GLASGOW RENFREWSHIRE ABERDEEN Spring / Summer 2018 Newsletter
Contents 2 People First 12 Blind Date 3 Director in Spotlight 12 New Project Coordinator 4 5 Kiltwalk 13 dnm Aberdeen Coffee & Cake 6 dnm Glasgow Valentine 13 dnm Renfrewshire Coffee & Cake 7 8 9 dnm Glasgow Coffee & Cake Club LATE 14 14 dnm Renfrewshire Valentine dnm Renfrewshire Take Me Oot 10 dnm Aberdeen Valentine 15 SCLD Awards 2018 11 Student Fundraising Success 15 Member in the Spotlight Hi everyone, I m Kim and I ve been a d-n-m member in Renfrewshire for about a year. I wanted to give you all some information about another organisation I m also a member of People First (Scotland). People First People First is the national independent self-advocacy organisation of people with learning disabilities in Scotland and we campaign to change policy and attitudes to make sure people with learning disabilities have the same freedom, choice, dignity and control as other people across all areas of life. We are run and controlled entirely by our members who all identify as people with learning disabilities. Members are involved in lots of work which happens in local areas as well as across Scotland. In my two years as a member of People First, I ve learned a lot and my confidence has grown so much! I ve chaired meetings, given presentations and training and I ve been involved in interviewing new workers. I m really proud that I ve done these things, it s made me feel good inside. You can read more about it on our website www.peoplefirstscotland.org We have offices in different areas but our head office is in Edinburgh, the phone number is 0131 478 7707. If you would like to know more about People First (Scotland) just ask me to tell you more, I will be happy to. 2 @ dnmscotland datesnmates
John Paul Moffat Director s Diary Wednesday 7th March: Myself, Holly and Lesley did a presentation on the history of dates-n-mates to a group from the Netherlands (who I met at the Love, Life and Friendship Conference in Prague last June) interested in setting up something similar in their Country. Thursday 8th March: Myself, Lesley and Fiona did interviews for the dates-n-mates Glasgow Fundraising Director, with Andrew McCartney being successful. Sunday 25th March: Myself and my Renfrewshire Colleague Graham had a dates-n-mates information stand at Knightswood Community Campus Showcase, and spoke to not just members of the public but also to local councillors and an MP. Friday 20th April: We had What To Say After Hello workshop with dates-n-mates Renfrewshire and Glasgow members. Myself and Magda did some Role Play during the session and offering suggestions of how to make conversations. Monday 23rd April: Myself, Janie and Lesley had a dates-n-mates information stand at Believe and Achieve event in Grangemouth Town Hall. Sunday 29th April: dates-n-mates took part in the KiltWalk 2018, Wee Wander from the Riverside Museum to the Suspension Bridge at Clyde St. Tuesday 15th May: Myself and Janie had a dates-n-mates information stand at West Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership Learning Disability Information Day, at Clydebank Town Hall. Thursday 17th May: Myself and Janie did a half an hour talk at South West Glasgow Carers Centre with me telling the history of dates-n-mates and Janie speaking about what dates-n-mates offers if you join. @ dnmscotland datesnmates 3
Kiltwalk 2018 After a great deal of preparation and training, dates-n-mates members, supporters and staff donned hiking boots and kilts, to take part in this years Kilt Walk on Sunday 29th April at Balloch Country Park. Unfortunately, the day didn t go to plan! After meeting at Central Station at the appointed time, the train broke down on the way to Balloch and our dates-n-mates team were forced to abandon ship (or train in this case!), and head off along the Clyde to complete the kilt walk under their own steam! 4 @ dnmscotland
Our kilt walkers managed to raise a whopping 3135.30 for dates-n-mates! A massive well done to everyone who took part, and a huge thank you to everyone who kept smiling despite the disruption to the day! @ dnmscotland 5
Glasgow dates-n-mates Glasgow Valentine Party 2018 On 13th February we celebrated love (and friendship) with a big party at Maryhill Club 90. We had a fabulous night with 120 revelers enjoying the fun. Highlights of the evening included making connections on our always-popular message board, our fabulous raffle, and a very lively dance floor. It was a bittersweet occasion as it was our longtime Events and Marketing Coordinator Stacey Murray s last event as a member of the dates-n-mates team but she left on a high note and got to say a proper goodbye. Director John-Paul Moffat and member Scott Stevenson said a few words and presented Stacey with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of all the members. As always, it was one of the highlights of the year and hopefully some lasting connections were made! 6 @ datesnmates
