COULD THIS BE THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS STILL TO COME THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS THE REAL SCROOGE MY OLD SCHOOL GRANTON ROAD
THE OLD LIBRARY WHERE I FIRST STARTED MY ROAD TO READING AND STILL WEARING SHORTS EVEN IN THE WINTER
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE 18
A CHRISTMAS TALE IN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
My one constant in life, apart from family, is reading books, ok! maybe some other things as well, the cinema, music, going out & actually listening to people who can sing, concerts and for my birthday treat, (you remember you all signed a birthday card not so long ago) I went to the Royal Court with Sally to see ‘Lennon’, a birth to death musical memory, with Andrew Schofield playing Lennon in his later years, appearing in a white suit with long hair. The music of my youth, what a great show it turned out to be. If Lennon had lived he would have been 70 years old on 9th October. One of my favourite Lennon songs contains these lines :
‘All these places have their memories
Of lovers and friends that went before
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all’
But back to reading. Reading books is one of those things you either love or hate, a bit like Lennon, (who for me was always different). I remember the first adult book I read and no! it was not what you think, it was book that I had taken out of the adult section of the library when I was in junior school, and yes I can remember that far back, just. It was a time when to join the library you paid a small fee, even a 10 year old child. The library in question was a very ornate building in St. Domingo Road called Everton Library, which as far as I knew was still going strong, or had become a community centre, but when checking this on the magic of “th’internet”, I found that unfortunately, it had not become a community centre. It was now a neglected and unloved building, as the picture I found shows, which is rather sad as it started me on my road to reading. Will this be an insight into the future, a tale of neglect, the reason for my ramblings will become clear as you turn the page.
My early years were spent in what was officially called Breckfield School, built in 1880, but was known locally as Granton Road School, as it was in Granton Road, Anfield, and it is no longer standing, as I found out when I went on a nostalgia trip, with my great-nephew who had started school and was feeling, as do others who enter that alien world of school, a bit scared. So I thought a little trip to my old school would help, it being of another age and although, as I recall very dark and foreboding, I had enjoyed my early school years there. When we arrived, there it was or in this case wasn’t. It celebrated its 100 years in 1980, but I don’t know when it was knocked down. As you can see I can get easily distracted, so back to my first adult book ‘The Great Escape’ by Paul Brickhill and yes it was the book of that film, so imagine what it must have been like for a 10 year old, with the war years still fresh in most memories, this tale of escape and adventure. I went on to read ‘The Wooden Horse’ by Eric Williams, another tale of escape, but that is the world of books for me, a chance to see into other people’s lives, to see how they live, that moment when you cannot wait to turn the page and find out what happens next or to finally learn “who dun it”. Those early years of reading were the start of a friendship with books that will be with me forever. Mrs Cameron, our headmaster’s secretary (who I would like to thank, albeit a bit late), was the first rung onto the ladder of reading, all those years ago. She had paid my fee to join the library as I did not have any money, and is indirectly responsible for this story of the adult section, where somehow I had wandered into looking for my first book. However on my next visit when I presented the next ‘adult’ book, I was told that I was not allowed to take books from this section until I was older, my words of protest went unnoticed, as I was only 10. So back to the junior section I was sent.
You can just make out the inscription erected 1896, not long after my school was built, but as you can see it’s still standing, waiting for some developer to come along and turn it into “Apartments” maybe.
Later on as I got older my tastes changed from science fiction to crime to adventure and back again, I rarely read what you might call non-fiction, although I have now and then ventured into auto-biographies, but I want to be led on an adventure, to escape to the worlds the author creates, to get to know their characters with the rich tapestry of life that they create. One author whose words always makes me enjoy the English language is Charles Dickens. As that time of the year is near at hand “A Christmas Carol” the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and how the ghosts came to visit him as he lay sleeping and the view of his world through the eyes of Jacob Marley, his old partner. As I write this we seem to have had another Ebenezer Scrooge appear, on the 20th October to be precise. We don’t have to wait to see if Scrooge is coming this Christmas, I am afraid he is already here, as the old joke goes Christmas has been cancelled! The name of the ghost of Christmas to come is George Osborne and David Cameron, sorry that’s 2 ghosts, as they look at incapacity benefit, DLA and all the other things that help make our lives easier.
