Not Letting The Hobby Get The Better Of You

by Robert, posted in Uncategorized

My mother and sisters belong to a social group specifically for women. It’s one of those quirky things that has been around for well over 100 years and is the biggest group specifically for women. They love the belonging and seeing the same friends over the ears. There are meetings with speakers to entertain and enlighten us and lots of other activities with walking clubs and craft group. There used to be a very big catering group too but the need to be careful with food choices and activities meant we gradually gave up on the cake making, except for the monthly meeting – when cake and everything else take over from the moment the last applause clapping subsides, and the cry for Tea is sounded.

Knowing how to control one’s activities so that you don’t just pile on weight can be a dicey thing. What sets off one person into might inspire another to take on a challenge. There are pockets of individual activity with book clubs; cookery and gardening are also high on their hobby agenda. Some of the members do a lot of sewing. One in particular makes costumes for the local theatre, particularly near Christmas when they put their pantomime on. It is all hands to the task and one woman’s obsession with sewing frilly garments has grown into an absolute monster. However she is content and so long as no body needs to find anything at all in her house, then she is happy. This came to the fore recently when we were gifted hundreds of items by the widower of a very good member in our group – there was so much, we had to take it in five separate deliveries. There were boxes of wool of every description; another two trugs were full of part used balls with no label. We also had five big bags full of odd tools and gadgets for making things like bobbles; knitting needles with accessories such as stitch and row counters; single knitting pins and many flexible circular needles. We had bags of kopok toy filling product to stuff the many half finish toys we found. The poor widower – he never knew what anything was when our pal was alive, and was so grateful when one of our number made contact with the family and offered to relieve hi of this treasure trove of hobby crafting materials. It was far more than any one human could use in a whole lifetime and it absolutely took over their home. Our dear pal had no off button and seed to bulk buy crafting materials with no discernable project in mind. Now that really was the crux of her problem. But although we couldn’t help her when alive, we have done a sterling job and helped by taking it all away so he could remember happy days with his wife and not have to think about wool, crochet hooks or bags of anything else!

When The Learning Habit Just Takes Over

by Robert, posted in E-Learning

Learning a new skill or topic is always an achievement for older folk, it can be that bit more challenging to go out and get fixed up with a course at the local college. There are far less evening classes available in towns these days. Probably because everyone can become an expert in something or other almost instantly with so many companies investing in online videos of their craft. Many social groups will also be organised enough to set up vocational training courses to keep their senior membership engaged and in the know. Not all ageing folk go into that semi decline after 69.

The biggest social group for women has a fantastic scheme that is free to paid up members – any of their every day courses can be signed up to and they also do more intense sessions in skills that will really help many of them in their attempts to navigate the complexities of running their womens’ instititute group. The one on excel is particularly effective. Called ‘making excel simple’, I was amused to note that it is presented over ten sessions . They are accessible on different days and times so everyone can reach a tutoring session at some time. There are also some really engaging travel videos which have a college lecturer walking around a particularly fashionable part of any city in the UK. It is wonderful to just sit and watch someone else doing all the work. I am particularly drawn to any videos of folk walking around London, showing me the beautiful buildings that we never get a chance to see when just meandering around as lost tourists. Some of the Inns of Court in London are spectacular!

Choosing The Company Training Schemes To Benefit All

by Robert, posted in Online Courses

Every company in the civilised world should be prepared to invest a large proportion of their budget in training schemes. The more a company puts in to ensure their employees are trained as well as possible, with the most up to date ideas in their field, the more they will get out of each one. Every employee will feel valued and part of the bigger picture. For example, the very phrase health and safety usually raises eybrows and growls of dismissiveness. However this is a truly epic topic and there are hundreds of sections that should be considered as non negotiable. Exploring your supplier’s range of safety courses will be a good start. Empowering your staff to work safely and as confidently as possible, regardless of the task or setting, will enable them to concentrate on their every day tasks knowing they are working to the latest disciplies. Courses can be designed to address individual risk and wellbeing, keepng staff even more protected. They can cover such topics as manual handling awareness; display screen equipment; working at height; lone working; managing stress at work.

The right supplier will be able to provide dedicated training programmes for care navigators; Education navigators will protect your staff and students. Not forgetting food safety – simplifying food safety management is another critical example. They also offer cost effective e-learnign schemes for SMEs.