Harvest Gifts

It is the time for Harvest and we are receiving some very useful and timely gifts for our Centre. I have said this many times before but it is such an encouragement to the staff and the clients to receive these gifts.
Abundance comes faithfully every week with their fruit they have picked. Abundance is a non-profit making organisation that harvests a glut of local fruit. They re-distribute the surplice to organisations like us. We have put their apples and pears to good use. On Friday the Centre had a delicious Apple Crumble and the rest of the fruit was cooked and put in our freezer for later use. When these young men arrive on their bicycles pulling their trailers it is not only an amazing sight and such a tribute to these people who faithfully pick and distribute the fruit but it a gift that allows our Centre food and provision we would not probably have.

Waitrose the supermarket off Ecclesall Road, last month made us one of their three monthly charities. Customers when they are paying for their food are given a plastic disc and then can place it in one of the charities of their choice. We were against two other charities. The neuro-care charity won, and you can understand as they do sterling work, but Bens will receive a cheque which again will be put to very good use. It was amazing again to be considered and many people will now know of our existence who didn’t before.

Victoria Hall, the Methodist chapel, has kindly asked for Marmite and Marmalade for their Harvest gifts to be given to us. We have received many many jars, and these are being used for the breakfasts we provide. It is such an encouragement to see our pantry full of these kind gifts. Many of the people who donated these gifts came to the Centre themselves, often with very heavy bags, which showed real care and interest in us.

In the pipe-line at the moment is another gift from St Thomas’ Church Philadelphia Campus. They had their Harvest gift day and we were the only recipients which again is wonderful. It comes at a time when we are struggling to find finance to keep the Centre running and so this too will be so gratefully used.
All these groups have generously given their time and resources and have shown a love and interest in Ben’s Centre which as I said has so encouraged us and practically helped us enormously.
A big thank you to you all.

Pool Table

We have a really good pool table in the Centre. As we pursue other activities we are gradually weaning clients off the idea that this is all they can do! Many would just love to come into Bens and read the paper, play pool and perpetuate a ‘pub’ like atmosphere but without the alcohol! Having said that the pool table is a place where often clients unwind and begin to enjoy themselves. Life is hard and clients often forget how to have fun and laugh. So we value the table and the part it plays in our client’s lives.

As you can see our table needs recovering desperately, and it is amazing to see how it has lasted so long, especially when clients use it so often. This is very costly and in the grand schemes of things at the moment other essential items like food, our rent, and staffing take priority and there is no money left in the pot for this. We have had many discussions with staff and clients too how we could get this table recovered. None of the ideas as yet have materialized but we are hopeful that one day one will. Have any of our readers any ideas? We would be open to any suggestions and look forward to hearing from you. There has to be a way to get this recovered and hopefully we will find it with your help.

Our window is finished

Our window is finished. As you can see it looks really beautiful and has been such a successful activity for all the clients, staff and volunteers. It has surpassed any of our expectations. It is always an unknown quantity when a new activity is introduced and often it can be quite a slog to encourage clients to get involved.

This activity has from day one just taken off, and it has caused a lot of discussion and also been greatly admired. Clients realised very quickly that there was no right way of doing one of the small acetate panes. So, therefore there was no chance of failure. Not that we ever set any activity up with  a chance of failure but often it is how the task is perceived by our clients that inhibits them.

Wendy has found out, with years of experience that you lead by sitting down yourself and starting the activity. Before long clients will be ‘nosey’ and ask what you are doing and then it’s not long before they want to try it for themselves.

Clients loved working with the tissue paper. The colours were spectacular and even the choosing of these caused such good discussions, often stories were told that we hadn’t heard before. Sometimes when a pane was completed a client would be quite critical of their work, but once put up on the window, with the light streaming through, they saw that they had created something beautiful.

As no two panes were alike it was good to see that all the panes together made a beautiful window. No colours clashed but seemed to enhance the effect. It led to talking about us all being different and yet being able to be part of a bigger and more lovely picture.

Our next project is beginning and you will hear about it shortly.

If any of you would care to take a small detour off West Street, on Orange Street, and look at the fourth window down you will see the window. We would love to hear your comments.

Staff laugh at me a lot…

Staff laugh at me a lot as I tend not to remember where I have left my reading glasses and I do the usual squint which helps me to focus more clearly…and find my glasses! It’s hard when you can’t see very clearly and it can become very frustrating too. I have mentioned before that one of the most valuable things we have ever done in the Centre was to go and buy a selection of reading glasses and allow the client’s to use them. They have become very popular and have opened up many more ways for the clients to become independent, using the telephone and filling in forms, and also to engage with activities too.

