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Finchley Memorial Hospital today was busier than ever. As members arrived and sat down to have their teas and coffees and cakes, they were busy chatting amongst each other and also doing the quizzes that Lisa had prepared and left on the tables. They had word searches, a crossword and another quiz to work together as a group.

Lisa then welcomed everyone and also gave a special welcome to the volunteers Annette who had just come back from Nigeria as her father recently passed away, Dr Angela with her friend Melissa, Angela, Lizzy and Melvyn. It was good to have quite a few volunteers especially at a busy session.{gallery}FMH20190717{/gallery}

Lisa also gave a special welcome to Kevin’s family from New York – Ruth and Maggi. Kevin the carer for his mother in law Mable came today with his wife Olivia. Kevin always offers to help during the sessions which Lisa is grateful.

Lisa then announced a birthday of one of the members. It was Krishna’s birthday today and she was 82 years old. Birthdays always follow the tradition of a firework candle on a cake and Krishna was so happy to see this and then blow her candle.

Lisa then introduced a singer – Yuri Sabatini, an Italian Tenor. His voice was amazing. Yuri interacted with the members and sang a few popular opera songs like ‘Maria’ , Edelweiss and ‘Oh what a beautiful Morning’. Yuri had a standing ovation with cheers.

Everyone had a fabulous afternoon and there were many smiles and thanks you to Yuri as members were leaving.

As this is still a new venue we only had a few members today. We were very pleased to be joined by Rotary Club of Elstree & Borehamwood – Cynthia, Charles, Peter and his son Chiloong.

Members wanted to chat whilst having tea/coffee and biscuits. We had some very interesting chats. We were then very pleased to also be joined by the President of the Rotary Club Clive Butchins who came with his wife Elaine and his 2 year old daughter Emily.

The session then followed with Lisa’s chair exercises with a few challenging stand up exercises and push ups against the wall. Everyone joined in including little Emily who was finding it very funny. Lisa then played the 3 favourite songs ‘Coming Round the Mountain’ , ‘The Birdy Song’ and ‘The Hokey Cokey’ which got everyone up singing and dancing.

It was an enjoyable afternoon. Thank you to all our Rotarian volunteers who were great with members.

Pictures to follow…

A very busy session as usual. Members settled with their teas and cakes and Lisa provided them with quiz which kept them busy. Lisa then welcomed everyone and announced 3 trips she is organising very soon which got everyone excited.

She then surprised one of the members with a birthday cake. It was Rosita’s 88th birthday and this was celebrated in the usual dementia club way. Rosita was so happy she was also overwhelmed.

The session then followed with a game of ‘Family Fortunes’. Lisa had some help from Kevin one of the carers calling the questions. This game is always good fun as it encourages chatting amongst members for the answers.

The session followed with some singing from the song sheets and then Tovertafel which never fails to surprise and excite members.

Thank you to our volunteers Lizzy, Angela, Dr Angela, Melvyn, Arzu and of course Mark.

Pictures to follow….

A fantastic venue and numbers are slowly increasing. Lisa welcomed everyone and made the teas and coffees which members enjoyed whilst sitting and chatting and eating their cakes.

Lisa then introduced a game of Family Fortunes asking members a few questions and they had to guess the top answer which is not necessarily the right answer and therefore this also prompted conversations.

Richard then arrived to do some Chair Yoga exercises which everyone always looks forward to. Richard brought out his colourful silk scarves as part of the exercises.

The session today also followed with Despina who used to work for The Alzheimer’s Society. Some of the members already knew Despina and therefore she was warmly welcomed. Despina did some vocal exercises with members followed by some singing from song sheets and then she handed out some musical instruments and batons which were used to create music and also used as part of a game ‘Simple Simon Says’

It was a very enjoyable session.

Pictures to follow…

A very busy session on this very warm day. Mark had to take the first part of the session today as Lisa had to go to a meeting at the Finchley Memorial Hospital.

Members were handed a quiz that Lisa had prepared to name different hats. It was very interesting and there were only a few hats that were challenging to guess.

Eon then arrived to do the exercises. Eon is a great hit with members and they enjoy exercising as it’s so much fun.

The session then followed with more exciting fun as Peter Webb as Elvis arrived. Everyone was ready for dancing and Elvis is always a great charmer with the ladies. A wonderful afternoon.

Thank you to Mark for stepping up today in Lisa’s absence and doing a great job. Thank you to our Rotarians Valerie, Kuljit and his wife Satnam and Michael. Valerie introduced us to Rosalind Crofton who may be an additional volunteer.

Thank you also to Christine who works at Stephen’s House for serving the teas.

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A small number of members today but a very enjoyable session.

Lisa welcomed everyone and brought a very big chocolate cake to share as it was Mark’s birthday the day before. Everyone really enjoyed the cake whilst chatting amongst each other.

There was no Annalisa today as she was on holiday so Lisa did a few exercises with members. James our musical entertainer then arrived and as usual got everyone up and dancing and everyone also sang Happy Birthday to Mark . James’s music quiz and getting each person to throw the dice is also a great favourite for members especially as they like the challenge to beat previous scores.

It was a lovely afternoon.

Pictures to follow…

 We took 34 members on a trip to Southend today. We had a lovely email from one of our members as follows:

“What a perfect day to go to the seaside with the sun shining with Lisa and Dementia Club UK members. First stop was a hearty fish and chips meal and for some a vegetarian option which went down very well. Then it was off on a train ride on the worlds longest pier at 1.34 miles. As Sir John Betjeman said the pier is Southend and Southend is the pier. At least we can say we have been to sea. All in all a wonderful day and I can say we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with thanks to Lisa and Mark for making it a memorable day.”{gallery}SOUTHEND{/gallery}

Our monthly Dementia Club UK session was held on the 1st July at Sha’arei Tsedek Synagogue in Whetstone and taken by Justine Khedoory

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

The very talented Jane then took an exercise session with our members which they all engaged in and enjoyed. It was Dottie, one of our fabulous volunteers birthdays at the weekend and she very kindly brought in yummy chocolates for all our members and volunteers. We all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her!{gallery}SS20190701{/gallery}

The lovely Norma was also celebrating her birthday and she brought in a delicious chocolate birthday cake for everyone to eat! We put a huge sparkler in it & sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her!

This was followed by a great session of entertainment provided by the very talented 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 was great fun & very competitive! The atmosphere was fantastic!

After James left, the members continued to chat and there was also table tennis, golf and darts for those that wanted to play! 22 members and carers attended the session with the assistance of five helpers from the synagogue who were:- Justine, Gilda, Stephen, Dot & Judy. Kind regards.