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Lisa was invited to join the Rotary Club AGM this evening for a special reason. She was formerly welcomed by President Adrian and Valerie and was awarded Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Golders Green. Lisa was delighted and very honoured to receive this and thanked the President and all the Rotary Club members for voting for her.

We had 23 members today, The karaoke show started as usual at 2pm and followed by the chat session at 2.30pm. Lisa welcomed everyone and also wished those who were Jewish – Happy Shavuot which commemorates giving of the law the Torah  and is celebrated by eating dairy foods. A discussion then followed as today marked more restrictions lifted by the Government to be able to eat inside restaurants/pubs and meet other families. Lisa also reminded everyone about the carers group meeting and the topic of discussion tomorrow with Andrew and also mentioned about the extra zoom session this week on Friday 21st May at 2pm celebrating Dementia Action Week and also the partnership with Barnet carers. Lisa also suggested a topic of discussion tomorrow during reminiscing time – Foods of the past compared to the present and history of dieting. Everyone thought it would be interesting.

Katie our music entertainer then joined us and today Katie sang Disney movie songs which was very enjoyable. Eon then joined us for the exercises and as usual gets everyone working out hard.

Lisa then did a true and false quiz and Mark wanted to try a new method of getting everyone to use their device to answer instead of pen and paper. It was a trial for Friday. Everyone enjoyed the quiz and also the challenge. Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and today’s winner was Karin and Corrado.

We had 22 members today. Everyone enjoyed the Karaoke session and then Lisa welcomed everyone during the chat session. Gina and Chris mentioned that it was their 48 years wedding anniversary today. Lisa made sure she also informed James Le Bec and James then sang a Walz song for them which they enjoyed. James also promised to sing later some rock music especially as Chris enjoys Rock music. The Music quiz was exciting and fun as usual and the winners were Jackie and Joan with 10 out of 10.

Richard then joined the session. Everyone always enjoys Richard’s Yoga as he always makes it fun. Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and the winners today were Gina and Chris. They were so happy and excited to have won especially as it was their wedding anniversary today.

We had 30 members this evening.

Lisa welcomed everyone and introduced Jenny Walsh and Katie de Swarte from Osbornes Law Solicitors who were invited to talk about Powers of Attorney, Wills, family disputes and other contentious matters. Their contact details are;

Osbornes Law Solicitors

Address: Livery House, 7-9 Pratt Street, London NW1 0AE

Tel: 0207485 8811

Website: www.osborneslaw.com

As members had a number of questions and this had slightly gone over Andrew’s time, Lisa asked Jenny and Katie if they were happy to stay until Andrew finished his seminar.  They were happy to stay. Andrew then started his seminar at 7.40pm and the talk today was ‘Sanctuary Meditation’.Andrew first recapped on a couple of slides from previous weeks seminar on ‘Be Kind to Yourself’ before starting the meditation.

Andrew went through some breathing techniques with everyone which help to de stress and relax when you are feeling anxious or nervous. He then got everyone sitting up straight ready for the meditation.Everyone was asked to close their eyes and just listen to Andrew’s voice giving step by step instructions. A few members were so relaxed they found themselves falling asleep.

Feedback from members said that each guided step felt real and at the end felt very relaxed. It was a truly wonderful experience. Lisa asked Andrew if he could record the step-by-step meditation so that members could use it when they need to relax. Andrew said that he would be happy to do that.

It was then time for some more questions and whilst everyone was relaxed, they still had a few questions for Jenny and Katie. Lisa then thanked Jenny and Katie for their time and asked them if they could also send their costs especially as a couple of members had asked about that. A discussion followed after about next week’s seminar topic and it was decided that it would be ‘Person Centred Approach to Personal Care’. Lisa thanked Andrew and the session ended.

• Next week’s seminar with Andrew on 18th May will be  ‘Person Centred Approach to Personal Care’
• Dr Angela has asked me to provide you all with the following additional latest guidance with more details on when CPR is likely to succeed and is inappropriate – Significant changes  https://www.resus.org.uk/library/2021-resuscitation-guidelines
• Whilst writing please all note the date Friday 21st May at 2pm – a Zoom webinar event celebrating the partnership of Barnet Carers and Dementia Club UK during Dementia Action Week with one hour of fun entertainment. Please see attached poster with Zoom details to join the event.
• ‘Charitable Radio’ is a new radio station and Nick has managed to post the event on the 21st May on Facebook to get Dementia Club UK announced by the new radio station on Sunday 16th May 2021. Their goal is to raise 100K to donate to charity. This was brought to Lisa’s attention by Valerie one of our Trustees – thank you Valerie.

We had 22 members today. Everyone enjoyed the Karaoke session and then Lisa welcomed everyone during the chat session. Lisa also mentioned that there were a few events this week and next week. Mental Health Awareness Week from the 10th to the 16th of May and then Dementia Action Week from the 17th May to the 23rd May. Lisa then mentioned the special event on Friday 21st May celebrating the launch of Barnet Carers and Dementia Club UK in partnership and also providing a fun program. Lisa explained how they could join the event. Lisa also reminded them about the 2 ladies from Osbornes solicitors attending the carers group meeting this evening and this would be a chance for members to ask questions about Lasting Powers of Attorney, Wills or any other legal matters.

