Blog

We had 23 members today with their carers and also Dr Angela one of our Trustees. Everyone was happy chatting as usual and some of the members commented how helpful the carers meeting was yesterday evening. Lisa informed everyone today that her mum and dad were going to join the meeting from the care home.

It was Lisa’s mum 88th birthday today. The care home had a cake ready with a candle and everyone sang happy birthday to her. James Le Bec who joined earlier than usual followed with singing Que Sera Sera. Thank you James.

It was also Andreas’s birthday yesterday (Marina’s husband) and everyone also wished Andreas a happy birthday. It was lovely to also meet Helen’s daughter today Christiana.

James Le Bec and Joy were ready now to continue and James sang a couple of more songs and was then ready for the music quiz. Lisa decided to do the music quiz slightly different today using digital dice. The idea was that Lisa would call one of the members to shout ‘Roll the Dice’ or GO and the dice would roll. Joy would then keep a running total. There were 10 music questions and the total number today achieved was 88 – which was quite overwhelming for Lisa especially as this was mum’s age today.

Members feedback on the dice was half and half as they were not sure if it was a good idea especially as no one was muted. We may try slightly different next week. It was still good fun however.

Richard Kravetz then followed with chair Yoga and as usual everyone really enjoys the exercises as Richard always makes it fun. Richard then continues with his quiz and todays’ quiz was food and drink and then 3 more general knowledge questions at the end. The winner for the quiz today was Joan with 9 out of 10. Well done Joan and thank you Richard.

Lisa then reminded everyone of next week’s sessions which are now Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and also not to forget the carers session on Tuesday evening. Although next Monday is Bank Holiday, Lisa announced that she will still be doing the session.

Lisa then read a couple of funny short stories and the called out the Bingo numbers. The Bingo winner today was Jeanette again – twice in one week. Well done Jeanette.

Our first carers meeting this evening. We had 19 participants which included the 6 Trustees.

One of the carers had already sent a question in advance of the meeting and therefore Lisa took that question first which was about Carers ID cards. Everyone in the meeting agreed that it was important especially in these difficult times for carers to be able to hold a Carers ID badge to be identified and given the same status as NHS workers.

Lisa said that she would look into this and may be work with Barnet Carers to produce a Carers ID card that fits in a wallet.{gallery rows=1}Carers20200825{/gallery}

Nick one of the Trustees also mentioned that it would be a good idea if everyone who has a phone made sure that they filled in their details in the In Case of Emergency ‘ICE’ . ICE is a program that enables first responders such as paramedics, firefighters and police officers as well as hospital personnel to contact the next of kin of the owner of a mobile phone to obtain important medical or support information. (the phone must be unlocked and working) On an apple phone there is a way however to unlock the phone.

Other topics of conversation were about when a referral is made to the Psychiatrist Consultant at the hospital, there is no continuity with the patient as the patient is discharged after 6 months which means that a carer has to go back to their GP again if their loved one needs to be seen.

We also talked about the difficulties of seeing a GP and all surgeries have different rules with regards to whether they see you or do telephone consultations. The dentists seem to be more organised in seeing their patients as they are PPE prepared with every patient they see. We also talked about ‘incontinence pads’ and how you can go to your GP to ask if you can get these free. There was a mix of views about this and it would appear that you are only allowed to have one Pull Up incontinence pad free which is illogical especially if someone needs 6 incontinence pads every day.

Carers were also able to chat about more personal matters of concern which also helped.

This was a successful meeting. Lisa would like to thank all her Trustees for attending this evening.

We had 19 members today with their carers. We also had a few new members – Bob and wenda and Mary and James. Lisa welcomed them and introduced them during the chat session to the other members. It was also lovely to see Valerie a Rotary of Golders Green member and also one of our Trustees. Lisa had a few words of advice to give members today about how to wear face masks properly and informed everyone that there have been a few spikes of the virus in some areas and therefore we should all be very careful.{gallery}VCD20200824{/gallery}

Lisa also mentioned that she has been looking at outings for next year and mentioned that she thought a trip to Highgrove House where the Prince of Wales lives for a Champagne afternoon Tea and a tour of the grounds might be something to look forward to. Members were delighted to hear this.

Ian was ready to start and always joins in early to say hello to all the members. It was a pleasure today to also meet his family, Sharon his partner and their son Max who joined in with Ian to sing a few lines to a song. Thank you Ian.

Eon was then ready for the chair exercise session. As usual Eon gives everyone a good whole body workout. He always makes working out fun and you can’t hide from Eon as he watches everyone closely. Thank you Eon

It was then joke time and Lisa put up a picture of a 105 year old and read out her good advice list for living long which was funny. Lisa then out 2 short funny stories and then there was a picture quiz. This week’s picture quiz was chocolate bars and the winner was Helen and Chrystalla who scored 14 out of 20. Well done to them knowing their chocolates. It was then time for the Bingo and this week’s winner was Jeanette. Well done Jeanette.

