The Charity Chat - The Gloucester Charity Trust

March 2014
The
1st edition
Gloucester
Charities
Trust
The
Charity Chat
Welcome to your March 2014 edition!
Meet Chester!
The newest addition to
The GCT Family. See Page 6 !
Inside this issue:
Page:
We have redesigned your newsletter to look more like a
magazine! We hope you like it!
News from St Margaret’s
2
News from St Bart’s
3
News and events happening across our
retirement schemes
News from St Phillip’s
4
Take a look inside and read the news from St Margaret’s,
St Bartholomew’s, St Philip’s and St Mark’s.
News from St Mark’s
5
Resident Reps & Sub Editor
6
Head Office
7
Activities & Events .
8
News from Gloucester Charities Trust Head
Office
We like to keep you informed of developments within the
Trust and on page 6 & 7 we share with you some of the
latest news from staff and residents.
Activities and Events Calendar is here!
Turn to the back page to see what’s on offer for March
2014
Special points of interest:
Latest news from the
Maintenance team
7
Guild- & Magdalen House
7
Resident Spot
“Gloucester
Charities
Trust”
Gladys Moseley from St Margaret's with Phil Vickery and
Santander staff
St Margaret’s
She may be 93 but sprightly Gladys Mosley was able to
show the youngsters a thing or two when she was
guest of honour at the opening of a bank's refurbished
branch.
As one of Santander's oldest Gloucester customers,
Gladys was invited to officially cut the ribbon at the
launch of the city's new-look Westgate branch.
She was joined by former England and Gloucester rugby legend Phil Vickery and even took part in some indoor cycling to raise money for charity.
Lee Leonard, manager at the Santander branch, said:
"Following the refurbishment and extension of the
Westgate Street branch, we celebrated our reopening
by holding a fundraising event for local children's charity, Pied Piper. We raised more than £500 on the day.”
Gladys loved her day as guest of honour and will share
more pictures with us next month.
Info Spot
Flat assessments at St Margaret’s are scheduled for 11th,12th
and 13th March. Residents will be sent letters individually with
a date and time of the appointment.
2
In April of Two
Thousand and
Three
to St. Margaret’s to
collect the key
I had received some
good news
I had a flat at St Bartholomew’s
So another chapter
was to begin
And soon I was
settling in
Meeting and making many new
friends
I knew this was
where life would
end
It’s now eleven
years since I arrived
Many changes for
which we have
strived
A residents rep. I’ve
now become
We are now the
voice for some
(Cont. Opposite -> )
<Cont.
So we are all Warden controlled
Which gives us confidence as we grow
old
For we know that
help is at hand
As they meet us
and understand
St Bartholomew’s is GCT’s largest housing scheme
St Bartholomew’s
St Bartholomew’s
hosted a coffee
morning in February to say farewell
to Art Williams our
mini bus driver. Art
retired officially in
December and
some of you will
have enjoyed a
meal at the Nag’s
Head to celebrate
Art’s 7+ years with the Trust before Christmas.
Kathryn Lewis and Jane Jowers (pictured) presented Art
with a card and gift to say thank you from all of us.
Info Spot
Happy Birthday to Joyce Harris
who celebrated her 90th birthday on
March 1st. at St. Bartholomew’s.
3
But this is all soon
to change
As cuts are made
let’s re-arrange
The love that the
wardens give
To keep up with the
way we live
I just like to say a
big THANK YOU
For all the work you
do
For giving many folk
a home
When they had nowhere to roam
Poem by
Margaret
Apperley,
Apperley,
St Bartholomew’s
The Furniture
Recycling Project
Are you looking for
decent furniture
that won’t break
the bank? If so,
head down to
Gloucester Bus Station and see what’s
on offer at The Furniture Recycling
Project . They offer
Autumnal colours in St Philip’s garden
St Philip’s Court
both new and nearly new wardrobes,
chairs, tables, beds,
After Lunch Club Activities from
1.30pm – 3pm on Tuesdays
Please join us on Tuesday Afternoons in the Lounge –
we now stay in most Tuesday afternoons and enjoy a
cup of tea, biscuits or a slice of cake, play games such
as Dominos and Darts or do a ‘True or False’ Quiz.
Pop in for a cuppa and stay as long as you like!
The activities are free to take part in – refreshments we
ask for a modest £1 donation.
We look forward to seeing you in the lounge!
Info Spot
Care to join the Wednesday Lunch Club at St Mark’s?
Call Head Office for your menu choices and to arrange minibus
pick up (£1) from 12 o’clock.
4
mattresses and cabinets of all shapes
and sizes at reasonable prices. They
can also deliver for
just £6.
Tel: 01452 302303
Something to share with us?
See Alan Darke (see Page 7)
or Morten Simonsen via
Head Office
The history of
Maundy Money
St Mark’s Lounge, 1st. Floor
St Mark’s Court
Maundy Money raises more money for charities
May Hayes (pictured) of St Mark’s Court recently generously donated her late husband’s gift of Maundy Money
to the Trust to raise funds for 4 charities.
£850 has been distributed between GCT, Macmillan
Nurses, Children with Cancer and
Alzheimer’s Research UK. A big thank you to May!
5
As early as the 13th
century a custom
emerged for members of the royal
family to take part
in Maundy ceremonies, to distribute
money and gifts, to
the poor. In the
19th century money
allowances were
substituted for the
various gifts of food
and clothing. Today's recipients of
Royal Maundy are
chosen because of
the Christian service they have given
to the Church and
community. At the
ceremony which
takes place annually
on Maundy Thursday, the sovereign
hands to each recipient two purses
containing silver
coins equal in
pence to the sovereign’s age.
Your Sub Editor– Alan Darke
writes….
I have an engineering background and before retirement spent 27 years with a company specialising in very
high efficiency air filtration equipment used in electronic and nuclear industries rising to the position of Company Director in charge of development. I have travelled
extensively to other countries in this capacity.
Since retirement, I have been involved with REMAP, an
organisation designing and making bespoke equipment
for disabled people of all ages.
I am a member of The Royal Antediluvian Order of
Buffaloes. In my spare time (if any) I like to read and listen to the radio or play cds. I am also a Resident Representative at St. Bartholomew’s.
Sub Editor– Alan Darke
Fascinating Facts:

