Quest Autumn 2022

New space at Supported Youth Housing Project

Quarriers Supported Youth Housing Project celebrated their 20-year anniversary and opened a brand-new space in the Maryhill Hub for the young people they support to come for a cup of tea and a chat.

Service Manager Angela Campbell said...

The young people we support are all in their own tenancies, and they can be isolated. We felt we needed somewhere comfortable and safe they can come for chats with staff or to meet with each other. The room will be also be used for counselling sessions. It’s a great way to celebrate 20 years of the service.”

Before After

The team pulled out all thestops to transform the roominto a welcoming space

New support

Cruise Loch Lomond has recently chosen Quarriers as a charity partner and has generously offered a discount on all their ticket prices for anyone who is supported by any Quarriers service.

We love this pic of Dylan, lost in a very personal moment of ice cream bliss!

Along with his friends from Dumfries & Galloway Family Support Service Dylan had a brilliant day of pond dipping and crazy golf. It’s just one of the great experiences that have been made possible thanks to donations to our Children’s Fund Appeal.

Huge thanks to everyone who donated. You make magic moments happen.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Cruise Loch Lomond. They offer great tours in a stunning location that will prove to be a great boost to the wellbeing of the people we support who want to enjoy that experience"

Louise Robertson, Head of Income Generation, says...

Going cashless matters

The digital banking revolution affects us all, but does it include us all? Quarriers is leading a new initiative – the Digital Financial Inclusion Partnership – which aims to empower people we support to transition to a cashless society.

Adults with a learning disability are big consumers: they buy clothing, food, technology, homewares, entertainment and utilities every day. For many people with learning disabilities, cash has always been an understood means of spending, but the past two years have seen

increasing numbers of businesses discontinuing cash payments. Anecdotal feedback from support workers at Quarriers is of more and more situations when people we support, who don’t have access to or understanding of payment through credit or debit cards or apps, find themselves unable to make purchases. It excludes them from making their choices and can lead to distress at the till.

With some research suggesting that cash will completely disappear from our society by 2026, it is clear that people who currently rely on cash should not be disadvantaged. But what do adults with learning disabilities need to help them make this transition and how can we provide that? That’s what the Digital Financial Inclusion project will aim to address.

It’s an exciting new partnership that will see Quarriers working with a Programme Board made up of partners with expertise in learning disability issues, finance, social and economic research, and education.

With the help of Scottish Government funding through the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD), the ultimate goal is creating learning resources and technological aids so that people we support will be empowered to make the shift to digital banking and spending.

Head of Development Katy Martin explains the key componentconsultation with the very people who are affected. She says...

Everything this programme aims to develop will be done in partnership with adults with learning disabilities themselves.”

Project Partners include:

Charlie McMillan, Chief Executive at SCLD says...

SCLD are delighted to be working with people with learning disabilities and Quarriers to see how digital financial inclusion can make a real difference to people’s lives."

Focus on trauma

One in three children are exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event by age 18, and new research shows that unresolved childhood trauma may be responsible for such wide-ranging issues in adults as depression and back pain. Across Quarriers, many of the people we support have experience of trauma, and that’s why we’re working to embed a trauma-informed approach within every aspect of the organisation. Kavitha Ratnam is Quarriers first Trauma-Informed Co-ordinator and talks about this vital work.

When we think of the term ‘trauma’, we often think of one big event, but the reality is that trauma can incorporate a broad range of events and experiences – some which are not very visible. Trauma could be a one-off incident, or abusive or neglectful experiences, including adversity in childhood. Bereavement, poor health, medical emergencies, accidents, childhood abuse or neglect, domestic abuse, societal violence, and divorce or relationship breakdowns are just some examples from everyday life that many of us experience and that can have a profound impact on us.

The key defining features of traumatic events lies in how they are experienced and the effect this has.

The effect of trauma

Trauma creates long-lasting effects on an individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual wellbeing. Trauma activates our primitive survival responses in the body. These typically include fight, flight and freeze responses. To do this, the central nervous system and primitive brain are switched into high alert. This is needed when a threat is present – but people holding trauma experiences often find it hard to switch these systems off or to have regulated responses to daily stressors. Trauma also greatly affects our levels of trust in other people and in the world –to keep us safe and to meet our needs both physically and emotionally. The body’s biological survival responses and the impact of mistrust in relationships often lead to difficulties in engaging with supports and finding ways to recover and thrive.

Moving on from trauma

The good news is that there is hope. We mustn’t get stuck in the sadness and complexities of trauma and challenge. We know that post-traumatic growth is possible. The human brain continues to develop throughout the lifespan. That means we can help children and young people we support to create new neural pathways and find new ways of being. Likewise, for adults, the key lies in real connection and relationships where trust can be repaired and rebuilt.

That’s why at Quarriers we are thinking about trauma beyond a tick-box or a badge. Yes, we are keen to provide trauma-informed training to develop our knowledge and

Some

understanding, but we also recognise that the healing work really happens in relationships where we are actively curious about whether our responses are trauma sensitive. This needs to happen right across the Quarriers community whether you are a practitioner enabling a person we support, a staff member in a support department or an executive. We are working on really embedding trauma and secondary trauma understanding, language, policies and processes into a culture of connection.