Coffee & Cake Committee Update Glasgow Every couple of months, we hold a meeting with our members to find out what events you want to see at dates-n-mates. Earlier this month we had a dinner and drinks committee meeting at a city center pub, and there was lots of feedback for a range of different activities. You Said You wanted the Cinema Club to meet in a different part of town We Did We had a cinema club outing to The Forge in Parkhead in early May. You wanted pub nights in different parts of town We organised a June pub night at West Brewery. You asked for a day out to the coast in the summer We ve arranged a day trip to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in June, to coincide with Bute Pride. You ask for a trip to the swimming pool We are organising a trip to The Time Capsule in Coatbridge in August. You asked for a go-karting activity You asked for a snooker night We are organising an outing to Accessible Karting in Hillington in July. We ve arranged a night out at Reardens snooker hall in June. @ datesnmates 7
Glasgow Relaunch of CLUB LATE Thursday 19th April saw the relaunch of CLUB LATE at G2 in Sauchiehall Street, in partnership with Include Me 2 Club. The DJs were rocking, the club was packed and the tunes were banging! It was a great night, complete with face painting and picture booth fun, along with free glo sticks and glasses to get the party started! Our new Club LATE will run monthly from now on, and the next date for your diary is Thursday 21st June at G2, 7pm 11pm. 8 @ datesnmates www.facebook.com/clublateglasgow
Glasgow Also look out for the launch of our brand new Club Live nights later this summer, where we will have a number of bands performing live at G2 to give you the real live music experience! www.facebook.com/clublateglasgow @ datesnmates 9
Aberdeen Aberdeen Valentines Ball The dates-n-mates Aberdeen Valentines Ball this year was held at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel at Aberdeen beach on Friday 9th February. At this event we had a fun surprise entertainer and host which we had not confirmed to members beforehand. Our host for the evening was Barbara La Bush who is a Drag Queen act who has previously performed at dates-n-mates Glasgow events. She was fabulous! Barbara performed some songs and dances including an interactive dance for staff and members to join in with. You can view a sample video of Barbara on our Facebook page. Also, on the night there was a buffet, cupcakes, valentines message board and raffle with some great local donated prizes. The evening ended with our members performing their Valentines song and then a DJ who helped fill the dancefloor. It was really a great evening from start to finish enjoyed by all with positive feedback received including: I really enjoyed the Valentines party, the food was nice and the host was super! We would like to say thank you to everyone at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel along with Barbara la Bush, the DJ from Prestige Discos, our volunteer Sofie and everyone who attended for making this such a great night. 10 @ dnmaberdeen datesnmates
Students Fundraising Success Aberdeen We linked with Robert Gordon University, Event Management students for their Main Event project. The students were asked to create a fundraising event for a local charity as part of their final year coursework. On February 24th, 2018 a fantastic fundraising event was held for us by the students at the end of the project which raised 1933.21 for dates-n-mates Aberdeen. They raised awareness for us by participating in a range of pre-event fundraising in the local community and talking to people about dates-n-mates. The event was a food tasting evening at Hazlehead Park Café with live musicians and an opportunity to win some great prizes. Staff Louise & Peter attended with some members. Tastes O the Shire consisted of a 3-course menu which included a starter where people were encouraged to wear blindfolds to taste and try to be the first to guess what it was. The students raised a fantastic amount; therefore, we would like to say a very big THANK YOU and well done to the student group Anna, Erin, Maja and Emma! Thank you also to Robert Gordon University. The student group said the following: Organising the event on behalf of this inspirational charity is something the group will never forget! We all really enjoyed working with the staff at dates-n-mates Aberdeen and meeting the wonderful members throughout the project. Louise has been a fantastic help in helping us to plan and make Tastes O the Shire a successful event! @ dnmaberdeen datesnmates 11
