Christmas 2008 Welcome to the third edition of your Supported Housing Newsletter. We hope you all enjoy reading this - but if you don’t we would really like to hear from you to know what you would like to see in the next edition. You can do this by speaking to your Support Worker or by emailing us on the following address at: [email protected] Christmas Cake Recipe 100g margarine 150g caster sugar 150g currants 150g sultanas 50g mixed peel 200ml water 100g plain flour 100g self-raising flour 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice pinch salt 2 eggs Pre heat oven 180°C or Gas Mark 4 Place margarine, sugar, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, water, bicarb and mixed spice into a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute Pour into a large bowl and allow to cool and line a 6” round tin with greaseproof paper Add flour, salt and beaten eggs to the cooled fruit mixture and mix well Pour into prepared tins and bake for 1-1¼ hours from Sheila Davison Nothing Like a Dame Handyman Peter McQuillan is normally found in Aspen Gardens carrying out small repairs for tenants and general caretaking duties. But there is another side to this man of many talents and every year he dons a wig, make-up and some outrageous costumes and treads the boards of Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre as the Dame in the Elwick Academy of Dance’s annual Charity Pantomime. This year will be Peter’s 21st Pantomime and he has already started rehearsing hard for the show. The panto helps to raise money for the Children’s Leukemia Fund, James Cook Hospital, and since 1988 the show has raised around £90,000 for the charity. This years Panto, Cinderella’s Diamond Jubilee Ball, celebrates the 60th anniversary of the dance school and runs from 5th January – 10th January 2009. For ticket prices and information contact Christ Church Ticket office or Mrs F Compton on 01429 275151. Recipes for One Cheese Dreams 2 slices bread spread with butter or margarine Grated or sliced cheese A little chutney (if liked) 1 egg and 1-2 tablespoons milk, beaten together Oil Heat the oil in a frying pan. Make a sandwich with bread, cheese, chutney, onion and ham. Dip the sandwich in beaten egg mixture. Fry sandwich in hot oil on both sides until crisp and golden brown. Serve with salad or by itself. You could add some slices of tomato, onion or ham - or all three! Creole Sausage Casserole 2 sausages 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, minced (optional) 1 tomato, diced 3oz/80g mushrooms, sliced 3oz/80g/¼ mug longgrain rice Pinch chilli powder Salt and pepper Fry sausages on all sides until cooked. Take out of pan and slice. Fry onion and garlic in same fat for about 5 minutes until onion is golden. Add tomato, mushrooms, pinch of chilli powder, salt, pepper, rice and stir for about 30 seconds. Then add about 6 fl oz/½ mug of boiling water. Bring to boil. Put lid on the pan, turn the heat right down and cook for about 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Frying Pan Pizza Base Toppings 4oz/115g self-raising flour ½ teaspoon salt 10z/30g butter or margarine 2 tablespoon milk 2 tablespoon water At the same time put your toppings on the pizza. Spread with tomato sauce or tomato paste and add from your choice of toppings which can include: Stir flour and salt into bowl. Rub in butter or margarine. Stir in the milk and water and mix in to a smooth dough (if it is too sticky add a little more flour). Spread a little flour on your work surface and roll out dough into a circle to fit a 7”/18cm frying pan. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in frying pan, place circle of dough in it and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Then flip over and cook the other side for another 5 minutes. Sliced mushrooms, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, tuna, olives, pineapple, ham, cooked sausage, anchovies, salami, etc. Then scatter over 2oz/60g grated cheddar cheese or mozzarella (or both) and put under hot grill for 2-3 minutes until cheese, etc. is hot and bubbly. Competition Page Spot the Difference Word Search christmas holly mistletoe presents rudolph santa sleigh snowflake star turkey Our Pot of Gold at Aspen Gardens We are sure you will all know our dad Billy Poole and if not you will after reading this. At the age of 82, but with the mind and spirit of a 70 year old, our dad suffered a massive stroke while on holiday in Majorca. He was so ill my husband had to stay with him while he was in hospital and I had to fly home with my family. My brother and son flew out to Spain to take turns doing the hospital visits with my husband and so each of them could do a spell of coming home for work. Dad was so poorly and all of a sudden he seemed so old and so dependent on everyone, he couldn’t do anything for himself anymore, he couldn’t walk, eat, bathe or even talk properly. Life became so difficult for all of us and especially for him. He cried all the time and for Dad it seemed his life was over, he just wanted to die. He didn’t want his children to