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.
Festival of Light
The lives of many young
people are touched by loss and bereavement and these young people
often lack opportunities to remember and share memories of loved
ones, held back by others' discomfort in knowing how to deal with
issues of loss.
It is for this reason that Penicuik YMCA-YWCA are holding their Festival of Light, a creative and participative experience over two Friday afternoons in November (6 and 13 Nov) for young people of secondary school age who have experienced bereavement.
Over the two Friday afternoons young people will work with a community artist who is sensitive to bereavement issues to create paper lanterns which will be able to contain a candle. Whilst being engaged in a creative activity participants will have the opportunity to share and explore their feelings and memories in a supportive, sensitive environment.
On the early evening of the second Friday the group will go to a local pond in Penicuik and finish the event by holding a ceremony where the candles will be lit and dedicated to their loved ones and placed in the lanterns which will be set floating on the pond.
Telling Stories to Keep Memories Alive
Marie Curie's Bereavement Support Team are hosting an informal evening event on 4 November. The event will feature storytellers and poets, who will be on hand to meet and help people to celebrate and share their stories about loved ones who have died. People who attend will have the opportunity to have one-to-one conversations with staff and volunteers and other people who have been bereaved.
Invitations have been sent to the relatives of patients who had been supported by Marie Curie and who died approximately 12 months ago.
Remembering the greats
Football matches are one of the few places in the modern world that friends, families and communities come together on a regular basis, and most of Scotland's football clubs have roots that go back generations. Allegiances and stories get passed down and become part of a common identity.
But not all of those who have shared in a club's highs and lows are still with us. Each club has its greats - either on the pitch as a player, behind the scenes as a member of staff, or in the stands as a fan - who are sorely missed. Be it an empty peg in the changing room or an empty seat in the stands, their passing leaves its mark, and yet the stories about them will live on in hearts and memories.
For this year's To Absent Friends, we'd like to gather together a collection of these stories. We are creating a gallery of greats, one from each league club, and we want you to help us. All we need is a photo and up to 50 words telling us why that person is still remembered. It can be anyone associated with the club - a player, a manager, a member of staff, a fan. You tell us.
So, who is your club's Absent Friend? If you have a suggestion, please let us know. E-mail your suggestion with a picture and 40-50 words to:
robert.peacock@palliativecarescotland.org.uk
We'll be choosing one from each club to go in our gallery of greats. The others we will share on our storytelling wall.
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