December 2017 extra

There was a festive spirit in the air for our final Memory Café of 2017. Seasonal music greeted our visitors and they quickly settled down to have a go at a Christmas wordsearch, or to have a look through the latest edition of the Bowgie-sponsored ‘Sparkle’ magazine.

Our special guest for the afternoon was Jonathan Hayter, an artist and teacher, who spread out on the tables a very long roll of paper. He then encouraged us to discover our inner-creative talents with the aid of a range of chalks, pastels and paints in bright colours!

Soon a variety of styles, colours, pictures and patterns emerged, stretching almost from one end of the room to the other as we surprised not only Jonathan but ourselves as well with our work!

Tea-time soon approached and everyone moved to our festively-dressed tables, complete with Christmas crackers, to enjoy some tasty refreshments. There was time for a chat and an exchange of corny cracker jokes and a welcome cup of tea!

To end the afternoon there was a Crantock version of ‘pass the parcel’ which involved passing and unwrapping two big snowballs to the accompaniment of some Christmas music which gave everyone a chance to sing along and have a laugh. Gifts were distributed to all our visitors who duly thanked all our organisers and helpers for their efforts throughout the year.

We look forward to meeting up again on 8th January and, as always, we welcome anyone with memory loss, together with their carers, to join us for a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon at Crantock Village Hall.

December 2017

Our first cafe in December took place on Monday 4^th, and with a theme of ‘Christmas Past’ it was clear that the festive spirit was here with the Village Hall beautifully decorated which added to the atmosphere!

On arrival, our visitors were greeted with a display of ‘vintage’ Christmas cards, books, tree decorations and even cake decorations which certainly evoked some memories.

After a chance to settle in, our visitors faced a ‘Christmas double challenge word-search’ which got everyone thinking. This was followed by a seasonal music-based game involving listening to familiar Christmas songs and carols from past decades and working out who was the singer - was it Bing Crosby or Dean Martin? Could that be Doris Day or was it Vera Lynn? This certainly required a bit of thought, but with a few clues and some friendly discussions around the tables, we soon worked most of them out!

Next, pictorial conversation boards were distributed encouraging everyone to look back and share their memories of such topics as tree-decorating, parties, carol-singing, Christmas presents and a range of other seasonal activities. The nostalgic hour passed quickly, and soon it was time for tea and the opportunity to stretch our legs and view the display or go and chat with friends.

Meanwhile, our friends ‘Cameo’ from St Columb Minor had arrived looking very sparkly and festive, and as refreshments were cleared away everyone settled down to be entertained with songs and verses – and a little bit of dancing too! Most of the songs were familiar with plenty of opportunities to sing along, and the warm round of applause they received at the end was fully deserved.

 As usual it was a most enjoyable and entertaining way to spend the afternoon and to begin our Christmas celebrations. We look forward to meeting up again in two weeks time on Monday 18^th December at Crantock Village Hall from 2pm and we are always pleased to welcome new visitors. Should you need further information please ring Di on 01637 830544, or Joan on 01637 831347