Category: Blog

I was invited by The Rotary Club of Radlett as a guest speaker to talk about Dementia Club UK at The Aldenham Social Club, Church Lane, Aldenham, Hertfordshire, WD25 8AY.

I was greeted by members and introduced to The President of the Rotary club Mr Clive Daley. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and had a chance before the meeting started to have a few chats with members.

My thanks to Rotarian Mr David Rose who initiated this meeting and for me to have the opportunity to talk about my charity. I was nicely surprised at the end of my speech to receive a cheque donation from the The President. My thanks to the Rotary Club of Radlett for their generous donation.

Dr Angela Parker one of our Trustees for Dementia Club UK was instrumental in organising through the Church committee of Christ Church, Church of England parish church in Waterfall Road, The Green Arnos Grove Southgate N14 7EG a fundraiser lunch in the Church House hall. The committee choose different charities and decided on this occasion to choose Dementia Club UK.

Angela said a few words about Dementia Club UK and then Lisa expressed her thanks to the committee and all that attended the lunch. There was also a raffle drawn by Lisa. Lisa had the pleasure to talk to most of the people who attended. The lunch was very successful and raised a good amount. My thanks to Angela.

The pictures show the committee with some wearing colourful Rwanda aprons. There is also a photo with Raymond Harris who was also a pleasure chatting to.

Dementia Club UK had a stall today at the garden fete at Stephens House & Gardens. It was a warm muggy cloudy day but lots of people attended and it was lovely to also see many Dementia Club UK members.

There were many interesting stalls selling various items. There was also the Barnet Band group who played some lovely classics.

On our stall we had costume jewellery, lace tablecloths, beautiful tea pots, mugs. Handkerchiefs and many other items including Diny’s hand made beaded jewellery. Diny is one of the carer members who sometimes attends the cafe.

Dementia Club UK would like to thank Elaine and Louis who not only donated these items to Dementia Club UK but they also attended to help for the day. A huge thank you to them both for giving up their day to help. Elaine and Louis have been very supportive.

We also had our partners Rotary Club of Golders Green and their new President Adrian who had a stall next to ours. They had a very interesting ball game which attracted a lot of people. It was quite challenging.

Our visit to Kew Gardens was very successful. The weather was just right. It was slightly cloudy but there was no rain and it was warm.

A couple of the members unfortunately were unable to go because of health issues so Annette and Melvyn came. Our BCT buses and drivers Reg and Brian were fantastic as usual and we got to Kew Gardens in 35 minutes which meant that we were very early.

Whilst we were waiting, one of the carers saw a famous TV person and ran over to him. It was George Clarke who appears in the Channel 4 TV Show Amazing Spaces. All the members were delighted to meet him and had some photos. Thank you George for being a good sport.

The members got their wheelchairs which were ordered in advance at Elizabeth Gate and we all set off to the Orangery restaurant for a cup of tea and something to eat. We had plenty of time before the Hop on Hop off Explorer train so members had a little walk.

It was then time to get on the train and the person I booked the train with arrived and gave me the tickets. Our drivers also boarded the train. I stayed behind as someone needed to look after the wheelchairs until they got back. Everyone had a great time on the train and then had free time to do what they wanted until 4pm.

One of the members commented how the last time they went to Kew Gardens was 60 years ago when it was 1 penny entrance. Members enjoyed their day and said how they would love to do it again and may be this time they would hop off the train and explore.

Our BCT buses got us back in about 1 hour which was excellent timing. A Huge thank you to BCT for their excellent service.

We had a University student today – Zhiyuan Lin. He was interested to visit Dementia Club UK as he is studying medicine at Cambridge University. He interacted with members asking various questions for his report and was also very helpful in the session.

The session started with an activity. I gave each member a cut out of a lady or a man figure and asked them to them to draw the person they like to remember or draw themselves and may be to show what work they used to do. This started lots of conversations and memories and members were very interested to talk about their pictures. The session then followed with yoga with Richard which was great as usual.

