it. Jamie is knitting the teddy to sew on later. DID YOU KNOW? Janice, our sewing teacher was asked to do the embroidery on the curtains for the four-poster bed at Staircase House in the Jacobean style and design. Be sure, if you visit to have a good look at her work.

Drama by Hilary

Hilary accompanies Paula, Wendy and Delores to drama every week. Alison and Mark from Primus also go to the class which is run by ’The Big Umbrella Theatre Company’ in Romiley. Here are the reports on three sessions. February 7th We carried on with the play ‘Lilian’ which will be performed at the Romiley Forum in the summer.

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Wendy says, “The group I was in described the different sounds Lilian would have heard.” Delores says, “Today we decided who would be in Lilian’s family and also their names. In one of the scenes I am going to be best friends with Susan and in another scene I am going to be someone's wife”. Hilary writes, ‘Today we made very good progress with our play ‘Lilian’. The different members of the group are putting their names forward for various parts. We have now decided the names and ages of Lilian’s family and friends. Each scene requires different music sounds and props so Sarah will write down all the things we need. Today’s session was more of a discussion but it was fun thinking about how Lilian lived in her earlier life.’ February 28th, The group are also presenting a version of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ at their show in the summer. Delores says,” I am in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. I dance with Margaret and my name is going to be Dolly Daydream.” Wendy says, “I danced with Louise. My name is Annette Curtain! I enjoy dancing.” Paula says, “I am dancing with Hilary. My name is Rose Garden and Hilary is Arthur Sleep. We aren’t going to tell you the results as that would spoil the surprise.” Alison says, “I am one of the nasty judges. The dancers will have to work very hard to get a good mark off me! I ‘m not saying what my name is. You will have to come to the show to find out!” April 24th, Delores says, ”Today at drama we rehearsed our play ‘Lilian’. We did the scene at the railway station. I am on my way to my office job and waiting patiently for the train.”

The allotment April 20th, 2012

by Philip and Hilary Primus members go to work on the allotment in Woodbank Park on Friday mornings. Today Hilary , Carla (a student) Philip, Colin and

Janice went to do some gardening up there. Philip says,“ We had a tidying up session, putting all the plant pots in size order (a few spiders came out of those!). I wa-

tered the indoor flowers and planted marigold seeds in separate pots. We were inside the huge greenhouse which is covered in plastic sheeting. It rained very hard while we were inside and we had to dodge the drips as there were holes in the plastic.” Carla says, “It was great fun and it was the first time I had planted seeds. I en-joyed talking to the members.” Hilary says, “It was nice to go to the allotment again now that the weather has improved. We planted the seeds and watered the beds.”

Primus Members ‘Out and About’

As usual Primus members have been out on vari-ous trips including pub lunches, local shops and a garden centre. There are plans to go further afield as the weather improves.

The Rudyard Carvery January 30th, 2012

On January 30th a group went to the Rudyard by Ring and Ride. John D, Emma, Natalie, Edith, John S, Helen and Paul were accompanied by Sonya and Melissa. Helen thought the carvery was ‘fantastic’ and John D enjoyed ‘ a good chat with friends’. Natalie had a lovely meal of gammon with pota-toes and carrots. She ‘loved the surroundings and chatting with my friends.’

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Paula, Alison, Mark and Delores

rehearsing for the drama. (Paula is

rocking the baby).

The greenhouse


Shopping by Julie McG

February 1st, 2012

Julie McG, Emma, and Karen-Louise went shopping in Stockport for the afternoon. Julie writes, ‘I have been out today with Karen and Emma. I went to the Pound Shop and stroked a dog outside. Both Emma and me bought choco-late. We went down Princes Street and saw some budgie cages which were enormous! At the charity shop I bought some of my favourite books by Mills and Boon. I had a cup of coffee at Coffee Island. I enjoyed my afternoon out.’

A visit to Stockport Market March 2nd ,2012

On Friday March 2nd, Janice, Shona, Susan W, Julie Mc.G, Maura, Colin, Chris and Carol B went to Stockport Market with Karen-Louise, and Yuta (a Japanese student). They looked around the outside first and Julie was lucky enough to find several medical drama books. After looking round the inside market, everyone went to Castle Yard café for a drink. Yuta was told that there used to be a castle here and he was encour-aged to visit the ‘Air Raid Shelters’ before returning to Tokyo. All the members enjoyed this trip. Janice says, “It was nice to get out with friends.” and she especially liked looking at the books. Carol B spent a long time looking for a model of Lewis Hamilton. She also bought a nice top. Susan got a few things from a charity shop and when she got back to the centre Pat borrowed a top which she had bought . Yuta enjoyed chatting in the café and comparing things in Tokyo. Shona bought some colouring books.

Puss in Boots by Julie B

February 1st, 2012 I went with Nicky, David and Robert to the ‘Puss in Boots’. Jane and Melissa came with us. The trans-port was a Ring and Ride bus. We went to the bar first to get a drink.

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I had a coke. The food was a carvery meal and I had chicken and gam-mon. We had a lovely time. The meal was delicious and the lady at this pub was very helpful. Relatives and Carers’ Lunches March 12th-16th 2012 During the week before Mothers’ Day Primus members had the opportunity to invite a relative, friend or carer to a special lunch. The therapy room was beautifully decorated beforehand. Pat, Jane, Liz and Sonia (the cook) organised the event which took place on each day from March 12th -16th. Jane made a lovely job of decorating the tables with yellow and gold paper and Liz went out to buy plants and flowers. The therapy room was dressed up to give a Spring feel with Spring bunting made by some of the members.

The Menu

Chicken and bacon portim Roast potatoes

Carrots and sprouts Mushroom and onion sauce

or rich gravy

Hot chocolate fudge cake and cream

Coffee and mints

Sonia cooked the vegetables as well as lunch for the other members who were in Primus that day. Pat made the chicken and bacon sauce. After lunch all the relatives and carers were presented with a potted plant or a bunch of flowers. All the guests thought it is was a wonderful idea and hoped it could happen on a more regular basis. Robert at the Puss in Boots

Nicky having fun

Getting the meals ready


The members who invited a guest were:- Natalie, Janice, Wendy, Philip, Chris, Alison, Emma, Susan, John, Angela, Steve, Carol B, Carol A, Colin, Anupa, Shamin and Julie B.

