Category: Friends Group

We  had a very good turn-out of volunteers at the group. I think some had trouble wracking their brains for the answers to Janet’s quiz. Lynne gave us a good mixture of questions – some of which even I could answer (thanks Lynne). Pearl kept us amused with her jokes spot.

Is it me, or does time seems to be running at an odd pace during this lock-down? Today was another group day! We had more participants than ever. And, as usual, people moved in and out of the Zoom group between 1 and 3pm. Janet ran the front of house, we had contributions from some top performers, and I did the fiddly bits behind the scenes.

Once again we welcomed some Friendship Group members who are new to the online group, as well as our usual participants. We are very pleased that those who can, are joining us. We are also keeping in touch with other group members who are not on the internet. It is wonderful to be able to maintain contact in these difficult times.

The shoe must go on.

The show went on again this week with the theme of “Your favourite shoe”. Some were more stylish than others. I seem to be wearing slippers most of the time.

Gyda was inventive, as ever.

Janet had another quiz. Pearl came to the fore with her usual joke sessions and, for the first time, Pearl led us in singing some well known tunes. Janet also led us in some energetic sing-a-longs.

Colouring can be therapeutic. No colouring pictures? –  but you do have some pencils or pens – no problem. Gyda shared a great tip with the group. Take a blank sheet of paper and a pencil or pen and take the pencil or pen for a walk over the paper to draw random shapes. Perhaps you will draw squiggles, swirls or jagged shapes, it doesn’t matter what…

When you have finished you can then colour in sections of the pattern you have created to make your own unique artwork.

More things to do

Janet has found some things that you can do at home that will hopefully provide some variety:

• Money Savings Expert Martin Lewis has a really helpful website. This link will take you to where you can access free tours of lots of places including for example the British Museum, the Louvre, the Vatican and Buckingham Palace.
• The National Theatre is live streaming a show at 7pm every Thursday which is then available for 7 days. Find the content on The National Theatre at Home via youtube.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber is making one of his shows available each week via a live stream on YouTube at 7pm on a Friday evening. See: The Show Must Go On
• The Globe Theatre is live streaming some of their past performances. The shows will be on rotation for 2 weeks at a time.You can find information about it here.

Another busy week, with more people joining our online group.

We are very happy that Friendship Group members are coming to the sessions each week. As with our meetings in Shrewsbury House, people can come and go as they please. Some people will be keen to chat and join in, while others prefer to sit back and listen, it is all good. We aim to be inclusive and are always looking for ideas from the group to do new things or repeat things they enjoyed. We also like to have visitors who can add to the experience.

This time we welcomed Judith from BLG Mind. Mind has taken over the face-to-face advice work for people with dementia in Greenwich previously done by the Alzheimer’s Society. They will be updating the Mind website soon, but you can get an indication of the breadth of their work here. Judith introduced herself and Mind to the group. She also joined in with the chat when we split into smaller groups in Zoom rooms.

The volunteers plus Judith, bottom right, embraced this weeks theme: the colour Red. We also embraced Pearl’s first session of jokes.

We were just getting into our stride with our Friendship Group online, when we had a few technical difficulties. People disappeared, and reappeared, then new people joined. Fortunately we had the “A team” of volunteers on hand to fill in the gaps. Janet moved to the iPad in control room ‘B’ to keep everyone in order – and to run the quiz.

Here we have a few of the group, enjoying Pearl’s second round of jokes, and about to launch into the singing, with support from the volunteers.

We are back next week, when the IT gremlins should have been banished. Keep well.

Week two of our Friendship Group online

Hats featured today.

Gyda and Pearl excelled (as usual!)

Janet introduced the new Zoom team members to the group and got things going.  Pearl helped us along with some of her jokes.

This weeks theme was Easter and Easter bonnets. We had a good mix of volunteers, including a new one, Danny, who single handedly drastically reduced the group’s average age. Sharon, from the Carers Centre, came along to offer advice and information. We were also joined by Deb, one of Reflections trustees, for part of the session.

This time we experimented with allocating the group into five Zoom “rooms” to have a chat. Each “room” had a volunteer (or two) to facilitate the experience. People said they enjoyed the chance to talk in smaller groups. This was particularly true for a brother and sister who hadn’t had the chance to see each other for some time. I popped into each room to see how things were going and was very pleased to see, and hear, one member singing to the others in her “room”. A late arrival was a member currently unable to return to the UK from his home in Spain.