become like his parents and we didn’t want to see that big strong man, our Dad, become so old and out of control of his own life. After Dad came back to the UK, with fundraising from the Elm Tree Pub, where Dad was a regular and I worked, we were visited by a social worker about the possibility of Dad moving to Aspen Gardens. Soon after the scheme opened Dad moved in and he has come on in leaps and bounds with everyone’s care, understanding and help. He walks, talks and dresses himself, he can feed himself now too. Dad has got his confidence back and most importantly he has got his life back. Our Dad is not just surviving anymore he is living again, all thanks to everyone at Aspen Gardens. Aspen has changed his life and it has helped us to get ours back too. We don’t have to worry about how he will manage and we can visit our Dad and spend quality time like we used to. He still enjoys a pint down at the pub once a week but now he goes with friends he has made in Aspen Gardens. We never thought we would see our Dad happy again but moving to Aspen Gardens has been the best thing to happen to him and us. Lesley James, Billy Poole’s Daughter Chris Price’s Story On a cold wet morning back in July Sheila Davison set off to Saltburn to do a sponsored walk in aid of the Heart Failure Support Group at St James Cook University Hospital Well done to Sheila for completing the walk and raising £62.50 for this worthwhile cause. I moved into my first property at Number 8 Holyrood Lane in August 2008 and for the first couple of months it felt strange. I am now settled and really happy, and would like to thank Nicole Lendon and everyone at Endeavour for all the continuing help. I would also like to thank my Nana Watson, Nana Price, Uncle Andrew, sister Lisa, brother-in-law Adam, best friend Ken and all my friends. I could not have done all of this without Action for the Blind and I would like to thank both them and Eleanor Richie for putting me in touch with Caroline. My Broken Heart by To ni I still see y ou all the ti me and how were still m I wish you ine. You call my name and in side I go ins My broken ane. heart. When we don ’t touch bab y it hurts so I dream abou much. t the love w e once had that it is dea knowing n d. ow My broken heart. The love we once shared is killing m we had is so e to lose wh sad because at inside its te Knowing it a ring me up. s gone what we had. My broken heart. ou Love Y I y a to S r A Poem Terri Olive you. y b to hold feels ing. ood it ly dy it l g a e r w o you h I know I’m t can’t wa r told e ear v n. to e I explai ing. My h just have o Have t y s I y a r e e c t ch m start It isn’ o u to u may y I k n e n I t hi . Wh er day u. I feel h t o n a o p it if y l e e h v o ’t l a nt I . I can you. I w sa y u o y t abou found r you when thing lad I y g r hea e o v s e l t he I’m ve t o o , l I love h ou fee I y O t . . a e h y t a nd m aby this w s arou . Tell me b m r a your name ll my u. a c u o y yo - I l ove s a me Sheila Davison’s Story I have always enjoyed cooking and baking so started an intermediate level entry course in catering at Kirby College. I learnt all about basic food hygiene and food preparation. I cooked lots of different things and learnt about Chinese food and cooked a lovely chow mien meal. The course was very interesting and I achieved a certificate in catering. Recently I have enrolled onto the Level 1 City & Guilds catering course at the new Middlesbrough College. The college is brand new and the facilities are fantastic. I cook different things every week from shepherds pie to pasties to scones. Everybody on the course is very friendly and I have made new friends. I like to keep myself busy and I am on the Resident Involvement Committee with Middlesbrough First. We are a group of local residents who get together with the community wardens, police and anti-social behaviour teams to talk about what is happening in our local community and ways to improve the local services. I really enjoy going to the meetings because I meet new people and its good to voice my concerns and issues and be listened to. I was invited along to a presentation evening recently and I was awarded a certificate for resident participation, which I am very proud of. Student Tenant A delighted tenant was able to purchase a laptop and pay her enrolment fees thanks to the Endeavour Enterprise Fund. The student is a tenant with the Hartlepool Hestia Service and is currently completing courses which include Literacy, Maths and the PreAccess course with Hartlepool College of Further Education. Her Support Worker said: “She is an inspiration to everyone, she is a very determined young woman who takes every opportunity given to her to fulfil her potential which is to enter into the medical profession and eventually qualify as a Forensic Psychologist“ The tenant stated that the fund had removed major barriers which prevent individuals from accessing education such as finances and as such had enabled her to feel part of the college community by ensuring she had the same tools as all the other students. This also