A rainy day but that didn’t matter as we had 24 members today. Lisa welcomed our new members Olga and Jose and new visitors Susan and John. It was also lovely to see our volunteers Melvyn and Annette and our Rotary volunteers Valerie from Rotary Club Golders Green and also one of our Trustees and Helen from Rotary Northwick Park.

Members had a lovely chat together and then Lisa asked then introduced the programme for today giving members some hints to make sure they were on Speaker view.{gallery}VDC20200819{/gallery}

There was no James le Bec today as he was on holiday for a week so Lisa and Mark prepared a Karaoke with a Twist Show for 30 minutes. It was a sing-a-long with a twist which everyone really enjoyed. There were a number of favourites including ABBA and Elvis Presley which got everyone up and dancing. In fact members feedback loved what we did so much they now want us to do this weekly.

Richard our chair Yoga instructor was ready and waiting as soon as the Karaoke finished and as usual everyone enjoys the exercises with Richard as they are great fun. Richard then does a short general knowledge quiz after the Yoga and the winners for the quiz today were jointly Chris and Gina and Muriel and Ivor. Thank you Richard.

Lisa then continued and just gave a quick reminder to everyone about the new group chat session on Tuesday 25th August and then read two funny short stories which everyone found very amusing. Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and reminded everyone that this was a new game today. The Bingo winner today was Helen and Chrystalla. Well done to them. A big thank you today to Mark our technical support engineer making sure the Karaoke session went smoothly.

We had 19 members today with their carers. Lisa welcomed everyone including new members Olga and Jose. They had technical issues with their camera but still enjoyed the audio and enjoyed the session.

Lisa also welcomed Sheila, one of the volunteers from the Rotary Club of Golders Green. Lisa informed members about recent responses received to her email regarding organising a group chat session and informed members that the unanimous decision is for early evenings during the week. The first group chat session will therefore start on Tuesday 24th August at 7pm.{gallery}VDC20200817{/gallery}

Lisa also informed members that James Le Bec will be away on Wednesday 19th but they would still be in for a treat as Lisa and Mark have some Karaoke style entertainment with a twist.

Ian James was ready as usual to start his music entertainment but before he started he brought Sonny his dog to the stage which everyone really liked.

Ian decided to play as a tribute some Elvis songs today especially as it was the anniversary of his death on the 16th August 1977. Members were soon up and dancing and moving around to the Elvis songs. Ian then played a few Beatles songs and then some other favourites which everyone enjoyed singing along to. Thank you Ian.

Eon was then ready to start with the warm up exercises to gentle music which then progressed to the more upbeat Salsa/South American music which got members really working out and enjoying themselves. Thank you Eon.

It was then time for Lisa to read a couple of her short funny stories which is always very welcoming as everyone loves to have a good laugh. The quiz today was a picture quiz about Herbs and Spices. There were 15 picture questions. Marina got the top score today. Well done Marina. Lisa then finally called out the Bingo numbers and today’s winner was Maria. As this was Maria’s third win, she will receive a small gift. Well done Maria.

We had 20 members today and new members. Lisa welcomed the new members and introduced them to the others as they joined. Two of our members Gina and Chris joined us today from their Centre Parcs holiday at Elveden which was great to see them. It was also good to see Helen and Ritu from the Rotary Clubs and Melvyn and Annette our long term and valued volunteers.

Lisa tries to reveal a different virtual background at every session and today as it was really hot again, Lisa had a moving virtual background of a beach which looked like it was in Jamaica. Some members commented that it was calming and refreshing to watch the sea swishing in and out and brought back some memories.

Our music entertainer James Le Bec was then ready to start and today he started with a song sang by Alma Cogan – an English pop star in the 1950’s and early 60’s. The song ‘Love and Marriage’ was a very familiar song for everyone. James then followed with other music favourites which included the Birdy Song and Que Sera Sera. The music quiz today was based on 10 questions on Elvis music hits which enjoyed. The music quiz winners today was Gina and Chris. James then finished off with another music favourite ‘Coming round the mountain’. Thank you James.

Richard Kravetz then followed on swiftly with the Yoga chair exercises and as the weather was very humid the exercises were not too energetic today. In fact he did some breathing exercises to start with that keep you cool which were very welcoming. It is always great fun with Richard and makes exercising effortless. Richard then followed on with today’s 10 quiz questions. The first 5 questions were famous quotes and for members to say who said some them. It was interesting to note who said the first quote –‘ British women can’t cook’ and this was Prince Phillip.

Everyone enjoyed the quiz and the winners today were Gina and Chris and Helen and Chrystalla. Thank you Richard.

Lisa then carried on with the session reading a couple of funny short stories which everyone enjoys and finally called out the Bingo numbers. The Bingo winners today were Nino and Rosita. Well done to them.