Steve with his wife and daughter Lisa

Wetherspoons March 1st, 6th, 15th and April 12th.

On March 1st Helen and a group of her friends (Steve, Joan, Lisa, Andie, John P, Shamin, Mary S) went to Wetherspoons with Norma and Pat to celebrate her birthday. Helen had a great time. After the meal she was given a cup cake with a candle on it which she could not blow out.

“Each time I blew it out it kept reigniting itself. We all had a laugh and had lots of photos taken.”

On March 6th Angela, Rose, Gladys and Mau-rice, went to Wetherspoons with Ann and Pe-ter. Rose says, “ I enjoyed my fish, chips and peas. It was a bit much as I don’t have a big ap-petite”. Angela thought it was “nice and the staff were friendly. Gladys had us all in stitches!” Maurice thought the best bit of the whole trip was the company. And on March 15th Harry, Emma, Rose, Peter and Ann also went for a meal and a drink. Gladys says, “I liked being sociable” Rose wasn’t keen on the ham—”Next time I’ll have the fish. I liked getting together with every-one.” Carol A took a group of friends round to Weth-erspoons with Norma, and Pat, on April 12th. There was Gillian, Gladys, Mary S, Ron and Carol B. Everyone had a great meal. Several of us enjoyed the Curry Club Deal which was on that day and proved to be great value for money.

A visit to Woodford Park Garden Centre

by Philip March 21st, 2012

On Wednesday March 21st a group from Primus went by Ring and Ride to Woodford Park Garden Centre. There was Gillian, Ann, Peter, Deb-orah, Emma, Angela, Alison, Anupa and my-self. After lunch we went in groups to look around the centre. Emma bought some sweets at the ‘Pick and Mix’ counter. Then we saw some tropical fish. We looked at the ducks. There were some beautiful red, white and blue flowers in a tub and it looked really good. There were also cups and mugs with a jubilee theme. We also saw pansies and lilies. There were lots of pets to buy like canaries, budgies , rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. There was a good book and card selection. Gillian enjoyed shopping and she says, ”The

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Liz serves Janice and Beryl

Peggy and Sue enjoy dessert


Deborah says,” I liked walking round all the plants and flowers.” Angela says, “It was a nice day out. The meals were good and it was a nice place to shop and pick up bits. ” Alison liked the fish in the big pond and says, ”I liked everything!”

A Trip Around the

block! by Hilary

March 26th, 2012

It was a lovely day so we decided to have a ride round on the free shuttle bus! We got on one out-side Primus. We passed the Town Hall, Railway Station, the Bus Station, the Centre of Stockport, Tesco, past the side of Asda, into the bus station and back up the hill. A lot of people used the bus getting on and off at the various stops. The members (who were accompanied by Norma and Hilary) thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had this to say... John D, “I sat next to Helen and she told me about the places as we went past.” Helen, “I enjoyed the trip and sat next to John.” Emma “I enjoyed going out on the bus.” Alison, “I sat next to Hilary. We saw the fun–fair next to Tesco.” Wendy, “I enjoyed my ride out. Quite a lot of people got on.” Susan, “It was a sunny day and I had a bus ride. We got on outside Primus.”

Do you remember??

Three years ago Primus members successfully lob-bied to get the Shuttle Bus re-routed so that it

came past Primus. Members use the service a lot to get out and about round Stockport.

Etherow Park by Pat

March 29th, 2012

On Thursday March 29th, Emma, Janice, Jane, Paula and Shona went to Etherow Park, accompa-nied by Melissa and Pat. The group went on the free shuttle bus into Stockport and then caught a service bus to the park. Pat writes, ‘When we got to Etherow Park we went for a drink in the cafe but de-cided we would look for a bench to eat our lunch. Lunch was pretty much impossible to enjoy as the Canada geese wanted to join us! After lunch we gave the ducks, swans and geese the scraps. All too soon it was time to get back to the centre, but everyone enjoyed it and the sun shone all day.’ Janice says, “ I really enjoyed looking at the ducks and feeding them. It was fun!” Jane says, “I enjoyed my picnic and I liked the ducks. They made me laugh!”

A visit to the White Hart in Woodley April 2nd, 2012

Primus members have started to go further afield using public transport. The members who went on this visit used the shuttle bus and a service bus from the bus station to the White Hart. Paula, Susan W, Wendy, John D, were accompa-nied by Hilary and Peter (who is a volunteer). Susan enjoyed the ride on the bus and had scampi, chips and peas. Paula says,” I had a good meal of steak and chips. I enjoyed talking to every-one.” Wendy says,” For my dinner I had a chicken bur-ger and chips with orange juice. We caught the free bus across the road then a bus from the bus sta-tion.” John D enjoyed the ride out and had sausage and mash washed down with a half of lager shandy.

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Ducks at Etherow Park


A trip to the Palace Theatre by Linda

April 12th, 2012

I went to the Palace Theatre in Manchester to watch ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. I went with Andrea my support worker. We went by taxi. John Owen-Jones was the Phantom and Katie Hall was Christine. I really enjoyed the show. My favourite song was ‘Christine, Christine.’ The costumes were lovely. I tried to sing to all of the songs. If I didn’t know the words I sang ‘la, la, la.’ I was late getting home. It was 10:45 when I got into bed.

A Trip to Blackpool by Gladys

April 11th, 2012

I went to Blackpool by car with my friends San-dra and Tracey. I had a roast beef meal and enjoyed that very

much. I went on the pier and into plenty of shops. It was dry and sunny but windy. I won £20 on the slot ma-chines. I had an enjoyable day and can’t wait to go again!

My days out with Hallfield Guest House. by Carol B March 2012

Me, Dan and Joe went to Bruntwood Park by bus and had dinner outside. I had a cheese, ham and pineapple toastie. We then had a walk around the park. Then it was time to wait for the bus so we sat on a bench. We saw an enormous aeroplane go over. Then we arrived back at the guest house. On another day we went to the Rectory Pub. Me and Sarah had our dinner ‘al fresco’ outside; Kath and Wendy stayed in. Me and Sarah had scampi followed by profiteroles and I took some photos.