The benefit system is in for a big shake up the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the days of Charles Dickens, when they didn’t even have access to benefits. There will be lots of other cuts announced, so by the time you read this we will all know that Christmas has definitely been cancelled. Will I still have my bus pass, will we have enough money for the central heating if the winter fuel payment stops? There will be lots of questions over the coming months, so make sure you have the right advice about your benefits and use the service that we offer at Neurosupport to find out the answers to your questions, don’t be afraid to ask. As I listened to the news last night the talk was of defence cuts and aircraft carriers without planes? Surely I misheard or maybe not.
Can you spot the real Scrooge? I know it’s the one on the right but after “the budget” I am not so sure.
So where will all this lead to? as figures come out concerning job loses, services about to be changed or lost, maybe keeping the same service but make savings elsewhere, I am not sure I understand it all or where it will end. I do know that although I think Christmas has been cancelled I don’t think anyone seems to have noticed. In the shop I was in today, only 2 days since the announcements, people seemed to be in a spend, spend mood and there appeared to be no shortage of money, or are they all using the ‘magic’ credit card and will worry about paying next year. So back to my world of books I will go. You may have seen the advert of a new detective series Thorne starring David Morrissey, based on books by Mark Billingham, I am half way through his latest “From the Dead”, it’s better than worrying about the new “Scrooge” we have in our midst.
Since first writing this item and passing it to my little helper for proof reading. I have finished that book. So if you enjoy a good book on crime or enjoy reading fiction, (as the facts I read today in the paper were very depressing) go to your local library, It costs nothing to join now, check out a book and if they haven’t got it in stock they will order it (for a small fee of course), but with my now limited budget it is a better alternative than Waterstone’s or the like, even when it’s on “offer”. Keep away from the facts and stay with fiction it’s a much better world!
Alan Clark
VOLUNTEER UPDATES AND ‘DON’T FORGET’
Wendy Mitchell is making a slow recovery after her op. You will be able to give her your good wishes at the volunteer’s Christmas party, as she hopes to be there . So don’t forget come along and join us on Thursday, 2nd December around 1.00pm, to enjoy turkey, tinsel and meet the new volunteers. Final details will be given at ou volunteer’s meeting on Tuesday, 23rd November or check the board in reception. To those who may be unable to make our ‘‘Do’, we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a great 2011. Alan Clark
THE ANNUAL REVIEW - 2010 NEUROSUPPORT
It has been several years since I have attended an Annual review and to be honest I have always found them rather long and laborious. So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this years. It may have been the knowledge that a buffet was waiting for us or the anticipation of seeing if one of the raffle tickets I had sold would win the much coveted ipad. Whatever it was, I found the afternoon went along at a pace, all of the speakers were easy to listen to and the content of their talks informative.
The interval music was provided by Erica Van Drunen, who attends LIPA. She gave a brief personal history and played 3 enjoyable pieces, which she had composed herself.
It was very encouraging to hear about the new group for young people, run by young people. They told us how they had met and got to know each other. The adventures they had during the Summer, what they hoped to achieve for each other and with the group in the future. It had all began when Jake Brown was asked to organise a young persons group. So assisted by support worker Molly Gardner, with funding from Roald Dahl’s Children's Charity and help from Neurosupport based Working Life Service, Jake got to work organising. The group, for the moment called ‘Young Persons Group’, was launched earlier this year on 29th April, at an open day held in Neurosupport. They began with 2, which became 4 and has gone from strength to strength. I was very impressed with the confidence and enthusiasm they displayed when giving their talk. Perhaps Annual reviews are not so boring after all. S. Brooks-MacDonald
If you know of a young person with a neurological condition, aged 16-24 years old, who would interested in joining the group contact Jake or Molly for further information at ypg@neurosupport.org.uk
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