GLASGOW RENFREWSHIRE ABERDEEN. Summer 2017 datesnmates

Transcription

1 GLASGOW RENFREWSHIRE ABERDEEN Summer 2017 datesnmates

2 Contents 2 Volunteer Celebration 14 d-n-m Aberdeen Coffee & Cake 3 Double Award Success 15 d-n-m Aberdeen Anniversary 4 Special Olympics 16 d-n-m Aberdeen Events 5 Largs Day Trip 17 d-n-m Aberdeen New Appointment 6 Coffee & Cake d-n-m Renfrewshire Evaluation d-n-m Renfrewshire Events 8 9 We ve Got Talent 22 d-n-m Renfrewshire Coffee & Cake Club LATE 23 Special Olympics Festivals 24 Member Spotlight Volunteer Celebration This summer we said a big Thank You to our wonderful volunteers over some tea and cake at the Spoon Café. We were joined by Event Supporters, Graphic Designers and a few of our wonderful Friendly Faces. Many thanks to the volunteers who came along to celebrate with us and also to those who couldn t make it (and we hope to catch those of you who couldn t make it at our next Volunteer Celebration this winter). dates-n-mates wouldn t be the same without so many wonderful people contributing their time, their skills and their great ideas! If you re interested in getting involved as a volunteer you can give us a call on and chat to Molly or Lesley, or you can send us an at volunteering@c-change.org.uk If you re a member and you d like to start volunteering you can speak to anyone from the dates-n-mates team about being a dates-n-mates Champion. datesnmates

3 Double Award Success! dates-n-mates wins TWO national awards On Tuesday 13th of June John Paul, Sheryl, Stacey, Piotr, Lesley and dates-n-mates National member Kim attended the Scottish Social Services Awards (SSSA) ceremony at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire. We are absolutely delighted to have won the award in the category of The Courage To Take A Risk for our dates-n-mates Scotland project. You can find out more by visiting: On Thursday 22nd of June we also won an SCVO Scottish Charity Award in the category of Pioneering Project for our dates-n-mates Scotland Project. This was a people s choice award voted for by the public. dates-n-mates Renfrewshire colleagues Fiona & Raynor as well as dates-n-mates Glasgow Fundraising Director Michael and dates-n-mates National member Malcolm, attended the ceremony at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EIC) to find out the great news and collect our trophy. You can find out more by visiting: uk/scottish-charity-awards-2017 dates-n-mates Scotland is our national project consisting of dates-n-mates Glasgow, dates-n-mates Aberdeen and dates-n-mates Renfrewshire datesnmates 3

4 Glasgow Special Olympics Questions and Answers with two of our members who competed in the Special Olympics in Sheffield. STUART DEVLIN MARY FITZSIMMONS Q. What events did you compete in? A. The 100m and softball. I won a bronze for softball and a 4th place ribbon for the 100m. Q. Which event did you enjoy most? A. I enjoyed both of them. Q. What was your highlight of the week? A. I really enjoyed the opening ceremony. Tony Hadley sang 3 songs, including Gold and they played lots of good luck messages from other celebrities. I also enjoyed walking round the stadium with the rest of the team. Q. Was it a good experience? A. Yes I enjoyed it but it was really tiring and I was glad to get home. Q. What have you won this year? A. I ve won a 4th in the 50 meter Sprint and 8th place in the Softball throw. Q. What was your favourite thing about going to the Special Olympics this year? A. As it was my 4th time there, I was more comfortable because I d been before and knew what I was doing. Q. Do you think you ll go back again? A. Yes. I might try horse-riding or cycling next time. I m done with running. I ve already been riding for a long time. I ve fallen off a horse 3 times but that won t stop me! Q. Any advice for someone who is thinking about getting involved in the Special Olympics? A. You need to start by getting involved in your local club so you can practice to get on the national team. datesnmates

5 Largs Trip Glasgow This summer, as part of our Oot-n-Aboot walking group, dates-n-mates Glasgow and dates-n-mates Renfrewshire teamed up for a wee day out in lovely Largs. We managed to fit lots of summer fun into one day. We started the day with lunch al fresco at Wetherspoons we were right on the shore and got to see The Waverly docking while we had our meal. After that we went for a stroll along the beach, then some of the members had a look at the Vikingar Museum and some had a wee wander on the beach (I think the canine friends that joined us on the day enjoyed this even more than we did!) We were pretty hungry after all that walking about so we rounded off the day with a trip to the famous Nardini s for ice cream. If you think we should have more days out like this, let us know by coming along to our Coffee and Cake Committee and voicing your opinion or just give us a call and tell us what you datesnmates 5

