Tag: Reflections

Janet and I were pleased to welcome more new members today. A mother and son joined us for the very first time and a long-term Friendship group couple finally managed to sort out Zoom and join the fun.

This session asked members to consider their claims to fame. There was quite a lot of thought, then…

Our group seem to have a limitless supply of anecdotes and claims to fame:

• Meeting: Ed Sheeran, the Queen, and Boris Johnson
• Teaching Chris Ewbanks
• Singing on stage at the Royal Albert Hall
• Meeting Eamonn Andrews
• Appearing on the Paul O’Grady show
• Having a tall handsome father
• Meeting Chris Akabusi
• Dancing (on stage) at the Orchard Theatre
• Receiving a medal 50 years after his army service
• Staring in a “Kwik-fit” advert
• Being part of an audience for a James Corden show (and meeting him)
• Doing an army assault course & swaming 52 lengths, for charity (in their 40s)
• Taking part in Alan Sugar’s “Apprentice”
• Meeting Linda Lusardi

Pearl popped up with the first of her tunes “Proud Mary” (for our two Marys) and kept the dancing going with “The Locomotion”.

* “Wonderful” was how our newest group member’s family described Pearl’s jokes today (and I have to agree : )

Janet had a Things that Happened in August quiz for us. We all did well, but some group members were particularly good.

Even more next week.

“Movies” was a popular choice for the theme of the day. Fortunately, we had time to chat about our top films and film stars.

We did have a packed programme to get through – including Thaumatopes, more on them later…

Everyone was keen to tell us about their favourite film. It helped to pay attention to the discussions, as they included the answers to some of Janet’s quiz questions later.

We had lots to talk about when we moved into our discussion rooms. Janet was in the cosmopolitan room with Danny joining us from Finland and Roxana linking-in from Romania. She also had Mario, who comes from Italy and Stella, who comes from Spain. Janet discovered that while Spain had Saturday morning pictures (like the UK), Italy had Sunday afternoon pictures.

Gyda suggested that, for homework, we come up with some other thaumatopes. No pressure!

Janet had a book themed quiz ready for us. Our newest member did very well. If we ever set up a Reflections quiz team, I think we have at least one member with a good knowledge of books.

Gerry hopes to be back next time with his poem of the week. We hope he enjoyed his visits from the gas and water people.

We all needed to chill out after this excitement. Fortunately, Gyda had some word of wisdom.

More fun on Zoom next week.

Janet and I were very pleased to welcome a new member to the group today. We are keen for more new members to join us – if you are interested and want to know more, please contact us on 07981 741 499.

This session focused on books and reading. First, we asked early arrivers at the group about reading at school and in later life. There was a quick and lively response.

Our final poll was about books members would recommend. By this time there were more people participating and they not only came up with names – but some also had books to hand.

A couple of members said they could not settle to read, as their partners kept interrupting them. Others came up with further recommendations:

• Diane Settafield – “Once upon a river”
• Anything about Mary Queen of Scots
• Various authors – “The family poetry book”
• Evelyn Waugh – “Brideshead revisited”
• F Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”
• Danny Ellis – “Boy at the gate”
• Karen Casey – “The promise of a new day”
• Alan Moore – “Watchmen”

The non-yogis spent the time discussing their gardens. Our resident artist had produced another masterpiece.

We all came back together for a quick craft with Gyda.

Pearl popped up with the first of her tunes with a name of a member of the group. We all sang “Oh! Carol” (by Neil Sedaka) to Carole. She was most pleased… Next week another tune (incidentally, does anyone know a song with Peter in the title?)

Janet had a book themed quiz ready for us. Our newest member did very well. If we ever set up a Reflections quiz team, I think we have at least one member with a good knowledge of books.

Gerry told us he joins his extended family online for quizzes each week. He didn’t take much persuading to agree to come up with a quiz for us next week. I hope it’s not too difficult.

More next week.

Janet and I were very pleased to welcome a record turn-out of group members, volunteers and special guests.

Our guest of honour was The Mayor of Royal Greenwich, councillor Linda Bird. We were very pleased that Linda had entered into the spirit of “dressing up and making your own hat” for the birthday celebrations.

