Category: Friends Group

Julian Garman – 11th November 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

What an afternoon!! There was so much going on today.

Julian was in top form, playing plenty of powerful well known tunes on his guitar, harmonica and cornet.

Dave has now attracted quite a bingo crew. In our games, everyone gets a small prize whether they win or not. Dave is learning the bingo phrases, though everyone shouts out the phrases as the numbers come up even if he doesn’t know them.

We welcomed two therapists from Creative Companion Collaborations who were giving free hand massages to group members. There was even time towards the end for some team members to have one too. Members reported the ladies were very good and the massages were relaxing. Thank you for coming along ladies.

Karlee, our local ASDA Community Life Champion came along to present us with a cheque for £1,000 from the ASDA Foundation. This money will be used to fund our Christmas party on 9th December. Thank you Karlee so much for nominating our group for this award and for the donation of some biscuits and squash that you brought along today.

We also welcomed Andrew, Service Manager Bexley from the Alzheimer’s Society. He came along to see what happens at the Friendship Group and kindly topped up our supplies of Alzheimer’s Society publications which Helen, our Librarian, gives out to new members. He plans to come back in the New Year to deliver an updated Dementia Friends session for the team and anyone who would like to join us.

As always, great music stimulates the group members to take to the dance floor. I’m sure they will all sleep well tonight.

Team member highlight

Introducing Helen. Helen is our resident Librarian. Since taking on this role her warmth, keenness and willingness means she has also acquired two other roles. She is our Playlist for Life lead and has volunteered to run a reminiscence table with the Call to Mind Game if there is demand. Helen loves all of these roles as she enjoys chatting to group members and finding our more about them.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 25th November 2025 at 1pm. Mark will entertain us and the elves will be in town.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Jamie Steen – 28th October 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

We were pleased to have Jamie back with us performing his Kings and Queens show featuring big names from the world of music.

Jamie gave us a wide variety of costume and tunes we all knew. As usual he did around 12 outfit changes in an hour! How does he do it!

As always there was plenty of opportunity for singing and dancing. Being the last Tuesday in October team members took the opportunity to dress up either wearing an outfit or something in black, black & white or orange.

Last time we took feedback from the group on any other things they would like to see during the first hour. Bingo was requested by a few people so we dusted off the bingo set and team member Dave took on the role of bingo caller. It was surprising how many people joined in so we will be bring it back again next time.

Team members Tony & Dave sharing a joke.

Team member highlight

Introducing Janet. Janet is one of the founders and the group leader. She welcomes new members on their first visit, giving them a tour of what is on offer. She loves to throw herself into everything that is going on, including the opportunity to dress up. She is enthusiastic and passionate about ensuring everyone, team members included, has a good time. She also provides a listening ear when required.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 11th November 2025 at 1pm when Julian will entertain us.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Tony Martin – 14th October 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

Shrewsbury House had their heating on – and we had Tony’s tunes to keep us warm..

Tony provide another splendid hour of entertainment.

Team member Tony was on holiday and his popular Cornhole game was missed. However, a darts competition was the next best thing..

We welcomed two guests today. Student nurse Sarah, and Reshma from Greenwich Time to Talk. They both enjoyed their afternoon with us.

As usual there was plenty of opportunities for dancing.

Team member highlight

Introducing Marilyn. Marilyn is our versatile team member helping out wherever needed. She puts out the biscuits, wipes down the tablecloths, chats to people and joins in with the dancing, all done with a cheery smile.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 28th October 2025 at 1pm when Jamie will entertain us with his Kings & Queens show.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Scott Elvis – 30th September 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

Elvis was in the building!! We rocked the afternoon away with The King.

An hour of dancing to classic Elvis tunes performed by star turn Scott on his first visit to the Friendship Group. He was very popular and he will return.