A trip to the Portland Basin by Maura

April 19th, 2012

On Thursday April 19th a group from Primus visited the Portland Basin. Myself, Gladys, Angela, Harry and Shona were accom-panied by Peter A, Jane and Karen -Louise. We travelled on a Ring and Ride bus. We enjoyed looking round the museum. There is a street set out with shops, houses, a school and a church as it was in Victorian times. We could try on some Victorian costumes. There was a Victorian school room and Karen-Louise pre-tended to be a teacher. Primus provided us with a buffet lunch

which we ate in the café .

Shona says”, I enjoyed trying the hats on.” Angela says,” Thanks to Pat for organising the trip and the buffet.”

A visit to Cheadle Mosque by Mary S and Ann

April 19th, 2012

On Thursday April 19th a group from Disability Stockport visited Cheadle Mosque and Community Centre. From Primus there was myself and Shamin with Ann. John and Maggie, two trus-tees and Kieran and his wife Bev were also there. We took our shoes off as we entered the mosque and went to wash our hands. The mosque used to be a United Reformed Church. At times up to 1,000 Moslems worship and pray there now!

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Harry and Maura on the Victorian Street

Dressing up

Gladys


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Before prayers we were told how the mosque and centre have grown over the last 10 years. Community links are very strong

and there are ongoing projects with Stockport schools. They have run courses for primary school head teachers. We were given a talk about Islam with reference to culture, religious beliefs and tradition. Shamin says, “ They explained everything to me about our past and the Koran. It was my first visit to this mosque and I wish I could go again. They were lovely people and made me feel comfort-able.” The 5 pillars (beliefs) of Islam were explained simply as well as the importance of ritual washing.

They delayed the

‘call to prayer’ es-pecially for us. We then quietly observed their prayer time. Moslems pray 5 times a day and face Mecca. I personally felt very included rather than just being a spectator. I was amazed at how much the Cheadle Moslem Association did for the wider community. I was interested to know that they meet regularly with councillors and other community leaders. They work with Manchester Police looking at a non-confrontational response to crime. I found out that the sermons are preached in English be-cause of the ‘melting pot’ of cultures in the area.

There are Moslems from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Africa and England. We were invited for refreshments and further dis-cussions after the time of prayer. Our hosts went

out of their way to be gracious to us.

Cooking with Primus members January 30th-April 18th, 2102

At Primus the members are fortunate to have a fully adapted and accessible life-skills kitchen in which to cook. There is also range of adapted kitchen tools (including knives) and members re-ceive as much support as they require to produce something delicious which they can then take home. Week beginning 30th, January Some members made a double chocolate cake while others made a beef stew with dumplings with Liz. Hilary’s group made sweet and sour pork. Steve says,” I do enjoy baking and my fam-ily enjoy eating it.” Gillian says, “ I enjoyed cooking. I did sweet and sour pork with mushrooms, peppers and sweetcorn. I will eat this for my tea.” Emma says, “ I chopped the ingredients up my-self.” Week beginning February 6th, During the week members had the chance to make pineapple drizzle cake, chunky vegetable and bacon soup, lasagne or lemon tart. John P who made lasagne with Liz says,” We learnt as we went along but I’m looking forward to eating it.” Sue C made soup with Hilary and says,” I love cooking.” Week beginning 13th, February Members had the chance to cook corned beef hash (with dumplings), cornflake tart, hot pot, sausage casserole and cottage pie. Jennifer says,” I’ve never made cornflake tart and I'm taking it home to share around.” Paul says, “I like joining in with everyone else.” Week beginning February 20th,

PANCAKES!! It was pancake day on Tuesday 21st February. Pat and Liz set up the kitchen as the activity was offered to all members who were in and they made pancakes in small groups. Liz describes the activity as ”Hilarious with pan-cakes flying through the air.” (Some landed on the floor!). She says, ”It was a great sense of achievement when the pancakes landed back in the pan. Anupa’s never laughed so much!”


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There was a choice of toppings but lemon and sugar was the most popu-lar. Lots of members ate their pancake straight away; others took them home.

Sonia the cook also served up pancakes with vari-ous toppings for lunch. The other cooking activities this week were bacon chunky soup, chicken, leek and onion pie and fruit scones. Emma says” I made a chunky soup with lentils, bacon, celery, carrots, peppers and onions. I will have some bread with it.” Week beginning February 27th This week members made shepherd’s pie, chilli, sausage casserole or cheese scones. Week beginning March 5th On offer this week was Bakewell tart, sweet and sour pork, cheese scones and buns. Angela who made scones says,” I will share these with my family and enjoy them with butter.” March 12th-16th was a week of special lunches put on for relatives and carers by Primus (see pages 5 and 6)

Week beginning March 26th Jane helped members to make ’Ham, broccoli and cheese bake’ Emma says, "I enjoyed making this. I loved putting all the ingredients together myself.” Tuesday’s group ,made a coconut loaf cake with Liz. Jennifer says, "I have really enjoyed making this cake and my mum and I will enjoy eating it!” Robert gave it the ’thumbs up!’ On Wednesday Hilary made a beef casserole with members. Susan W says, “I enjoyed making a beef casse-

role. I peeled and chopped all the veg. myself”. Liz’s Thursday class made cheese and onion pie. John P says, ”We were very industrious!” Week beginning April 2nd This week the mem-bers and staff made cakes for the cake stall at the Primus Coffee morning to raise funds for ShelterBox. April 12th Liz made a pork casserole with dumplings to-day. Gladys says," I enjoy cooking in the life skills kitchen with Liz.” Friday April 13th Today members cooked ‘pork and apple casse-role’ with stuffing with Liz. Shona says, ”I en-joyed cooking and I liked drying the pots and helping clear up afterwards.” and finally... Wednesday April 18th Alison, Gillian, Maurice and Sue C cooked ‘sweet and sour gammon’ with Hilary. Sue C says,” I put mushrooms, onions and gam-mon into a sweet and sour sauce. I will have this for my tea.”

