What the participants say - Achievements - Upstream

What the participants say

• ‘I have just completed six weeks of ‘Exploring Sound’ and we all had such a good time. We met in our group as strangers and parted as friends.’
  
• ‘It gave me a focus, made me feel I belong. You forget your own trouble.’
• ‘I feel better and that is important, not just to me but to my family it’s important. My daughters have said how it’s doing me good, and my spirits have risen a bit.’
• ‘It’s self-confidence, I think. The great thing … is that it’s very driven by yourself. It’s made me more cheerful, more positive, I’m feeling braver.’
• ‘It opens your mind to what you can do, what is there to do, if there’s somebody who understands and can help you achieve it.’
• ‘I wanted to be left in peace but I find how much better it is to meet other people, do other things and get out of my room.’
• ‘It accelerated my recovery. I don’t get agitated about things. I think I’m much more able to sort loads and loads of different things.’
• ‘It’s opened up a new area of life. I can go out and meet people now. I was too much looking into myself before. Now I’m looking more outward’
• ‘It makes you feel a bit more, well, yes, somebody cares. It’s things like that give people a bit of purpose, a bit of encouragement. That’s what you need.’
• ‘People just get more confident every week. It probably does them a lot of good. Does me good really, there’s no doubt about that.’
• ‘I try not to think about my health really. If you can get on with something, then you feel better. It takes your mind off it.’
• ‘Two months ago I didn't have the confidence to answer the phone. Now I've been starting to do some work as a volunteer. People don't have the confidence to do a lot of things, it wanes. What I'm doing now, it's nearly like it's a strange world.’
• ‘Well, if people are enjoying their life a bit better they are more inclined to stay in their own home longer. So prevention is better than cure. My argument would be that the sort of thing Upstream are doing is something that needs to be expanded.’
• ‘I like it when I can help other people. There was that little old lady that I walked home. Well, I suppose the Tai Chi was a bit like that. It made me feel useful again.’
• ‘Well I'm not old, no, it's only other people that get old. They say, “You're 88”, well, what's 88? It's only a number isn't it?’