"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" was the film of choice at the trial Movie Night
January has come and gone in a flash! We have had plenty of online activities and I have especially enjoyed playing "Play Your Cards Right" and "The Price Is Right" over Zoom. I think the idea of playing game shows over Zoom has been very well received and is something that we would like to continue and expand on in the future. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for game shows that might work well.
I have managed to run a few in-person activities this month as well which has been fantastic. I held a small, trial Supper Club event in Aberdeen with three services in attendance and then a Movie Night for people we support through the Community Living Project (CLP). Both of these pilot activities were organised to make sure that we could safely hold these types of events and included a great deal of planning, risk assessments and a post-activity reflective account. I am very pleased to say that they went without a hitch and that although we are not ready to invite 60 people back into Starboard at Head Office just yet, we are on the right path and slowly but surely we can see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of some return to our very well known and loved "Added Value Events".
The trial Supper Club at the Beach Boulevard was a big success
The reason the trials have been held within Aberdeen is that the services involved are those that I either used to work in as a Support Worker or have worked very closely with individuals supported there and this meant that we could drastically reduce the number of staff members at the events. I was the only member of staff required at the Movie Night for instance. Rest assured that we do have plans for the resumption of activities in other areas as soon as possible and are actively working on plans for this.
My highlight of the month was when I took an impromptu trip out to one of Inspire's social enterprises last week up in Huntly, Inspire...By. One of the things I used to do pre-covid was to go out to a service and just spend time with people so that I could get to know those we support better and therefore plan more person specific activities. So going out to Inspire...By was brilliant as I spent the day doing the virtual activities from the back of the shop and in between that was just mucking in with everyone getting things sorted for going out in the shop and having a good old natter at the same time. I left with plenty of ideas after speaking to the people we support and the service manager, Shona. I would 100% recommend that if you are ever in Huntly that you pop by the shop, and I promise it will be the best-smelling charity shop you'll step foot in! Also while there I collected a picture that someone we support made for me a while back and it is now hung in the centre of my wall in my office, I absolutely love it.
Chris Simpson, Senior Volunteer and Activities Coordinator
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