Paul sums up the ‘cooking’ experience at Primus...”I love cooking at Primus especially

savoury dishes. I get excited just being in the members’ kitchen. It gets steamed up and I

know something tasty is coming out at the end. I like a mixture of simple and complicated dishes.”

Craft Days

by Peter

Members have continued to enjoy some chal-lenging craft days with Peter. In this class mem-bers have the opportunity to try out some more advanced craft techniques. January Mary, Carol A, Gillian and Anupa practised making folded paper flowers ready for the desk calendars which we made in February.

Great style Steve! Steady Natalie!

Making buns


February Craft day started with a quick re-cap on how to make the folded flowers and we soon had enough to create our desk calen-dars. Like most craft days it was fiddly requiring lots of patience and some dexterity. The calendars were made by folding and gluing squares of paper to create the flowers and folding a piece of card to hold them and the date calendar. Norma W was a great help to the mem-bers and Carol A donated the buttons we used. March This session was used to make beautiful bunting for the ‘The Relatives and Car-ers’ lunches’. We used pastel colours and a vari-ety of embellishments. April We made memory books on the theme of ‘Home’ John Scully was introduced to jigsaw puzzles and amazed himself by completing these three. Now for ones with more pieces! Having not done jig-saws before, this was a great start.

Music! by Sonya

February 20th, 2012

On Monday afternoons we have started having a ‘Music half hour’ with Jane and myself. We play musical instruments and sing in a group. Wendy, Susan, Paula, John D and Shamin enjoy it. Us-ing a CD we have sung and accompanied music from ‘Oliver!’

Movement to Music

Primus members enjoy their chair exercise class with Mike on Tuesdays in the therapy room. The session is basically exercising to music and the ex-ercises are beneficial especially to people who have any painful joints or whose co-ordination is poor. Mike chooses music which members can sing along to. At the end the members play games which are de-signed to improve balance as well as being great fun. Deborah says,” I did exercises to music today with Mike. I really enjoy doing this with my friends. I have a good time and it keeps me fit.” Jennifer says,” It’s relaxing and the music isn’t too loud.” David likes it when Mike does some Tai Chi with the members. He likes seeing his friends. Neil says, “It’s brilliant. I always look forward to Tuesday and doing Movement to Music.” Julie B says, “I did gentle exercises with Mike. I enjoy doing this. He plays the song, ‘When ‘I’m cleaning windows’ and we pretend to clean the windows in time to the music.”

Playing the Guitar by Alison

February 28th, 2012

I have borrowed Karen-Louise’s guitar and am en-joying playing. Karen-Louise writes, ‘ Alison loves to sing along to the ‘Ballad of Matty Groves’ so I asked her if she wanted to learn to play it. She is learning the chords Am, C, G, D, and E. She is quite good and her fingers make good chord shapes but she has to watch which fret she’s on!’

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Gillian’s desk calendar

John with his jigsaws

Beautiful Bunting


Yvonne says, “We all have our own favourite col-ours. Colours tell people who you are and all about your unique personality. And this is what we will be doing—a celebration of YOU. So this will be a fun afternoon. Please join me. I look forward to meeting you.” Gillian writes, “Today I joined in the new creative art workshop at Primus. We began by putting down the colours which we like on paper. We were then told that each colour reflected the moods we were in and why we had chosen them . We were asked to draw and colour a face to show how we

saw ourselves. I found it very interesting and cannot wait to see how the lessons evolve and what I will learn about myself’ Some of the pictures which members of the group have produced can be seen on our website: www.disabilitystockport.org.uk or on Facebook

...and a new Yoga class!

CHAIR YOGA The class is run by Jane a Yoga teacher and

started on April 26th. It is every Thursday at 10:30

Jane says,” it is 45 minutes of gentle exercise and relaxation to promote well being in mind and body. It is suitable for both men and women and you should wear loose comfortable clothing. It is suitable for most people, even with mobility problems although some upper-body mobility is helpful.”

Yoga

by Carol B April 13th, 2012

Yoga is relaxing, Jane told us to imagine a beautiful place. I thought of a garden where you could hear the birds sing. I could smell a lovely fragrance and I saw different colours and shades-lilac, purple and yellow.

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If you happen

to pop your head into the

craft room on a Thursday

afternoon you'll find Art Therapist

Yvonne Porter having enormous fun

with the members in her Creative Art

workshop.

Yvonne is an inspiration to our members

enabling them to produce some amazing ,

imaginative works of art. Yvonne works

with colours as an expression of our

feeling through art with some fantastic

results.

I would strongly recommend all members

to join in Yvonne’s class where you will

find yourself, through your feelings and

maybe even your own inner Picasso!

Friendships

Creative Art Workshop

by Jane

Happy

Sad


Japanese Students on placement by Yogo Semmaru

Japan Centre at the university of Manchester has been sending a number of Japanese work place-ment students to Disability Stockport for several years. The students come to study English in the Univer-sity Language Centre and being able to communi-cate with people outside the classroom after the course gives them the confidence and boosts their English skills. They say the staff and the people they worked with were very friendly, and the experience was invaluable. They were involved in a wide range of tasks, such as helping in craft and cookery work-shops, serving tea and coffee to the members, teaching origami (the traditional Japanese art of paper folding) and other Japanese cultural skills. Asumi Kobayashi from Seikei University ,Tokyo who participated in the English with Work Place-ment programme in Spring 2011 says, “Disability Stockport was a warm and cheerful workplace, where staff and members are very close. I enjoyed the communication there. The staff were very caring and always talked to me. It gave me confidence and also improved my English listening and speaking skills. We hope to keep sending our students to Disability Stockport!”

Jade Platt

My time at Primus Plus has helped me to under-stand disabilities better. I got to know the mem-bers well. I’ve enjoyed doing activities with them, and having a laugh. I hope Melissa will let me come back to visit everyone.

Emma Jones

My name’s Emma Jones and I’m a volunteer at Pri-mus Plus. I started last June after I left the Hu-man Resources department at Sainsbury’s , Cheadle Royal. I spend time chatting to the members, playing board games (especially dominoes!), helping with craft activities and I also help with I.T. It’s been really good to meet up with old friends from Bethesda School. Its Gr8 to be part of Disability Stockport!

