Over the sea to Skye If you ever go across the sea oops, sorry wrong island! Speed bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing far over the sea, over the

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2 Over the sea to Skye If you ever go across the sea oops, sorry wrong island! Speed bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing far over the sea, over the sea to Skye, with reference to Flora Macdonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie, is what I meant to write! There are 3 different routes to get to the Isle of Skye: over the magnificant bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh (best for cars), by ferry from Mallaig to Armadale (also a car ferry), and by ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea (maximum 6 cars), which leaves from nearby where Gavin Maxwell, of Ring of bright water fame, once lived. When planning your holiday, you need to decide which route you might wish to take, or you may even decide to criss-cross over more than one. Before we talk about Skye itself, if you wish to travel even further on, then ferries leave from Uig to Lochmaddy (North Uist), and Tarbert (Isle of Harris) for the Outer Hebrides. There is also a small ferry to cross to Raasay, a small island off Portree, the main town on Skye, where the cruise ships call in. There is much to be seen and visited on Skye, so remember to plan ahead and take your time, especially since often there are quite long distances, over pot-holed roads, to be covered! Let us begin with Kyleakin, a pleasant little fishing village with a scattering of hotels and good eating places as well as plenty of BB accommodation and independent hotels. Boat trips are available around and under the Skye Bridge. Another must on a visit to Kyleakin is a walk to the semi-ruined Castle Moil. The next town is Broadford, where there is a decent sized Co-op if you need to stop and stock up with provisions, or for any other reasons! From there we travel to Portree, the capital of Skye. It is the main tourist and shopping centre, which boasts all the main facilities you might need on your travelling souvenir shops galore garages (if needed) the main store (the Coop again) and numerous other services. The Aros Centre, a popular visitor attraction and community centre, offers exhibitions, cinema, live music, dance and theatre, is located just outside Portree. It also has a gift shop and a restaurant and a children s play area. We travel further through Sligachan, which is a small settlement close to the Cuillin mountains and provides a good viewpoint for seeing them. The well appointed

3 Sligachan Hotel has become a mecca for those climbers wanting to tackle the Black Cuillin. Our next stop is the small town of Dunvegan, famous for its Castle, the seat of the chief of Clan MacLeod. Not only is the castle worth a visit, but it has lovely gardens, too. From there you can embark on a seal trip an exhilarating 25min boat trip, a favourite with children and adults alike, to see the Loch Dunvegan seal colony and observe these playful mammals at close quarters. Another must is a trip around the Trotternish peninsular on the north eastern corner of Skye. First you pass the Old Man of Storr, from which car park a very popular walk climbs up for a closer look, then on to Staffin, which is famed for its spotty houses, lovely beach and amazing geology. Just 4 miles before Staffin you pass the Skye Pie Café which is famous for its mouth watering gourmet pies, both sweet and savoury! We continue around the peninsula to Uig, which is not much more than a stepping stone en route to the Western Isles. The ferry takes you to Lochmaddy on North Uist and Tarbert on Harris. Uig can be a very busy place when the ferries are loading and unloading both cars and commercial traffic. You have now covered most of the Isle of Skye, but our daughter and husband live on a 7 acre croft 8 miles further up the north west peninsular from Dunvegan, most of which road is single track with passing places! Brenda and I have just spent 12 days with them, breaking the journey at Fort William in both directions. While we were there, Stephanie, our daughter, spent many hours weeding yes, weeding! And John building his new all-purpose workshop! We did have time to go to church in Dunvegan, followed by a lovely carvery lunch, and trips around the Trotternish peninsula and to Waternish, where we had tea and cakes in a Yurt a Turkish collapsible tent! Next to the Yurt was SkyeSkyns, a tannery, where we bought ourselves a sheepskin rug, and at Dandelion Designs, at nearby Stein, one or two presents for friends and family. We can recommend Skye as a holiday destination, but with 400 miles between Skye and Southport, and lots of potholed, single track roads and lots of other tourists too when you get there, it may not be your cup of tea your kind of holiday! Brenda and George

4 The 45 peaks over 450m Challenge Just a quick update on the progress of my challenge. After a few weeks of no progress due to other commitments, the weather or illness, on Bank Holiday Monday I drove up to Keswick and climbed another 5 peaks. I ve now managed to climb 30 peaks over 450m, only 15 left to complete. I keep pinching myself when I m doing the walks. I m seeing sights that I never thought I d be able to see, reaching heights that I d never thought I d reach. I ve done similar walks in the distant past but they were always a struggle and, as they would always cause major heart palpitations, I would shy away from strenuous climbs and stay at lower levels. The challenge has highlighted a number of things to me How much my physical fitness has improved. The power that the mind has on physical reactions and how much damage it had caused. How my confidence, focus, durability and resilience have improved both during the walks and also at work/at home. How controlling the anxiety, and associated tension, can be incredibly beneficial. It has also been very enlightening and encouraging to share experiences of mental health issues with others and start to break down the stigma and address the cultural issues that exist. This has highlighted that no two mental health issues are the same. They all have different backgrounds, different triggers, different symptoms, different outcomes, different recoveries and different severities. There is a misconception, in society, that only when severe levels of mental illness have been reached, e.g. depression, should reactive action be taken and support provided but loss of confidence in specific circumstances, reduced focus and decreased motivation can be early signs that steps need to be taken to address the issues before they reach the more complex stage. Hopefully, more awareness of these situations will lead to greater understanding and earlier, proactive support. Opening up the conversation is just the start of an ongoing process that will hopefully develop over time. Thanks to everyone who has donated towards my challenge. The current total is 605 which will be used by Heartbeat to provide valuable physical and psychological care to heart patients in the North West. Any more donations will be gratefully received. Thanks, Mike Owen

