Lisa thanked all the volunteers who have helped during the year and also thanked those members who raised money for Dementia Club UK. Big thanks to Justine, Diny, Melvyn, David and Pantelis. We had a jewellery sale to allow members to buy any last minute stocking fillers. All proceeds went to Dementia Club UK.
We sang some Christmas Carols and ate lots of mince pies.
Today at Sha’arei Tsedek we celebrated Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. Justine read to members the story of Hanukkar which everyone found interesting. She also introduced one of the games that is played during the 8 days of Hanukkah called Dreidel. This year the first day of Hanukkah starts on Christmas Day.
Anthony our trustee who is also a baritone sang a traditional song and the kindergarten children sang 3 delightful songs.
We also had 4 students from the University of Westminster who are currently planning a documentary project about Dementia and the effects that is has on its sufferers. The students thought it was a great session and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
In addition we had a visit from 2 care navigators from the Barnet Integrated Locality Team, “BILT”. This is a new role within the NHS. They will receive referrals from GPs, assess them and forward them to the voluntary sector that can provide them the best support.
It was a crisp cold day in Barnet but lots of people attended to see the Mayor of Barnet officially open the Barnet Fayre with his two charities, Dementia Club UK and Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
Dementia Club UK also set up a stall in the Church Hall with other charities. A number of people visited including the Mayor. A big thanks to some of our volunteers who came to help, Annette, Melvyn & Arzu and of course Louis and Elaine who organised and looked after the stall.
Lisa invited all the volunteers to a thank you party at the Haven Restaurant in Whetstone. Everyone enjoyed the drinks and nibbles provided and had a great evening. (This was not funded by Dementia Club UK charity).
A presentation at Finchley Memorial Hospital by Louise Kean, Quality in Care Advisor from the London Borough of Barnet talked about her role which is similar to what the Care Quality Commission do. She inspects care homes to help drive up quality and provides advice and information to carers.
We had a Tai Chi lesson from another new teacher Egon Janikowski who introduced a further different style of Tai Chi which again was enjoyed by members.
Members were able to enjoy Tai Chi with instructor James Drewe who introduced a new style of Tai Chi which was enjoyed by everyone.
The Ionian Clarinet Choir held another concert at St Andrews Church in Southgate in aid of Dementia Club UK. We were amazed with a new programme which included a world premiere of a new arrangement which was enjoyed by everyone. The composer was in the audience to hear this played for the first time.
We would like to thank the members of the choir for their continued support.
Lisa was invited to speak about Dementia at the Carers Rights day event at Trinity Church Centre.
Today at Hendon Town Hall members of Dementia Club UK were treated to a Robe Show by the Mayor’s office. Angela presented a history of the London Borough of Barnet since 1965 and the role of the Mayors from the middle ages to today. Some of the members got an opportunity to try some of the robes on including our two special guests Ian Towning and his partner Les.
Peter White a retired J.P. gave us a talk at the Finchley Memorial Hospital about being a magistrate. He gave us information how magistrates make decisions, how fines are calculated and how the system works. Members were very interested and asked lots of questions.