Category: Blog

Today’s session was so full. I was so pleased to have all my volunteers – Melvyn, Eleanor, Arzu, Dr Angela and her friend Melissa and of course my husband Mark.

Lisa welcomed everyone and informed them of the new dementia club starting on Monday 21st January at Borehamwood and also informed them about some exciting outings being organised.

Lisa started off with reading some jokes and as always this is well received and everyone laughs a lot. She then introduced 2 guest visitors – Juliana Martins who is Head Chef at Carlton Court care home in Barnet who was accompanied by Steven who is activities coordinator at the care home.

Juliana is well known for her excellent culinary skills as she used to work for Gordon Ramsay. The residents at Carlton Court care home are very fortunate to have Juliana. Juliana gave Lisa some home cooked cookies she made and a couple of cupcakes and presented them in 2 beautiful glitter boxes also personally made. The cookies were absolutely delicious and were shared with the volunteers.

It was then time for some singing and Lisa gave all the members the song sheets. Every one enjoyed choosing their favourite songs and Terry and Joan sang together a Frank Sinatra song called ‘You make me feel so young’. A Vera Lynn song called ‘We’ll meet again’ was also played and Laurie one of the members stood up and told everyone how he once met Vera Lynn.

The session then followed with some exercise to music. Whilst Lisa ensures that all parts of the body are being exercised, Lisa always makes sure it is also fun.

It was then time to start the Tovertafel and everyone is always keen to play. Kevin one of the carers was in charge of the games and everyone really enjoyed it. There was also time for a short quiz which is also good fun.

My thanks again to all my volunteers who worked so hard looking after all the members needs and everyone left very happy.

Very busy session at Stephens House & Gardens. Mark started with a general knowledge quiz which as usual was challenging but fun.

This was followed by a Birthday celebration for one of our members Parthenis who was 83 years old and was celebrated in the usual DCUK fashion. He was accompanied with his wife and daughter Marina and they brought a very big home made lemon cake which was really delicious.

Richard then arrived and everyone was ready for their Yoga exercises which Richard makes very enjoyable. The session then followed with entertainment with Helen Tierney.

Helen played a variety of songs with the accordion, harp and piano and her theme today was ‘Sunshine’ as January is normally a dull and depressing month after Christmas.

There was no dancing today but everyone enjoyed singing along to the songs. Thank you to Risom who as usual looks after everyone so well during the session with making teas and coffees and setting the tables. Thank you also to Rotarian Kuljit and his wife for their support and to my husband Mark for all his help.

Today was a very busy session. It was great to see our volunteers Eleanor, Melvyn, Doctor Angela one of our Trustees and her friend Melissa and also my husband Mark.

Lisa started the session with fun picture quizzes and then read some jokes which everyone really enjoyed and laughed. Kevin one of the carers then prepared a ‘Family Fortunes’ quiz which is always great fun and members love competing between the tables.

Lisa then followed the session celebrating 2 birthdays – Peter and Dawn whose birthdays are one day apart. They were nicely surprised. This was celebrated in the usual Dementia Club UK fashion.

It was then time to play Bingo which everyone again really enjoys and concentrate hard. This was then followed with singing from song sheets prepared by Lisa and Tovertafel which is always welcomed.

Everyone left with a smile. Thank you to all my volunteers and also some of my carers who always step in to help.

Today’s report is from Session Leader Danielle:

“Our first club gathering of 2019 was a great success. Moving the monthly session to a Tuesday enabled many more Dementia Club UK members and carers to come along.

The ladies from Northwick Park Rotary, Helen, Ritu and Lucille provided a post-Xmas tea with cakes and biscuits, whilst Stanmore’s Rotarian, Danielle, brought her funky 60s colouring in patterns and crayons. Lisa came to see us with her husband Mark.

Lisa congratulated Joy on her recent birthday and Lucille on her 55th emerald wedding anniversary. Everyone enjoyed a fun few games of bingo, run by Lucille, followed by chair-yoga with Richard, who added in some Tai Chi, to ring the changes.

Musician/entertainer, James Lebec, got everyone up on their feet dancing and singing along to his rock & roll country 50s & 60s cabaret. His ‘name the song’ competition was a big hit, we didn’t want it to end

Thank-you to Stanmore’s Rotarians Dr Nandini for being on hand for medical questions and Peter for helping put the furniture way at the end and of course Helen, Ritu, Lucille, Lisa and Mark.”

Report today from Justine who ran the session:

“Our members were served tea, coffee, lovely biscuits & cake at the start of our session and were happy chatting to each other.

