Before It`s Too Late - North Lincolnshire Council

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To Trev’s Story
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My
name’s Trev aka
‘Tricky’, I’ve been called Tricky
since I was a kid because as a kid
I lived and breathed football, I could
do anything with a football and run rings
round anyone. I captained my schools
football team both in my Junior and
sec mod schools and I am still
massive lifelong Scunthorpe
United fan.
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I
was born at home in Ashby on the 2nd
June 1954; two years after the Queen’s
Coronation and at exactly the same time Lester
Piggott won the Derby on ‘Never Say Die’,
which has been my motto all my life.
I met my wife Linda at Baths Hall in 1972 I was
18 and Linda was almost 17, we were married
in 1976 and have been together through thick
and thin times ever since. We have 3 children
Karen born in 1977; Sharon born in 1979 and
our Darren born in 1982 we also have 3 grand
kiddies called Lilly, Callum and our latest arrival
Caitlin.
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I THINK I’M A
TRADITIONALIST
L
ike my dad before me and my granddad before
him I have always believed that you should work and
pay your own way in this world. I have worked all my life from
the age of 15 except for 6 months due to a motorbike accident.
I suppose I am a bit of a traditionalist in that I like meeting my mates
at the local social club, I am not a demanding husband as the only
thing I insist on is that I have Sunday lunch every Sunday when I come
back from the club. Other than that I’m not a picky eater as I will
eat anything else the rest of the week
I always wanted to be a footballer so like many of my friends
I left school at 15 to earn a living and pay my way through
training and selection as well as to stop being caned
and bullied by teachers. I was lucky that my mum
had managed to get me a job at Corah, ‘the
knicker factory’, I started on the floor
as a sweeper and then as a
packer.
DISASTER STRUCK AND
MY WORLD COLLAPSES
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off w I
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6 mo for abo
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nths
D
isaster struck and my world collapsed when I was 18,
I was on the back of my best mate’s Motor bike when
he lost control and hit a tree. Unfortunately he died on the spot;
I broke my leg in 3 places, 4 of my ribs, punctured my lung
and reshaped my good looks. It also ended any hope I had of
playing for Scunny United.
I was off work for about 6 months and was desperate to get
back to work as I was saving to get married to Linda; luckily my
boss had held my job open for me.
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was
GETTING BACK TO NORMALITY AT
WORK
I
have always been good with my hands and was always
interested in how things work, so spent time watching
tradesmen and quickly picked up how thing could be fixed.
Within 3 years I was an unofficial handyman, when Corah closed
down in 1981.
I had a short spell at British steel but you couldn’t even unblock
a sink yourself you had to be a qualified ‘chippy’ to take a
cover off and then a qualified plumber to clear the blockage, so
I left and worked for MFI, when it closed my friend got me a
job at the Council as a labourer/handy man.
In 2007 I was transferred to North Lincs Homes where I have
progressed to be a Senior Caretaker, I suppose that it’s safe to
say that I know my place, I’m good at what I do and people
look up to me for my advice and knowledge.
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I
wasn’t doing much
in the Bedroom Olympics
department either.
GETTING OLDER IS NO JOKE
T
he snag about getting older is that you start to be
invited to more funerals than weddings; in the past 2
years I have lost 2 close friends about my age from Heart
attacks another has Lung Cancer and that’s not counting Aunts
and Uncles that pop their clogs through ‘old age’.
Recently my wife commented that I was getting a bit
breathless when I climbed the stairs and that she had noticed
I couldn’t play with our Grandkids as much as I used to, and
being honest I wasn’t doing much in the ‘Bedroom Olympics’
department either.
My wife nagged me to see my doctor, so even though
I knew it isn’t open when I finished work I still rang up;
the ‘nurse’ that answered it asked if my problem was an
emergency? I just said sorry NO it isn’t and put the phone
down. I was a bit annoyed with my wife as I knew that it
wasn’t an emergency and I was just going to be told off by
my Doctor about smoking and being a bit overweight.
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Br
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ttac
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North
Lincs Homes genuinely care
about our health
TIME TO GET MY HEALTH CHECKED
A
s it happens, North Lincs Homes is a cracking employer and seem to genuinely care about
our health. According to posters and newsletters they are part of a Workplace Health
Award scheme, and have won a number of big awards for the things they do.
They organised for us to have a free health check from the NHS at work and during works time,
at first I wasn’t going to attend as it’s one thing to think you may have a problem but it’s another
to find out you a have actually got one.
I thank my god that I had the guts to attend, it was a real life saver, it turned out my Blood
Pressure and Cholesterol were high and I had a 60% chance of having a stroke.
I was advised to make an appointment with my GP ASAP which I did, he has given me some
tablets to lower my Blood pressure and I am monitored at the practice clinic every month. I can
admit now that it was bothering me a bit because my mum and dad both died in their 60’s of
heart problems but I didn’t want to scare my missus.
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A NEW LEASE OF HEALTHY LIFE
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also got my own Health Trainer at the Heath check session she is ace, she is
working with both me and my wife and arranged for my wife to attend an open
Health Check event where she found out that her cholesterol was higher than mine.
Our health trainer worked with us firstly on our diets, she managed to get us both
signed up to the Stop Smoking people and agreed a joint quit date 12 weeks ago,
and I am proud to say we are both still smoke free, my cholesterol is falling faster
than my wife’s so it’s a bit of a competition between us.
Because I take my grandkids out a lot more now I don’t have the same amount of
time go to the club as much which means I am loosing pounds off of my waist and
still gaining pounds in my pocket.
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lthy
Hea
Open H
ealth C
heck
T
he good news guys is that
the combination of stopping
smoking, exercising and losing weight
has resulted in the ‘Bedroom Olympics’
making an appearance and looking like
we may even be going for gold this
summer.
However the best bit by far came
via my health trainer when put me in
touch with Gav at Scunthorpe United,
he runs an over 50’s football group
based at the club and meets on a
Thursday night, what a great bunch of
lads of all shapes and sizes.
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My
name is Tricky I
am a Husband, a Father a
Grandfather, I work hard for my family
and…………
I play football at Scunthorpe United.
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I am looking forward to an active
retirement…. Are you?
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