Barry Smith I was first introduced to the Primus Club in 2007. I originally volunteered at Pontin’s in Blackpool (in the 70’s) as well as helping with the blind at Hazel Grove, Cheadle Adult Centre, Newbridge A.R.C.H.E.R.S. and the Javelin Club. Every Tuesday I attend Primus and take part in the exercise class (‘Movement to Music’). Mike is the professional and directs us in the correct way with the music, laughter and games. Time goes quickly. Chess is one of my favourite pas-times. I thoroughly en-joy playing the game with Neil, especially when I take off his Queen —followed by his repeated statement—”That’s a blow!” I have to laugh! He’s a real good friend of mine. I enjoy every Tuesday and I can’t wait for the next one!

Natalie

I’ve enjoyed my time here getting to know the members. I especially enjoyed going to the allot-ment with Hilary. My self-confidence has grown and I have many happy memories of being on placement. I’d like to come back.

Amana Shaheen

I’m studying at Xaverian College and came to Pri-mus on a work placement. I have been focussing on the specific needs of service users. While at Primus I’ve learned that I can communicate well especially with service users who have a commu-nication problem.

It’s been an enjoyable experience. I hope to have a career related to caring such as becoming a nursery teacher.

Susan Oliver

I am studying at Hull College on an apprentice-ship. I chose to come to Primus as working with disabled people is one of my career choices. I’ve been helping members to cook and to do art and craft. I have tried to talk to most of the members. It’s been a great experience and it’s helped me to realise I want to work with disabled people.

13

Volunteers and Students on placement

Barry and Neil enjoy a game of chess


My Week by Robert Smith

I work in a café on Monday, Wednesday and Fri-

day with Jamie and Ashley. On Monday I washed and scrubbed 7 jacket po-tatoes, wrapped them in tin foil and put them on a tray. Ashley made a tuna mayonnaise filling. I checked the tall fridge and wrote down the tem-perature. I then checked the fridge which dis-plays cakes and the store room fridge and chest freezer. In the afternoon when the pots had been through the dishwasher we put the plates, bowls and cutlery away, including the sharp knives. On Wednesday I washed and scrubbed 10 jacket potatoes and wrapped them in foil but today Richard helped load the dishwasher and put things away. I checked the fridges and freezer again. On Friday I only had 3 jacket potatoes to prepare and Caroline helped with washing the pots and putting them away. On Saturday I changed my bed and went on my laptop using Internet Explorer. I did a crossword in my exercise book. I had beans on toast, a Muller light yoghurt and orange juice for lunch. A new lad Neil came to our bungalow to take me swimming from 1:45-4:45. We went to Grand Central by bus from Hazel Grove. I swam 16 lengths. We showered and changed afterwards and walked to the Costa Coffee shop in Stockport where I had a scone and hot chocolate. Then we got the bus back. Later with Chris, Dave and Faye, I had a Chinese take away— sweet and sour chicken with pepper and pineapple with rice, prawn crackers and a diet coke, followed by sticky toffee pudding. I got into my pyjamas and watched some recorded TV programmes—East Enders, Coronation Street, and Emmerdale. I had an Options Belgian hot chocolate drink. On Sunday Chris and I went to Poplar House in Hazel Grove and to the resource centre in Offer-ton to get the rota-sheets. When we got back to the bungalow we had hot beef Cornish pasties for lunch and a fat free yoghurt. I watched Wa-terloo Road and some other TV programmes I had recorded.

17

This month Angie Farrell features in our

series

Upstairs, Downstairs

My name is Angie Farrell and I am the User-Led Or-ganisation (ULO) Development Co-ordinator with Breakthrough UK Right to Control, Centre for Inde-pendent Living (RtC CIL). My role is to work with User-Led Organisations to support and develop their services and polices. To encourage them to set up a Centre for Independent Living, in line with the Rights to Control Agenda I will be working as an Outreach Worker in the five Local Authorities which are involved in the Right to Control pilots. Although based at Breakthrough’s Office in Ardwick I’ll be out and about meeting and supporting User-led Organisations throughout the 5 areas which are Manchester, Trafford, Stockport, Oldham and Bury. One of my first tasks is to produce a database of all the ULOs currently up and running in these areas and to make contact with them to offer any support I may be able to provide in developing their organi-sations. I am based at Disability Stockport on Wednesdays.

The Gym

Every Thursday afternoon a group of Primus mem-bers head off in Alan’s taxi to go to the gym at the Seashells Trust. Anupa, Ron, Shamin, Robert, Helen, Jamie and Mary S go regularly and all these members are making great progress.

Melissa and Alan support the group and Heather is available to give advice and to increase our per-sonal targets where necessary.

Anupa says,” I go on the treadmill, exercise bike, the leg press and the rowing machine. I love going to the gym, because it has made my legs a lot stronger.”

Helen has noticed a great improvement in her bal-ance. She says,” Since going to the Gym I haven’t hit the deck so often!”


18

Family News... Gladys. I have now got 11 great grandchildren. There has been a new addition! My grandson and his wife had a baby daughter, Alexis Jade, born 3 weeks ago. I have seen her. She is beautiful. They have another daughter Fern who is 3. They will be coming to see me next week-end. Hilary My granddaughter Adiana, aged 6 knows what she would like to do when she leaves school. She wants to be a tooth fairy and will make sure that all the children are given money. She would also like to be a mermaid. Norma Caitlin (Norma’s granddaughter) now ‘rules the roost.’ She has a new habit. If she doesn’t want to do something she stands with her arms folded and pulls a face. Caitlin was a premature baby and the family were told that it would take time for her to catch up and she would be under the hospital until she was 7. She has been discharged already! She is so inde-pendent. She plays football, goes to the park. You can’t push her high enough on the swings and she loves the big slide. She loves ‘Fireman Sam’ . One day when we were coming down the stairs and I was in front of her she suddenly shouted out, “Don't worry Grandma. I rescue you.” She then went flying past me on her tummy shouting, “ I’m fireman, I saving you.” Liz The puppies Kenzie, Sophie and Honey Bee are now 6 months old. They are cute and full of mischief. Kenzie (on the left) is the image of her Mum and Honey Bee is like her dad. They are dainty and eat loads. They run like whippets! I am really proud of them all. They are turning out to be well–balanced and sociable dogs. I will bring them to the centre again soon for lots of hugs and strokes.