We asked the group about their most memorable milestone birthday (winner: 60th) and their favourite way to celebrate a milestone birthday (winner: a holiday somewhere special). We then adjourned to rooms with smaller groups. Mayor Linda circulated the rooms and enjoyed a few anecdotes from members.

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By 2pm it was showtime! We welcomed back Emma – the group’s friend and the person who, without the pandemic, would have been running our Reflections Singing Group since March 2020.

Emma sang happy birthday to us and we sang happy birthday to her. She has a special birthday next week.

I was slightly distracted by Gyda’s belly dancing outfit…

There was no time for quizzes or any shenanigans as time was pressing…

We tried some clever Zoom options – like sharing our Treasure Map, created by Gyda.

Janet thanked the group members, guests and volunteers for coming today and their support in making Reflections the success it is. We all thank Janet for her hard work, inspiration and leadership.

Here’s to another successful year for Reflections.

A busy afternoon at the Friendship Group. Fortunately, at least one member of the group was keen to keep us focused on the essentials.

Janet asked the group about whether they enjoyed their school sports. There was mixed feedback – Danny said he liked them because they got him our of boring lessons! We also had a poll about members fitness activities in adult life. Two people picked belly dancing, the others brought up cycling, dancing, running, Nordic stick walking and more.

Everyone went into their rooms for a chat and Roxana had the first of her one-to-one information discussions. Our late arrivals, who are Irish, took the opportunity to discus “Irish things” (whatever they are).

Pearl had lined-up some more great songs for us to sing: “Football Crazy” and “Walk Tall”

I didn’t finish – so – more homework for me.

Janet had created her own quiz about sport. It was a bit easier than some of our recent quizzes and I managed to do well – but not as good as a couple of members who managed to get 19/20 right!

We were pleased Lynne returned this week. We look forward to another one of her quizzes soon.

Janet started the countdown to Reflection’s 4th Birthday Party next week. It should be fun, with special guests, new activities and Emma leading a singing session.

See you next time.

We had a record turn-out for one of our Zoom meetings. We were very pleased that 21 people popped-in for a chat. There were also 7 volunteers, plus Sharon from the Carers Centre and Roxana from BLG Mind. A packed afternoon. Janet started us off with a question about shops we remember.

Not everyone voted, but Woolworth was popular, as were a few department stores from the local area such as Hinds of Eltham and Chiesmans of Lewisham. The Independent local shop remembered was in Liverpool – a “Pound Shop“, that in those days sold items for pennies.

We split into rooms for more discussions. As we chatted, we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by some new Zoomers who managed to sign-in for the first time. Roxana had a one-to-one with a member who wanted some advice.

Pearl had another couple of songs for us – I did like the Beatles tune “Penny Lane”.

I got a bit lost with all the folds, so it looks like more homework for me.

Janet had compiled her own quiz based on well known TV adverts from years ago. We did remember most of the adverts, but not all the details about the products and makes. The “Shake and vac” advert led to some singing – and I believe Sharon said she still uses it. 17/20 was the best score for the quiz.

Lynne was almost back – we are very sure she will probably resurface next time.

We were overrunning as usual, but Janet managed to squeeze in “Three Little Birds” by Tony.

It was time for tea, so most of us went home. It was great to see some members who hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of lock-down stay on for a bit more of a chat after the session had ended.

See you next time.

Pets were very popular today. There were 2 dogs, 1 cat and 3 animatronic cats (Eric, Ernie and the newly arrived Mr Preview). Unfortunately, most were camera shy.

Here is Janet with one that didn’t get away. You might spot a likeness to Janet – see Gyda’s craft session below.

Our chats in small groups focused mainly on animals. Pearl told us about her pet cat who (to his surprise) came on a delivery van from Liverpool. Ron had a tale about a camel being shot, but I missed the full story, so it might have been shot with a camera or a gun.

Pearl had searched out a substantial list of animal sing-a-long tunes. A highlight of her audience participation session was the golden oldie: “Nellie the Elephant“

Does anyone remember ‘Uncle Mac”? Pearl does, but she might be on her own.

