Blog

We had 22 members today. Lisa welcomed everyone and it was also a pleasure to welcome volunteers Annette and Melvyn and also our Trustee Dr Angela. Lisa gave members an update about the Covid-19 virus and also announced the Silver Sunday coming up this weekend and the events listed. Dementia Club UK is also listed.

It was then time for our music entertainer James Le Bec. Members have always liked James as he interacts well and they also like Joy his partner. James sang a bit of country music to start with today and then he moved on to the music quiz which was slightly different today. James had 5 music quiz questions for members to name the voice they hear and then 5 music quiz questions to the name the song. It was good fun and members enjoyed the change. Of course Mark was also throwing the digital dice before each question and this made the quiz even more fun. It was a total score of 82 today but with the extra 10 points for naming 10 famous ladies who have a name beginning with D the grand total was 92.

Richard Kravetz was then ready to start the exercises which everyone always enjoys as Richard takes it slowly and makes it also great fun. Richard then continues after the exercises and does a general knowledge quiz. Today’s quiz was 10 questions about the 1960’s. The winners who scored high were Colin, Brian, Helen and Pam. Lisa then read out a joke as usual and then called out the Bingo numbers. There were 4 winners today – Ann and Connie, Karen and Frances, Lillian and Colin.

We had 10 carers this evening for the session. Lisa welcomed everyone and also Dr Angela. One of the carers suggested that everyone should introduce each other. Lisa therefore asked each of the carers in turn to introduce themselves and say a few words. There was no obligation on the carers but they were all happy to do so.

One of the carers showed a 1950’s Scrapbook which she bought from Amazon. It looked very interesting and apparently you can buy all the decades. The link to this book is below if anyone is interested.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/1950s-Scrapbook-S/dp/0954795423/

Lisa then gave an update regarding the Carers ID card and also an update about the visiting care homes and mentioned that she has had to refer the matter back to Matt Hancock as the Local Director of Public Health is uncomfortable in making any decisions without any national guidelines.

There was talk about Day Centres which are opening soon and concerns as to how safe they will be. Lisa also asked everyone if they had any suggestions for any special visitors and the suggestions were for a care manager from a care home to visit, and an Admiral Nurse. It was also suggested if I could contact Esther Rantzen as one of the carers believes that Silverline which is her charity has joined together with Age UK to take action with regards to allowing a family member to visit their loved one in a care home who only responds to touch.

Lisa said she would of course do her best. There was also various other personal chats amongst the carers. Thank you to Dr Angela for attending the session.

We had 17 members today. Lisa welcomed everyone and at 3pm started the Karaoke Show. Everyone really looks forward to this especially when they have given some song requests.

Sian Kenrick is then ready to start the exercises as soon as the Karaoke is finished. Members really love Sian’s music and the exercises. Today Sian also introduced some country line dancing. It was energetic and fun and members love the variety. Lisa then continued the session with reading a joke as laughter is very important and then Lisa called out the Bingo numbers. Today’s winner was Kevin and Mable.

We had 18 members today. Lisa welcomed everyone and it was lovely to see Laurie again a recently joined new member and another new member today – Bob.

It was also a pleasure to welcome Sheila a volunteer from the Rotary Club of Golders Green and also Laurence from the Rotary Club of Hendon. Ian then started his music entertainment and today he sang some old time war songs which everyone enjoyed singing along. It was great fun.

Eon was then ready to start with the exercise to music which everyone enjoys an follows with great interest. It was lovely today to see Eon’s grandson Rafe who is 8 months old.

Lisa then carried on with the session reading a very funny joke and this was then followed with today’s picture quiz which was about naming British Birds. This was won by Connie and Frank who scored the highest points in the quiz with 8 out of 10. Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and today’s winners were also Connie and Frank.

We had 18 members today. Sotiris one of our members was with his daughter Natasha today as his wife was away. He is proud of his daughter especially as she is also an Actor like her brother and she appears in a television series called “What we do in the Shadows”. Sotiris also showed his little dog he calls Piggy because she has a piggy tail. Everyone enjoyed seeing Piggy.

Lisa welcomed another member today joining for the first time and introduced her to the other members. Lillian joined with her daughter Karen and her carer Sonia. It was 2 members birthdays today – Mable and John – So everyone sang Happy Birthday.

James Le Bec had also started to sing but after 5 minutes his internet had broken and therefore was unable to continue with his performance. Lisa and Mark therefore had to put plan B in action and do a Karaoke Show. Members had a great time singing.

Richard Kravetz was then ready to start the chair Yoga which everyone always enjoys and then he had an interesting quiz today. He had some questions about the Monopoly game, then he had some questions about Famous people quotes and then a few general knowledge quiz questions. The top winner was Andrew followed by Lillian and then Keren.

Lisa then called the Bingo numbers and todays winners were Helen and Chrystalla.

We had 18 carers this evening. We also had a special guest who Lisa invited – Councillor Sachin Rajput, Barnet Council Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding committee. It was also a wonderful surprise to also welcome Mike Rich the CEO of Barnet carers.

Trustee Dr Angela Parker also attended and of course Lisa and Mark. Lisa had already briefed Sachin about some of the matters that had been discussed at previous carers meetings. Carers ID cards were discussed and as Mike was also at the meeting, it was discussed together and Mike informed Sachin that he would be happy to work together with the council to develop a carer’s ID card which can also be used for emergency.