In the first hour we continued with crafts, word searches and a reminiscence session. In the Library, we played the “Reflections Friendship Group” Spotify playlist that Peter had created from the songs written on the bunting at the previous session. The playlist can be found on Spotify using the Search option.

Elvis has so many well known songs to choose from that the dance floor was continually busy.

Elvis charmed the audience. Some members were especially fascinated by him.

An amazing experience that was shared with us this afternoon, was that one of our members seen on the left, was stationed in Germany next to the barracks that Elvis was stationed at. One day when our member happened to have his camera with him, Elvis came out of his barracks and he took the photo on the right! What a special memory.

Also visiting us today for the first time was local Councillor Raja, seen here with team member Helen. He came along to find out what happens at the Friendship Group. He spoke to group members and joined in the singing and dancing.

Team member highlight

Introducing Lynne. Lynne is our Meeter and Greeter. She is the friendly face members see when they first arrive at Shrewsbury House, with her welcome table in the foyer letting them know about any special news of the day. She puts new members at their ease, so very important, and welcomes back existing members. She is always happy to have a chat to people.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 14th October 2025 at 1pm. Tony will give us another sing-a-long with his top tunes.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Disco dancing – 16th September 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

We enjoyed a great team led event during the 2nd hour today, as sadly our booked entertainer Vikki was poorly. We wish her well.

The team came to the rescue with 15 minutes of cognitive action songs – Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box; The court of King Caractacus and the Music Man. We followed this with a playlist of popular songs from the 1960’s and 1970’s which got everyone singing along and joining in the dancing.

As we are agents for Playlist for Life and it was Playlist for Life day during this week, we invited members to each nominate a song that evoked a memory, and write it on a piece of bunting which we displayed in the room. Here is a small selection of tunes that bring back memories for group members. The memories evoked were as varied as the songs.

When Julian played The Locomotion there were no shortage of participants, including Kath, the manager of Shrewsbury House, seen with a striking necklace, who wanted to join in.

You can find out more about Playlist for life and how to create your own songs with memories playlist here.

Team member highlight

Introducing Tony. Tony is one of our 2 Activity Leads. He loves being active and is always happy to thrown himself into the activities of the day and have a chat during the first hour. He is very talented and made a Cornhole Game for the group which is popular. When the music starts you will find him on the dance floor.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 30th September 2025 at 1pm when Scott Elvis will be in the building.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Julian Garman – 2nd September 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

Some hot tunes on a rainy day.

Julian blasted through a playlist of favourite tunes. The group particularly enjoyed singing the chorus to ‘Why must I be a teenager in love‘. The members of the group are all young at heart.

Creative badge making (with tea and buscuits) is a must for all new members.

We managed to fit in lots of seating while enabling the dancers to take to the floor.

Janet and I were pleased to welcome Kathryn, a new team member at the Greenwich Carers Centre. Helen was pleased to tell her all about our Carers Library.

Team member highlight

Introducing Peter. Peter is the man behind the scenes running the website and writing the blog posts. He is deals with all things technical including setting up some music to play in the first hour at the Friendship Group, and is Janet’s go to person when she wants something technical produced. He is also the chair of trustees for the Reflections charity.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 16th September 2025 at 1pm. Vikki will entertain us.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Mark Sedgwick – 19th August 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

Another warm day at the Friendship Group. It didn’t put people off from attending and we welcomed two new members.

Mark was in top form as usual performing tirelessly for the full hour. He included a new song for him, Amarillo, which he informed the group he had managed to source in a key that was suitable for him. It went down a treat.

There was plenty of chatting happening in the Green Room including Reminiscence via the Call to Mind Game hosted by Lucia during the first hour.

Reflections is an agent for Playlist for Life. It fits our ethos as we believe music is so important for everyone and especially for people living with dementia. Last time, team member Helen started speaking to people about identifying at least one song that held a memory for them so we can create a playlist of members favourite songs. Helen started collecting the songs this time and I have started work on the Spotify playlist. We plan to add a link to this under the recordings tab on the Home Page when it is completed.