For nostalgia buffs: Uncle Mac appeared on the BBC’s Home Service in ‘Children’s hour”. He had a strict philosophy: “Our established policy is that nothing but the best is good enough for children … our wish is to stimulate their imagination, direct their reading, encourage their various interests, widen their outlook, and inculcate the Christian principles of love of God and their neighbour.” [BBC Quarterly, Jan 1948].

Still no Lynne – she hopes to be back next week – the excitement is building.

By this time we had enough cats for a catalogue.

The stretching proved very popular

Janet led us through: “Tony Chestnut” and Tony Martin‘s “Three Little Birds”

Roxana stayed on at the end of the session to provide some advice and guidance to a group member. We are very pleased to continue our links with BLG Mind. You may see more information about their services on their website here.

Janet finished the session with some notices. Readers will be interested to see the Alzheimer’s Show 2020 will be online and you can register for free information webinars here. Our report on last year’s show is here.

For those interested in further reading The Recovery College magazine provides interesting and thought provoking articles as well as things to do. You can sample the latest edition here.

We were very pleased to see our regulars today – and some returners. Dot and Jen managed to squeeze in a sandwich and cup of tea before we got busy…

Holidays were the theme of the day.

We asked everyone where and when they had their favourite holiday – they came up with a wide variety of answers – Egypt was popular, even though for one person it was during their military service.

We spent some time in discussions in small groups. One group of carers took the opportunity to discuss some serious matters. Others came up with schooldays pranks. A few even talked about holidays.

Pearl entertained us with three songs, including a karaoke version of “Summer Holiday”. Cliff (aka The King of Rock & Roll) would be proud.

No quiz from Lynne. In fact, no Lynne. She was off doing something important elsewhere. Danny was awol too, he had work to do. Both will be back with us next week.

David had been practicing some of Gyda’s craft ideas. I managed to come-up with my version of a day-in-the-life booklet, as demonstrated last week.

We had a couple of people who asked for a chat with Sharon, from the Carers Centre. She couldn’t be with us today, but had arranged to follow-up with people after the meeting.

Pearl had some more rib-tickling jokes, which we managed to squeeze in before…

Janet introduced the singing.

We were still chatting at 3:20 – but then everyone agreed it was time for tea.

We had a team briefing before the group started, as it was Eric and Ernie’s first session on Zoom. Everyone seemed pleased to see them and they were very well behaved.

Today we were talking about childhood. We all took the opportunity to sort out some pictures of when we were children, and some people were willing to show the group what they found.

The polls this week were about being in school. Most people had not enjoyed their time at school and even more disliked school dinners (one agreed with me that the dinners were ok, except for the lumpy custard).

We all joined-in the discussions in small groups. I think David came up with another dubious story about his youth, but I only managed to catch his mischievous smile at the end.

The small group who didn’t join the yoga had the benefit of rather a long chat – Geny’s signal (from her seaside location) had a bit of a pause, so we restarted and had the full session. Thanks Geny.

Set up the book by writing the following: Front cover “Tell me about your day” and “Name” at the bottom – Page 1 “WHO” at the top and “WHAT” at the bottom – Page 2  “WHERE”  at the top and “WHEN”  at the bottom – Page 3 “AND HOW” at the top – Page 4  blank – Page  5 “THE  WHOLE DAY” at the top  – Page 6 “TURNED OUT” at the bottom. Then you can fill it in with drawings of your day.

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Pearl entertained us with some songs. She sang the single bed version of “There were 10 in the bed” – this time there were only 6 in the bed.

Danny told us how daylight affects our circadian rhythm and helps with metabolising food. He advised spending time in the rooms with good light, maybe changing rooms throughout the day if necessary. He also advised of the importance of going outside, to get the maximum daylight and make a connection with the outdoors.

There was so much to do this week that Lynne’s quiz has needed to be pushed back to next week.

Roxana joined us on behalf of BLG Mind again. She had the chance to help a couple of people – and produce the best book in Gyda’s craft window.

The group over ran a bit. We had rather a lot of people popping in and out – including another first for us – a Korean carer in PPE gear!

At the beginning we thought it might prove challenging to fill 2 hours with our virtual Friendship Group. Instead, we are finding there is more than we can fit in each week, which is wonderful.