5 Holiday Club The theme for this year s Holiday Club was Rocky s Plaice. The hall was decked out in all things aquatic and we had our very own fish and chip shop, brilliantly made by Stan Carson. The children were split into their age groups and allocated to one of three teams, Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas. The week was based on the story of Simon Peter and each day focused on a particular word, i.e. Hope, Faith, Love and Tell and the story was told by John, Dorcas and Cornelius. During the week, the children learnt a memory verse based on John Chapter 3 v 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.. At the end of the week, a number of the children felt brave enough to recite the verse in front of the rest of the children. Thoughout the week an average of between 30 and 40 children joined us for fun, food and fellowship. Each day was filled with a variety of crafts, a selection of games, a feast of food and a chorus of songs, keep fit routines and dance moves. We were indebted to the tremendous group of leaders who gave up their time and energy each morning. This year we were joined by 5 new young leaders, 3 from our Church activities, Dan, Brody and Alice and 2 who had attended Holiday Club since they were 5, James and Tasha, who decided that they wanted to give something back and continue with Holiday Club as leaders. The enthusiasm of all the young leaders was very uplifting to see. On the Friday evening, we held a BBQ for all the families and demonstrated some of the activities that we had enjoyed during the week. Another successful week, enjoyed by all, we are already looking forward to next year. Thank you for your support and prayers. The Holiday Club Team What Holiday Club Taught me If I was to write a book about my experiences of mental illness, this would be my final chapter... "So Holiday Club was just for the kids, right? So we could teach them about God, life, friendship, fellowship and love, right? Yeah that's right, but Holiday Club also taught me a lot about myself, where I've been, how bad I was, how I've recovered and how I've started to rediscover the real me.

6 When I was asked to tell the story on the Thursday, I struggled to think of the right level, the right approach and the right words to get the message across. Then one morning, I woke up and my brain had formulated a plan. Over the next few weeks I tinkered with the approach until I was happy with the format. But even on the morning of the talk, I was altering things slightly until I was happy. The story went well and the message was shared but that was only part of the teaching. I realised that I'd rediscovered the adaptability that had been missing since For the first time in nearly 8 years, my mind was free to work through things, to concentrate on things, to mull things over and resolve things. This change, although invisible and probably unnoticed by others, was very evident to me. My mind that had been pre-occupied for so long with anxiety, fear of palpitations, uncertainty and lack of focus was suddenly thinking more clearly and I was able to express my thoughts in a more coherent, logical and rational way. I always shy away from using the D word when I talk about my struggles. I was never diagnosed with depression and I feel that it is bandied around too frequently in society with little thought to the connotations that are associated with such a powerful and devastating word. But even though I was never formally diagnosed with depression, as I ve started to feel better, I ve realised that I was either very close to full blown depression or I was actually in the depths of its hideous grip. I ve heard many people compare depression to being in a black hole and I can certainly empathise with the analogy. What might start off as a feeling of being lost and alone in a shallow dark place can soon exacerbate into a much deeper, darker and all-encompassing feeling of complete doom and despair. If you get chance to realise that you are falling into that black hole, you may start to desperately scramble your way out but as the sides of the hole are like dust and the base of the hole like soft sand, your struggling just ends up dragging you deeper and deeper into the chasm below. The deeper you descend, the blacker your view becomes and your visual horizon is continually reduced until you can just see flickerings of movement over your head as your desperate pleas for help become inaudible to those that pass by. You become invisible, alone, isolated, insular, fearful and depressed. Unable to escape the hole, you become disconnected from your friends, your family and society in general.

