Live Well B&NES are running a ‘Support & Wellbeing for Adults’ event on 20th March.
More information can be found on https://www.facebook.com/livewellbathnes
The event, at Keynsham Scout Hut (Ashton Way, Keynsham BS31 2UF) on Wednesday 20th March, is a drop-in from 2pm – 4pm.
The Scout Hut can be found at the top of Ashton Way car park. The building is accessible to all, with wheelchair access and an accessible toilet.
The last 2 months of 2023 were very busy for our group. We had our usual Music for the Mind sessions on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month and as there were 5 Thursdays in November we ran an extra session on the 30th November and played boccia instead of singing.
November day trip to Cadbury’s Garden Centre
We had one of our daytrips on 16th November when we took just over 20 of our friends and volunteers to Cadbury’s Garden Centre. We had a good time there last year and this year’s visit was just as successful. The staff at Cadbury’s gave us a quiet area where we could all sit and they served us cake and a drink when we arrived and then lunch. There was time to see all the Christmas decorations including the singing reindeer before returning home. Thanks once again to Keynsham Dial-a-Ride for providing the minibus.
Christmas Music for the Mind session
We only had one Music for the Mind session in December on the 14th. This was a special Christmas session with some singing but we also gave our friends and volunteers the opportunity to show off their talents. We had a fantastic Christmas cake that was baked for us by the chef at the Meryton Place care home and this was cut up and shared between the 60-70 attendees. The acts included Julie and Christine doing a song and dance routine to Mary Poppin’s Supercalifragilisticexpailidocious, Brian read a couple of his poems, Rick played his clarinet, Peter sang Mary’s Boy Child with everyone joining in the chorus, Judith treated us to a couple of her jokes, and Mike Greenside gave us an exhibition of his earlier rock and roll days by dancing to Rock around the Clock accompanied by Kelly. The final act showed us the true versatility of some of our volunteers. Liz, June, Mike, Trish and Christine did a 5 minute budget performance of Cinderella which nearly brought the house down. Yours truly played the part of the Christmas fairy and I got some admiring looks from some of the men in the audience. All the acts were well received and I’m sure we’ll do another Keynsham Talent Contest in the future. Tony Hall, who runs the Bristol DAA, came along to the meeting as a guest and handed over a Recognition Award to Merrial and Mike for the work that they do with the K&SDAA which we do with the help of all our wonderful volunteers. Well done everyone.
Keynsham Christmas Tree Festival
St John’s Church in Keynsham held their usual Christmas Tree Festival over the Dec 8th to 10th weekend. There were 50 local entries and our dementia group dressed up a tree as part of the festival. Several of our friends went to see all the trees over the weekend including residents from the nearby St Phillips and St James care home.
Keynsham Methodist Church are holding their next event on Tuesday December 5th from 10.30am and have invited along those linked to Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance. Please see below for more detail.
What has the group been doing recently?
We are averaging between 50 and 60 attendees at our Music for the Mind sessions. Recently we have arranged 2 visits to Oakham Treasures near Portway. It’s a great place to bring back memories going back to the 1960s. There were so many cries of “oh I used to have one of those”. There is a lovely café there and Keynsham Dial-a-Ride provided the transport on both occasions. On Wednesday 27th September we took our friends from St Phillips and St James’s care home and on Thursday 19th October we took some of our other regulars. Everybody had a good time and the singing on the way home was excellent and kept everyone awake.
What is happening in the future?
There is quite a lot happening with our group between now and Christmas. Between now and the end of the year we have 2 of our usual Music for the Mind sessions on Thursday 9th November and Thursday 23rd November and then only one in December on Thursday 14th December. However, this last session will include an open mic session for anyone who wants to sing, dance, read poems or tell jokes or any other party pieces. It’ll have a real “Keynsham Has Got Talent” flavour to it.
There are 5 Thursdays in November so on the 30th, which is the 5th Thursday, we will be running another boccia session which is becoming increasingly popular. Usual time, 10.30 until 12.15. Come and give it a go.
Our final outing for the year is going to be a Christmas trip to the Cadbury Garden Centre on Thursday 16th November. We’ll have a cuppa on arrival and a bit of lunch and plenty of time to look around for Christmas presents.
Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance was created in December 2016, with status as a charity confirmed in 2019. In May 2017, Music for the Mind sessions started and continue to run twice a month. They have remained popular, even with a challenging period where we were unable to run sessions. Over the last year, our attendance numbers have continued to grow and we are looking for additional volunteers to assist us as we continue to develop.
A key area we would like to build on is links to business within both Keynsham and Saltford and encouraging them to continue to work on being dementia friendly. We are asking individuals with an interest in either helping out with Music for the Mind or in more strategic roles to get in touch. The potential areas you could help out are as follows:
Music for the mind volunteer
We have been running the sessions for many years and have an existing team of volunteers who would support you in a role that suits your interests.
The main responsibility would be to assist with the running of sessions which can include more manual tasks such as setting up tables or socialising with our dementia friends and their carers, preparing drinks, giving out song books and/or helping out in the car park.
You would be present at the sessions which are on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month, it would not need to be every week and there is flexibility over when you would attend.
Community Engagement volunteer
This would be a fantastic opportunity for someone enthusiastic about their local community.
It would suit someone who is engaging, sociable and keen to combine skills in marketing, relationship/business development. Preferably you will already have links to Keynsham and/or Saltford with some knowledge/experience of dementia or arekeen to know more.
You would be the main point of contact for local business and responsible for developing links with the charity and how both can support each other. This can include making businesses aware of our services for site visits and how they can be adapted to be more dementia friendly, options for staff training and knowledge of dementia, ideas for fundraising/sponsorship along with any other good ideas you have.
Treasurer
This role as a volunteer would have flexibility to contribute as much as you like. The main responsibilities would be recording income and expenditure for the charity, managing finances in conjunction with the trustees, payment of invoices.
As a small charity it would only require a couple of hours a month but previous volunteers have enjoyed being part of a group and gone on to contribute to wider development.
Experience or background in accountancy or similar would be useful but not essential as we would support you in getting up and running.
Trustee
As a trustee you will have input into how the charity develops, areas to improve and making a difference to the communities of Keynsham and Saltford and those with dementia. You should have an interest in promoting greater inclusion and recognition of dementia, from those with the condition to their family, carers and wider support.
In particular, we would be keen for individuals with a background in either medical or the legal sector, previous experience as a trustee is not required.
If you are keen to discuss and have a chat about any of the roles, please do get in touch.
Contact details:
07392 442966
Making Keynsham and Saltford dementia friendly 