Category: Friends Group

We enjoyed our first meeting of the new year. Of the 45 attendees, there were some new faces and some older faces (including mine!)

A few of our regulars were absent due to sickness etc etc. Even three of our stalwart volunteers were unable to come. We hope everyone will bounce back for our next meeting on 22nd January.

The quizzes went well, as did the mindfulness colouring.

By the time Tony (the birthday boy) arrived, we were reading for a sing song.

And some dancing.

 

Next time we have the return of Jamie with some Rock ‘n’ Roll and a Dementia Friends session, hosted by me.

See you then.

 

What a full-on fun afternoon!

The Reflections elves (Maggie, Pearl and Lynne) had been at work with the wonderful Caroline to prepare the sandwiches this morning. Many thanks to Caroline (the Asda Charlton Community Life Champion) and Asda for providing all the food (except the sausage rolls, cooked to perfection by Lynne).

Another set of elves (Janet and Sarah) had sorted all the excellent gifts for our raffle in advance of the party. A huge thank you to everyone who donated gifts. Everyone went home with a gift and the proceeds raised will help our on-going work. Thank you to Dot for organising the selling of the raffle tickets.

The whole team (see the team photo below) arrived early to set up the two rooms…

56 Reflections Friends arrived (another record turn-out), settled-in, had something to eat, bought a raffle ticket, had a chat…

then Tony arrived for his first ever Electric Sing-a-long.

It was loud and proud. There was singing and dancing.

And the annual Twelve Days of Christmas sing-a-long with actions this year (thank you to Richard for finding these) led by Janet, Julie and Pearl.

All too soon it was over for another year.

Merry Christmas from Marc, Peter, Mary, Pearl, Lynne, Janet, Jen, Dot, Julie, Sarah and Maggie.

See you on the 8th January 2019.

 

An excellent turn-out in the bleak weather.

We had started Christmas early, thanks to Adrian’s efforts to bring some cheer with paper chains. The arty-types took-up the theme of making something for the festive season.

It all went a bit bonkers at 2pm, when Jamie started his holiday fiesta.

There was singing, dancing and a little shock.

But we managed to get back to normality (almost).

More than a few people joined the dancing.

See you next time.

 

We had a very busy afternoon – with 55 group members, 6 visitors and 8 volunteers.

Our star turns were the Pearly King and Queen of Woolwich and the Pearly Queen of Royal Greenwich. They came early and mingled with the group. Everyone had the opportunity of a photo with royalty:

One king, two queens, plus Janet and me –

Just to be clear who’s who –

The Pearly Queen of Royal Greenwich has been very generous in the past with a contribution to Reflections funds. The delightful Tina, from The Kent Spiritual Teaching Group (KSTG), today presented us with a cheque, as we are one of their charities of the year.

Our other visitors were: Sophie, a recent addition to the Oxleas Memory Service team – and Alex, a design student, who is looking to work with people with dementia as part of his design studies.

We ended with a cockney sing-a-long and a bit of a knees-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another fun-packed afternoon. Tony came to entertain us at 2pm.

We sang, we danced, we enjoyed ourselves.

Before then there were seasonal quizzes, and we made some bats from pine cones and broomsticks from sticks and rosemary. It is said rosemary helps with memory recall, as well as warding off evil.

There was also a raffle for these pumpkin lanterns (expertly carved by Janet) and some sweets.

Everyone tucked-into cakes and nibbles (thanks to everyone who brought things in).

Making their first appearance were our two pet robotic cats – Eric and Ernie. Everybody seemed to love them. We are very grateful to Viki for donating them.

A very big thanks, as ever to our regular team of volunteers: Jen, Dot, Peter, Maggie, Janet, Julie and Pearl.  It was also lovely to have Marie back in the team this afternoon, we hope to see her again soon.

We all look forward to seeing you next time,

 

Another full house for the Tuesday Friendship Group.

We welcomed back Jamie.

Who changed as rapidly as his songs.

Everyone enjoyed the variety.

And we had a few surprises.

As Jamie is so popular with the group, we have booked him for 2019.

 

or rather, they came to us…

Another record turn-out of 49 group members, plus volunteers, plus our special guests.

First today we have to thank Chew Yeen Lawes for giving us a couple of brief introductory Tai Chi sessions.

Then we had the very much in-demand Nightingale Dogs. They provided some interactive games, tricks and calming cuddles!

Our group was a little larger than the dogs are used to, but they coped wonderfully, with a little help from Jenny and Tim

They managed to visit all the keen dog lovers in the group.

Thank you to everyone who came and we hope to see you next time.

 

We welcomed ten new people to the group today! We equalled our highest turn-out with 47 members, plus 6 volunteers, a guest and a singer.

Our singer, the excellent Tony, took the opportunity to tune-up, before launching into a rousing sing-and-dance-a-long.

It was lovely to have Leanne from the Alzheimer’s Society visit the group and give some expert advice to some our members. Leanne’s group runs on the alternate Tuesdays from us.

See you next time.

All the best,