Alison was interviewed on Zoom by Beth Berry with patients and staff listening in to hear what she had to say.

Alison starts off by saying “I’m boring, I have nothing to say”… and then proceeds to chat delightfully giving us a feeling for her and what matters to her. Now comes the hard bit…a brief resume of all her chat that hopefully captures the essence of Alison…

Family
I was not keen to come into this world keeping my poor mum waiting being born in Johnstone Hospital 2 weeks over due. My family consisted of my parents, elder brother and little sister and we lived in Paisley.

I have 3 children, oldest my step son Adam who now lives in Bristol and I am granny to his dog, Mr Bear! And 2 other boys Blair and Fraser. All 3 boys are dyslexic, they were educated with lots of coloured glasses, struggled hugely but through hard work and determination one has a business degree, one joined the Royal Marines and the other has a Masters in Nuclear Physics. Eventually I got my girl…Rosa the cockapoo and she is the apple of my eye! We also have Robyn (Fraser’s girlfriend) who completes our little family group. 
 
Education and Work
I was educated at Amochrie Primary School then Camphill Secondary and disliked school so I was disinclined to go into further education to do PE as I wanted and instead walked into the local job centre and picked up the first card that was for employment. Initially road freight then airfreight. Of course that wasn’t my first job…I was an elf in Santa’s grotto in the Co-op as a schoolgirl…(the grotto built by my Dad) the pinnacle of my career because anyone will tell you I am Mrs Christmas all year round…I love it!

Freight lasted me 10years but I always wanted to do nursing so I entered my second career at the age of 25 and trained at the RAH. When I finished there was a job freeze so I joined a nursing bank and worked here at ACCORD first for 6 months before moving into Medical receiving then  Haematology in the RAH.

5 years ago this job came up at ACCORD and I got it, I couldn’t believe it, I love working in ACCORD where I can practice the nursing I went into nursing to do., it is such a different environment and I can do and achieve so much for patients and their families, I am very fortunate to find myself back at ACCORD.

Hobbies
I always loved my sport I’m very competitive, I once won the BA top female footballer of the competition and then family life took over and a new hobby of being a taxi service to my boys…lifts to cross-country events all over the country, hockey, football and by the time we could relax on weekend nights it was Asda dinner’s and blankets all snuggled up together with a film in front of the telly.

Actually I have a new Covid hobby…walking, I was never a walker but since lockdown I have walked up and down streets in Paisley I never knew and it has turned into a passion. I will walk from Troon to Irvine and back again and have run 10k’s for ACCORD around Paisley carrying big ACCORD banners so you couldn’t miss us.

So when I’m not at work I spend time with friends and family, walk and also help care for my Mum who I visit most days after work.

Favourites

• Meal – an exclusive Asda pizza that you can put together with the girl behind the counter. My toppings are spicy chicken, chicken, chorizo and chilli cheese. Delicious!!
• Book – anything by Daniel Steele, romantic nonsense and really my boys will tell you (the same as the films I watch) all the same stories with different characters.When I was young I did read something else… “Joni”, this was an autobiography about an American girl who dived into shallow water and broke her neck and how she coped with the rest of her life. Amongst other things she learned to paint by holding a brush between her teeth. It blew me away. I am not artistic, I can’t even write but her drawings were amazing!!
• Movie – it could be Elf or Miracle on 34th Street or Love Actually or…do you get the idea, it is Christmas for 12 months of the year in my house but my absolute favourite is a draw White Christmas or The Holiday. The boys and I with girlfriends and Rosa too have taken to going to the drive in movies at Christmas. This is great fun.
• TV Show – Grays Anatomy but I do love Say Yes to the Dress, Friends and NCIS and Bake Off and…I love loads of things.
• Music – I loved heavy metal like Whitesnake and Rainbow when I was young then my tastes moved to Elvis, Rod Stewart, Michael Buble and even Andre Rieu. I took my mum to hear Andre in Glasgow once and he sang my Dad’s favourite hymn Thine Be the Glory…we were in tears!
  Songs - Wind Beneath my Wings by Bette Midler (this reminds me of my dad) I had it played In the background at my wedding I also came back up the aisle to I’m dreaming of a White Christmas. And Oh Holy night which I love to sing along to in the car when no one can hear me!!
• Things – Pigs and Christmas (my tree goes up on December 1st and I need to take the week off after Christmas to recover) I also have a full grown Fraser Fir in my front garden he is now so tall he looks in the bedroom windows. His lights remain on all year and get lit up at any special occasion. 
• Item of clothing – My Mrs Claus dressing gown of course!
   

Tell the Audience Something that would surprise them about yourself
I have a few on my list:
 
This has been difficult because I love so much, my children will tell you everything is my new favourite and although I am your Christmas girl and absolutely love nursing my most important thing in life is “family.”
 
You said you are very fortunate working at ACCORD, Alison, do you not know it is us who are very fortunate to have you, Mrs Christmas…thank you coming here and of course doing This Is Your Life for us.

I’m terrified of needles, it was hilarious getting my Covid vaccine and it is great to be humiliated crying at the age of 55!

When I went to see Santa in Lapland I drove a skidoo over the Arctic Circle in -28 degrees
I marched with the Royal Marines as part of their family day. Why?...well remember my son joined the Marines so when he was training we went down and he pulled me out of the audience to march, I was worried I would get it wrong…left, right, left, right! Gave my family all a very good laugh.
I have an IATA FIATA diploma that I gained while working at the airport.