The Launch of the Dementia Club UK on Tuesday 11th July 2017 from 2pm to 4pm at Fairway Hall was a great success attracting about 70 visitors.

It is a partnership with the Rotary Club of Elstree and Borehamwood – Councillors, Rotarians and volunteers. CEO DCUK, Lisa Rutter gave a welcome speech and greeted the Deputy Lieutenant of Herfordshire, Stuart Nagler , the Town Mayor and Mayoress, Cllr Eric and Mrs Evelyn Silver and the Hertsmere Borough Mayor Cllr Charles Goldstein and other Councillors and representatives of organisations and all other guests.

Town Mayor Cllr Eric Silver has chosen DCUK as his Mayoral Charity this year as has the newly elected President of Elstree and Borehamwood Rotary Sasha Capocci.

Lisa congratulated the Town Dementia support committee – Town Cllrs Sandra Parnell, Eric Silver and Pat Strack, Dr Ann Goddard and Sasha Capocci for bringing the Club to the Town. Eric, Pat and Sasha are Rotarians.

A large group from the Barnet branch of DCUK came along to support us. We all enjoyed the music of the Ionian Clarinet Quartet playing a range of music favourites and thank them for their continued support. Sandwiches and cakes were served with the tea and coffee.

Sarah gave us a taste of the chair exercises she leads at each session and then it was time to complete the quiz. Sasha had made a special celebration cake which was cut and distributed. It was fantastic.

Thank you to Town councillor and Rotarian Clive Butchins for taking the photographs.

DCUK want to attract new members. If you live with anyone with dementia or know of anyone with memory loss or someone who has cared for a dementia sufferer and would like to enjoy a fun afternoon we meet every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month at Fairway Hall from 2-4pm.

We had a special visitor today, the Master of The Guild of Freemen of the City of London Mr Peter Allcard. Members were delighted to meet him and were also impressed with his badge on ribbon.

We also had a new singer April Day who was dressed in a 1950’s dress. She entertained members with favourites of the era and some members were happy to dance.

We also had another visitor today John Michaelides from Barnet Rotary Club who was a pleasure to meet. Our surprise visitor was Annette. It was so lovely to see Annette. Members were so happy to see her and chat. We all miss Annette and hope to see her more often.

The session followed with social activities and I read a few jokes.

On Thursday 6th July Lisa and Mark attended Sasha’s handover dinner at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

This was the handover from Nick Male President of Rotary Club of Elstree and Borehamwood to Sasha. We were privileged to be able to park in the VIP car park close to Dame Judy Dench’s reserved car space. It was also interesting to see the Star Wars figures in the studios.

It was a very pleasant and fun evening with a group of ukulele players and singers. Sasha made her speech and announced her charity for the year is Dementia Club UK. I am very grateful and thank her for supporting Dementia Club UK.

Congratulations Sasha becoming President of Rotary Club of Elstree and Borehamwood

We were entertained this afternoon by James Le Bec and his music as well as our usual games, dancing and singalong.

We had a short quiz about Wimbledon and a moving poetry reading about the effect of Alzheimer’s from one of the carers. (Written by Gilda Rabin – Session Leader)

We had a small group of members today but this was a really unusual and exciting session. I had no volunteers but I was grateful for a couple of the carers helping with the teas. Thank you to James and Jackie.

We started with a musical quiz which got all members singing and then the Mayor of Barnet Cllr Brian Salinger walked in which was a lovely surprise for everyone.

The session then followed with an African drumming session with Abdul. Abdul brought a selection of big and small drums and some hand shakers. Members enjoyed playing the drums with Abdul.

We then had a further surprise. A newly married couple who just had a register wedding in the next room walked in with their families and friends as they liked the sound of the drums and wanted to know what was happening. Eliza and Tom the newly married couple were so excited they started dancing and then joined in with the drums.

This was a very memorable and exciting session not only for the members but also the newly married couple. I congratulate them and wish them lots of happiness for the future.