The lovely Jane did some fun chair exercises with our members which everyone, including the helpers enjoyed! This was followed by an energetic session of entertainment provided by the very charming James LeBec.

James sang a variety of popular songs to which many of the members and helpers danced. He also did a music quiz and our members had to guess the name of the song! It got really competitive! The atmosphere was terrific!

After James left, it was time to go and our members left very happy & smiling! 14 members and carers attended the session with the assistance of five helpers from the synagogue who were:- Justine, Gilda, Stephen, Dot & Judy”.

We had a great start to our first session of the year today at Barnet Copthall with a good number of members and 2 new members. Lisa started the session with some lovely cakes and teas whilst members were chatting and gave them also some Christmas crackers which was great fun.

Lisa then read some jokes which everyone enjoyed and then gave a poem out to members called ‘A simple Hug’ and asked members to read a verse each. At the end everyone hugged.

It was then time for exercise and this was led by Billy Phillips. Members enjoyed the exercises which included some singing as extra motivation.

The session then followed with James with music entertainment and as always James got everyone singing and interacting especially with the music quiz and rolling the big soft Dice.

It was a fun session and everyone left with a smile. Thank you to Billy and Mary Hamilton, Physical Activity and Health Manager from Barnet Copthall and thank you to Mark one of the Trustees who helped out during the session.

Danielle took the session today:

“The ladies from Northwick Park Rotary: Helen, Mollie, Lucille and Ritu, decorated the room in a festive spirit with musical ornaments, as well as providing delicious Xmas cakes and other goodies.

Lisa, the Chairman welcomed and wished everyone happy seasons greeting. We had a few members and we were also delighted to welcome back our new members Luigi and Adriana.

The afternoon warmed-up with catch-ball followed by bingo won by Sonia, Edgware & Stanmore Rotary. Other Rotarians, from Edgware & Stanmore, joining in the fun included: Dr Nandini and Danielle, session leader.

Lucille, Northwick Park Rotary, prepared a quiz presented by Ritu. Luigi enjoyed some pitch’n’put. The cracker jokes made us laugh A wonderful singer, Clare Barnes, accompanied by Helen, enthralled with her amazing voice – singing Motown, 50s tunes and Xmas favourites – to which we all danced.

Danielle announced that this was the last Wednesday meeting, as the club dates will be moving to the first Tuesday of every month, starting on Tuesday 8 January 2019.”

This was our last session for this year. Lisa and Mark went early to decorate the room and tables with Christmas decorations. The Christmas banner created by members was put on the wall and all the Christmas cards made by members were also hang across the room. The tables were beautifully decorated with Christmas crackers and surprise boxes made by the Brownies and Guides as gifts for all the Dementia Club UK members. A big thank you to Karen Landi who runs the Brownies and Guides

It was a perfect Christmas party with Christmas music and one of the members also wanted to sing one of his favourite songs. This mad everyone join in. Mark then had two Christmas quizzes for everyone which as always are challenging but fun.

It was then time for musical entertainment with Ronnie. Lisa had to leave to go the dementia club at Edgware. Everyone had a really lovely time with Ronnie and lots of dancing.

Thank you to our volunteers Mark and Angela are Trustees and Arzu who was very helpful throughout the session until the very end. Thank you also to some of our carers who always offer and help.

A fantastic end of the year session.

The Dementia Club in St John’s Church has been running for the whole year. All sessions have gone well, and the attendance has increased slowly.

We had a good attendance of members today which also included quite a few members from Friends in Need.

The session started as usual with members chatting and enjoying their teas, coffees, biscuits and cakes including mince pies. Lisa welcomed everyone and then gave some advice to everyone about keeping safe over Christmas.

Simon our Rotary quiz master then distributed the Christmas quiz which consisted of 10 images of famous people dressed in Father Christmas clothes and 25 questions of people, places or things that have some connection with Christmas. The members enjoyed the quiz and did really well.

After the quiz the entertainment started with the very talented duo of Helen and Alexis. Helen was playing the accordion and the harp while Alexis was reading some popular Christmas poems. Everyone enjoyed the music and singing to some Christmas carols. Some members even got up to dance to some of the songs.

Thank you to our church volunteers Dorothy and Sue for making teas and coffees. Thank you also to our church warden Andrew and Mark Rutter one of the Trustees of Dementia Club UK for setting up the tables and making the necessary preparations for the session. Thank you to our Rotarians from Barnet; Jim (President), John, Malcolm and Simon. Many thanks to our Doctor Rebecca Hatjiosif. Also, thanks to Lisa, Chairman of Dementia Club UK, for her continuous support to make the Dementia Club at St John’s Church successful.

More pics to come