6 Glasgow Coffee & Cake Committee Update If you ve been a member for a while you probably know about our Coffee and Cake Committee. It s a bi-monthly meeting where we get together over a cuppa and chat about changes we might want to make at dates-n-mates or new things we might want to try. All members are welcome to come along and you get a point on your champions card for attending (and an extra point on top of that if you make a suggestion!) You Said You asked for the Oot-n-Aboot group to be on a different day of the week and not always on a Sunday. You wanted to attend more festivals following our trip to T in the Park last year. We Did The walking group will now be on a different day of the week each month. Hopefully this will give people with different schedules the opportunity to try it out. We have attended two festivals this year. We went to TRANSMT at Glasgow Green in July and FAKE Festival in Greenock in August. You asked for more dating events. We are now holding Mix and Mingle events every other month and we are looking for new ideas for dating events. We are also looking forward to dates-nmates Aberdeen s Take Me Out event and we re hoping to do something similar in Glasgow soon! datesnmates

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8 Glasgow WE VE GOT TALENT Hosted by our favourite glamour girls Barbra La Bush and Lily Minogue the standard of performances at dates-n-mates WGT, this year were higher than ever. The musical treats on offer ranged from William McNay s version of Sweet Caroline and Hughie McIntyre s If I Were a Rich Man through to Malcolm Laurie s vigorous rendition of Biffy Clyro s Machines. In the end the judges, led by Capital FM s Garry Spence, awarded first place to George McNaught for a personalitypacked performance of Madness by Madness. Second place went to Tracey Whyte from Aberdeen for her memorable singing of ABBA s I Have a Dream and Andrew McCartney s rocking version of Linkin Park classic datesnmates

9 Numb won him a well-earned third place. Congratulations and a big Well Done to everyone who made it through to the finals this year. Competition was tough, but the sparkling performances on the night made it an exciting and enjoyable event. Roll on WGT 2018! datesnmates 9

10 Glasgow Club LATE Another amazing Club LATE night at G2. Over 140 people came along to help us celebrate 5 years of inclusive clubbing at LATE. 4 amazing DJ s kept the dancefloor jumping right till the very end and a fantastic crowd made it a very special LATE night. datesnmates

11 DJ Ali made his Club LATE debut and was a definite winner with the clubbers. Massive thanks to Capital FM DJ Garry Spence, DJ Rory Hoy, DJ JP & DJ Ali. Big thanks also to all the staff at G2, our volunteers and of course everyone who came along to join in the fun! Glasgow More photos can be found on the LATE Facebook page datesnmates 11

12 Glasgow Festivals After all the fun we had at T in the Park last year we decided to keep the tradition alive by going to TWO festivals this summer; TRNSMT and Greenock FAKE Festival. We went to TRNSMT on the Sunday to see Biffy Clyro headline. Unfortunately it rained for most of the day, but the sun finally peeked out at about 10pm - just in time for the headliners! We also got to see Two Door Cinema Club, the 1975, The View, Blossoms, and Twin Atlantic. Member Scott Stevenson said, That was an amazing day. I hope we re going back next year. Mon Biffy! datesnmates

13 Glasgow Since one festival wasn t enough excitement for us, we also headed out to Greenock to see FAKE Festival, a touring Festival of tribute acts. We saw Blondied, Kazabian, and Flash, a Queen tribute act. Three brave members, Andrew McCartney, Robyn Wallace, and Ross McDevitt, had a go on the Guitar Rodeo. Ross managed to stay on for more than a minute! After a full day of singing and dancing we got a late train back to Glasgow- with a few of us still singing the whole way datesnmates 13

14 Aberdeen You said We did We hold a Coffee and Cake Committee meeting with our members every 2 months to ask for your ideas and opinions. We love finding out what members want and we will always try to use your ideas. You Said You would like more events in the evenings and weekends We Did We have added more evening and weekend events in September and October You told us you liked party & disco events and really enjoyed bowling We have made sure we have discos and regular bowling events coming up for members You wanted to go to Aberdeenshire We have held events in Stonehaven and Fraserburgh. We are planning an Aberdeenshire event every 2nd month from now You asked if we could get dates-nmates t-shirts made We had dates-n-mates t-shirts made for taking part in Celebrate Aberdeen Parade. We will use them for other events in the future too. datesnmates