How we travel to Primus At the end of March we conducted a survey to find out how members travelled to Primus. 36 members were interviewed. Of those 36... 7 came in Alan's taxi 3 came privately 14 came on SK Solutions blue bus 7 came in cars, driven by a family member 1 came sometimes on her scooter 1 came on a public service bus 1 came on an Easy Go bus 3 came on a Ring and Ride bus. Members were also invited to make a comment if they wanted to . Anupa who comes in Alan’s taxi says,” I am picked up on time. But if Alan is going to be late he will ring me up beforehand. He is brilliant.” John P confirmed this. “Alan is a great taxi-driver. He comes on time and if he can’t be he will inform you!” Alan wrote this for the newsletter. Hi My name is Alan and I’m the taxi driver for Pri-mus Plus. I have been at Primus for 13 years and find the job very rewarding, having made some good friends. I take members to the gym on Thursdays and to the allotment on Fridays. At the gym I mainly look after Shamin and Anupa, but I also keep an eye on Kev, Jamie and Robert. I take members to drama on Tuesday. I take members on trips such as to Blackpool, and the Manchester Christ-mas markets etc. Neil travels with SK Solutions. Ian is the usual driver. Neil says,” Ian is very good with everyone. I enjoy my ride on the bus.” Maura (who lives in Offerton) says, “Ian is really helpful.” Andie writes, ‘It’s a good service. If Ian is off we sometimes have difficulties with the transport not turning up on time but this hasn’t happened for a long time.’ Helen sometimes comes on her scooter to Pri-mus, which gives her greater independence.


Ian wrote this for the newsletter... ‘Hello. I’m Ian. I drive the main minibus used by Pri-mus. It’s the busiest bus in the small fleet of 13. The passenger list changes every day and there are always 2 trips in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. My regular passengers are Kevin, Sue W, Heidi, John, Alison, April, Linda, Helen, Carol, Neil, Nicky, Jennifer, Debbie, Andie, Paul, Maura, Sue and Gladys. I take some members to Hallfield when they are in respite care. The Primus bus mainly covers Offerton, Bredbury, Woodley and Romiley areas but on some days it also goes to Reddish, Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme. It’s a friendly , happy bus and we all get on well to-gether. I enjoy driving the Primus bus and think Primus Club is the best in Stockport.’ 3 members come by ‘Ring and Ride’. Harry says, “ I’s a good service and I know most of the drivers.” There have been some problems with the way journeys are scheduled however. Alison (From Easy Go ) wrote this for the newsletter...

Easy Go Travel has now existed for over thirty years. It was first started due to the lack of acces-sible transport for people with mobility problems in Stockport who experienced difficulty accessing ex-isting transport options. This was long before Ring and Ride existed, and when buses still had big steps and most taxis couldn’t take people with wheel chairs. Easy Go started off with just one small converted van and a coach. There was no health and safety or specialist Midas training back then. There were no safety straps either, just a simple seat belt; that’s all the regulations required. Thankfully we now have health and safety rules and all our driv-ers are fully first aid and Midas trained. We also now have extensive safety equipment in all our buses. Times have certainly moved on! Easy Go is a registered charity. Stockport Commu-nity Transport was also a registered charity and was used for transporting clubs and larger groups. In 2009 Easy Go CT (Stockport) was formed, as a result of a merger between Easy Go Travel and Stockport Community Transport, thus providing flexible transport for individuals AND groups in and around Stockport. Easy Go has contracts with the N H S and schools, and also transports individual members who need to go for appointments, clubs and shopping etc .

19

Easter Bonnets

by Jane

Hats off to all the members who got creative in the craft room and produced a delightful display of Easter bonnets on the tiled wall.

Janice and Jennifer should be very proud runners up with their beautiful bonnets and a huge WELL DONE to Joanne who wooed the voters with the winning bonnet adorned with eggs, chicks and feathers. All the mem-bers used their own skills and imagination to produce some beautiful , colourful, CRACKIN’ Easter Bonnets. We say goodbye to Graham Barlow who was the deputy manager at Primus. He retired on March 31st and originally came to Disability Stockport as a volunteer. Congratulations to Melissa, who has just been appointed the new deputy manager...

Goodbye to Graham


St George’s Day by Norma

April 23rd, 2012

Primus celebrated St George’s day by decorating the main room in red and white flags. Lunch that day was roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots and swede followed by apple pie and custard. Pat and Jane put a 5 minute play together about St George. Peter made a sword and we used the dragon’s head which Saturday Plus members had made. Heidi, the princess wore a crown. Peter (the dragon) went round the room scaring everyone and Jane galloped down the room to fetch St George, played by Alison. After a short fight the dragon fell to the ground and everyone clapped and cheered.

Me by Mark Bexley

At special school

It just wasn’t cool

But I wasn’t a fool.

My friends didn’t see

What made me ME.

You don’t when you’re five

It’s enough to survive

I felt on my own

Lost and alone.

I had such regret

And got upset.

I felt left behind

And my parents would find

That the older I grew

The answers were few

From the doctors who knew.

It was such a battle

With problems to tackle

As day by day

I fought my way

A challenge, my quest

To achieve the best,

Overcome the rest.

And today I see

That what makes me ME

Are the things I CAN DO

If you’ll let me win through

I work in a shop

It’s almost nonstop!

I paint, act in plays,

Love to read on most days,

Write poems in books,

Take photos and cook,

I’m not different PLEASE LOOK!

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Writers’ corner

Our website’s up and running!!

www.disabilitystockport.org.uk

We also have a page on Facebook too. So why

not join us?

It’s a fun and easy way to stay connected to

friends and family. If you are a Primus member

Melissa can help or you can contact

Fiona on 0161 480 7248

or by e mail

[email protected]


Kieran’s blog continues

BANWY RIVER DIARY Dec 21 2006.

The last month has been wet and windy.

Each morning

Khush and I

set out for an

ever-shorter

walk in the

pitch black

darkness (no

street lights

here!). It is equally dark when I return in

the evening, but hey-that’s winter for you. I

did discover the story behind the Muscovy

duck however, which I will relate later.

