Ian's Homepage
Skylarks Page 1
Photo album
A Prayer for the Stressed
Quotations
A Friendly Cheer
Vicky's Sandpipers
Vicky's Skylarks
Steve's Skylarks
Supercharged-wheels
Head Chef - Brian
Chefs - Linda and Steve
Food budget is �94,000 p.a.
The food is generally very good and most tastes are catered for with a choice on the daily menu
A Quote from the Skylarks Notice Board written by Volunteer Sally before she left on Saturday 23rd February 2002
"I arrive to a house full of strangers; I leave a home full of friends"
Sunday 10th Feb. 4pm - Kinesiology with Pat Ward - location skylarks balcony
Tuesday 12th Feb. 10.30am - Reiki with Darren Roberts (he charged skylarks 20 pounds an hour for his services) - location craft room
Friday 15th Feb. 10am - Aromatherapy with the beautiful Sonja ZC. - location room 23
All the treatments were very good and highly beneficial. Holistic week was so popular skylarks is scheduling another in October 2002
my volunteer Peter White from Boston ; Janet from Boston, Lincs
Vicky, Marie, Mark and Steve from Northallerton, Leeds
(Vicky's website on Sandpipers Oct. 2001)
www.geocities.com/vickysouthport
Vicky's website on Skylarks
www.geocities.com/vickynottingham2002
Steve's website on Skylarks
www.geocities.com/nagioffstephen2002
Very good - take a look !!
Becky from Harrogate ; Steve and Gavin from London. Terry.
Hitomi from Japan; Christina Lee from Soul in Korea; Irene Allan from Collingham in West yorkshire and Emma from Derby. Zara from Slovenia who kept going off to play the same tunes on the piano in the lounge.
All the volunteers were very good and i think i can safely say they enjoyed the week - Peter has been my voly a few times and we get on really well
- The Cricket stadium and ground, trent bridge
- The World famous Trent Bridge Inn located on Radcliffe Road
- Tall multi storey building called Premier Lodge
- BBC Studios located on the corner near the traffic lights
Bristol Volys ;-
Ricky Ackerman was my volunteer for the week - he was brilliant, full of energy, enthusiasm, cheerful, comical, quick to learn - one of the best!!!!! Courtesy of Ricky himself, here's his quotation - "ALWAYS Remember ...Time is but a number and age is but a figure; you're only as old as you feel, so enjoy life to the max!!"
Other volunteers from Bristol - Simon, Martin, Tom & last but the most lovely ...Nicola!!! Ricky's girl-friend!!!
From Nottingham College there were two student nurses Abby and Katie who introduced me to 2 new pins on Wednesday, 20th February 2002 in Beaverbrooks, Victoria Centre, Nottingham
Manchester volunteers were the Millenium Volunteer scheme from Trafford - Leader sarah Ness (who has the most fabulous singing voice on karaoke, kind of husky) Si and shrimp, Kiki (who never stopped talking!!!) forgotten others - sorry - please email me if anyone remembers, thank you,
Sunday - Bingo
Monday - Tony Diamond sings .... old favourites
Tuesday - Play your cards Right / was abandoned because no one attended
Wednesday - Martin Taylor
Thursday - Skylarks quiz / hosted by Vicky the Entertainments manager
Friday - Ronnie Winters
Monday 11th - Bass Brewery Museum, Burton-on-Trent
Tuesday 12th - A day in Nottingham , back for 3.30pm
Wednesday 13th - Sea life Museum in Birmingham
Thursday 14th - Another trip into Nottingham; Volunteer Christina Lee accompanied me; had frequent visits to Starbucks Coffee shop for cuppaccino!!
Friday 15th - Trip to the local garden centre 5 minutes from Skylarks
Monday 18th - trip to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield; on arrival ambulance was parked at our dis-embarking point (outside Allders) and Father of Guest Joanne, asked driver to move out of the way of Skylarks coach; was waiting 15 minutes, driver was just waiting for a colleague - the patient had been attended to earlier. My voly for the trip was Jiyoung Lee, a Korean girl
Tuesday 19th - trip to Snibston Scientific Discovery Park, entrance fee �2.50, volunteers go in free with a guest :
I stayed at Skylarks and did some craft work - mosaics. Must admit I had a lot of help from Nicola - the friend of my volunteer Ricky!!! I noted one of the most talented guests doing mosaics was Anthea Embleton, one of a duo with the comical Andy who was having fun. My mosaic was compiled mainly of mirrored tiles, but my mate Julia Pugh used tiny tiles to design a heart shape on a cork base
Wednesday 20th - Mystery trip from Skylarks ended up at Lincoln Cathedral; a regular trip from Skylarks a worth going on if the weather permits.
I had the time of my life on Wednesday with 2 volunteer student nurses, Abby and Katie, we took a Metro Taxi �6.60 into Nottingham; Abby wanted a �200 Armani watch for her boyfriend and we toured town for the best deal ending up sat at a polished table in Beaverbrooks, Victoria Centre where a leggy blonde attended to us - she had two nice pins - WOW!! After showering the assistant with compliments, she gave me an free posh Beaverbrooks bag with a watch cleaner - just for show. We then went for an afternoon drink in the Classy Casa pub in Nottingham before getting a taxi back to the centre �5.50 via a quicker route
Thursday 21st - Another 2 hour trip into Nottingham, this time on Skylarks coach, I decided to go it alone as my preferred volunteers were un-available. I did collect �10 on lottery after getting 3 numbers, so I treated myself to 3 cuppaccinos in different cafes.
Friday 22nd - Packing in the morning then zoomed into the Lady Bay pub on Adbolton Lane for an extra cool Guinness with fellow volunteers; then prepared for the friday night party!!
During Craft week I made a new friend - the delightful, artistically talented - lovely Anthea Embleton (an expert in watercolour painting) who had gone there with her good buddy Andy from Chesterfield, as a duo, they'd make a good couple.
Anthea's contribution to my collection of quotations is .. as follows ..."Always end the day with a thought of something positive that has happened during the day; a special conversation, an act of kindness or a picture from your mind like a beautiful view, a pretty flower, a cloud formation, someone new you have met etc."
EVERYONE
who has emailed me to congratulate me on an excellent website !! I hope it encourages others to build one also !
Sunday - Bingo (called by voly Ian)
Monday - J K Presley - a fairly good singer
Tuesday - The Famous Andy Walker from Stars in Your Eyes Fame singing Barry Manilow and Neil diamond - a firm favourite amongst guests and staff!!
Wednesday - Karaoke evening, I sang duet with Molly from Harrogate, singing Hey Jude and You'll Never Walk Alone. A great evening was had by all who took part, some solo, duets and in groups.
Thursday - the Skylarks Quiz, our team won, led by ex-care assistant David Ford
Friday - Auld Alliance (Graham and Mark) with their guitars and tamberines singing folk-ish songs. Graham used to help out behind the bar at skylarks a couple years ago.
GOOD LUCK !!