15 dates-n-mates Aberdeen celebrate 2nd Anniversary! Aberdeen The party was great. I really enjoyed the dancing and the food. And meeting some new members who came. dates-n-mates Aberdeen member On Friday 23rd June dates-n-mates Aberdeen celebrated their 2nd year anniversary with a party for members, staff and friends of the project. The party was held at the Carmelite Hotel in the city centre from 6pm to 9pm and was attended by over 60 people. The night began with a buffet of stovies and macaroni which was very popular. Following the food, our Director Sarah Paterson made a speech thanking everyone for attending and then we introduced our new 2nd Director Daniel Fields. Project Manager, Sheryl, who attended the event, presented Sarah with her Pride of C-Change Rising Star award. dates-n-mates Aberdeen staff then presented prizes to members for their volunteering achievements. After all the speeches and prize-giving the entertainment really began with, d-n-m member and We ve Got Talent finalist, Tracy singing ABBA s I Have A Dream. She did a wonderful job with many other attendees commenting on how great her singing voice was. The night was then rounded off with the DJ playing great music and everyone having a dance. We would like to thank everyone for attending, the Carmelite Hotel and Stephen our DJ for making the night a huge datesnmates 15

16 Aberdeen New Events We have recently started holding regular events in Aberdeenshire our first one was attending the Stonehaven Folk Festival in July. This was a fun event of live music in Stonehaven on a Saturday afternoon. We plan to hold more events in Aberdeenshire and the next one will be in Fraserburgh. We have also started to arrange LGBT events. We have linked with LGBT support organisation, Four Pillars, to ensure we have the best opportunities and events for all members. The first joint event with Four Pillars was the LGBT Karaoke event at Café Bardot in July which was a fun night of singing with attendees from both organisations. On the 29th of July, we held a Summer BBQ at the Inn at the Park Hotel. 35 people attended and really enjoyed the food on offer including burgers, hot dogs, vegetarian burgers, salad, relish and chips. It was great! We chatted, played a couple of games and one member even sang us a song! Take Me Out The Aberdeen team held a dating event based on the popular TV programme Take Me Out. Members had the opportunity to be contestants and/or part of the panel the contestant chooses their date from. Thank you for such a fun night, I enjoyed it and was happy with who I chose for my date. dates-n-mates member We will be holding a National Take Me Out style dating event on the 15th September for all dates-n-mates members from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Renfrewshire to come to, at the Rox Hotel. This is our first big national dating event and we can t wait! datesnmates

17 New Appointment Aberdeen We now have two Directors working for dates-n-mates Aberdeen Sarah and our new Director, Daniel Fields, who joined us in June. Daniel is settling into the team very well. He had the following to say: My name is Daniel Fields. I am a new director of dates-n-mates Aberdeen. My first event was the C-Change 15 year anniversary party in Glasgow. I felt it went well and I got to meet some of the other directors and members. Before I was a director I had been a member of dates-n-mates Glasgow for about 3 years. During that time I attended a variety of different events. In my spare time I Iike running and going to the gym. I am a member of a running club which I attend once or twice a week. I also like meeting up with friends for meals and drinks etc. I like pubs with live music - especially folk and rock music. As well as dates-n-mates I am currently working at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver. I have volunteered at a variety of different places too. I ve found my first few weeks as a director with dates-n-mates a very rewarding experience. I ve attended many different events including a Human Rights Conference, C-Change Glasgow 15th anniversary party, dates-n-mates Aberdeen s second anniversary party, a directors meeting in Glasgow and a BBQ. I hope to bring to dates-n-mates my skills, ideas and experience of being a member of Glasgow dates-n-mates. Hopefully I will continue to meet new people. I hope I can make real difference to people s datesnmates 17

18 Renfrewshire Dates-n-mates Renfrewshire 1st year Evaluation Back in February we held the first Evaluation of dates-n-mates Renfrewshire. We sent out questionnaires to members, family and support organisations and also held an Evaluation Day on 8th February at Johnstone Town Hall. It was a fun day spent looking back at the projects We had 19 members return a completed questionnaire and this is what they said. Number of Responses Number of Members who agreed Meeting new People Have you met new people since joining dates-n-mates? Have you met new friends since joining dates-n-mates? Visiting new places and trying new things Have you visited new places since joining dates-n-mates? Have you tried new things since joining dates-n-mates? Dating Did you join dates-n-mates to go on dates? 19 members answered this question 19 members answered this question 19 members answered this question 19 members answered this question 5 members said they joined dates-n-mates to go on dates 19 members agreed that they had met new people since joining dates-n-mates 13 members agreed that they has met new friends since joining dates-n-mates 14 members agreed that they had visited new places since joining dates-n-mates 15 members agreed that they had tried new things since joining dates-n-mates 3 out of 5 members agreed that they had the chance to date since joining dates-n-mates datesnmates

19 Renfrewshire When asked members what was the best thing about being a member: I enjoy discussing what s going on at dates-n-mates it s safe, friendly, and relaxed environment at events Feeling part of a community going to different places. It gives me a chance to meet new people making people laugh pride in my volunteer work, new things in my life We asked what we could do better: use less paper to advertise events, use online more change times of events music too loud, more quiet space advertise more to get more datesnmates 19