7 Even if the blackness relents for a short time, the sheer exhaustion of the battle just to survive and the embarrassment of your invisible predicament, means that socialising, even with your closest friends, becomes a major challenge. A challenge that you can t face and instead you prefer to spend time alone in what has now become the safety of your black hole. As time goes on you become more detached, more isolated, more unable to reengage, more pre-occupied with your struggle, less focused, more exhausted, deeper and blacker with a narrower view of the world around you. You wait, you fight, you scramble, you wait, you sleep. You try, you hurt, you scream internally, you wait, you sleep. You force yourself out of bed, you wait, you sleep. You wait, you sleep. Friends will try to reach you, they attempt to pull you up from your hole, to lift you and reconnect with you but you just want to stay where you are safe, alone. You try, you wait, you sleep. Some people will give up on you, misunderstand you, misinterpret your actions. They will ignore you, belittle you, disown you. You hurt, you wait, you sleep. You see people who have the power to save you, who have the tools to lift you and support you, who can change things, who should understand, who should come to your aid. Their lack of engagement enrages you, it frustrates you, you resent them for their lack of action. You try to attract their attention but your protestations fall on deaf, unresponsive ears and the anger, the bitterness and the blackness becomes deeper. Then after years of turmoil there s a glint of hope, a chance, an opportunity but with that comes a greater fear of misunderstanding, of further rejection, of greater darkness. You try, you talk, you hope. They hear, they understand, they diagnose, they direct, they encourage, they listen. You take the first steps on your recovery. You start to feel more settled, slightly stronger, more ready for the fight. Those in power finally offer some support, they lower a rope for you to pull yourself up. But the rope is covered in grease, 2 feet up, 1 foot down.

8 You persevere, the light becomes brighter, you become stronger as you pull against the slippery rope. 2 feet up, 1 foot down. Your increased confidence allows you to expose deficiencies, rattle cages, ruffle feathers. 2 feet up, 1 foot down. You near the lip of the hole, invigorated by your progress. Stones rain down from above. Your cage rattling, your cats amongst the pigeons has stirred up resentment and exposed guilt. The stones crash against your head, they dent your body, they crash to the floor of your hole. More stones rain down as they try to silence your stories and damage your progress. The base of the hole is covered, the stones deep enough to stand on. You use the stable ground created by the stones as a foundation to stand on, a force to push against and your continue your ascent. 2 feet up, 3 feet up, 4 feet up, 5 feet up. The stones continue to rain, you continue to climb, faster, stronger, more resilient. Then you reach the light, your hands let go of the rope and grip the lip of the hole and you push with all your newly found strength out of the hole and into the world. The light hits you like a lazer beam, you unfurl, you stretch, you blink, you fall exhausted but free. You rise, you step, you walk, you climb, you unfurl, you grow, you live, stronger, more rounded, more focused, more able, more adaptable, more you. Breathing space. More aware, more ready, more able to fight the next fight. The Thursday story at Holiday Club? It was the story of Cornelius, about how he and Simon Peter told good news Stay strong, keep reaching, keep unfurling, keep stepping, keep growing. Notice those around you, spot the changes, reach out, lay stones for them to stand on, lift and support." Mike Owen

9 Love is Love is patient, love is kind, love is daylight to the blind; love is gentle on the mind, the world needs love. Love dispels all needless fears, love can staunch the flow of tears, love stays constant through the years, all we need is love. Love makes cloudy skies turn blue, love makes promises come true, love makes me consider you, can t buy me love. Love will put an end to war, love the coldest heart can thaw, love s the life I m craving for, so where is love? Love no evil will defend, love makes every foe a friend, love, real love, will never end, God is love! Love is holy, love is pure, love is sacred, love is sure, love for ever will endure, God is love! Gordon Bailey

10 Marshside Road Methodist Church, Southport, PR9 9TL Ministers : Revd. Marie-Anne Kent Tel : marie-anne.kent@methodist.org.uk Sunday Services 09:00 am. Holy Communion first Sunday of each Month 10:30 am. Morning Worship including Crèche, J Team and Teenscene 18:30 am. Evening Fellowship see Weekly Notices Weekly Programme Day Meeting Time Contact Monday Parent, Carer & Toddler Group Preschool Term time only Playgroup Term time only Monday Evening Fellowship 12:50 14:45 20:00 Tuesday Mrs Margaret Boston (211548) Mrs Joan Owen (220436) Preschool Term time only Playgroup Term time only Bible Study Fellowship Prayer Fellowship 12:50 14:45 10:45 19:00 20:00 Mrs Dorothy Taylor (211643) Mrs Pat Wright (213647) Knit & Craft Club, see website for details 13:00 16:00 Mrs Dorothy Mitchell (228430) Wednesday Preschool Term time only Boys Brigade & Girls Brigade Thursday Friday Saturday Wednesday Group - every 4 th Wednesday Preschool Term time only Thought for the Day Playgroup Term time only Preschool Term time only Chris Wright s School of Dance & Drama Chris Wright s School of Dance & Drama Monthly Messy Church (see Website) 18:30 21:30 10:15 12:50 14:45 16:00 19:15 09:15 15:00 16:00 18:00 Mrs Kay Owen (225126) Mrs Sheila Jones (227661) Mrs Avril Merone Other Contacts : Church Notices Mrs Dorothy Simpkin (229987) Cradle Roll Mrs Margaret Boston (211548) Magazine/Website Editor Mr Mike Owen (225126) Action for Children Co-ordinator Mrs Dorothy Taylor (211643) Pastoral Committee Mrs Joan Owen (220436) World Missions Mrs Lin Mayor (212059) Miss Alison Wright ( ) Miss Alison Wright ( ) See the Church Website for details Disclaimer : The views and opinions expressed in this Church Magazine are solely those of the author of the individual article and not necessarily the views of the Church, Leadership Team or Minister.