Select band celebrates Broom Court’s 20th Anniversary
Broom Court, our Supported Accommodation development in Stirling, has recently commemorated its 20th Anniversary and a very select band of staff members are celebrating – each having been in the unit since the first day it opened.
Amazingly, this exclusive club, the 20 Year Club, still has six members, seen here in our group photograph. From left to right, they are Kirsteen Meechan, Sandra Begg, Flora Hay, Margaret Hogg, Morag Spence and Fiona Dyet. The seventh member is Pearl McGregor, whose retiral was marked as part of the festivities. 
Collectively, the Club has a wealth of memories. Sandra and Morag both remember the buzz about the place as they got all the rooms ready and eagerly awaited the first residents – and sitting down to a candle-lit supper of tomato soup just as the Association’s director at the time, Richard Gregory, dropped in to see how things were going. Sandra laughed as she told us about the charity football match and the fundraising march around Stirling that followed, participants dressed as punk rockers, babies and Pearl as Pocahontas. Morag recalled the 10th Anniversary Party, with the staff – mainly the men – dressed up as the Spice Girls. One wonders if a reunion is on the cards? There has always been a real family atmosphere about Broom Court – down to the residents and staff between them. The residents have been wonderfully welcoming and the staff show a genuine affection for the people they work with and for. The residents know all the staff’s children and love to hear how they are doing. Kirsteen Meechan’s favourite recollections are of a holiday for residents in Italy and of holding a raucous karaoke session in the centre of Blackpool. She also remembers the celebrations just before her wedding. In dread of being accosted by a strippergram, Kirsteen took great delight in being whisked off by several good looking firemen in their big red fire engine, complete with flashing lights. Something special for all the members of the Club has been to witness the many individual triumphs of residents over the years and the personal and professional development of their fellow members of staff as they took on new roles and new responsibilities, supported by the Association with the training that underpinned their success. Margaret Hogg spoke of the pride in Broom Court of residents and staff alike, of the respect people have for each other and for the mutual support they give to each other. Morag, now the Unit’s Care Services Manager, said, “I never forget the support and loyalty of everyone when I was appointed manager. It has made my job so much easier having people who are so good at what they do.” There are also two honorary members of this Club; Shona McKenzie, the Admin Officer, and support worker Patricia Myszor. Both Patricia and Shona took career breaks away from Broom Court so don’t have 20 years of uninterrupted service. Shona may actually have been the first appointment. The other Club members remember her being present at their interviews. 
There have been a lot of good times at Broom Court and maybe the secret is growing old together just slightly disgracefully. Here’s to a long and happy retirement for Pearl and to the next 20 years! Click here for more photographs of the celebrations Top of Page
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