News

DAY TRIP TO OAKHAM TREASURES

At the start of May we arranged a trip to Oakham Treasurers which is in Portbury. We have been there a couple of times before but it is always good value for a day trip. The exhibits include cars, bikes, farm machinery. household goods, toys and lots of other things that we loved and forgotten about through the last 80 years or so. Most of us used Dial-a-Ride but a few drove themselves. In total there was just over 20 in all. We had a drink when we arrived, then had a walk round before lunch and then free time before we returned home. Everybody seemed to enjoy it.

THE KEYNSHAM MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Keynsham Music Festival took place over the weekend of 4th to 6^th July. For the third year running we were invited to put on a Music for the Mind session in the Big Top in Keynsham Park. This time we ran it in the morning rather than in the afternoon and it proved to be the best session we have done there with between 70 and 80 people in attendance. We put on all the refreshments and biscuits and the festival provided us with acts from the festival that included the bubble man, a couple of acrobats and a singer accompanied by an organist. Then the final hour saw Lindy lead one of our music sessions with June and John Hare providing the backing.

On the Sunday afternoon of the festival there were lots of bands playing throughout the day and there were many stalls selling all sorts of things. Julie, one of our volunteers, ran a tombola stall all day and the proceeds from the stall, about £400’ will be donated to our charity. Julie is a member of a ladies group in Whitchurch, and they made our DAA their Charity of the Year. Many thanks to Julie and all her friends for all their hard work.

AFTERNOON TEA AND CONCERT

Tuesday 19^th August was the day of our annual tea party organised and arranged by our Judith, our Head of Kitchen. She had a lot of support from our regulars Jane and Jenny plus other volunteers. The afternoon starts off with Lindy, who runs our Music for the Mind sessions, showing us what a great voice she has. She was ably supported by Geoff on organ. Lindy sang several songs from the old musicals, Geoff read out a couple of humorous poems and Judith entertained us with some very good jokes. This was then followed by tea which consisted of scone with jam and cream Cornish fashion, plus cakes and hot drinks. There were between 40 and 50 present who all enjoyed the afternoon and I’m sure Judith will arrange another one next year if we ask her nicely.

MUSIC FOR THE MIND

As well as all the above going on, our twice monthly Music for the Mind sessions continue in St Dunstan’s Church Hall from 10.30 until 12.15. It’s free and it’s open to all with dementia as long as they are accompanied by a relative or friend.

Since May there has been 2 sessions of boccia on the 5^th Thursday of May and July. The next one at the end of October will be the last one for 2025.

On the morning of 14^th July 13 of our volunteers took part in a First Aid course that was run by a tutor from the Red Cross. It was a wonderful opportunity for us all to refresh our knowledge of first aid and to give us the knowledge and confidence to give help to those that need it during our sessions.

DONATION FROM MERYTON PLACE CARE HOME

On the 26^th August, Meryton Place Care Home held a beach party for their residents and friends. The weather was good and lots of people turned up to wander around all the stalls. Food and drink were plentiful and everybody enjoyed a great afternoon. The proceeds from the afternoon were donated to our dementia group along with other money they had collected during the year.

Sarah and Cheryl from Meryton Place came along to our Music for the Mind session on the 14^th August and handed over a cheque for £730 to June, Merrial and Mike. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Meryton for their kind donation on behalf of our committee, our volunteers and all our members.

The photograph shows Merrial and Mike being presented with a cheque for £1000 from Mike Slucutt who is the chairman of Keynsham Town Walking Football Club. This was handed over prior to one of our regular sessions down at Keynsham Town’s football ground. Since the club was founded in 2014 they have raised £38,000 for good local causes. It is a great club and we thank them for their generosity. They run sessions on Tuesday and Friday mornings and also on Thursday evenings

On 16^th March 2025, the chair of the charity, Tim Blowers, took on the Bath Half Marathon in support of the Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance and we’re thrilled to announce that we raised around £1,000!

Along with his family, two of our management committee, Mike and Merrial Knight were there to cheer him on, over the 13.1 miles during a sunny day which was good for running. There was a fantastic crowd around Bath to support him complete his first ever half-marathon in just over 2.5 hours.

A huge thank you to those who donated and supported Tim and the funds will be put to good use! If you’d like to get involved in future events or support our work, please get in touch. Tim has already started to think about doing it again next year, if you’d like to donate there’s still time at https://bathhalf2025.enthuse.com/pf/tim-blowers1

Audley Chandler was a regular visitor to Music for the Mind. She used to come along with her daughter, Lynne Matthews, and they both greatly enjoyed the sessions. Audrey was always cheerful and was loved by all our volunteers. Sadly she passed away recently and the family held a collection at her funeral and collected a total of £560. Lynne decided to donate the money to our group because of the kindness and fun both Audrey and Lynne got from our sessions. Lynne came along with her husband to our meeting on 13^th March to present us with the money. A wonderful way to acknowledge the life of a lovely lady. She will be missed by everyone in our group.

The photograph shows June, our Chair, with Lindy, who leads our singing, with Lynne and her husband.

Our last Music for the Mind session of 2024 on 12^th December had to be switched to Saltford Hall as the roof of St Dunstan’s Church Hall had been damaged in a storm. The first meeting of 2025 on 9^th January had to be cancelled, when another problem was found at St Dunstan’s that needed urgent repair. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to arrange an alternative venue. We were advised that repairs were unlikely to be fixed before early February. We were determined to run a session on 23^rd January and Saltford Hall was again free but only on Thursday afternoon. As a result numbers attending were slightly down but we still had a good old sing song.

The following Thursday, the 30^th, was the fifth of the month so we decided to go ahead with a boccia session as usual. Saltford Hall was again the venue and there were over 30 people in attendance. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the room. Everybody got involved, cheering good shots and generally being very supportive to everyone. The players are improving a lot and we had a grand final between two couples, Hazel and Morris and Dennis and Vera. Hazel and Morris eventually won and the attached pictures shows them in action.

In early February we got the all clear from St Dunstan’s and we could return to the church hall on 13^th February. This was great news and we immediately got in touch with all our volunteers and friends. We had a wonderful session with our biggest ever attendance. Everybody was so glad to be back home. It went very well, the singing was better than ever. A couple of guests attended the meeting and they both said how much they had enjoyed it.

Thanks to Lindy and June for leading the singing, to Judith and her team in the kitchen and to all our volunteers for the hard work they put in at every meeting. Great team work overall. Thanks to Tim Blowers, our Chair of Trustees, who does a lot of work in the background. Good luck Tim in the Bath half marathon on Sunday 16^th March. Tim is being sponsored and all the proceeds are going to our group, you can donate here – https://bathhalf2025.enthuse.com/pf/tim-blowers1