December 2014

As our December cafe fell on the first of the month we conjured up some early Christmas spirit and spent a happy couple of hours looking back, and forward to celebrating the festive season.

Friends arrived to find the room and tables appropriately dressed to get everyone in the mood, and all were soon busy doing Christmas word games and puzzles, or happily chatting about events during the month since we last met. David drew everyone together to listen to a humorous seasonal poem, and we then enjoyed playing traditional games – ‘Kim’s game’ tested everyone’s memories as seasonal objects were removed from a tray one-by-one, and pass the parcel played to a background of Christmas music was enjoyed by all.

Di then amused us all with a ‘Christmas Alphabet’ – it’s amazing how many words we could all think of associated with this time of year!

Meanwhile, our invaluable kitchen team were busy at work boiling the kettles and loading plates with a delicious selection for our Christmas tea – the ‘cherry on the cake’ – almost literally – was a beautiful Christmas cake which went down well with a cup of tea.

We were then pleased to welcome back Barry, and his accordion, who had provided entertainment at our very first cafe meeting last January. This time he gave us the chance to choose and sing a selection of Christmas songs and carols which he interspersed with amusing jokes and stories –we hope he was impressed with our singing – we certainly did our best!

We then had another unexpected visitor, when Santa made an appearance, and with the help of Joan distributed gifts to all our friends – and we were delighted that he didn’t forget our indispensible ladies in the kitchen.

We were so pleased he managed to fit us into his busy schedule -  perhaps it was lucky that the cafe was right at the beginning of December, although there was something about him which did look very familiar ......!

Altogether it was a lovely afternoon- as usual, the relaxed, friendly atmosphere meant that no-one felt left out or unable to take part, and hopefully it left everyone feeling ‘set up’ for the busy month ahead.

Crantock Memory Cafe hopes that everyone in the local area has a very happy Christmas and we would like to send our best wishes to all for 2015. 

Our next gathering will be on Monday 5th January 2015 – our first anniversary!

November 2014

There was a real ‘buzz’ in the cafe on Monday 3rd November when friends gathered in the Village Hall for an afternoon with a creative theme. We were delighted to welcome local artist Elaine who demonstrated how to create a wonderful coastal picture using collage techniques and then invited everyone to have a go!

After some initial hesitation, we decided ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ with some truly impressive results: paper, card, glue and scissors and all the artistic flair we could muster were put to good use, and within an hour we had an interesting display of our handiwork framed and ready to hang on the wall. Our thanks to Elaine – we hope she’ll come back again!

Whilst we enjoyed our tea we were treated to the work of a second talented artist – our very own Brian, who had brought in several of his wonderful paintings for us to see. Brian’s paintings of trains, fishing boats, planes and cars are works of detailed perfection and we were privileged to be able to look at them at close quarters and hear about Brian’s painting methods.

After tea we were able to relax and chat – with Autumn in mind, there were word and pictorial puzzles to do, and an intriguing box full of Autumn leaves in which to delve and discover conkers, pine cones, pumpkins and other seasonal items.

As the afternoon drew to a close, we had a surprise visitor – Denise arrived with Darcey, her delightful retriever puppy, who charmed us all – hopefully we’ll meet her again as she grows into a beautiful dog.

One final exciting development – as we now have our own webpage you can even email us on info@crantockmemorycafe.org.uk .

Our next gathering will be on Monday 1st December from 2pm – 4pm at Crantock Village Hall.

October 2014

Song and dance was the order of the day at Crantock Memory Cafe this month, as members welcomed musical group ‘Cameo’ for an hour of music, dance, poetry and reminiscence. The ladies from St Columb Minor thoroughly entertained everyone with music from the First World War through to the 1950s and memory cafe members were soon singing along and tapping their feet! The girls provided us with a most enjoyable show – as far as we were all concerned, they were certainly the ‘Perfect Ladies’ which the name of their performance promised.

Following a delicious afternoon tea brought to us another group of ‘perfect ladies’ – our kitchen helpers, we were pleased to welcome Tracey Sillis, Care Support Worker from the Cornwall Carers Service, who was able to provide some useful information and advice for the carers in our group.

The afternoon concluded with some animated discussions stimulated by a number of interesting articles displayed in the room – a stone hot water bottle, a flat iron, old sewing and D-I-Y equipment and games from the 1940s and 1950s were amongst numerous items which sparked many memories and anecdotes and proved a source of much laughter and chatter – a great way to end an enjoyable afternoon!

A few weeks earlier, the organising committee set up an information stall at the Crantock Bale Push. Many people took time out of an exciting evening to come and talk to us and see the range of activities and resources that we freely offer to our members. Everyone seemed genuinely interested to learn about the problems and difficulties of living daily with memory loss and appreciated our aim to help by providing support and respite for sufferers and their carers. Following on from this, we were thrilled to receive a donation of £400 from the Bale Push Committee towards our running costs. As an independent organisation which receives minimal financial support compared to similar memory cafes in larger towns, we were very grateful for this and will be able continue to provide whatever practical help we can within the local community.

Our next meeting will be held in Crantock Village Hall from 2pm – 4pm on Monday 3^rd November and new members will be most welcome.