Tag: work

Doing the radio documentary

so today we did the documentary for the radio, the one that is featuring the work of friendly call, it was myself, my supervisor and two other volunteers. Two producers came from the national broadcaster in ireland, RTE, and interviewed us. It was really cool. They were very nice and they did a great job. We all got to talk about the work we do. We got to tell them a little about ourselves and how long we’ve been volunteering, and what brought us to be doing it. Then they asked us about the work and the clients and stuff. It is going to be broadcast the week of the 17th to 21st of december. The producer told my supervisor she’d text her the date when we’d be featured, it will be available to listen to online on the podcast so when I know more I will let you all know so maybe some of you can listen to it.
I am very happy with how my interview went. I wasnt even nervous. The girl interviewing us really put me at ease!
I am glad we did it. I am glad that friendly call is getting lots of exposure. They deserve that.

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Fundraiser for friendly call

so I’ve been at a fundraiser for friendly call all morning. We had a craft fare to raise funds. It was really lovely. So many wonderful stalls selling handmade things. And free tea and coffee, cookies, and cakes. And there were schools, choirs from schools, singing. It was amazing!
I had a blast! I got a lovely pink glass angel. It is a handmade angel. She is really nice!
I love angels. They are my thing. My house is full of them!
Mom bought a framed picture. Its a picture of cork in olden times. A snowy scene. She loves photos. She said it was really cool and she had to have it when she saw it.
I bought a load of raffle tickets, they were giving out prizes of hampers. And guess what? I won! I won a big chocolate hamper.
Im meant to be dieting! Hahaha! But oh well. I’ll have to eat some of it now!
It was a great morning though. I think they raised a lot of money for friendly call. At least I hope they did. We’ll find out next week how much they raised.

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One of my clients is dead

I found out today that one of the friendly call clients I call each week killed himself. I’d spoken to this man on numerous occasions. He was in his fifties. He had a severe mental illness. My supervisor told me he did it last week. We were the last people he spoke to, friendly call was the last contact he had with anyone before he did it.

I was floored. Its the first time something like this has happened to me while I’ve been a volunteer. I just cant believe it. It really brings it home to me how precious life is. And how you just never know how things can happen on a spur of a moment.

I hope he’s at peace now. I am glad he had us I am glad we were able to maybe bring him some happy times. The fact that we spoke to him daily. The fact he had someone on the end of the phone to talk to. He was very isolated, he lived in a rural area. And he was so lonely.

Loneliness kills. It really does.

Its going to take me some time to process this. I still feel kinda numb. Maybe because I’ve also come close to ending it. Maybe because I know his pain. I know how he must have felt when he made his decision. I just wish he’d have told us how he was feeling.

Its a sad day for me today. I’ll send prayers up to the universe and hopefully he’s at peace now.

A rough night last night

Well my headaches finally gone. I’m so delighted. I had it all night. I wasnt able to get much sleep at all. I kept waking in pain.
Plus there was a huge storm where I live. The wind was very strong. Howling and whipping up outside my window. Plus there was heavy rain too.
Then my phone kept notifying me of text messages, of wordpress comments and likes, etc. I should have probably silenced it. But I didnt. My bad.
So I am pretty tired today. But I am volunteering this afternoon. I’m in the office now about to start my calls. I will be here until 5 Pm I’d think. I was debating canceling but now I am glad I didnt.

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Friday shinanigans!

thank god its finally friday! i am very busy though. my pa was here this morning. we did housework, lots of it. then she took me to the gym. i hadnt been to the gym in a week. i am out of practice. i was exhausted after walking on the treadmill for 20 mins and doing the bike for 10. i need more regular exercise so i will try to go more. I will go again tomorrow. it was a good workout. after my workout i went to get my money out of the ATM. then we went across to a shopping centre to get food. there were crowds everywhere. you know with it being black friday. the crowds were unbelievable!
we managed to get a taxi home pretty easily which i was surprised about. we got home around mid day. ate our food. and then i let my pa go home early. there wasnt anything else she needed to do for me.
i got picked up at around 2 Pm and I have been volunteering doing my friendly call shift. It was a good shift. We were really busy again. We’re short staffed so I had a lot of extra calls to do. I’m actually still in the office now as I write this. I’m waiting for my supervisor to finish up her calls. Then she’s going to give me a ride to moms house.
The weather here is crap. Its been pouring down with rain all day. I was soaked this morning. I think this rain is going to last the whole weekend. If the weather forecast is anything to go by it will. I have to go out tomorrow so I hope it wont be too wet. I dont fancy getting soaked.
I love that its the weekend now though. I love my weekends. I love when friday rolls around.

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My interview!

It went well. I am hopeful.
It was very informal. Just a chat really. They asked four questions.
Why do you want to do the course?
What training have you had?
What do you think you’ll get out of doing the course?
And tell us a little about yourself?
I did good answering them all!
I am very proud! Nitro was really well behaved too!
I should know something within the next two weeks. I hope I got a place!
If I did we start on december 5th. We do wrap as our first module. For those who dont know what wrap is it stands for wellness recovery action plan.
We will just have one class before christmas. Then the course starts proper in january.
I really hope I did enough to get on it!
Fingers crossed! Time will tell!
❤

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Volunteering and other stuff

volunteering went well. Im still in the office. Its been a super busy afternoon. We’re really short staffed so I had extra work to do. I didnt mind though. I like being busy.
I didnt go to the gym this morning. I was going but then at the last minute I said I wouldnt go. I felt kinda bla about it. Not really in the mood for exercising. So I left it go and will wait for another time, probably next week now.
I let the kids have a treat today. A bag of crisps and a turkey and cheese roll with chili sauce, they were ecstatic, they devoured the food and I also let them have a diet vanilla coke. So I scored brownie points with them hahaha.
Eileen hasnt emailed us yet. I emailed her this morning to see if she got home safely. She hasnt responded. All I can think is she’s not home yet. Or she’s busy and hasnt got time to respond to us yet. But she will, I know she will. I have faith that she will as she will know we worry and fret that she is not ok.
I am going to moms soon for the weekend. Mom and I are going on a mother daughter christmas shopping adventure tomorrow. We’ll also have lunch out. I am excited to go. I love that we get to spend some one to one time together with each other. It makes me super happy.
Im going to have a nice omelette for dinner today. With ham, cheese, peppers and onion in it. I cant wait. I love omelettes.