EVERYONE at Newton Stewart’s Riverside Centre was all smiles last week as staff and members rounded off a week of celebrations for the centre’s 30th birthday.
Friday saw the culmination of a week-long party for the centre staff and its members with different activities and entertainment each day. During the week there was karaoke and live music as well as games and quizzes, with between 30 and 40 people attending each day to join in the festivities.
The atmosphere was one of kindness and friendship, as members couldn’t speak highly enough of the centre and its staff.
Tom, who has been coming to centre since October, said: “To me the day centre is really important because I’m on my own now but I can come here have a meal, the food is tremendous, and be social with other people. They take great care of you here, everything is spot on so that’s why I keep coming back.”
Other long-time members like Helen and Donald, who have both been coming to the Riverside for 20 years, have seen many changes and faces but are grateful that the centre continues to be welcoming social hub. Helen said: “We’ve lost a lot of folk through covid and afterwards a lot of people struggled to come back together because they didn’t want to mix again.
“For a lot of people it’s the only place they go every week and they can have a chat and a meal. I like to come twice a week for the bingo, a wee chat and the dominoes.”
Donald added: “I like coming as a way to keep in touch with folk, things and faces are changing all the time. A lot of the ones that are here now are obviously different from when I started coming 20 years ago, and things have changed a lot since covid, but it is good that it’s managed to keep going all this time.”
Reflecting on the week’s celebrations, Riverside Centre manager Tracey Thomson added: “It’s been good, it’s been busy, we’ve had a lot of people coming in every day to help us celebrate. We’ve had entertainment in every day this week, people have volunteered their time to come in and entertain the members which has been fantastic and we’re so grateful.
“Hearing the kind things that our members have said is great, social isolation can be a big problem for people in this area because we are such a remote area, it’s good for them, being here can boost their health and wellbeing.
“But you can see the smiles on their faces, a few balloons can make them smile and that’s what we’re here to do: keep them happy, give them a smile on their face. And I hope that we’ll be here for 30 more years.”