20 Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Events dates-n-mates Renfrewshire have been busy with lots of fun events over spring and summer! We ve enjoyed a day out at Largs and the weather was good with no rain in sight! We dusted off our dancing shoes for the Abba Tribute night in Paisley Town Hall and boogied the night away with Abba classics Dancing Queen, Mama Mia and more! There were also lots of other fun events such as our regular Cinema Club, Meal Out and Ten Pin Bowling and Paisleys Annual Beer Festival. We also had fun with Glasgow and Aberdeen members at our national events We ve Got Talent, Fake Festival and TRNSMT. Renfrewshire s We ve Got Talent workshop with Drama Teacher Karen Herbison giving advice and tips Abba Tribute Night Meal Out Kirsty Performing at We ve Got Talent Paisley Beer Festival 20 datesnmates

21 Outreach Funding Renfrewshire We received 3500 funding from Renfrewshire Council s Local Area Committees (LACs) to continue our outreach work in the local community. The team have been busy raising awareness of dates-n-mates Renfrewshire and have attended Gala Days, held information sessions in local community halls and met with local councillors and local community groups. Magda and Graham at Paisley South Housing Association Fun Day Fiona and Graham at Renfrew Gala Day Information Sessions Come along to dates-n-mates Renfrewshire drop-in information sessions on Friday 27th October 2017, 1 3pm Tweedie Hall Ardlamont Square, Bridge Street Linwood, Renfrewshire PA3 datesnmates 21

22 Renfrewshire You said, We did Members play a big role in the running of dates-n-mates and our Coffee & Cake Committee is one of the ways members get a say in the running of the project. Based on your feedback we ve made changes to events, your input counts! Coffee & Cake Committee You Said Cinema Club You don t tell us the movie on the flyers, we want to know what the film is before we come We Did Cinema Club When details of the film are released, we post on social media and call members with the film options Bowling The time doesn t suit, can we start earlier Bowling We changed the time to a regular time of 2 3 pm Taster Sports Sessions Can you organise a taster day of sport Taster Sports Sessions We are in contact with Renfrewshire Leisure to arrange a taster session in one of the local sports centres Join us at our next coffee and cake on Thursday 12th October 1pm to 3pm at Canal Station Bar, Paisley. Remember you can claim 1 Champion Point for volunteering your time at Coffee & Cake Committee so bring your Champions Card. 22 datesnmates

23 Special Olympics Renfrewshire Questions and Answers with two of our members who competed in the Special Olympics in Sheffield. ALISON MACKENZIE Q. What did you win? A. I won 1 gold medal, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal for Rythmic Gymnastics. Q. When did you start going to gymnastics? A. I started artistic gymnastics at age 9 as a way of keeping fit and began competing very early on. I moved on to rhythmic gymnastics 6 years ago. Q. What was your highlight of the week? A. My highlight of my time in Sheffield was winning gold and just being part of it. I would definitely do it all again. ANDREW MCINTYRE Q. Did you win any medals? A. I won 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals and I got fourth in artistic gymnastics. Q. What was your highlight of the week? A. I enjoyed both of them. Q. What was your highlight of the week? A. My highlight was winning the 4 golds and the closing ceremony, I felt very proud. And when I came home I found out I had been put forward for the world games in March 2019 in Abu Dhabi. It s very exciting but there is no guarantee I will get a place. Q. Would you do it again? A. I would definitely take part again, oooohhhh datesnmates

24 Member in the spotlight Our member in the spotlight this Summer is one of our Glasgow members, Martin Sloss. I have been a dates-n-mates Glasgow member for about five years. My favourite hobbies are attending Project Ability in Glasgow and doing my artwork. I also have a keen interest in drama. I ve had many pictures exhibited over the years at exhibitions and also have had my own open exhibition in the Project Ability gallery. I have also currently got some art work exhibited at the moment at the bridge in Easterhouse as part of the Aspire exhibition. It is on till the end of August. You can find the Bridge at Westerhouse Road in Easterhouse and I have also recently sold three pieces of my art work to the nhs, you ll find two of my pictures in an nhs building in the city centre, and the other in the Gyle Gallery in Edinburgh. The inspiration for my art work comes from books and I work mostly on landscapes. I love being a member of dates-n-mates Glasgow. The reason I joined five years ago was to make friends and find love. My favourite events are LATE, Halloween, the Valentines Party & the Christmas Party. I am going to give the coffee & cake committee a go next month too. I love being a member of dates-n-mates and will be attending for years to come dnm@c-change.org.uk Glasgow dates-n-mates.co.uk dnmaberdeen@c-change.org.uk Aberdeen dates-n-mates.co.uk/aberdeen Renfrewshire dnmrenfrewshire@c-change.org.uk dates-n-mates.co.uk/renfrewshire dates-n-mates is a project of C-Chang Scotland. Company Number: SC Charity Number: SC035124