Another matter which was raised by one of the carers was regarding visiting at care homes. Lisa provided an update after her meeting with Matt Hancock and also Sachin informed everyone how I had raised this matter at the recent Adults and Safeguarding meeting. Other matter were also discussed including respite vouchers, day centres and social workers/carers doing visits remotely.

This was a very productive and interesting meeting. Lisa thanked Sachin and Mike for joining the meeting.

We had 14 members today and it was also a wonderful surprise to everyone to see Laurie one of our members join for the first time. Laurie never thought that he would do Zoom but with the help of his son and from Lisa it was a pleasure to see him. It was in fact so overwhelming for Laurie as he started to chat to other members he hadn’t seen for many months.

Lisa and Mark were then ready to start the Karaoke Show and provided a variety of songs and video clips for everyone to enjoy. Sian Kenrick was then ready to start exercise to music. Everyone enjoys Sian’s different style of exercise which also incorporate some salsa towards the end.

Lisa then did a picture quiz with everyone and today it was about classic toys which brought back lots of memories for example ‘Etch – a Sketch’ which also used to be called ‘Doodle Master’ . Lisa then read out a short joke to make everyone laugh and then it was time to call out the Bingo numbers. It was so amazing that the winner today was Laurie. His first time joining and also a winner. Laurie was delighted.

We had 18 members today. Lisa welcomed everyone and announced that today was ‘World Alzheimer’s Day’

Lisa also welcomed Jamie Demetriou the son of Sotiris – one of the members. His wife Rona was away today. It was a pleasure to meet Jamie who is an English Cypriot comedian who recently won 3 BAFTA awards in his Shows – ‘Fleabag’ and well known in ‘Stath Lets Flats’

Our music entertainer Ian and Eon our exercise instructor joined early as usual before starting to meet and chat which members always appreciate. Everyone enjoyed the music and also worked hard exercising with Eon but it’s all fun at the same time. Lisa then continued with the session and today she decided to read a poem as it was ‘World Alzheimer’s Day’. This was a poem written by someone living with dementia but it was quite funny too.

Lisa then continued with a general knowledge quiz of 15 questions. Pam scored 12, Joan scored 11 and Nyla scored 10. It was then time for a joke which everyone always enjoys and finally the Bingo. Today we had 2 winners for the Bingo. Well done to Keren and Frances and also Joan.

We had 17 members today with their carers. Lisa welcomed everyone and Dr Angela one of our Trustees and also Andrew Mills a church Warden at St John’s United Reformed Church in Barnet. Lisa also wished all our Jewish members a Happy New Year ‘Shanah Tovah’ which is celebrated on Friday 18th September.

Our music entertainer James Le Bec was then ready to start and sang 2 songs before starting the music quiz. The first song which got members moving their arms to was- ‘You got the whole world in your hands’ and then followed with a Cliff Richard song called ‘Young Ones’. One of our carers held a photo up showing Laurie London (the singer who sang ‘You got the whole world in your hands’ ). The photo showed Laurie sitting at the table with them celebrating their 50th the wedding anniversary.

Members were then ready for the music quiz. Everyone is muted so that they can hear each song clip. Before James plays a few seconds of the song, Mark rolls the digital dice which appears on the screen. Members used to physically throw a giant size dice before and it was always good fun trying to get a high score. In the virtual game each time the dice is rolled this is added up to a total score at the end after the 10 music quiz questions. Our score this week was 93, unbelievably one less than last week. We might need to improve this score next week! Thank you James.

Richard Kravetz is then ready to do the Yoga with everyone which members as always enjoy. Richard then continues to do a general knowledge quiz after. Very interesting questions especially the question about who in the Beatles song ‘Penny Lane’ keeps the portrait of the Queen in his pocket. The answer was the Fireman.

Lisa thanked Richard and wished him also ‘Shanah Tovah’. Lisa then read a couple of jokes and then called out the Bingo numbers. Our Bingo winners today were Gina and Chris.

Lisa welcomed everyone at the carers group meeting and also Dr Angela one of our Trustees. It was also a pleasure to welcome Louis the grandson of one of the carers who is a student at college and is interested in medicine. It was an interesting meeting as usual and carers in turn raised their concerns and questions.

Carers asked Lisa how her meeting went with Matt Hancock and Lisa informed everyone that visiting care homes is now the decision of the local Director of Public Health and the care home. She has therefore written to the local Director of Public Health and now waiting for a response. Lisa informed everyone also the Matt Hancock said it could be early Spring next year for the vaccine. Dr Angela mentioned at this point about an interesting BBC4 radio programme presented by Jim Al-Khalili where Sarah Gilbert talks about how she and her Oxford team developed the vaccine for Covid-19 so fast.

Everyone then wanted to know whether I had any response from the CEO of Barnet Carers regarding the carers ID card. Lisa mentioned that unfortunately she still had no response but we could all raise this next week when we are joined with Cllr Sachin Rajput the Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding committee.

One of the carers then mentioned about how devastating it is for family carers not being able to visit the loved ones in the care homes. She sent me earlier an article which was in the Observer newspaper last week which highlights how this has become a very serious mental health issue and how it denies people’s human rights. Another carer also raised how important it was to have a carers assessment which is free. Lisa mentioned that this was a good idea for any carer who needed help not only with any adaptations in the house but if carers needed to know if they were entitled to any benefits.

Some other matters of a personal nature were also discussed and Dr Angela was able to provide some advice which members were grateful.

The meeting ended with one of the carers reading a poem written by another lady carer which was quite moving.