TPAS Conference Report – Dundee 2nd to 4th October 2009

On Friday 2 October I and 2 fellow colleagues from the Moray Council Tenants Core Group travelled to Dundee to attend the TPAS Annual Conference.  I was not originally scheduled to attend but went in place of another colleague who unfortunately had to drop out.

We travelled down by train and arrived in the afternoon.  After checking in and unpacking, (I was in a supposedly haunted room but maybe more on that later), we attended a short play entitled “H is 4” performed by its writer Naomi Breeze.  An excellent and powerful play about homelessness in which Naomi played several characters and afterwards there was a question and answer session.  Just goes to show that one incident, however minor, could eventually lead to you being homelessness and unfortunately this may happen to any one of us. 

In the evening there was a wine reception and then we 3 went out for a meal followed by a drink or 4 and then retired for the evening.  No ghostly occurrences happened during the night or at least none that I was aware off.  Thankfully I was on the sheltered side of the hotel as my 2 colleagues were on the side that was blasted by a very strong wind.  Apparently the same thing had happened to them last year.  I will hazard a guess and say that if the conference is held there again they will not be on that side of the hotel.

On the Saturday morning, after a pretty restless night due to the heat in the room and the soft pillows, we went down for breakfast.  Well I shall say that some of what was on offer was okay but the rest was not.  Given that there only seemed to be about 3 staff clearing up for 600+ delegates it was an interesting time but at least it was food.  Saying that I have never seen toast before which was toasted on one side and still white on the other.

The morning workshop, which I attended, was “Reducing the risk of sex offending in our communities”.  It was about the fine balancing act of housing sex offenders against the need to protect the vulnerable in our society and what organisations and safe guards are in place or should be in place to ensure this.  A “lively” discussion ensued as some of the delegates were saying that what was being said in the talk was far different to what was actually happening in their areas. 

After lunch I skipped the afternoon workshop in order to go shopping and try to get clothes and shoes to fit me.  Success on the trouser and shoe front.  Yippee!

In the evening there was a reception hosted by the board of TPAS and it was a Las Vegas theme.  No, I did not dress up as a show girl – not got the legs for that, (no comments please), and after that back to the same place as the previous evening for a meal and just for a change -  a drink or 4.

Saturday night again proved uneventful but not so on the Sunday morning.  I got up and switched on the TV to watch the Grand Prix.  As it had just started I went for a quick shower.  While I was in the shower the sound went down but as it had done this off and on during my time in the room I though nothing of it and just put it down to the weather conditions.  However I got out of the shower, put on my glasses and popped my head round the corner just in time to see the TV screen go momentarily blue then the picture came back.  However it was not the Grand Prix but another programme.  Upon getting to the TV I discovered it was now on channel 11 and not channel 1 as it had been.  The remote control was sitting on top of the digibox pointing away from it so who knows what had happened.  Thank goodness I was to check out of there shortly after – just in case.  Maybe the ghost was not an F1 fan.

The breakfast again was a hit or a miss.  The cold things from the day before were hot today and vice versa.  Again the same staff shortage and again the mis-toasted toast.  If the breakfasts were anything to go by thank goodness we did not have our main meals there.

The final workshop I attended was “Homes for Heroes” and covered the issues that affect ex-service personnel once they leave the armed forces and the problems that may occur with post traumatic stress disorder which can often appear years later.  The speaker spoke about the residential homes they run and the obvious need for housing for the ex-servicemen and women once they have left the services.  I did ask the question as to why did they not go for some of the ex-service houses at Kinloss but was told that they were all serviced from the base and it would cost £millions to put in the infrastructure, (sewerage, water etc), which the organisations quite simply do not have.

Once that was finished it was a time to relax and reflect.  I really enjoyed myself both in the “work” part of things, where I learned a lot in the work shops and also in the brilliant plays which Naomi Breeze performed, and also the social side of things.  It was a chance to meet people from all over Scotland although by far the vast majority were from the “Central Belt”.

Thanks go to my 2 fellow delegates from the Moray Council Tenants Core Group for the company and for “teaching me some new habits” and many thanks to Moray Council for the funding which enabled me to go.

Finally when ever I hear the word “Kermit” mentioned it will forever bring a smile to my face but that is an entirely different story and not one for here and now.