In the second half we had more jokes from Pearl, Gyda hosted an Easter quiz and Janet hosted the second half of the nursery rhyme quiz led the singing.

I hope you can get a flavour of the meeting from this screen-shot. Sorry about the picture quality and the need to blur members faces! We were very pleased to welcome two group members who live alone with dementia who, on their own, managed to download the app and join us. The carers also succeeded in engaging with the internet again. What a wonderful and resourceful group of people.

We are back again next week, when Judith from BLG Mind will be joining us. Keep well.

We were very pleased to run our first Friendship Group online – using Zoom video conferencing.

There was a record turn-out for this first session, with 10 members of the group taking part. We were especially pleased that one member of our group who has dementia and lives alone was able to join us.

Janet led the way, with support from Pearl, Gyda and me. Janet included a quiz based on nursery rhymes and led the sing-a-long. Pearl gave us some of her usual top notch jokes, and a poem.

It also provided an opportunity for David, our resident artist, to show-off his recent painting of the other David, who was also at the Friendship Group meeting. We look forward to seeing the actual painting when we are all back together in the future.

We enjoyed 80 minutes of fun, banter and joining in – and we had the chance to use our IT skills to download Zoom and get online.

The group decided it would be a good idea to reconvene next week at the same time. One of the group members suggested next time we wear funny hats.

Group members said how lovely it was to be able to see and chat to each other.

A packed session. The second highest turn-out of the last 12 months. We had Rachel and Lucy visiting from Oxleas. Sharon, as usual, from the Carers Centre. The Stir cafe provided an urn and the necessities for teas and coffees, our team provided the service.

We were very pleased to welcome Judith from BLG Mind [BLG stands for Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich]. Mind will be providing the dementia advisory service in Greenwich from 1st April. Judith hopes to return on the 14th April to tell us more about their new service. We look forward to working with their team in the future.

Emma warmed-up the group with both physical and breathing exercises, before launching into her popular repertoire. Janet’s favourite sing-a-long tune “Tony Chestnut” was a high point (it starts: Toe, Knee, Chest, Nut – Nose, Eye, Love, You. The actions match the lyrics. It’s a bit like “YMCA”, but more complicated).

Julian certainly hit the right note(s) with our group. The dance floor was full and the singing exceptional.

There were lots of highlights – “I’m a believer” had Julian leave much of the chorus to the singers – and, when I realised Rick Astley’s greatest hit was on the playlist, I was back in the room.

We had a long list of birthdays – and a lot of birthday cards to give out.

There were moments of calm and chatting.

David, our artist in residence produced some delightful Lino prints of the group.

It was a wonderfully busy afternoon. And, we were very pleased to welcome back Jen, one of our longest serving and very popular volunteers.

Viki was popular, as usual, with her excellent singing and interaction with the group.

Her version of Cilla Black’s “You’re my World” was outstanding.

We welcomed visitors from the Rotary Club of Greenwich who joined in with the pre-entertainment discussions and activities. Two visitors from Healthwatch Greenwich came along to gather the views of some of our group on health services in Greenwich. One of these visitors had attended a recent Dementia Friends session I had run at the request of Greenwich council, and I was pleased she was complementary about my interactive presentation. The Carers Centre were again in attendance (we wish Sharon a quick recovery from her bad back). We also had a new mum and daughter join us, swelling the ranks of the ballroom dance enthusiasts. To our surprise, the mum had been at ballroom dance classes Janet and I attended about 15 years ago!

We had an excuse (did we need one?) to join in the dancing and wonderful singing.

We were concerned to hear of the fire at Shrewsbury House, but impressed with the quick action of Richard (the member of staff) who called the fire brigade. Thankfully, we are therefore able to continue enjoying the delights of this lovely community centre.

Rather a lot going on at the group today. Visitors from Oxleas and the Azheimer’s Society. Sharon from the Carers Centre came to give advice, as usual. Two of our trustees popped in.  We had a new volunteer, Mary (not to be confused with the other Mary), start with us. David presented us with a new painting. And we had to call for an ambulance – we are pleased to report the patient was later discharged by the QE – and told not to exercise.

Emma grabbed our attention, warmed us up (it was a cold day) and ran through some rousing tunes.

The crowd (including a famous mouse) packed into our main room.

Tony certainly rocked the room. He turned it up to 11, played until 3, and had a migraine by 4. We all wish him well and a swift return to top form.

The packed room still managed to cope with a packed dance floor.