CATERING Fly Cup – It’s More Than Just A Cuppa…

Fly Cup Catering has established a reputation as one of the best places in Inverurie to enjoy a fly cup and a fine piece, but it is also something much more.

The organisation provides training and employment opportunities to adults with learning disabilities in the catering and hospitality sector. Started as a small project in 1995, and evolving to become a registered charity in 2000, Fly Cup has grown considerably since, and now operates as a well-developed catering establishment.

The facility now encompasses an industrially equipped bakery and kitchen, café, office and meeting and conference rooms, providing trainees with a range of opportunities to build their social skills, confidence, self-esteem, independence and ultimately their employability.

Trainees are often taken on as school leavers, and as such, the organisation also gets the privilege of assisting these young people on their journey into adulthood. This allows the gaining of both trust and a real insight into how to create a personalised training plan to support each trainee.

The charity is overseen by a Board of Trustee volunteers, who bring a wealth of experience across various business disciplines and a knowledge of adults with learning disabilities. The Board is supported by a team of hardworking staff, and a pool of local volunteers who assist with day-to-day operations, fundraising initiatives and more.

New volunteers are always very welcome to get involved and are encouraged to get in touch with the organisation to find out more about the roles available. Everyone involved has committed to the ethos and aims of the charity, and ultimately to the trainees, taking great reward from their efforts.

The organisation celebrated its 21st anniversary earlier this year, taking the opportunity to mark this significant milestone and its achievements with a virtual afternoon tea party which was enjoyed by trainees, staff, volunteers and friends past and present.

Fly Cup’s afternoon tea collection and delivery service has become an extremely popular additional offering by the organisation, introduced as lockdown restrictions forced a rethink of catering service options and new ways of working. Offering free afternoon tea deliveries in Inverurie and deliveries outwith for a small fee, Fly Cup has established a new and much sought after service, which has continued post lockdown.

A daily takeaway lunch service, and a meal collection and delivery service on Tuesdays and Thursdays were also introduced, with regular customer deliveries being made. The service is set to continue, with menus posted on the Fly Cup Facebook page weekly in advance and new orders welcomed.

The outside catering service which was in place prior to lockdown has also resumed and orders are welcomed for events, functions and celebrations, with a variety of catering options available, including buffets, homebakes and celebration cakes. The trainees bring enthusiasm and creativity to their work, enjoying the challenge and results of creating a variety of produce and bakes.

The popular café recently underwent significant refurbishment, finally reopening its doors in May after the temporary Covid imposed lockdown restrictions, much to the delight of its customers. The refurbishment was made possible through securing available funding from the Community Recovery Fund, as well as by the generosity of a number of local companies and tradesmen who donated both time and materials, including Hendersons Ltd and Craigmile Contractors, and also Howdens, who offered competitive pricing options. Dolphin Drilling has also showed recent support with a donation of £4000 towards the purchase of a new oven in support of the traineeship programme. A reflection of the special place Fly Cup holds with many in the local community.

The café is now open Monday to Friday from 9am-4pm, offering breakfasts, fly cups, homebakes, snacks and lunches. Fly Cup is also keen to hear from customers their views on additional opening times and services, so if you have any feedback please do get in touch. Our friendly staff look forward to welcoming you very soon!

For more information on Fly Cup Catering, its traineeships and range of catering offerings, please see their website at www.flycup.org or Facebook page /FlyCupCatering.

T: 01467 625645 • E: enquiries@flycup.org

Fly Cup Catering Ltd, Unit 2 Advertising House Blackhall Industrial Estate, Inverurie, AB51 4FS

Rosie Barron is The Tidy Coo, a Professional Declutterer and Organiser, Certified KonMari Consultant and Photo Manager based in the North East of Scotland.

Books are an emotive category for many people. I’m an absolute bookworm, I love to read and often read over 100 books a year. However, there is no denying that physical books take up a lot of space and once a book is read, it’s often placed on the shelf never to be read again, that is if it is even read at all.

It is not unusual for me to go into people’s homes and find piles of books that haven’t been read but which are piling up in corners. Some people buy books seeking the excitement of owning something new and the momentary euphoria that comes with that, but then rarely read all the books that they have bought.

The time to read a book is when it first enters your home.

Piles of unread books cause overwhelm and can decrease the amount of time you actually spend reading. Often when people release their enormous pile of unread books, they actually read more! Therefore, even for someone for whom books Spark a lot of Joy, I would still encourage you to audit your collection, however small or large.

Historically, books have been incredibly hard to get hold of. Initially copied by monks, they showed social status and were held in a sacred regard. Even up until more recent times, books were still expensive – something that you saved up for and certainly not something that you discarded when you were finished. As almost the only way to pass information between generations, they were, rightly, venerated. Now though, we live in the Information Age with access to everything at our fingertips on the internet, and yet there is still a cultural panic at the thought of letting books go - almost as if by letting the book go, you let the knowledge, or the fact that you read it, go. The books you read only contribute to who you are, they do not define you.

They are not your memories and releasing the book does not mean that the knowledge you gained will suddenly dissipate. Remember that someone, someday, will eventually be tasked with tossing your books. It is also worth remembering that even Libraries let go of books and publishers will regularly pulp books when they have too many.

The Key to this category, as with every category, is to Handle Everything. The books need to come off your shelves in order to be properly checked. I like to tell the story about my client who said that she was keeping all the Horse books in her collection, but as she handled every one, she actually decided that she didn’t need a 5th of them, and that one of them made her so angry that rather than let it go to a charity shop and risk someone picking up information that she considered inaccurate, she actually burned it. No one needs that kind of negative energy on their shelves!

Just like in every other category that we will cover, there is no right or wrong number of books that you should keep.

Things to consider when you are de-cluttering.

• Be wary of dust!

• Be careful handling large numbers of books and climbing up to get them.

• Consider your comfort – it may be worth putting them on a table.

• Small documents may be wedged in the book – check before discarding.

• Keep a notebook for interesting titles.

Initially, don’t worry about how you are going to discard the discards, just focus on what you are keeping. As you check your books, you can ask yourself the following questions.

• How does it make you feel? What feeling or emotion will it be enhancing if it stays on your shelves?

• How long have you owned it? More than 6 months and you are unlikely to read it.

• Has it fulfilled its purpose? Will you read it or refer to it again?

• Are the contents current? Particularly with travel or text.

• How hard would it be to find again?

• Is it worth the real estate? How much space are you willing to give over to the storage of books?

• Does it reflect who you are right now rather than who you were in the past?

Once you have decided what to keep, you need to decide what to do with the ones you are releasing. The sustainability page on my website www.thetidycoo.com has suggestions for places that you can sell or donate books.

In the future, think about your book buying. Make a note of titles that you want to read so that you have a note of them when you want to read them, rather than just buying them for the sake of it. Remember that there is a limit to the number that you can read at any one time. Consider using the library (can you set up a Mini Lending Library?) or digital versions. I know that many people do not like e-readers, but they have really improved recently. I have a paper-white which doesn’t hurt my eyes to read it.