Today’s chat session was also the beginning of a new chat session as members decided they would like to talk about the Evacuation during WW2. A few of the members started to talk and reminisce and a couple of members also showed their photos. Some of the stories were very overwhelming. Everyone thought this chat was very worthwhile especially as some of the members that don’t get a chance to talk a lot were able to talk. This will now become a regular weekly reminiscing slot. Ian James our music entertainer then joined and as he had caught some of the chats towards the end, he also provided a story. It was then time for some music and Ian as usual always gets members jolly and singing along to many favourites.

Rachel who normally follows to do the exercises was unfortunately held up and unable to attend today so Lisa continued straight to Bingo and the Bingo winner was Helen and Chrystalla. As there was still time after Bingo, everyone decided to continue the reminiscing chat.

We had 19 members today. Everyone enjoyed the Karaoke as usual and then Lisa welcomed everyone at the chat session at 2.30pm. Lisa informed everyone about Dementia Action Week from 17th to the 23rd May and also informed them of a celebration zoom event on Friday 21st May at 2pm – celebrating the partnership of Barnet Carers with Dementia Club UK. This will be a one-hour fun event.

Katie Paine then joined to start the music entertainment and sang a variety of songs which got everyone singing along. Eon then joined to teach the chair exercise session which as usual is always great and everyone loves to work out.

The session the continued with a quiz from Kevin and today’s quiz was about naming some previous Prime Ministers and their nick names. Kevin always makes it fun. The winners were Peter, Stephen and Brenda, Pam and John. Lisa then called out the Bingo and todays winners were Booba Beryl and Hazel and also John and Audrey.

We had 24 members today. Everyone enjoyed the Karaoke session at 2pm and then the chat at 2.30pm. Lisa welcomed everyone and also Andrew Mills and Melvyn. Helen one of the carers mentioned that she was still waiting for her daughter to have the baby and was very excited. James Le Bec and Joy then joined us for the music entertainment. James sang a few popular songs and then started the quiz which today was about naming 10 songs of a famous music artist. Everyone soon guessed after one song it was Elvis. The members with the highest scores were Helen and Kevin getting all the answers right. James then sang a couple of rock and roll songs which got everyone excited and moving in particular Gina and Chris who were up dancing.

Richard then joined us to do the Yoga session which as usual was great. There was no quiz today from Richard as Lisa had to take Mark to get his second vaccine.

Just before the session ended however there was happy news from Helen announcing that her daughter had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Everyone congratulated Helen. What a wonderful surprise.

We had 24 members this evening. Lisa welcomed everyone including Mike Rich- CEO ‘Barnet Carers Centre’ and Andrew Wrensch -Seminar trainer.

 Lisa first invited Mike to say a few words if he had any updates. Mike has agreed to attend our meetings every 2 weeks. Mike mentioned that it was soon Dementia Awareness week. He then also mentioned that it was good news from Public health that the infection rate is now very low.

Lisa then invited Fulvia who had already asked to speak earlier about something very interesting. Fulvia agreed to take part in an Alzheimer’s Society research which is reading short stories which she is really enjoying and her husband is also. Fulvia also suggested another link about a Dementia friendly TV Show. Both links are below;

The first link is a Dementia Friendly TV Shows & Channels called My Life TV – https://mylifefilms.org/my-life-tv/

The second link is the Short Stories that Fulvia talked about in the meeting – https://blog.reedsy.com/short-stories/

This led to discussion about reminiscing and ideas were suggested that perhaps we should make time in the afternoon sessions to talk about various topics that would prompt pass memories. First topic suggested was ‘Evacuation during World War Two’

 Baerbel also told us about a site where you can take a virtual tour anywhere around the world – https://www.heygo.com/

It was then time for the Seminar and today’s seminar was on ‘Nutrition and Hydration’ Andrew presented the slides and then there was a discussion. Members raised various issues for discussion.

The majority decision for next week’s seminar will be “Sanctuary Meditation” which Andrew is happy to present.

Lisa thanked Andrew and Mike and the meeting closed at 8.32pm

We had 23 members today. The new karaoke session was introduced today with new songs and then the chat session followed at 2.30pm. Lisa welcomed everyone and Ian James our music entertainer then joined and as usual his bubbly character always gets everyone excited and happy. Ian sang lots of popular songs which everyone enjoyed singing along to. Rachel then joined us. Everyone enjoys Rachel’s style and dancing. It was then time for the quiz and Kevin one of the carers did a Family Fortunes quiz of 5 questions. It’s always fun with Kevin and lots of laughter with his jokes which everyone loves. The winner was Helen and Chrystalla. Lisa thanked Kevin and everyone joined in to thank him too.

Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and today’s winner was Kevin and Mabel.