I think it might be true to say that we have had an ordinary week of delivering services. Monday started with Morningside, St. Cuthbert’s and Zoom Choir. Tuesday was All Singing and Dancing, Open Door. Thursday Open Door, Indoor Choir and Stenhouse Wynd. Friday meant holding a phone-call with Tilly to speak about the possibility of our sixth choir and then Kenny and I did Eildon House.
While it may have been an ordinary week it was spent with extra ordinary people. I don’t get to go to St. Cuthbert’s that often but this week I had the chance to go and listen to their stories. Open Door both on Tuesday and on Thursday was just as it usually is, so good, with the warmth and the evidence of a staff team who really care even when things can be difficult is just wonderful.
Our Indoor Choir now has a new name - we are going to call our choirs community choirs and because it is in Gorgie it will be known as Gorgie Community Choir. Our other choirs will also carry their area name which is great. To be honest Indoor Choir was a bit of a naff name, so it is good to have another name. It is amazing to think that as we move into our eighth year that we are discussing having six choirs.
The thing that moved me the most this week was at the end of All Singing and Dancing one of the people who uses the service stepped forward and asked Kenny for a particular song. She proceeded to sign the song as Kenny sang, she was brilliant. What is it about seeing people who communicate in this way that makes it so moving? Could it be that it is a way of seeing people being included in a world where so much exclusion of diverse people takes place? One thing that Paul says about Zoom Choir is that each square is the same size. There is no one person more important or less important than the other. We work towards making this a reality at FMN.
This coming week we have a training session with staff. It is based on what we have learned from working with Forget Me Notes. If you are going to ask others to do something, then you really should do it yourself. One of the things that I have learned is to be prepared to be surprised by the people who attend. The ability to communicate and share a story, a memory, a smile or the tapping of a song sheet to share their joy at being a part of something special.
Have a good week.