And new newsletter heading your way this week.

It’s also encouraging to hear that for some people this has been their first trip to the beach in years, and how much they’ve enjoyed it. Mobility is a real problem for many of our older clients, and while we try and facilitate attendance by booking mobility coaches and providing free places for carers, there are still many people who can’t manage to get out to our trips.

I’m also planning our summer outing for families who’ve received a children’s grant from ScotsCare, and we’ll be going by train again. That way we save money ( as we don’t have to buy tickets for no-shows); it’s greener; and it also means the trip is more flexible for families, who can leave when the kids are tired, while there’s more room for children to stretch their legs on the train than the coach.

We’re also doing a canal cruise for one of our tenants groups in June, on a riverboat along the River Lee, a tranquil green waterway which offers a beautiful escape from London city life.

Our regular monthly lunches for Scots over 50 continue at Euston, Bloomsbury and Luton, and we welcome new faces. Camden Council Libraries staff visited our London lunches this month, to encourage our clients to attend new computer courses being run in the borough, and several people have signed up for this. (Hopefully they’ll be reading this on-line now!) I also met with Age Concern Camden, and we’re hoping to develop more collaboration between our organisations.

If I’m honest, there is not much that can be directed towards me as a Scot that offends me, I was brought up to believe the mantra of stick and stones and like a good brainwashee it’s all mostly water off a duck’s back (how many more clichés can I fit into this entry do you think?) but having said that there is one term I don’t really like and that is being described as Scotch.

Now, while it is true that this adjective was once used to describe people, that was a long time ago and is now considered mildly pejorative and since the early 19th Century has been more commonly used to describe food and drink i.e. Scotch Beef, Scotch Broth and of course Scotch Whisky.

So when we received a letter a few weeks ago it wasn’t the use of profanity that offended me, it was the use of the term Scotch to describe my colleagues and I and in a broader sense our clients. This xenophobia towards Scots has always puzzled me however I guess that is really the nature of most phobias, they are all just a fear of the unknown and the person suffering the phobia usually cannot explain why they feel the way they do.  As a UK citizen I find it mildly amusing when I’m told to, “Go back to your own country” the UK is my country.

Now, this all seems quite detached and a little unbelievable and whilst it is true we receive perhaps 2 or 3 letters and emails like this a year, that is only because most people do not have the energy or, dare I say it, conviction in their beliefs, to actually sit down and string a few words together, incoherent or otherwise.  Things are not the same on the coalface aka the street; whether it’s people complaining about Scottish bankers, politicians or rough sleepers the terms used directly or indirectly are abusive yet somehow accepted by the vast majority of people.

Perhaps this is why Scots have a reputation of being dour if you spend all day being referred to in a derogatory way you’ve not got much to smile about.

Something we are keen to work on in the Comm’s team is our relationship with Scottish organization and groups in London. To this end, I had a really interesting meeting last week with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (London Branch) and Feis London.  Both are organisations who promote and organise Scottish events in London. This year will be the 3rd Feis to be held in London, a Feis being a Gaelic festival.

As I am from Inverness, I have fond memories of the Feis which was held every year and meant all of the pubs were open until 5 am. I don’t remember that much of the Feis itself as a result. I am not a Gaelic speaker but my school had a Gaelic unit and I know lots of Gaelic speakers so I think it’s great that the Feis carries on all over the UK and not just the Highlands.

The London Feis is held in Roehampton on the weekend of the 11-13th of September. Contact feislondon@blueyonder.co.uk if you are interested. They also hold regular Monday night sessions for musicians so again use the above contact if you are interested.

I hope that ScotsCare and Borderline will  be really involved with Scottish cultural events in and around London so keep checking our website for information on this and many other events and sign up for our newsletter online if you haven’t already so you don’t miss out. www.scotscare.com/newsletter.php

Those of you who have been keeping up to date with ScotsCare’s news will know that we have formed an alliance with Borderline and our remit now includes helping homeless Scots in London.  This has resulted in myself and colleagues attending specialised homelessness courses designed by Shelter; who ever said you can’t teach an old dogs new tricks hasn’t witnessed the sight of me getting all my answers right in a multiple choice test

Ross

Strangely however his biggest complaint was that the majority of people don’t talk at all and instead spend their 15 minutes avoiding conversation completely, he seemed to think this a grave insult, “Why don’t they want to talk?” he asked.  I suggested that rather than it being the case that they didn’t like him personally, it might well be that they have something major going on in their lives that they can’t share with friends and family, let alone a guy they see for 15 minutes every 5 or 6 weeks.  I usually greet the cheery enthusiasm of most barbers with as few words as possible, more so as I have little to no interest in sport and I’m not sure how to make a conversation on the weather last more than 15 words let alone 15 minutes!

It got me wondering how our clients feel when they get invited to meet with a case worker to discuss their application.  For many clients it will probably appear a daunting task, to come along to a strange office and discuss their current situation, their past and hopes for the future with a stranger, unlike my friend the barber, I often end up knowing things about clients that they have been unable to share with friends and family and in some cases I can see a look of relief on their faces, that something that has been a burden on their mind for so long has finally been shared. A problem shared is a problem halved, as the saying goes.

I suggested to my friend that perhaps he soften his approach the next time he has a customer who doesn’t appear to be in a chatty frame of mind, that perhaps his demanding, Why won’t you talk to me? approach will only make them less likely to open up.  “Ask them if they’ve read any good books lately,” I suggested, “you’ll be amazed how often people are willing to tell you about a book they’ve enjoyed and from the author or the title/subject you’ll find out a lot more than asking them about the weather and Arsenals poor goal scoring record of late!”

Before I leave you for another fortnight, I thought I’d mention a new social blogging website that may be of interest (No, I’m not sure what that means either) it’s called ScotBlog and has been set up by two 13 year old boys from the North East of Scotland.  There are individual blogs on there as well as groups which range from Scottish History to Call Centre & Customer Relationship Management Why not have a look?