Quarriers through the eyes of a work experience student

This week, our External Relations Department have had the pleasure of showing 15 year old Greg the ropes whilst he was on work experience with us. We don't often get to hear what it was like in their words and so we thought we'd give Greg the opportunity to write a guest blog post, just for you! Here is this week in his words:


"This week has been an adventure. I have done many different jobs, learnt lots of new things and met and worked with lots of new people. I did many interesting things but the thing I found most interesting was finding out how Quarriers use the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. It was a real eye-opener as I realised how something I use everyday can help a place like Quarriers change so many people’s lives.


I also enjoyed doing other tasks which gave me an insight as to how Quarriers works. The tasks ranged from shredding paper to researching for possible fundraisers. I found the research quite interesting as it was something I had never really thought about before.


I am very grateful to everyone I have worked with as they have made me feel very welcome. I have enjoyed my weeks work experience here very much and I’m sure I’ll miss it a lot more when I get back to school on Monday."

On behalf of all the team who you met this week, thank you too. It was great to meet you and we hope we have managed to show you a glimmer of what we do.

What does family mean to you?

This morning we received a lovely email from somebody in response to our recent competition. It really means a lot to us when we hear personal stories of what our work means to people. Here's what she wrote:

I know I am too late to enter the competition but I wanted you to know why I believe in family and why I believe in Quarriers.


My grandmother's brothers and sisters were all split up in the 1880s after their parents died to be closely followed by their grandmothers- the boys sent to Quarriers village and then as farmers boys to Canada, the girls sent to family who didn't really want them and made them work for them.


My grandmother, Janet Dawson, wrote to each one of them every week to make sure her family stayed together and always knew each other and what they were doing. When she married she offered them all a home and one of the boys returned from Canada as a young man - he was a teenager by then - and the girls returned to use her home as their own.


By the way, my grandmother was 12 when she started to send her letters! Quarriers and family - these words go together as well now as they always did.


Thank you for continuing your wonderful work.


If you would like to share what family means to you or have a story related to Quarriers work and the impact it's had on your family, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email.

Quarriers Noel Lunch raises £61,000!

On Friday 2 December Quarriers held their 18th Noel Lunch at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow. This year saw a record number of tables booked resulting in a packed room full of companies and their clients.

The day started with a performance from Craigholme School choir as people took their seats. The Noel Lunch was chaired by Phil Genoe from Faxco and guest speaker Roger DeCourcey and Nookie Bear entertained the audience as well as hosting the main auction.

Each year the Noel Lunch focuses on one area of work and this year it supported the Scottish Epilepsy Centre. The audience were shown a film detailing the key facts of epilepsy and how it affects people in Scotland. It also showcased plans for the new centre to be built a few minutes from the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Through amazing generosity and support for the new Scottish Epilepsy Centre, this years Noel Lunch managed to raise a truly staggering £61,000. Without the support of the Noel Lunch committee and the many individuals and companies who attend the event, this simply would not have been possible.

A special thank you to the events major sponsors - 'Friends of Quarriers' - Faxco, Tunnock's and Buchanan's. And also to the other sponsors who help make the event happen - Marriott Glasgow, Burn Stewart Distillers, Cameron Presentations, Enid Reid Flowers, The Creative Cell and Gavin Watson & Reid Printers.

Find out more about how your company can get involved by visiting our website - www.quarriers.org.uk

And you can discover more about our plans for the new Scottish Epilepsy Centre right here.