Glasgow Old People's Welfare Association - Temple Elderly C.C. Service

It is hard to believe it has been a year since I left my position as senior support worker at the Donald Dewar Day Care Centre and took up my new post at the Gatehouse as the centre manager, and what a busy year we have had.

In August we had one of our annual trips "Doon the Water" on the Waverley which is a great favourite with the service users.

In October Jordanhill School brought in the Harvest. Pupils from the school are regular visitors to the centre throughout the year and in addition to the Harvest they bring in hampers for the service users and provide entertainment in the form of the choir and carol singers at Christmas, and the pupils always interact with the service users.

Friday 10th October brought a double celebration for Joe and Maire Ward who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary and Maire's 80th Birthday. Joe and Maire's family attended and both service users and family had a great day.

Also in October we had our annual Halloween Party in which staff and service users always love to participate.

November was a memorable month which began with "The Great Flood". One of the radiators on the top floor burst overnight causing extensive flooding on both floors. All the staff rallied together when the major cleanup began and I am happy to say this was done in record time which meant the centre only had to close for 2 days. I would personally like to like to say a big "Thank you" to all staff for their hard work and effort to get the centre open again with as little disruption as possible.

In November we had an outing to the Fraser Centre in Milngavie. On the 19th staff attended a Rangers Race Night, a fundraising night to help raise money for the new minibus.

On 20th we also held a winter fundraiser which included a 3 course meal, raffle, bingo and Ossie provided the entertainment for the evening. We also had another birthday celebration on the 24th with Alex Brash celebrating his 90th birthday in which his family attended.

December is always a busy month and on the 3rd the service users held a Christmas fayre with guests attending Oran Street and the Donald Dewar Centre. The Lord Provost lunch was on 6th and 6 service users attended. On the 14th December 14 Service users enjoyed a trip to Harry Ramsdens. Our Christmas Parties were held on 17th and 18th. It was also quite a sad time with the loss of Colin MacDonald who provided entertainment for over 10 years and became a good friend of the Gatehouse. He will be sadly missed by staff and service users.

New to the Gatehouse this year was the Xmas party organised by G.O.P.W.A. on Christmas Day at the Fred Paton Day Care Centre. This is great as it provided a Christmas meal and company for many service users who would otherwise spend Christmas alone.

January saw our annual Burns Supper and some of the groups starting up after the festive period.

Lenny and Myra provided entertainment for us in February and in March we were entertained with a play "Maria of my soul" in which Dave Anderson appeared.

April brought with it our annual Easter parade, an 80th and 90th birthday and an outing to the Cloch Lighthouse which was enjoyed by 12 service users. April was also a milestone for the Gatehouse with it celebrating its 20th Anniversary. A special celebration was held on 26th. Councillor Jon Findlay attended along with the Labour Candidate at the time Christopher Hughes, MP John Robertson and MSP Bill Butler. Also attending that day were 10 of the original service users and Mary Christie our oldest service user who celebrated her 101st Birthday this year.

We held a Fish supper night fundraiser in June and there was also another outing on the Waverley.

Along with all our annual events the Users Committee hold their monthly meetings and hold various fundraising events throughout the year but hopefully this gives you the taste of the Gatehouse and the great service it provides to our service users and the local community.