As usual the warm weather did not deter people from taking to the dance floor.

Team members Janet, Helen, Lucia & Tony, who recently attending the first aid training received their certificates.

Team member highlight

Introducing Dot. Dot has been part of the team since the group launched in July 2016. She is the Team Leader of the Green Room. She likes chatting to people so depending on what is going on in the Green Room you may find her in the Library chatting to members who choose to sit in there.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 2nd September 2025 at 1pm when Julian will entertain us with another powerful performance.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Jamie Steen – 5th August 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

Some new outfits for our “Seaside Special Show” today.

Jamie was as busy as ever with changes of costumes to match the tunes.

We were delighted to welcome Mayor Linda Bird. She circulated, danced and said some well chosen words of support to the group.

We were also pleased to welcome Jemma, who came along to run a Nordic Stick Walking session. We were fortunate it was a sunny day.

Jamie surprised us with the rarely danced Hokey Cokey. There was full participation either standing or sitting. Another great afternoon came to a close.

Team member highlight

Introducing Gyda, deputy group leader and one of our two Craft Leads. Gyda is very creative and when requested is able to produce simple crafts that can be completed within a short time. She is known for her stylish outfits and loves getting on the dance floor.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 19th August 2025 at 1pm when Mark will entertain us with another powerful performance.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

Tony Martin – 22nd July 2025

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

The rain came down, but the tunes were as good as ever.

Tony provide another great hour of entertainment.

Professor Andrew and Gill came to talk with the group about what ‘community’ means to them. We were delighted so many members joined in the session.

The room was packed today with our largest turnout this year, though there was still plenty of room for dancing.

One of our lovely members who is sadly unable to attend the group any longer due to health reasons, sent along a gift for each of the team in recognition of our birthday last time and to say thank you for all we do. We really appreciated the gifts and are so pleased alternative arrangements have made so her lovely Mum can still come along and enjoy the group.

Team member highlight

Introducing Mary one of our two Activity Leads. Mary is always ready and willing to get involved, encouraging members to join in with the more physical activities such as boules, archery and swotting balloons. When the music starts you will find her on the dance floor. She never has a problem finding someone to dance with her.

The Reflections Friendship Group is next at Shrewsbury House on 5th August 2025 at 1pm when Jamie will entertain us with one of his shows.

Please note: in our uploaded photos we blur the faces of all group members. You do see the faces of our wonderful volunteers.

First Aid Training

by Peter, posted in Friends Group

It never ceases to amaze us that as part of our work running Reflections, we have the pleasure of meeting the nicest, supportive people working in our community.

On Friday 18th July, we were delighted to receive an invitation via lovely Linda who works at the Philpott Alms Houses in Eltham, for Janet and members of our team, to receive a free first aid training session.

On Monday 21st July, Janet, Helen, Tony and Lucia went along to receive the training from excellent trainer Sharon, who works for Tank Training Limited. Sharon made the session engaging as well as informative.  There were 5 other friendly people on the training course with them.

Sharon informed the group, the role of a first aider is to aim to keep someone alive until an ambulance arrives which is 8 minutes for a priority case.

Whilst we undertook the training for our work with Reflections, the knowledge is valuable in our private lives too. If you want to learn some basic skills you can watch the videos used in our training here.

Helen, Lucia, Tony, Janet and Linda with CPR practice dummies and Tony wearing choking Charlie, the practice gizmo for abdominal thrusts.

Special mention also to warden Ann for her hospitality and Maria from Volcare for suggesting our team to Linda.

We are so very grateful for all the support we receive to enable us to continue to offer a quality service to the members of our Friendship Group.

Later that day Janet found out that Gyda, another team member, has already completed First Aid Training as part of her volunteering role with a Nordic Walking Group. This means almost half the team now have first aid knowledge. That is wonderful! Let’s hope though our members keep fit and well and we don’t need to use it.