We already have huge amounts of knowledge held by staff within Quarriers but we hope to develop our community even more to support healing connections across every one of Quarriers 100+ services.

Considering trauma in support for families

The team at Quarriers Family Resource Centre in Ruchazie use trauma-informed practice in their work with families. Service Manager Debbie Hamilton talks about what that means. “We see the impact of trauma every day on the families we support,” says Debbie. “The effect of poverty is always there, but we also see changes in the types of trauma affecting people as society changes.

of damaging experiences as children and then even more as adults, and they can have the attitude of ‘that’s just life’.

“Putting a name to it and helping someone to say ‘this thing happened to me, and it was traumatic’ is a really important first step.”

The most important thing we can do is listen without judgement.”

To read more about trauma-informed support at Quarriers Family Resource Centre, scan this QR code or visit: donate.quarriers.org.uk/resources/ talking-about-trauma-at-ruchazie

In the last 10 – 15 years our awareness and knowledge has increased around the issues of human slavery – the majority of this being women and children who have been trafficked but that does not exclude males."

“Some people don’t recognise that they have unresolved trauma. We work with people who have had lots

Quarriers events!

NOEL LUNCH 2022

Friday 2nd December

Glasgow Marriott Hotel Come and join us for a fun festive lunch

To book your table please email us on: events@quarriers.org.uk or visit our website: www.quarriers.org.uk/events/noel-lunch-2022

Ladies Lunch 2023

Sunday 23rd April 2023

Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow.

Gillian Cameron, Cleartech Group says “I so enjoyed the Quarriers Ladies Lunch last year and am looking forward to April - the Lunch has everything for a fun afternoon out, shopping, fizz, lunch, good company and great entertainment.”

Contact us on: ladieslunch@quarriers.org.uk for more info!

“Cleartech

a great time.”

Photo: Gillian Cameron and friends

Quarriers annual Festival of Choirs is back for 2022.

Take a break from your Christmas shopping and come listen to some festive favourites being sung by local school choirs, church choirs and community choirs – all singing to raise money for Quarriers.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Performance dates and times

Braehead Shopping Centre, Tuesday 6 December, 10am- 3pm Wallace Primary, West Primary, Rock Choir

St Enoch Shopping Centre, Thursday 8 December, 11am - 4pm St Michaels, Rock Us, Tannochside Primary, St Columbas

St Enoch Shopping Centre, Friday 9 December, 11am - 4pm Neilston Primary, Mosspark Primary, Thorn Primary, Clydeside Singers

St Enoch Shopping Centre, Sunday 11 December, 11am - 4pm

St Andrews Choir, The Voice Project Scotland, Clarkston Community Choir

Princes Square Shopping Centre, Saturday 10 to Saturday 24 December, 1-2pm daily Soundroute singers, Rock Choir, Bridge of Weir Primary, Baljaffray Primary, Cadder Primary, Hillhead Primary, Kingspark High School, Clydeside Singers, Connect Choir, Cardonald Primary, Soundsational, Notre Dame High School, Christie Park Primary, The Voice Project Scotland, Rockus Choir

Supporting Stars and the difference they make

To have raised this amount means a lot as we know how much this will mean to the service and what a difference it will make."

We would like to say a huge thank you to Alyson, Roisin and Rachel.

Skydive for Caitlin

Roisin Kinsella is one of three brave women who jumped out of a plane at 10,000ft and raised an unbelievable £5,000 (and counting) in memory of 15-year-old Caitlin Dustan, who was supported by Quarriers Epilepsy Community Outreach service for many years before her sudden death in May.

Norma Crawford, Service Manager at the Community Outreach Service, says...

Caitlin was very young and her passing hit the team hard. She was a normal 15-year-old.”

Roisin, along with friends Alyson Mackenzie and Rachel Fraser says, "We wanted to do this because of the care and support the Outreach Service gave Caitlin and her family over the years. The day was absolutely amazing. We felt emotional, excited and nervous at the same time.

Around 600 people die each year due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (or SUDEP)

Would you like totake on a challengebut not sure where Get in touch!

Kilt Walk Quines

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in any of the Kiltwalk events in 2022.

These brilliant Kiltwalk Quines are the team from Quarriers Aberdeenshire Carer Support service who did the Aberdeen Wee Wander.

Sandra (second from left) says...

It was great to get together with colleagues outwith work to have a blether and a catch up. And also knowing that we were raising money for the unpaid carers we support, that made it all worthwhile.”

The team raised £567, and have decided to use the funds for a cinema hire-out to give young carers a brilliant day in the October holidays.

New Community Fundraiser

Lynsey Scobie is our new Community Fundraiser and can help out with any questions you have about challenge events or your own fundraising ideas. We have lots of resources and can advise on anything you’re not sure of.

You can drop her an email on: lynsey.scobie@quarriers.org.uk or call Lynsey: 07585964853

And if you fancy taking on a challenge in 2023, here are a few other dates for your diary:

Supernova Run, Kelpies –Saturday 18 March

Edinburgh 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon –Saturday 27 – Sunday 28 May

Glasgow Men’s 10k –Sunday 18 June