Unfortunately glasses get lost and broken easily when you are intoxicated, so our supplies are dwindling rapidly. Clients are able to have an eye-test and a free pair of glasses every two years on the National Health Service with the benefits they are on. But the prescription pair, although obviously more suited to clients, tend to go the way that the ones we give out do.

Walking into the Centre this morning our wall of stained glass was looking so beautiful and has been a real success with our clients. Although not finished yet it is a lovely example of client’s enjoying an activity and has brought out some hidden creativity in many.

Mondays are our big crossword day. It’s a hard one to complete as the prize is £1,000. It has become a group activity and what we don’t manage to finish today, Edwin, our volunteer on Tuesdays usually manages to complete. We have yet to win the money!

All these activities are good and are made more enjoyable when the client can read the clues and see the activity in front of them clearly with the glasses we provide.

So very soon another trip to purchase some more glasses; [any bought glasses in the range of 2-3.5 would be greatly appreciated. We cannot accept prescription glasses]. In the meantime today’s activities are out in our little garden. We are going to plant some bulbs as the weather is so glorious. It also speaks to us and our clients of hope and expectation, as we know in the Spring we will have a beautiful colourful display.

A busy week

Last week was busy and very varied, with points of sadness, drama, frustration and some really good times…welcome to Bens!
Victoria Hall had kindly offered to give us their harvest gifts, and had asked us if there was anything we would particularly like. We suggested gifts of marmite and marmalade would be useful. So our week began with lots of older people, often having struggled with very heavy bags, bringing us a LOT of marmite and marmalade. We are very grateful and it will be put to good use; but it did have a surreal moment or two as a steady flow of more senior people came depositing all the jars, mingling with all that was going on in the Centre!
Monday ended with a meeting here in the Centre, a multi-partnership of representatives from the Police, Health, City and other organisations working to look together at the many issues that present with client group we work with. It was good to listen and hear the varied approaches to finding workable ways to deal with the problems that present themselves, and also to hear about some very positive initiatives taking place.
It was sad too this week as we said goodbye to two loyal helpers at Bens. Firstly it was Maria, our admin lady. Maria has been such a help to our Centre in all the work she has done for us, not least our much improved filing system. Tuesdays will not seem the same without her, and also we said goodbye to Euan, our volunteer, who also came in on a Tuesday. Euan has been a lovely volunteer and a big help to us. We shall miss them both and wish them well for all their new plans for the future.
It would not be Bens without Wendy having some project on the go for clients to try. We are attempting to fill one of our windows with our own small squares of ‘stained glass’.
It has been very popular as it allows clients to express their individual creativity, and as there is no right or wrong way of doing them, client’s confidence has grown. As you can see they are very attractive and it has been fun doing them, and to cap it all Sue managed to do two!

The week ended with a bang, a serious incident with a client. Very sad and also a reminder to us all that we are dealing with clients who have serious addictions and sometimes choices are made that are not good ones. But all in all it was a week with more positive happenings than negative.

Back after break

Well we are back after our break. I guess like everyone when you have a break you feel reluctant to get back into the routines of life.
But it is so good to know that we are working with clients who without the services of Ben’s Centre would be denied what is available to them, by way of services and help. This is not because there are no other services available, but because of client’s severe alcohol problems often they cannot assess these.
Our new ‘term’ will bring new challenges along with many of the old ones too but we expect to see good things happening and today is that new day; where we can look forward with hope and expectation. Next week our blog will have new things to share, you just have to watch this space!

Feedback from our AGM

We have an extra blog this week as we thought you may be interested to hear about our AGM, and also Ben’s Centre is going to be closed next week and re-open on September 28th.
Our AGM went really well and was well attended. A group of our clients attended too which was good. Wendy always tries to give a resume of the past year and this year she spoke about fruit. Fruit is always a sign of growth in the plant world Gifts were given out to our faithful volunteers and staff and they were these amazing ‘Winter Flowering Cherry’ plants, to tie in with the ‘fruit’ theme.
This year has been a hard one in many ways and a lot of our clients have been dealing with many issues in their lives. Often seeing the fruit or the progress in their lives is not always obvious, but in many clients’ lives, there are small steps taken and ‘fruit’ beginning to grow.

Our presentations to the clients, awarding certificates and a gift, were an acknowledgement of this fruit. It was as every year very moving and a privilege to be part of. All in all with the ‘yummy’ food on offer it was a good AGM and reminded us all of the multi-faceted achievements of Ben’s. The feedback from the clients has been so positive and was obviously very important to them too showing their achievements and the value of their lives to us and many more.