Aberdeen Blind Date After our success of basing some of our dating events on Take Me Out we decided to give Blind Date a try with Aberdeen members in March. We had a partition hiding member candidates from their potential dates while they ask them questions, similar to what you would see in the TV show, Blind Date. It went really well it was fun to try something new and as always; some matches were made. We are considering trying this as a national event (hosted in Aberdeen) in the future so look out for details on that in upcoming months! New Project Coordinator In April we welcomed Laurie Fallon to the dates-n-mates Aberdeen team. I ve been working with people with learning disabilities for the last 12 years using cooking as a fun and relaxed way of improving confidence and skills. Since starting, I ve been pleasantly surprised at how well the service is run already thanks to our fantastic team. I m really looking forward to continuing this great work by branching out in to Aberdeenshire further where you can all look forward to experiencing new venues, activities and welcome new members. We ve already had an invite from Grampian Opportunities in Kintore who would like to sponsor and host an event. Another priority of mine is to hold a volunteer recruitment event to hopefully add to our already fantastic team; this will help us run events more often, especially at the weekend which I know is something a lot of you are asking for! I was so pleased to meet some of you at the Co-ordinator drop in sessions on the 26th and 27th April! I m really looking forward to meeting more of you in our upcoming events and look forward to hearing your ideas about future events. With my previous experience maybe we can do more cooking events. So get your thinking caps on! 12 @ dnmaberdeen datesnmates
Coffee & Cake Committee Updates Aberdeen Aberdeen You Said You wanted to take part in the Celebrate Aberdeen Parade again this year We Did We have signed up to take part in this year s parade in August members will be invited to join us. You wanted more karaoke and more dating events You would like to help us promote the project with leaflets etc We held another karaoke event this year and will hold another soon. We also introduced dating events on a monthly basis including our new Blind date event and dating disco. We are printing new leaflets and have asked a couple of members to help us with promotion at the Grampian Pride stall we are holding. Renfrewshire You Said Its hard to understand the photographs on Event Flyers when they are printed in Black and White We would like more dancing events We would like to try Indian for a Meal Out We love the Drama Club but its too expensive We Did Event Flyers are now printed in Full Colour We have held a Ceilidh, Salsa Dancing and plan another dance and date night for July. We held a Cooking with Mates night and cooked amazing Indian food with friends. We are applying for Funding to part fund the Drama Club. @@ dnmrenfrewshire datesnmates 13
Renfrewshire Valentines 2018 On Thursday 15th February over 60 people attended Gabriel s Function Suite, Paisley for dates-n-mates Renfrewshire s Valentines Party 2018. It was a fantastic night and our message board was popular keeping Cupid busy delivering messages between guests. The dance floor was packed with Gabriel s resident DJ taking requests for some romantic classics. Another great night at dates-n-mates! Well done! Julie Take Me Oot Take Me Oot took place on 8th March in the Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow with members from Renfrewshire and Glasgow taking part. The evening was a great success with 5 matches and we are delighted to share that three of the couples are still dating. Hosts, Aberdeen Project Coordinator Piotr and Renfrewshire Director Graham Magda, Event Organiser and Glasgow Director John Paul 14 @ datesnmates dnmrenfrewshire
SCLD Awards 2018 Renfrewshire Congratulations to dates-n-mates member Andrew Macintyre for winning at the Learning Disability Awards 2018 in the Category of Sport Achievement. Andrew was nominated by dates-n-mates Renfrewshire Project Coordinator Fiona Kyle. The awards ceremony took place on Friday 18th May, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh. Organised by the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability (SCLD), the Learning Disability Awards provide an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of people with learning disabilities and the people who support them. Andrew said It was very unexpected to win this award, and I m very proud. I know exactly where my award is going. Member in the spotlight Our member in the spotlight this Spring is dates-n-mates Renfrewshire member John Hainey. John has been a member of dates-n-mates for just over a year. John is an active Champion and volunteers his time as a Friendly Face and has volunteered at dates-n-mates office. John said I love dates-n-mates, its made me more outgoing and confident. I love being a Friendly Face at events and gaining Champions points. John also took part in dates-n-mates Scotland Kiltwalk on 29th April and raised a massive 561! Thank you John, from everyone at dates-n-mates Scotland for volunteering your time with us and winning Star Fundraiser! If you would like to feature on Member in the Spotlight like John, contact your local dates-n-mates team. @ dnmrenfrewshire datesnmates 15
How to Earn Champion Points 0141 427 2957 dnm@c-change.org.uk Glasgow dates-n-mates.co.uk 01224 974 730 dnmaberdeen@c-change.org.uk Aberdeen dates-n-mates.co.uk/aberdeen 0141 427 2957 Renfrewshire dnmrenfrewshire@c-change.org.uk dates-n-mates.co.uk/renfrewshire dates-n-mates is a project of C-Change Scotland. Company Number: SC262558 Charity Number: SC035124