We have just finished listening to this book on the BBC iPlayer. Someone I Used to Know it is the story of Wendy Mitchell who was diagnosed with early onset dementia aged 58. In the first episode she describes the symptoms she had which prompted her to seek help. It is worth listening to. The more we can understand first hand experiences of people living with dementia the better we will be able to help them live well in our communities. Episode 1 is here
A Halloween themed afternoon. 35 Friends came along to join in the fun. Lots of lovely goodies were donated for sharing, including the biscuits shown, which were made by the daughter of a carer.
There were Halloween quizzes and an opportunity to made a pine cone bat or a rosemary broomstick. It is believed that rosemary wards off evil and helps with memory recall. There was also an opportunity to take part in our Halloween raffle to win one of the carved pumpkins and a few other prizes.
As other events will be happening before we next meet, we also did a gunpowder plot quiz and a Remembrance wordsearch. As usual, we finished with a sing-a-long.
A memorable afternoon.
Thank you to Shrewsbury House for the great decorations in the room. We were lucky they had a party booked immediately after our group, so had decorated the room in advance.
Another wonderful afternoon, with Tony entertaining the group. The group always look forward to him coming. There was plenty of singing and dancing. Ring of Fire was especially popular and we think Tony is considering recruiting the group as his backing band.
We always believe in fulfilling the wishes of Friends, if we are able to. Just before Tony started singing, we were approached by one Friend who asked if they could sing a song to the group that they had been practicing. Although their speech has been affected by dementia, they sang beautifully, had a wonderful voice, and got a huge round of applause from the group. A special moment.
This evening 6 carers came along and we had a very full session. We welcomed Cathy to the team and she and Julie supported 1 person while their carer attended the group session.
The issues discussed by the group were:
The next Carers’ Group is on Monday 13th November.
We look forward to seeing you next time.
Al the regular activities were enjoyed by 27 Friends plus Sheila and the Grove Park Singers entertained the group with a little show and an interactive sing-a-long. A lovely afternoon.
Thank you Grove Park Singers for coming along to see us.
A lovely afternoon with 22 “friends”. A chance to play dominoes, join-in quizzes and reminisce about conkers and marvel at their beauty.
We were pleased to welcome 4 new members and 1 returning member. All the usual regulars sent their apologies and said they would be back next time.
As we had so many new people we recapped some of the items we had discussed before.
We discussed:
After the meeting there was some discussion about:
Janet also suggested members consider joining a Mooc / Coursera course. These sites have many types of free courses including one about dementia. *: info here.
As a new feature, where carers are supporting someone remotely and not able to attend our Friendship Group, we are providing copies of our puzzles and quizzes from the previous Friendship Group session so they can do them together.
* We have not yet taken the course on dementia so are unable to provide any comment about it. However it looks interesting.
The next Carers’ Group is on Monday 9th October.
We look forward to seeing you next time.
We were pleased to welcome back Tony, who is always popular.
He had an audience of 32 friends, who joined in with singing and dancing.
The quizzes are proving a big hit, encouraging table discussion, so we plan to include a few of these each time.
Another lovely afternoon with 28 friends coming along.
Thank you to Angelika, of Dementia Dialogue, who kindly came along to host a knitting session and provided the needles and wool. People had the opportunity to knit a memory purse, to contain a strip of paper with their happy memory written on it. Some lovely purses were made.
Thanks again to Marc (nice shirt!) for once again providing a great archery session, perhaps for the last time, as he hopes to take up a full-time job soon. You’re welcome back anytime, if you have a spare afternoon.
We also had time for a sing-song and some quizzes.
See you next time,
We welcomed 3 new people to the group all supporting their Mum’s following a recent diagnosis, with a total of 6 people attending. Julie and Marie supported 1 person while their carer attended the group session. They had a good time doing archery.
The issues discussed by the group were:
Age Exchange Blackheath offer a broad programme of training and support services for people and their carers living with dementia together with regular training and support for Reminiscence Arts Practitioners and community workers.
Age Exchange, Number 11, Blackheath Village, London SE3 9LA
Email: hello@age-exchange.org.uk for all general inquiries
Telephone: 020 8318 9105
Web site: http://www.age-exchange.org.uk
The Stables SE7 is a facility set up and managed by The Greenwich Carers Centre. The Centre has been operating for 25 years and during that time has supported over 13,000 Adult Carers and more than 400 Young Carers (those aged 8-17 years). Across those 25 years of operation the agency have listened to carers and have created a facility and service that truly represents superior support and value for money.
The Greenwich Carers Centre, The Stables, 76 Hornfair Road, Charlton SE7 7BD
Email: info@greenwichcarerscentre.org
Tel: 0300 300 2233
Web site: https://www.thestablesse7.com/index.php
The Greenwich Community Directory is an online resource offering local residents access to information on social care, health, wellbeing and advice services in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The integrated directory serves as a single point of information and advice on services to help people to live well in Greenwich.
You may find out about dementia services in Greenwich here
We all have stories to tell, stories we have lived from the inside out. We give our experiences an order. We organize the memories of our lives into stories.
Oral history listens to these stories and is the collection of living people’s testimony about their own experiences. If we do not collect and preserve those memories, those stories, then one day they will disappear forever. Your stories and the stories of the people around you are unique, valuable treasures for you, your family and your community.
You may find someone is reluctant to start talking initially, but once they get going you may be surprised by what you learn. It’s a great way to spend time and connect with someone.
Introduction to recording an oral history here
Sample questions here
Reflections 