We had 16 members today with the carers and families on this very hot day. Lisa opened the session from 2pm and as more members joined it was lovely to see everyone chatting.{gallery}VDC20200810{/gallery}

Ian our music entertainer played some sing along seaside music which made everyone happy and singing. Eon then followed with his chair exercise session. His funky music was very motivating. It didn’t matter how hot it was as everyone enjoyed following the exercises. Thank you Ian and Eon.

Lisa then followed with a flower picture quiz today and everyone did really well recognising the names of various flowers. Lisa then read some short jokes and then called out the Bingo numbers. Today’s winner was Jo and Grazia and Enzo. Thank you as always to our Service engineer Mark and it was lovely to see Valerie one of our Trustees and Rotarian.

We had 17 members today with their carers. Our new opening times for the session at 2pm is working well and members appreciate the extra time to chat. Lisa welcomed everyone as they joined. James Le Bec was then ready to start his performance and sang a few songs before starting his music quiz which everyone really looks forward to. James’s sound system is now perfect. Everyone was on mute whilst James played each song for the quiz and then un-muted for the answers. Everyone did really well in the quiz scoring 24 points. Thank you to Joy in the background who helps also. James then finished off with the 2 favourites ‘Coming Round the Mountain’ and Doris Day. Thank you James.{gallery}VDC20200805{/gallery}

Richard Kravetz was ready as soon as James finished to start the chair Yoga exercises. Today it was chair Yoga with a twist. Everyone is always very engaged doing all the exercises which are also great fun. Richard continues straight after the exercise with a short quiz and today the quiz was about Britain’s favourites. It was interesting to know in the quiz that Britain’s favourite biscuits before the pandemic was ‘Chocolate Digestives’ and Britain’s favourite snacks after the lockdown were ‘Cheese and Onion crisps’. The highest scorers in the quiz today getting 8 out of 10 were Gina and Chris, Frances and Keren, and Pam and John, Well done to them. Richard informed the winners that their prize today is a virtual box of ‘Cheese and Onion crisps’.

Thank you Richard.

Lisa then continued with the session reading a few story jokes and then called out the Bingo numbers. The winners today for the Bingo were Pamela and John. Well done to them.

We had 17 members today with their carers and families. It was also lovely to see Sheila a volunteer from Rotary Club Golders Green and Nandini from Rotary Club Edgware & Stanmore. As a result of a recent survey Lisa decided to start opening the sessions for members to join from 2pm giving members more time to have a chat. This was very welcoming.

It was lovely to hear during the chat that Sotiris and Rona were very proud of their son Jamie Demetriou – “James Demetriou is an English-Cypriot comedian, actor, and screenwriter known for his roles in Fleabag and Stath Lets Flats which he also writes. In the recent BAFTA awards he won three awards: Best Male Actor in a comedy, Best Writer of a Comedy and the programme itself won the award for Best Scripted Comedy.” {gallery}VDC20200803{/gallery}

We further found out from Rona and Sotiris that their daughter – Natasia Demetriou also is an Actor and she appears in a television series called “What we do in the Shadows”

Ian was then ready to start his performance and today he decided to introduce his various music as a menu. For starters he sang some Engelbert Humperdinck songs, for the main he sang some Cliff Richard songs, for the Dessert he sang some Elvis Pressley and then he decided to sing one more for the cheese and biscuits which was another Engelbert Humperdinck song. Members really enjoyed the music and sang along.

Eon was then ready to take over with the chair fitness exercises. His Latin /Salsa music got everyone motivated into doing a great enjoyable workout. Thank you Ian and Eon.

Lisa then continued with reading a couple of jokes and then did a picture quiz asking members to name some celebrities who passed away. Some of the faces were challenging but members found the quiz interesting. The session the ended with Lisa calling out the Bingo numbers and today we had 2 winners – Jo and Grazia and Helen and Chrystalla. Well done to the winners.

We had 20 members today with their carers. As usual members chat before the session starts which is great and always a good opportunity to welcome and introduce new members. Lisa welcomed everyone and James Le Bec was ready to start the music entertainment. {gallery}VDC20200729{/gallery}

I’m pleased to report that James’s sound system was perfect today. He had technical issues for several weeks but now he has mastered it and members really enjoyed the music. The music quiz was also great today as Lisa suggested to James that perhaps everyone should be muted whilst he plays the 10 snippets of music quiz questions. This made sure that everyone heard the music quiz questions. When everyone was then un-muted everyone had their answers to shout out which worked perfectly.

Richard our Yoga instructor was then ready to take over and as always the Yoga sessions with Richard are fantastic. Richard then continued to provide an interesting quick general knowledge quiz and the questions today were about Spain. The winners of the quiz were Gina and Chris – Well done Gina and Chris and Richard presented a make believe prize of a plate of Paella.

Lisa then read a couple of short story jokes and then called out the Bingo numbers. The Bingo winners today was Maria De Vito. Well done Maria.