The only break in the weather before yes-

terday came last week when the morning

walk was lit by moonlight and stars. Beneath

my feet, a hard frost had the effect of

making the grass rustle like parcel paper.

Khush leapt up and down sniffing the crisply

reserved smells of whatever night creatures

had passed through.

Although it was so dark I could not see the

ground below me, all through the field, the

moonlight picked out tiny beads of frost and

dew which produced a sparkle of natural

Christmas lights. It seemed as if all the

stars were out to light our way and made me

think of the enormous distance their light

had travelled and what I was really seeing

was the stars as they were long ago when

the Earth was still in its pre-human stage.

The next day was cold but glorious, blue and

crisp. The water was crystal clear on the

river and I could almost hear the riverbank

trees sigh with relief that the flood had fi-

nally receded from their roots allowing them

to breathe once more. I hadn’t realized how

much of the time they spend underwater.

They have been there a long, long time so I

daresay they cope with it. The last of their

leaves have fallen and there are now new

vistas and panoramas visible. I can now see

that there is a small waterfall under the

railway bridge on the opposite bank where

a brook falls 5 or 6 feet before it meets

the main river. It has also opened up the

view across the hills and fields and where

it is not misty all the detail seems to come

alive.

Last Friday Bev and I attended the local

Christmas meal at Henllan club, just across

the road and atop the hill opposite. Frank

and Liz our neighbours and former owners

of Caethle, Beryl the elderly widow who

lives across the main road, Tom the local

farmer, his sister Anne and his mum Evelyn

were all seated at the end of a huge table

ready to demolish an excellent home-

cooked dinner.

In conversation I happened to mention

that I had seen on a rock in mid-stream,

the odd sight of a big fat Muscovy duck

for two days running. Tom looked across

the table and said, “that was my duck”.

It seems a year or two ago he had bought

some Muscovies for breeding but a fox had

got in the run and killed all but one-this

was ‘the lady’ I had seen on the river. She

had gone walkabout (Tom said she often

joined wild ducks for short periods) and

they eventually had to chase her off the

river with stones to get her back. He has

now clipped her wings so that she can no

longer escape and keeps her penned away

from the fox.

Needless to say, Tom was quite pleased his

duck had made itself the subject of con-

versation and mystery for me. Around here

that is the equivalent of celebrity.

21


My dog Jack by Alison

Jack is an eight year old Fox Terrier. He was born on a farm in Wales. He had 2 sisters and 4 broth-ers. The children called all the puppies after break-fast cereal. He was called Baby Weetabix. That is what the children called him. He likes to sit on the arm of the sofa and looks out for cats to chase in the garden. When my nephews come round he likes to play ball with them. My Dad takes him for 2 walks every day and when it snows he likes to run in it and is very playful. Alison has learnt to read and write in the last 14 months and she has written these herself using her new laptop.

Queen Victoria

by Alison Victoria was born at Kensington Palace on 24th May 1819. She had her own servant and she liked to look at books. In the night of 1837 King William died. Victoria’s Mother came to wake her up and said, “You are now the Queen.” When Prince Albert saw Victoria it was love at first sight. He was her German cousin. They got mar-ried at Westminster Abbey in 1840. They had 9 children, 4 boys and 5 girls. When she became Queen there was one man she didn’t like—William Gladstone. There was a bag named after him. In 1861 at Windsor Castle, in the blue room, Prince Albert died of typhoid. She mourned him for 10 years and was called the Black Widow. She was Queen for 64 years and died in 1901 at Osbourne House. She got buried at Windsor Castle with Albert.

Fleeing Uganda by Anupa

When I was young we lived in Uganda. My father was very rich. He owned tea, coffee and sugar plantations and had his own helicopter. When we had to flee the country from President Amin we only had £50. The High Commissioner came to us and said we could go to live in Britain. I was only seven years old. My first impression of Britain was that it was dark and raining. We lived in Kent, then Norwich and then finally in Stockport. It was lovely to see my relations that already lived in Britain.

My Job by Shona

I now work at Bramhall Park in the café. I help to clear the tables and wash up. I enjoy a cup of coffee there. I work with nice people called Claire and Caroline. A taxi takes me there and back.

My Hobby by Julie B

Julie has been knitting for a long time. Her mum started her off. She remembers knitting scarves using lots of dif-ferent colours. She’s also made jumpers for friends. Julie also knits wonderful blankets for babies which she then gives away. She has made over 40! They are absolutely beautiful! She can make one in a week! When she has knitted a blanket her Mum Terry crotchets the edges. Each blanket takes 2 balls of wool.

Respite care — Mill View by Chris

I have been there for a week. I had lovely food. I went ten pin bowling with a group of friends. I spent the evenings in my bedroom watching telly. I like all the soaps. One day I went out shopping in Marple and bought some magazines.

In the swim!

Colin one of our members has recently achieved his 25m swimming award. Well done!

22

Julie with one of her blankets


Do you write poetry?

‘Unique, Driven, Determined’ are doing a fund –raising project which involves a poetry anthology

of the same name. The poetry will be about hu-man differences and how people deal with these challenges. All poems accepted will appear in the anthology due to be printed at the end of Summer/Autumn 2012. Please keep poetry to no more than 40 lines. The deadline for submission is 31st May, 2012 Please send material to Andy N at:- [email protected]

Proceeds will be donated to The Park Café, Bailey

Hall at Hyde (which gives work-based training to people with learning disabilities) and Pennine Inde-pendent Voice which offers help for people en-countering mental health issues.

Other news

The fire alarm has been modified so that it shouldn’t go off when someone burns the toast.

We will be carrying out fire drills every month now, rather than toast drills!

Primus is a user-led organisation and is run

by the members in conjunction with Disability Stockport.

Congratulations!

The new Reps committee for 2012-13 is:

Mark Bexley, Philip Burgoine, Maura Clarke, John

Dean, Harry Holt, Shamin Hussain, John Platt, Andie Ridgeway, Gillian Singleton, Susan Whitney.

The reserves are Jane Adams and Jamie Lee.