promotes mental well being by removing the stresses of feeing excluded. Sharon Harland’s Story I started at the Hope Foundation in November 2007. I was on a 6 week course called “Progression Award”. On the course I learnt new computer skills, like how to use the internet for finding information. I learnt how to print off a document, word processing and graphics. I even created some food menus and posters. At the end of the course I was awarded a certificate in Skills for the Community & Working Life. I really enjoyed the course and I am very proud of my achievements. I look forward to starting a new course in January 2009. The Enterprise Fund is available to tenants and service users of Endeavour. To find out if you qualify for assistance from the Enterprise Fund please contact your Support Worker who will be more than happy to support you through the process of the application. Newsletter Feedback Questionnaire Thank you to everyone who returned the newsletter feedback questionnaire. In all we had 13 questionnaires returned and we had some very positive feedback. The winner of the prize draw was a tenant from Redcar. Below is a summary of the comments that were received: Question 1. How useful did you find the Newsletter? Very Useful 4 Useful 8 Not Useful 1 Not Interesting 0 Question 2. How interesting did you find the newsletter? Very Interesting 2 Interesting 9 2 did not answer the question. Question 3. The articles that most people enjoyed were the Paul O’Grady show article and the article about the MAD group in Redcar but the move-on and new start stories were also mentioned. One tenant made the comment that he had not enjoyed the newsletter because he could not read it as he is blind. We are now producing this newsletter in Braille. Thank you for your feedback. Tenant Survey Thank you to everyone who completed the Tenants Survey that we recently sent out. We have received 126 completed forms and we are now looking at all of the feedback that you have given us. We will give you a report on what you have said and what we have done in the next newsletter. The prize draw was won by a tenant from Simonside - who chose a Marks & Spencer voucher as her prize. New British Telecom Scheme BT are working with Ofcom, to make sure that people with low incomes can still afford a phone service if they want one. The new service is called BT Basic and is to help customers who receive Income Support, Income -based Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment Support Allowance (income based) or Guaranteed Pension Credit to budget their money. With BT Basic it is easy to find out how much you need to pay. Call My Bill tells you how much you have spent on phone calls since you got your last bill. You can also manage your bill online. You can use the Premium Rate Call Barring service so nobody can dial expensive premium-rate numbers from your phone. When you fill in the BT Basic application form, you will need to give some personal information so they can check your records with the Department for Work and Pensions. You can call BT on 0800 783 1675 to request an application form for BT Basic. You must be the named account holder to apply. The BT Basic line rental is only £13.50 every three months (including VAT), and you can pay your bill however you like. Your line rental includes a call allowance of £4.50 every three months (this includes VAT). If you do go over your call allowance, then you will have to pay 10p a minute (plus 3p for each phone call) for all normal UK calls. For Emergency Repairs over the Christmas holidays please call 01642 796050 Merry Christmas from all the staff at Endeavour and hope you have a very Happy New Year. If you are an Endeavour tenant and it is out of office hours and you have an emergency repair. Other Useful Services For Endeavour tenants don’t forget our emergency, out of hours repair number 01642 796050. Wearside Women in Need – 24 hour helpline 0800 066 55 55. Offers advice, support and accommodation for women and children experiencing domestic violence across the Sunderland and Wearside area. We also offer outreach services for women and work with men who want to change their abusive behavior. Harbour - 0845 602 7308 for women suffering any kind of domestic abuse – operates across Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Easington. NB: If you live outside of these areas – these organizations will put you in touch with similar services in your area. If you live in the Stockton area and need help or advice relating to a drug addiction problem: STASH - 01642 607028 – young people’s support service for under 18’s Stockton Treatment Services Helpline - 0800 0522050 help and advice for over 18’s Mental Health Matters Helpline - 0800 052 7350 (Middlesbrough) 0800 052 0658 (Redcar), 0800 052 7349 (Stockton). This is a confidential service staffed by highly trained and experienced Telephone Helpline Workers, offering emotional support to anyone calling. We provide information on local and national services specific to Mental Health. Available in Large Print, Audio or Braille