The world’s oldest
cat (38) was fed on
cooked breakfast,
broccoli and coffee.
In February 1814
The River Thames
froze over to such an
extent that an
elephant walked
across it.

Resident Representatives
We have 7 Resident
Reps from across our 4
sites. We managed to
capture just 4 of them at
the presentation for
Art’s retirement at St
Bartholomew’s recently!
(see p.3) I hope to feature our other 3 Reps in
the next issue!
We have put the regular
Rep’s meetings on hold
following the busy
Christmas break but
plan to start again in
April. We will then meet
on a quarterly basis
thereafter as I hope to
publish the Newsletter
every month to keep
you up to date with
news and events from
the Trust. In future this
section will feature feedback from the Reps.
Jane Jowers,
Operations Manager
Resident Reps at St Bart’s for Art’s presentation
6
St Mark’s CourtSevernside Security
will be installing an
additional camera
on the side entrance (Spartans
RFC end) as well as
3 x cameras to cover all the front windows and doors on
ground floor level.
Lift upgradesThyssenkrup our lift
engineers start
work on lift upgrades in March.
The most noticeable additions will be
increased sensors
on each lift door.
There is currently
only one and after
the upgrade the lifts
will have around six
sensors.
Head Office
A Birthday Puppy!
Our Chief Executive, Kathryn Lewis
recently celebrated a big birthday
with a little gift! Chester, a 10 week
old French Bulldog is the latest
addition to the family.
He may be small but he is already
making himself heard !
Chester
The Kimbrose Club
The Kimbrose Club is still going well –and we very much
hope it will continue to do so provided we are able to get
around Gloucester to pick up our members!
Tewkesbury Road, 13/02/2014
Maintenance
Guild House & Magdalen House
Residents at Guild House and Magdalen
House are invited to visit West Midlands
Safari Park on Thursday February 27th
—read all about it in the next issue of
The Charity Chat!
“Opening Doors for Older People
in Gloucestershire”
7
SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
Monday
3RD
GCT OUTING: Rococo Gardens
Lunch Club - St Philip’s
Tuesday
4TH
Lunch Club - St Philip’s + Trip out
TH
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
5
6TH
7TH
10TH
Lunch Club - St Mark’s
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
11TH
12TH
13TH
14TH
Monday
17TH
Tuesday
18TH
Lunch Club + In-House Activities - St Philip’s
Lunch Club - St Mark’s
Lunch Club - St Bart’s
Lunch Club + Trip out - St Bart’s
GCT OUTING: Duke of York & Ledbury
Lunch Club - St Philip’s
Lunch Club - St Philip’s + Trip out
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
19TH
20TH
21ST
24TH
Lunch Club - St Mark’s
Lunch Club - St Bart’s
Lunch Club + BINGO – St Bart’s
Shopping
Lunch Club – St Philip’s
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
25TH
26TH
27TH
Lunch Club + In-House Activities - St Philip’s
Lunch Club - St Mark’s
Lunch Club - St Bart’s
Lunch Club + BINGO - St Bart’s
Shopping
Lunch Club – St Philip’s
Monthly Thursday Lunch Out: Robert Raikes
Lunch Club - St Bart’s
Friday
28TH
Monday
31ST
Lunch Club + Trip out - St Bart’s
GCT OUTING: CHEDWORTH Roman
Villa
Lunch Club - St Philip’s
Activities are open to all Residents on a ‘first come first served’ principle.
If you require assistance a relative or friend should accompany you.
For further information about individual activities,
please see posters on your notice boards or call Morten on: 0777 5000 089
(between 8.30am – 4pm) or speak to your Resident Representatives.
TO BOOK LUNCH CLUB & TRIPS, PLEASE CALL RECEPTION on: 01452 500429 (9am-4.30pm)
8