Happy Retirement Karen
In June, seescape’s longest serving staff member, Karen Simpson, will be retiring. Whilst we are sad to see her go, I’m sure you will all join us in thanking Karen for her years of service and wish her all the best for the future.
Below, Karen shares her thoughts and memories of her time at seescape:
I have seen many changes, as you can imagine, in the 39 years I have been with seescape – I still cannot believe it has been that long! It seems like only yesterday I joined Fife Society for the Blind as An administrative Assistant in March 1983.
Things were very different then – no computers, copiers, or assistive technology. I had a manual typewriter and used carbon paper for a copy. If many copies were required, then I used a good old fashioned duplicating machine and had to type everything onto a stencil. I certainly built up my arm muscles turning the handle to churn them out!
Late 1980’s early 90’s we obtained our first desktop computer and I along with 2 computer students from Kirkcaldy College of Technology set up our first computer database of client records.
In 1993 I went off to Forfar to train as a Rehabilitation Officer and qualified in 1994. At that time Fife was divided up into areas and I covered Kirkcaldy & Dysart and had a case load of nearly 300 clients. We also had craft classes – making stools and trays etc. There was the annual inter club domino competitions, where rivalry was fierce! We also had an annual outing for each area, 2 bus loads of people going off to places like North Berwick for the day, a Christmas party and an annual Fife wide holiday to somewhere in the UK or the Continent.
Fife Society has moved on, as I said I have seen many changes, not least the refurbishment of Townsend Place, moving to Wilson Avenue and numerous name changes, as well as how we have moved with the times and embraced new technologies and the way we have adapted to improve our service delivery.
I will certainly miss working for seescape and especially the clients, however I feel the time is right for me to retire. I wish you all the very best for the future as I embark on an exciting new chapter in my life.
Karen
Welcome Katriona!
We are delighted to welcome Katriona Harding to seescape as our new Fundraising Manager. Katriona has taken over from Sally Cameron, who we thank for all her hard work and wish well in her retirement.
Katriona joined seescape as on March 28th, and is excited to get to know the team and learn as much as possible about the support seescape provides to people living with impaired sight in Fife. Katriona previously worked as the Fundraising Events Manager for Armed Forces charity Poppyscotland, delivering the mass events programme in Scotland including a cycling event, a Sportive in East Lothian, a Strictly come Dancing style dancing event in Inverness, and 2 national tours with the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Previous to this, Katriona worked for a youth homeless charity in Edinburgh, The Rock Trust, working with local businesses, the Local Authority and individual supporters to try and raise awareness of youth homelessness, dispel myths and support young people into accommodation, training, education and support.
Katriona lives in Musselburgh with her 18-month-old son Fergus, and they spend a large amount of their time together exploring the beaches in East Lothian – Katriona prefers to go for a dip and Fergus likes to dig holes!