New e book celebrates contribution to native lifetime of Winchburgh’s golden oldies

What Do You See When You Look At Me? is a group of private life tales co-ordinated by long-term Winchburgh resident Hazel McLeod.

What Do You See When You Look At Me? is a group of private life tales co-ordinated by long-term Winchburgh resident Hazel McLeod.(Picture: WSH)

Tales of wartime rationing in West Lothian, missionary work in Africa and faculty life in Winchburgh within the Forties and 50s are packed into a brand new e book that includes accounts of native older individuals – and recorded by secondary college pupils.

What Do You See When You Look At Me? is a group of private life tales co-ordinated by long-term Winchburgh resident Hazel McLeod.

The tales had been compiled by 16 kids aged 12-15, who paired up with 16 individuals aged 65 and older to interview them and convert the written and spoken phrase utilizing trendy expertise.

It’s the third e book revealed by Hazel, who beforehand revealed Present and Inform, a listing of gardening experiences of native individuals, and Kitchen Conversations, a sequence of tales by ladies in Winchburgh.

Her newest mission was funded by The Nationwide Lottery Group Fund.

“All through my careers in Nursing and Group Training I’ve had the privilege of listening to a variety of individuals’s private tales,” mentioned Hazel, who previously labored for Marie Curie and in a hospital accident and emergency division.

“This was once a village the place everybody used to know everybody and it’s so necessary, because the village grows right into a city and turns into younger and culturally numerous, that we deliver individuals collectively.

“Winchburgh is, by its nature, a caring neighborhood, and this mission is admittedly about connecting individuals. AI and social media are right here to remain, however we nonetheless need to have a dialog that initiates relationships.

“We marketed domestically for individuals to grow to be concerned, which they did in nice numbers, and the lecturers at each Winchburgh Academy and Sinclair Academy had been good at co-ordinating the pupils.

“The youngsters all had an exquisite manner of presenting their tales. At a few of their preliminary conferences with the older individuals on the college and within the church corridor took some time to get going, however with extra conferences got here a number of nonsense and chatting and so they constructed very nice relationships.

“Jenny is now 87 and walks with a stick, and he or she stimulated the youngsters’s minds recalling her work as a missionary in Africa. Charlie, who’s 96, labored on native farms and talked concerning the despair, wartime ration books and id playing cards – topics on which the youngsters beforehand had no understanding.

“Individuals have a variety of perceptions of older individuals and don’t realise what phenomenal contributions some individuals have made to native life and the broader world.

“Hopefully this e book will change that – no less than in a small manner. It’s my perception that it’s individuals, not homes, that construct sturdy, caring communities.”

John Hamilton, CEO of Winchburgh Developments Ltd, the lead developer of the rising city projected to develop from 6000 to 14,000 within the subsequent ten years, mentioned: “Having attended the e book launch, I wish to provide heat congratulations to Hazel on her third e book that tells the tales so necessary to the historical past and heritage of our neighborhood.

“It’s initiatives like these, and other people like Hazel, who actually assist bind our neighborhood collectively and assist engender Winchburgh’s ‘village’ really feel even because it grows in dimension.”

To investigate about acquiring a duplicate of What Do You See When You Look At Me?, electronic mail winchburghcdt@gmail.com

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