It's time for the first annual awards ceremony held at Aberdeen Foyer, the AFTAs

Aberdeen Foyer’s IMPACT team have been a very busy bunch over the past few months in preparation for the launch of the first AFTAs ceremony.  The AFTAs (Aberdeen Foyer Transformation Awards) will be held at the Foyer on the 6th October 2017 as part of Self Management Week.  The award ceremony will celebrate, appreciate and showcase all the fantastic transformations and destinations that IMPACT team members have achieved through recognising their strengths and talents and developing their self-management skills.  The awards show will include videos, stories, guest speakers and a performance by IMPACT’s very own ‘Singing for Joy’ group – with audience participation.  All this will be followed by an after-show party with a home cooked buffet and mocktails!

IMPACT is a project designed for and by individuals living with long term mental health conditions and aims to enable team members to take ownership of the service and shape it in a way that best meets their needs, captures their interests and inspires them to overcome barriers and make meaningful and sustainable connections in their community.

Team members recognise that it can often be challenging to take those next steps in recovery and move on from IMPACT.  They also know from first-hand experience that taking that first step and joining IMPACT can be extremely scary.  So, they thought it would be a good idea to support and inspire one another – old and new – by celebrating all of the milestones they have achieved so far.  And so the AFTAs were born!

Eight keen IMPACT  team members formed a planning committee and have met once a week since August to organise and prepare for the awards.  This has involved planning a theme – and what better to celebrate transformations than butterflies.   Home-made decorations and crafts, centre pieces, programmes etc. are gradually taking over the Foyer as the team immerse themselves in their task.

One of the committee members, Neil, has taken a lead role in menu planning.

Neil has attended IMPACT for 18 months and initially found it difficult to find things that truly inspired and excited him.  However, he has recently found his confidence through participating in bread making sessions (his bread rolls are well known throughout Aberdeen Foyer for being both huge and delicious!).  Neil gets great satisfaction seeing others enjoy something that he has made and so he spoke to a staff member and expressed an interest in menu planning for the AFTAs as he wanted to build on his cooking skills, knowledge and confidence. Well,  we are all very glad that Neil embraced this challenge as he has created a high-end and delicious sounding buffet menu which will include home-made sausage rolls, quiche and lemon drizzle cake!

Neil spent an afternoon searching for recipes and considered various dietary options.  He thought about the difficulty and timing of recipes in the hope of including everyone in the preparation and he has tried to consider a wide range of dietary requirements.  He has taken ownership of the menu and is busy testing his baking skills with a few ‘practice runs’.

The award categories were decided after discussions between Foyer staff and Impact team members – and everyone agreed that the awards should reflect personal achievement, supporting others and commitment to developing the IMPACT project.

Categories include:

  • The most mindful – for the team member most committed to mindful practice.
  • The Mike Chalmers Greenfingers Award – for the team member most dedicated to enabling our allotment to flourish.
  • Master Baker – for the greatest transformation achieved through baking and bread making
  • The People’s Champion – in recognition of the team member who puts their heart and soul into supporting others and has transformed their own confidence and self-esteem as a result.

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