Ignorance is Bliss

Gavin Crocker, a Member for 3 years, Trustee since November 2021

I’ve been a member of the Samson Centre for the last three years, initially using oxygen and subsequently training in the gym with Mike. I was popping in and out with my head down and minding my own business. This was partly because I do mind my own business and try to juggle work around other things that I find more interesting or fun.

I was always told never to volunteer for anything but somehow, I was asked to be a trustee of the Samson Centre. As far as I was concerned the centre was running like a well-oiled machine and I am pleased to say that I think this is largely the case but the key to this is applying lots of oil to make it run properly. This oil is in the form of the hard work and consideration that the staff and volunteers put into the centre to make it run well and the generosity of a large number of people and groups who offer financial support to the centre.

In my ignorance as a new trustee, I thought it was a good idea to ask people what they thought was good and bad about the centre. I have had quite a lot of feedback and fortunately it is mainly good but even well-oiled machines skip a beat occasionally. I have had a number of people tell me that our communication is not very good. This is both listening to what our members/volunteers and staff are saying and communicating. Communicating what we are doing to move the centre forward and trumpeting about our successes.  One of the volunteers suggested this newsletter and everyone I spoke to also thought it was a good idea. I offered to put together the first few editions and I’ll let you decide whether I should have followed the advice not to volunteer for anything!

Thank you to everyone who has written pieces for our first edition. I hope you will find them interesting and informative. We will try to publish this on a regular basis. I’m hoping that we can encourage different contributors each month to keep it fresh and already have a few of stories that we couldn’t squeeze into this edition. Please give me your suggestions for new articles/improvements. If the feedback is generally positive, I will be happy to collate the next couple of editions to get things going and then I’d like to pass the baton to someone else who is wise enough to volunteer but either way please continue to give me your feedback. Intelligence is bliss, not ignorance.