Festival blog
This festival blog is a space where people can share the plans and activities they are undertaking as part of To Absent Friends 2015. Please email if you've something you'd like to add, or go here for some ideas on how to get involved. You can also read last year's blog here.
Stepping Stones
---cropped.jpg)
A couple of the churches in
South Queensferry and Dalmeny have set up a six week course aimed at
those people journeying through bereavement. The course
is called Stepping Stones and each week there will be a different invited speaker
who will talk around some of the subjects impacting people going through
bereavement.
Twenty people have been trained to support the group and this will enable them to meet the vision of running the course four times a year.
The first meeting took place on the 14 October and the first speaker was a local GP. The evening started with tea and coffee and a chat to get to know the course attendees and where they were in the bereavement journey. Expectations were set and steps made to gain the trust of those attending. Future meetings will cover the grieving process, cooking for one, legal and money matters, socialising and the last meeting will be "What was it like for me?" where two bereaved people will share their experiences.
There is a need for this type of support in Queensferry and Dalmeny and the organisers have been encouraged by the local undertakers and the local registrar to set it up.Willow Workshop
On the Isle of Lewis, a craft workshop is being held to mark To Absent Friends.
The To Absent Friends workshop will be at Ionad nan Seann Sgoile, Shawbost, Isle of Lewis on Tuesday 10 November.
The workshop will give participants an opportunity to make an small item from willow in remembrance of an Absent Friend. Craftsperson Dawn Susan from Hebridean Baskets will be there from 3pm-4.30pm, demonstrating the way to make a keepsake which will relate to the culture of this area. Participants will be then be able to make their own eco-keepsake to decorate as they wish.
To Absent Friends with Waverley Care
Waverley Care, the charity providing care and support to people living with HIV or Hepatitis C throughout Scotland, will be having a
gathering of staff, service users and volunteers to mark To Absent Friends on Monday 2 November. It will offer an opportunity to remember someone who has
died and to take a little reflective space to stop and to honour.
The plan is to have a live musician, to offer poems, candles to light and a remembrance wall on which people can leave messages. The wall will be photographed in order to create a permanent record of the event.
There has been a significant increase in the number of deaths amongst service users in the past 18 months and it has had a big impact on staff members, some of whom have known and worked with individuals for more than 20 years. A number of staff have also experienced personal bereavements in recent months. The event will be an opportunity for them to honour those people.
Music Makes My Memories Magical
The Peacock Nursing
Home in Livingston are holding a gathering to remember ex-residents
on 10 November as part of To Absent Friends.
Invitations have been sent to relatives of ex-residents, asking them to select a piece of music that their lost loved one enjoyed listening to. Once collected, these pieces of music will be the focal point of a get together at the home. Songs will either be played or sung by a professional singer or musician, and the relative will have the opportunity to share anything they want about their loved one, such as something funny they did in their life.
Prior to the event taking place, it is hoped there'll be a chance to put together a small souvenir photo album from residents' time in the Peacock for every relative to take away and cherish – another way to make those memories magical!
Loved And Gone Before
The project will reach out to individuals in a number of groups in the isolated rural community in the far north of Scotland. The first group will be those with limited access to transportation, and therefore little opportunity for socializing or to talkabout those they have lost. The second will be local care homes and those dealing with Alzheimer's care. The third area to be approached will be those dealing with mental health support and still-birth, neonatal death and miscarriage.
The project is an outreach of The Portskerra Storytelling Festival and is supported by Norc-Celt of Skerray, an organisation which provides services for the local community including premises for the post office, shop, sorting office, archive room and office facilities.
For contact details see Portskerra International Storytelling Festival website.
RSS