Top Mark For Half Marathon! by Jane

That’s top Mark—Mark Jones who has just raised a

fantastic £255.75 for Primus.

Mark, a further education teacher has recently completed the Liverpool Half Marathon and Primus was his chosen charity. Some of the members were lucky enough to meet Mark when he came to present us with the cheque along with his nephew, George Jones and his niece Annabel Jones and of course his sister Emma, who herself does some valuable voluntary work here at Primus. This was Mark’s first half marathon and I’m sure he will con-tinue...maybe the London Marathon one day! Whatever the future holds I’m sure he’ll do well and I would like, on behalf of all the staff, members, and volunteers to congratulate Mark and say a huge THANK YOU for the kindness and generosity of his donation. We encourage you to continue with the fantastic work that you do and hope to support you in the

future.

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Mark presents the cheque

The new Adult Peer Support Group (APS)

Meets at Disability Stockport

every 3rd Monday 7—9 pm

This is an informal group which meets socially and discusses issues affecting disabled people. Sometimes there is a visiting speaker. The next three meeting are on:- Monday May 21st Angie from Breakthrough UK talking about personal budgets. Monday June 18th Monday July 16th


Primus Coffee day

by Jane April 5th ,2012

It’s in the box!

What's in the box

changes with the dis-aster it's being sent to but the picture shows the basic contents. It has even been used

as a baby’s crib!

That’s right, we’ve finally held our first fundraising event for ShelterBox, our chosen charity—and

what a fantastic day we had. With the help of all the staff and the generosity of the members, and their friends, families and carers we can proudly

announce a grand total of

£405. 24

An amazing amount for a few hours of fun for such a worthy cause I think you’ll agree.

If anyone is unfamiliar with ShelterBox, we have

an information display in the Therapy Room where you can read all about the fantastic work that ShelterBox do for people all over the world

where natural disaster strikes, causing homeless-ness, food shortages and devastation

So , now we’ve raised the money, where

does it go?

Once we have donated the money to ShelterBox , it will go towards the contents of a box, with life-saving and survival equipment. That box will have an exclusive number which ShelterBox will send to

us. It will then be possible to track ‘our’ box by going to the ShelterBox website and putting our

number in the tracking box.

This will enable us at Primus to know the exact location of ‘our’ box . We will be able follow it to the town or village where it ends up, sheltering and helping a family in distress, wherever that

disaster is .

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AND WELL DONE!!

At the coffee day there were handcrafted cards and jewellery boxes for sale. Carol had knitted some amazing chickens which were stuffed with a Cadbury’s crème egg. We ran a tombola and a raffle and there was a fabulous cake stall. Visitors could buy a hot-pot lunch and other refreshments.

As well as the terrific donation made by Mark Jones , Primus would also like to thank the members of Mary Rigby’s

family and Michael Cope’s family who gave donations to Primus in memory of

Mary and Mike. The money will go towards the creation of a herb garden on

the terrace.

24

Julie and the ShelterBox display


Book Review Going Solo

by Roald Dahl

reviewed by Mark Bexley

The book is about Ronald who joined the

air force and learned to fly a Spitfire in

World War 2. In the story he recalls a

fight he had with a cobra snake in Delhi

when he was a child. He later meets a

salesman called Matthew Peterson. I

would recommend this book to children

and young adults because the story is

good and the illustrations are excellent.

Jokes

These jokes were sent in by Primus

members.

Brian sent this...

A man walks in to a cake shop and sees

something flying past the window. He

says to the shopkeeper, “Was that a cake

or a meringue ? The shopkeeper answers,

“Yeah, you’re right!

Alison contributed these.

Did I read the sign right?

In a London department store.

BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

Notice in a health food shop.

CLOSED DUE TO STAFF ILLNESS

Philip wrote these...

“Doctor, Doctor, I feel like a goat!

“Stop acting like a kid.”

Knock, Knock.

Who’s there? Egbert

Egbert who? Egbert no bacon!

What do you call a man with a car on his head? Jack

“Doctor, Doctor, I’m feeling really ill.”

“What have you been eating?” “Snooker balls.” “Well what did you have for breakfast?” “15 reds.”

“What did you have for lunch?” “A white, a blue and a brown.”

“And for your tea?” “A yellow, a black and a pink.”

“That's it then ! You've not had enough

greens!”

25


Birthdays

We say ‘Happy Birthday to: May 5th Julie McGuiness

7th Delores Newton

13th Deborah Connolly

19th Philip Burgoine

24th Paula Watkinson

26th Wendy Lawrie

June 14th Carol Boyd

24th Heidi Kinsler

25th Maurice Downey

July 1st Chris Brocklehurst

6th Natalie Reeve

10th Michael Pettiner

11th Pat Newton

12th Kevin Nortier

18th Anupa Tanna

21st John Platt

28th April Alton

29th Susan Whitney

31st Joanne Mellor

Dates for your Diary Monday May 21st Adult Peer Support Group (APS) 7-9pm at Disability Stockport. Speaker, Angie from Breakthrough talking about personal budgets. Thursday May 24th Primus trip to Blackpool. Friday May 25th Hilary retires. Monday June 18th (APS) 7-9 pm at Disability Stockport. Everyone welcome. Friday July 6th Primus visit to the ‘Food and drink festival’ at Tatton Park. Monday July 16th (APS) 7-9 pm at Disability Stockport. Everyone welcome. Friday July 20th Primus trip to the Haydock Races. Thursday August 7th Disability Awareness Day Primus Open Day.

Thanks to....

All the Primus members, staff, and

volunteers and the staff of Disability

Stockport for contributions to this

newsletter.

Peter Ablett and Karen-Louise for the

photos.

Disability Stockport for permission to

produce this newsletter.

Disability Stockport for reproducing

this newsletter.

Primus staff for distribution.

Contributions for the next issue should

be in by Friday June 29th, 2012 please.

26

Do you want to find out more about Primus?

Phone 0161 474 8288

or [email protected]

or visit our website at www.disabilitystockport.org.uk

and arrange a visit or taster day.

Do you know that...

the library service visits Primus once a

month? You can order books

DVD’s And talking books

Have a word with Norma!

primus plus newsletter 12th. edition may 2012 1 primus...

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