A.G.M.!

Walking into work this morning I realised that we had got to this time of year again when the leaves are changing colour and some dropping and there is a definite nip in the air. Is this the season they call full of mellow fruitfulness?
Anyway it’s the time for our Annual General meeting this coming Wednesday, 16th at 4.00pm.
We would love to welcome any of you who would be interested in coming to look round the Centre and see some of the work we have done with our clients, our own mellow fruitfulness. There is also some delicious food, some made by our clients, which is always an added bonus to all that come.

Annual General Meeting

&

Service User Awards Ceremony

Wednesday 16th September at 4pm

At Ben’s Centre

2 Orange Street

Sheffield, S1 4DW

It is a time when we look back at the last year and recollect many of the good things Ben’s Centre has achieved with our clients. It is also a time when the clients receive recognition for these achievements. This is always a high point of the meeting, and usually very moving too. Often clients have never received anything that merited their success in any field and these awards mean so much to them. It is a very joyous time and gives another sense of belonging and stability to client’s often living very chaotic lives.
So please if you are able, do come and join with us for what we can promise is a memorable afternoon. It is such an encouragement to our clients but also to the staff and volunteers and will be to you too!

What a day

We had a very busy day on Friday. Albeit busy it was a very good day, the kind of day which Ben’s is uniquely fitted for.
It started off early, before we opened for clients, with a visit from a former client who has been in a re-hab for about a year. He came and shared with us what he had been doing and his plans for the future. Clients very rarely speak about their plans for the future and it was so good to see the hope being restored in this young man again.
Then before we opened a client came in to do some cooking with Wendy. When we did eventually open properly we had two distressed clients who were at the end of themselves. So we listened and held their hands while they cried and off-loaded all the ‘stuff’ they had been walking round with, before offering practical help and advice.
The Centre was filling up, and in between listening and trying to bring some stability to these clients; the life of Bens was going on. Cooking, answering the phone, clean clothes and shoes to find, tenancy support, client’s contacting their families by phone, setting clients some craft or life-skill to do; all bringing a sense of belonging and peace in an otherwise chaotic life. Before we knew it, it was lunch-time.
Lunch was amazing and the Lemon and Lime Cheesecake was, as you can see, more than the icing on the cake! It was an unqualified success. Our client’s talents never cease to amaze us.
One of our clients was very tired and we encouraged him to lay down on one of our sofas and sleep, which he did. By this time the Centre was beginning to wind down and clients were leaving.
We allowed the ‘sleeping beauty’ to carry on sleeping and we talked to his partner while we, the staff and volunteers, cleaned up. After we clean we sit down and have a ‘cuppa’ and talk over the day. We awakened our client and they stayed and had a drink with us. In the conversation we talked about certain books we had read and we mentioned about one of our clients who loved Oscar Wilde. We had bought the complete works for him and he used to sit and read to us the short stories of Oscar Wilde, which are truly amazing. This led into one of the clients having read ‘The Happy Prince’. So we asked if they would like to hear it read to them. They readily agreed and I read the story out loud to them. You could have heard a pin drop and they loved every minute. Both were so thankful and said it gave them such a feeling of safety.
It was such a strange ending to the day but such a lovely one. Two clients went out feeling peaceful and with a sense of belonging and care and that is what we call one amazing day!

Light Relief

Regular readers of this blog will know that from time to time it can be very hard work at Ben’s Centre. We accept that the clients we are working with, this goes with the job. It has been a hard week in lots of ways and it does seem like a slog at times; we also have to remind ourselves that our slog is nothing compared to what most of our clients face every day of their lives.
In the middle of all this, and total mayhem, a former client appeared at the door this week who has left the City for more secure accommodation. This client was a regular at Bens in the past, and was to say the least, a character. The staff all loved her and missed her when she left. Occasionally she makes an appearance at our door, but we had not seen her for quite a while. It was her birthday and in the middle of everything that was going on a cake was produced and our ‘silly’ birthday hat. Everyone was able to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and her face was just radiant. It made her day and it brightened everyone else in the Centre too and reminded us of why we are here. It seems like a small detail to mention but it is highly significant in client’s lives. Often no one will remember and the day often goes by as numerous others do. We do try as a team here to remember birthdays, knowing that sometimes this can be a painful reminder of days past; but we see them as a day that we can show clients that we do care and we want them to be the centre of good attention for that day.
Can I just mention here that the blog may be late next week as we are taking a statuary day following Bank Holiday.