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June has kindly recorded and edited a couple of songs.

Below are Bella Mama and Oh how lovely is the evening.

KSDAA held our annual afternoon tea party recently. We welcomed our members and enjoyed a singing performance by Lindy and Geoff. Judith and her team of Jayne and Jenny produced a delicious cream tea.

Many thanks to everyone who helped and took part.

The Keynsham Music Festival took place in glorious sunshine over the weekend from Friday 3^rd to Sunday 5^th. For the 4^th year we were asked by Mike May, the festival chairman, to run a Music for the Mind session in the Big Top in Keynsham Park on the Friday morning,

We agreed and it turned out to be our best ever and there was an excellent turnout of our dementia friends and their carers. Two of our local care homes, St Phillips and St James and Meryton Place care home were well represented.

Overall the session ran from 10.00 until 12.30. As people were arriving they were entertained by the Bath U3A Swing Band for 50 minutes. They were followed by 3 separate circus acts, a man blowing huge bubbles, followed by a juggler and finally a couple of acrobats.

Then Lindy took over for the final 45 minutes with a brief warm-up followed by a sing song that included some of the group’s favourite songs.

A big thank you to Mike May and his team of helpers for all the preparation, setting up the big tent, sound system and lighting and putting out the tables and chairs. Thanks also to our volunteers for serving out the hot and cold drinks and tidying up afterwards. Thanks also to Lindy for leading the singing and June for providing the backing. And finally thanks to all our dementia friends for supporting us on the day and made it such a joyous occasion.

Keynsham Town Council’s Grant Presentation Evening for 2026

Our treasurer represented our group at the presentation evening on Thursday 9^th July in the Space in Keynsham Civic Centre. We applied for a grant of £810 to go towards the cost of running our Music for the Mind sessions. Our application was successful and the attached photograph shows Mike Knight picking up the award. There were about 40 local charities present to pick up a cheque and each representative had a maximum of 2 minutes to give details of what their charity’s aims were and how their grant would be used.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Keynsham Town Council on behalf of all our dementia friends and their carers, not just for this cheque, but for all the support they have given us since we formed the charity in 2017. It was a real tonic to listen about all the various charitable organisations that we have in our area. A huge thanks to Keynsham Town Council for bringing us all together.

From the start of February to the end of May we ran 8 Music for the mind sessions plus a boccia session at the end of May and two trips, one in March and one in May.

The Music for the Mind sessions are always well attended and we average between 45 and 65 attendees per session. Lindy continues to do a grand job organising the warm up, exercises and singing ably supported by June on the accordion. Christine and Mike help out with any rounds which always sound very good. We had a special session at the end of March to celebrate Easter and people were encouraged to wear Easter bonnets. The photos show some of our members joining in the fun. Then on the 14^th May we celebrated the group’s 9^th anniversary of Music for the Mind. Lindy said that it was the 162^nd session, the first one being on the 2^nd session in May 2017. Several of our volunteers have only missed a handful of meetings, a wonderful achievement.

We ran a boccia session at the end of May on the 5^th Thursday of the month. We run 3 or 4 sessions a year and it has grown in popularity. It is similar to bowls but it’s played indoors while sitting down. It is good fun and there is a great competitive atmosphere in the hall with plenty of encouragement from the spectators.

The Music for the Mind sessions and the boccia would not be so enjoyable without our catering staff. They always do a great job with Judith in charge with great help from Jayne and Jenny. Our other volunteers help to provide a wonderful atmosphere and make everyone feel welcome and at home.

Another cinema trip, the second of the year, was arranged at the Chocolate Quarter on 19^th March. We watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which was a gentle romantic comedy enjoyed by everyone. It was a full house with 30 of us enjoying the film and then popping into the restaurant for lunch. I’m sure there will be more cinema trips in the future.

Our latest trip out was on Thursday 21^st May and was a boat trip on a barge on the canal at Bradford-on-Avon. There were 25 of us on the trip that included several volunteers. The cruise lasted for 90 minutes and while on board we were treated to a cream tea and a hot drink. It was all very peaceful and relaxing and there were plenty of ducks and swans to be seen plus ducklings and cygnets. Altogether it was a great day out.

January turned out to be a busy month for the group. As usual we had our two Music for the Mind sessions both sessions were well attended with between 40 and 50 attendees at each despite the bad weather. As there were 5 Thursdays in January we held a boccia session (akin to sitting down bowls) for which we had our best attendance ever with over 30 people altogether. Everybody who wanted to play had a go and there was plenty of encouragement from those watching. The quality of play continues to improve and everybody had a good time. Thanks to all our volunteers for their help.

Two of our committee attended a meeting of BEES, a ladies’ group that meets in Whitchurch. They presented us with a cheque for over £1200. They had made us their Charity of the Year for 2025 and the group worked really hard to raise the money. The picture shows Mike and Merrial receiving the cheque from the BEES treasurer. The lady on the right is Julie who is one of our volunteers and is also a member of BEES and suggested us to be their Charity of the Year. Thanks Julie.

We also received £200 from St Monica’s who organised a Christmas Fayre with profits going to our charity. It was greatly appreciated. The activities group at St Monica’s also bring some of their residents to our Music for the Mind sessions.

The Chocolate Quarter has a small cinema which we have rented on 3 occasions recently. During January we invited our members to a showing of the movie Shirley Valentine which went down really well. Most of those who attended stayed on to have lunch in the restaurant. More outings will be arranged during the year. The cinema has been booked for Thursday 19^th March but the film hasn’t been chosen yet.

Our regular free Music for the Mind sessions are on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays of the month in St Dunstan’s Church Hall between 10.30 until 12.15. All welcome and you are guaranteed a warm reception. For more information visit our website at www.keynshamdaa.co.uk or e-mail ksdaa22@gmail.com