Reconnect Through Music ๐ŸŽถ

What an amazing session yesterday โ€“ we had over 30 songs sung by our talented members! ๐ŸŽค๐Ÿ’ซ
๐ŸŒŸ Matilda wowed us with “Kiss Me” by Olly Murs
๐ŸŒŸ Ffion and Amy gave us a blast from the past with “Don’t You Want Me” by Human League
๐ŸŒŸ Rebecca sang beautifully with “Flower” by Miley Cyrus ๐Ÿ’–
๐ŸŒŸ Anthony gave us a few tunes โ€“ our favourite was “Love Me Tender” by Elvis ๐Ÿ’•
๐ŸŒŸ Hywel touched our hearts with “How Great Thou Art” ๐Ÿ™Œ
โ€ฆAnd so many more incredible performances! ๐Ÿฅณ
We also tucked into a lovely buffet โ€“ thank you to all our amazing volunteers and a big shoutout to Peter for setting up! ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ’
It was also lovely to welcome a new member into the group โ€“ we canโ€™t wait to see you again!

Woodland Walk & Birthday!

Yesterday Caerphilly People First members had a lovely walk around Bargoed Woodland Park โ€“ the views were beautiful, and there are so many different routes to explore! ๐ŸŒณ๐ŸŒž We managed to get in over 6,000 steps โ€“ well done everyone! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฅ‡

After our walk, we headed back to the office and celebrated Anthony and Christopherโ€™s birthday with some delicious cake ๐ŸŽ‚๐ŸŽˆ๐ŸŽ Happy birthday to the twins! ๐Ÿฅณ๐Ÿ‘ฌ

Pen y Fan Pond Walk

Last week we enjoyed a lovely walk around Pen y Fan Pond and spotted lots of fish and wildlife ๐Ÿฆ†๐Ÿฆ‹.
Afterwards, we visited a gorgeous little hidden gem right opposite โ€“ Fferm Gelli Camping Site ๐Ÿ•โœจ. We got to feed the friendly alpaca ๐Ÿฆ™ (Jack) and Gethin made friends with the horses ๐Ÿดโ€ฆ well, one loved him so much it gave him a little nibble ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ’›.
This beautiful spot is home to ducks ๐Ÿฆ†, chickens ๐Ÿ“, rabbits ๐Ÿ‡, and many other adorable animals ๐Ÿพ.
๐ŸŒŸ Such a lovely day filled with nature, fresh air, and furry friends!

Reconnect Through Cookery Fun!

On Friday we kept it fresh and tasty! Our amazing members prepared a colourful salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, spring onions, radish, and lettuce ๐Ÿฅ’๐Ÿ…๐Ÿง…๐Ÿฅฌโ€” then made their own wraps with cheese, ham, chicken, or a bit of everything! ๐Ÿ˜‹๐ŸŒฏ
๐Ÿ‘ A huge thank you to our fantastic volunteers for all your help, to Ffion for the brilliant quiz ๐Ÿง ๐ŸŽ‰, and to Pete the caretaker for setting everything up โ€” you’re a legend! โญ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ A big welcome to our new member Rachael โ€” it was lovely to have you join us today, and we canโ€™t wait to see you again! ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ’š
๐ŸŽถ Weโ€™ll see everyone on Wednesday for Reconnect Through Music โ€” get ready to sing, dance, and have a great time! ๐ŸŽค๐Ÿ’ƒ๐Ÿ•บ

Woodland Walk

We had our walk nice and early today to avoid the heat ๐Ÿฅต๐ŸŒณ
It was a lovely, leisurely stroll around Bargoed Woodland Park ๐ŸŒฟ๐Ÿฆ โ€” absolutely beautiful! ๐Ÿ’š This afternoon, weโ€™re cooling down in the office โ„๏ธ Stay cool everyone, drink plenty of fluids ๐Ÿ’ง and donโ€™t forget your sun cream ๐Ÿงด๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ๐ŸŒž

