![Some of the members of Time Well Spent alongside staff members Kirsty [back left] and Debbie [back right] <i>(Image: Newsquest Staff)</i>](/resources/images/17180472.jpg?type=mds-article-962)
AN elderly group is said to be “really excited” after they were told their first-ever book could be housed in one of the largest libraries in Europe.
The group, affectionately nicknamed Time Well Spent (TWS), published an in-house copy of their book ‘Conversations with Myself’ at the Yoker Resource Centre (YRC) earlier this year.
Kirsty Gibbons, who is one of two full-time members of staff at YRC, told the Glasgow Times that the book explores individual stories of struggle during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kirsty said: “People always talk about life before or after the pandemic but no one seems to talk about the actual pandemic itself.
“We don’t shy away from hard conversations here and so we started talking about it and how difficult it was.
“I began sharing the group’s – which is predominantly made up of women although is not exclusive to women - experiences on our Facebook page and asked members of the public to send in their own.
“Age Scotland spotted it and said they loved our stories of isolation project and that we should apply for their funding, which was great and so we did.
“We got money to do an in-house publication rather than a formal one because that’s what the group wanted, for it to feel homemade, as it was our very personal stories.
“Age Scotland helped us put on a book networking event to launch it and we had someone come in and read the stories aloud.
“That was just really nice and we’ve never done anything like that before, it made the ladies feel quite special.”
Following the publication of their book TWS applied to the Mitchell Library to have it permanently housed there.
Kirsty, who has been working at YRC for 18 months, explained that she was delighted that one of Europe’s largest public libraries is actually considering storing the group’s work.
She added: “It’s just a form but we applied to the Mitchell Library and they’re going to consider putting Conversations with Myself in their permanent collection.
“Apparently they do that for lots of community groups. We haven’t completed the entire process yet but we are very excited just to be considered.
“Some of the ladies asked me if it meant that the book would last longer than them and I told them I think it could last longer than me.”
TWS supports people over the age of 65 who live in the Yoker area.
The group promotes independence and runs a variety of activities including physiotherapy sessions, arts & crafts, and more.
Kirsty alongside her colleague Debbie now works with nearly 50 local women, something they both take pride in.
Kirsty added: “Some of our members have been here for generations. The entire thing is to promote independence.
“We also focus on friendship-based support. There are some amazing, huge groups around here and we aim to be a bit different, we aim to be small and quiet, one where everyone knows your name.
“We want to be a safe space for all of our members.”
Those interested in finding out more or having a read of Conversations with Myself can do so by contacting the YRC directly.
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