Kind cleaners offer to help charity for free
Stephen stands strong with charities making appeal
A big-hearted couple who run a local cleaning business will be adding a touch of sparkle to Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank’s new warehouse by providing their services free of charge.
Stephen McConachie and Fiona Howie, who launched Homely Scents Cleaning Services two years ago from their Rutherglen home, didn’t hesitate to waive the charge for cleaning the busy foodbank’s premises when manager Katharina Nimmo invited them to submit a quote for the contract.
Homely Scents gives back to the community under the firm’s Agnes Kerr Community Giveback Scheme – named after their first customer, who passed away in 2019.
For every 10 hours they work, Stephen and Fiona repay an hour under the scheme to someone in need, such as an elderly person whose household chores have slipped while they have been in hospital.
The couple saw Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank – which will be announcing the location of its new town centre warehouse soon – as an obvious beneficiary of the scheme.
“The last 12 months have been pretty hard for everybody, including us personally and as a business – and there are folk a lot worse off than us,” said Stephen.
“We thought we would do our bit and donate our time to the Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank and they seem delighted.
“We want to be out there, giving back to the community, especially because the majority of our customers are in the Rutherglen and Cambuslang area.”
Fiona and Stephen were on the cusp of expanding their business and creating new jobs when the pandemic struck.
“A year ago, we were so close to taking on staff, then lockdown hit,”said Stephen.
“I am glad we did not get as far as offering anybody a job. Under the current restrictions, we are only allowed to clean for domestic clients who physically cannot clean for themselves because they are elderly or have a disability or mobility issues. We are hoping that will change in a couple of weeks and we can get back to our other customers.”
From March 25, the couple will give the foodbank’s warehouse a weekly clean during quiet periods.
Manager Katharina said:“We are really grateful to Stephen for providing cleaning services on a regular basis. It is a very kind gesture.”
Lanarkshire man Stephen Beattie may have a learning disability, but he understands much more about his entitlement to equality – and the right to have a voice – than the bullies who have used theirs to hurl hurtful names at him over the years.
Proud Stephen, 50, is among the inspirational individuals with a learning disability and autistic people who are standing strong alongside three Scottish charities to call for the appointment of a commissioner to champion their human rights.
He hopes that his story – and the important role he is playing in persuading political leaders to include in their Scottish Parliamentary Election manifestos a promise to appoint a commissioner to speak up for people like him – will be a catalyst for real change.
Stephen, who grew up with his four brothers at his back, knows that not all people who have a learning disability can claim to have had the happy childhood that he enjoyed.
“In my mind, I was just like all the other people going to school,” he explained.
“I was just like everybody else. I made friends and we all got on with each other.”
With PE and home economics among his favourite subjects, Stephen as a schoolboy loved to roll up his sleeves and give his all to practical tasks.
On leaving school, Stephen bucked the trend. Although around only four per cent of people who have a learning disability are in employment – compared to 45 per cent of physically disabled people in Scotland – Stephen was able to follow his brothers into his dad’s demolition business.
“At that time, I was too young to get out on site, knocking down old buildings,” he said.
“So, I worked with my dad and my brothers on other things to do with demolition. I enjoyed that.”
Stephen also enrolled as a student at Cumbernauld and Coatbridge Colleges – a confidence-boosting experience that equipped him with valuable life skills that allow him to live independently on his own today.
It was during a night out with friends at a disco held in a local club that Stephen became introduced to the work of ENABLE Scotland.
“I didn’t know at the time, but ENABLE ran the disco,” he explained.
“I had just bought a round of drinks and was sitting down when a lady came over. I didn’t know her then. Hollie worked with ENABLE Scotland and was starting up another group and was looking for people to join.”
Stephen became an active and enthusiastic member of the charity, and four times a year represents the views of his local Cumbernauld group at national ACE meetings.
His involvement in Our Voice Our Rights is not Stephen’s first foray into actively campaigning for positive change.
Through the high-profile #BetheChange campaign, Stephen – who has himself been the target of cruel bullies – found a way to stand up to those who mock people like him simply because they have a learning disability.
ENABLE Scotland is empowering its members to challenge bullying in the bold, highly-charged campaign that, at its launch, propelled their refusal to tolerate the act on to station concourses and main traffic thoroughfares.
With two-thirds of young people who have learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders having been bullied, the campaign focuses on promoting change through understanding to challenge people’s perceptions and break down barriers.
“People can’t just turn around and say and do things like that. It’s not right,” said Stephen, who has been involved in a number of other campaigns to end stigma, isolation and discrimination.
Those campaigns include ‘In Safe Hands?,’ which insists that all children in Scotland have the right to be safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and to be included – and, when they go to school for the day, have the right to expect that they’ll be in safe hands.
Yet, in 2018, there were at least 2674 incidents of restraint and seclusion in Scottish schools – a statistic ENABLE says is unacceptable.
In Safe Hands? calls on the Government to: issue stronger guidance; roll out positive support strategies in schools through skilled staff; introduce a duty of candour around restraint and seclusion in all schools; and strengthen transparency and accountability.
Stephen was also a campaign champion for #ENABLEtheVote, which set out to make the voting process and politicians significantly more accessible to people who have a learning disability.
It worked across the political spectrum, empowering people who have a learning disability to have their say, influence the debate on the issues that matter to them, make informed choices about who to vote for, and increase the number of people who have a learning disability who vote.
More than 80 per cent of people who engaged with the resultdriven, dynamic campaign used their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary Election in 2016, and 91 percent exercised their right vote in the Local Council Elections the following year.
ENABLE Scotland and its members, including Stephen, are now looking forward to further improving on these more than marginal gains when polling stations open in May.
“Everybody should get their turn to speak about what they want to say,” insists Stephen, who clearly endorses the purpose behind each of the passionate campaigns in which he’s been involved.
Of the call for a commissioner who would act as an advocate for people who have a learning disability and autistic people, he said: “I hope it works out, and lets everybody get to do what they want to do, and get the chance to say what they want to say.”
Although Stephen admits he’s found the challenges of lockdown particularly tough, he has taken steps to stay positive by joining a weekly walking group, through which he has met new friends.
And when the restrictions are finally eased, he’s most looking forward to a return to human interaction.
“Everybody likes a friend,” said Stephen.
Older people in the Rutherglen and Cambuslang area are leaping into spring with a programme of online activities to help them beat the lockdown blues.
LEAP’s programme, which kicks off on Sunday, has something for everyone.
As well as old favourites bingo and Spanish, people can sign up for new groups such as seated keep fit, a men’s newspaper group, houseplant hospital and a repair session.
Taylor McKeown, LEAP’s activity development officer, said: “We are really pleased to offer all these activities for spring.
“We know a lot of people are struggling through lockdown not being able to meet family and friends, so a lot of our programme is about talking to people as much as the activities themselves.
“As well as our free activities such as bingo and our weekly quiz, we have some exciting new classes such as our art salon, which gives artists professional support on individual projects.
“We hope the programme appeals to lots of people and helps boost spirits during the lockdown.”
All the activities can be booked through Eventbrite and full details can be found at www.leap-project.co.uk/ spring-activities