Viva Fest 2025

Viva Fest 2025 didnโ€™t disappoint! ๐ŸŽ‰ We had an amazing day at the ICC Wales ๐ŸŽถ๐Ÿฅ trying out African drumming, getting creative with crafts ๐ŸŽจ, having a go at archery ๐ŸŽฏ, chatting to all the stall holders ๐Ÿ—ฃ, and enjoying some fantastic singing and live music ๐ŸŽค๐ŸŽต.
๐Ÿคฉ The stilt walkers were incredible ๐Ÿคนโ€โ™‚๏ธ, and the giant bubbles were magical. It was so lovely to see all our wonderful People First friends ๐Ÿ’›. Massive well done to the organisers ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘.

๐Ÿ Gethin loved sitting on the Blood Bank motorbike ๐Ÿ, Rees enjoyed trying out the police gear ๐Ÿ‘ฎโ€โ™‚๏ธ, Judith had a go on the bike ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ, Theresa loved collecting all the free pens โœ’๏ธ, and Libby had fun with the crafts โœ‚๏ธ.We even treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream! Canโ€™t wait for the next one! ๐ŸŽ‰โœจ

Bargoed Woodland Walk

It was the perfect weather for our group walk yesterday through Bargoed Woodland Park! ๐ŸŒณ๐Ÿšถโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿšถโ€โ™‚๏ธ Well done to everyone who joined us โ€” it was a long one, but you all smashed it! ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ’š Lovely views, fresh air, good company, and lots of laughs along the way! ๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿ˜„

TRAC Online Meeting

Today Ffion and Nat attended TRAC online! TRAC is an exciting project with the University of South Wales ๐Ÿซ helping to train student nurses by including the lived experiences of people with learning disabilities ๐Ÿ’ฌ๐Ÿ’ก

We spoke about developing an Easy Read Risk Assessment โœ… and weโ€™re thrilled to sayโ€ฆ๐ŸŽ‰ Ffion and Gethin will be involved as Teaching and Research Leads / Co-Researchers ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿซ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ”ฌ๐Ÿ™Œ Well done Ffion, Nat and Gethin!

๐Ÿ’ฅ Thereโ€™s currently a shortage of learning disability nurses across the UK โ€“ nowโ€™s the perfect time to make a difference!
๐Ÿ’™ Want to help change lives?
You can apply to study Learning Disability Nursing at University of South Wales, Pontypridd Campus ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โš•๏ธ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš•๏ธ
๐Ÿ‘‰ Visit www.southwales.ac.uk to find out more and apply!

Our Day Out to Barry Island

Yesterday, staff, volunteers and members had a lovely day out at Barry Island! ๐Ÿ˜Š
We caught the train from Caerphilly ๐Ÿš† and had a nice walk along the seafront ๐Ÿ‘ฃ. Some of us went on the funfair rides ๐ŸŽข โ€” our brave members tackled the dodgems, the log flume, the waltzers, and many more exciting rides! ๐ŸŽ ๐Ÿ’ฆ๐ŸŽข
We enjoyed coffee and refreshments at Marcoโ€™s in the morning โ˜•๐Ÿฐ, and in the afternoon, we treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream ๐Ÿฆ โ€” perfect on a sunny day!
We also had fun at the penny arcade ๐ŸŽฐ and bumped into some of our friends from Newbridge who also came by train! ๐Ÿ‘‹
Everyone had a great day full of fresh sea air ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธ, smiles ๐Ÿ˜Š and walking by the beach ๐Ÿ–๏ธ. By the end of the day, we were tired but happy! ๐Ÿ’™
We canโ€™t wait for our next seaside adventure! ๐Ÿš๐Ÿงข๐ŸŒž

Fun and Games!

Our members have been having loads of fun playing darts, snooker, and ping pong, thanks to a very generous donation! There have been plenty of smiles, laughter, and a few friendly competitions โ€“ our members love taking part, especially when they’re winning! ๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ†
A huge THANK YOU to the very kind person who donated the kit โ€“ it means so much and has already brought so much joy. ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ™Œ