Travel Confidence Trip with Clare from Transport for Wales

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We recently jumped aboard for a fantastic Travel Confidence trip with the lovely Clare from Transport for Wales! 🙌
We set off from Pengam Station and travelled to Cardiff Queen Street, before heading down to the beautiful Barry Island 🏖️☀️
On the way back, we enjoyed a direct journey from Barry Island to Pengam—and we were lucky enough to ride on one of the brand new trains! 🚄 They’re so comfortable, spacious, and much quieter than the old ones 🙉👏
We had coffee and cold drinks at Marco’s ☕🥤, took a lovely stroll along the front 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️, and of course, no trip to Barry Island is complete without chips and ice cream 🍟🍦
Everyone had a fab day, full of fun, sunshine, and confidence-building travel skills 🌟💙
Thanks again to Clare and Transport for Wales for supporting us to travel safely and independently ❤️🚉

Reconnect Through Cookery Fun!

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At our first July session of Reconnect Through Cookery, our amazing members got hands-on prepping onions 🧅, mushrooms 🍄, and peppers 🌶️ to add to our delicious Mayflower chicken curry! Some preferred it plain – all served with plain or vegetable rice 🍚 and crunchy prawn crackers 🦐. YUM!
We had a sweet treat too – a slice of chocolate cake 🍰 to celebrate Reese’s birthday! 🎂🥳
After lunch, we had a brilliant time playing bingo 🎱 and testing our brains with a fun quiz 🧠 — big shoutout to: 💛 Peter the caretaker for all his support
💛 Sarah for being our bingo boss
💛 Nat for hosting the quiz like a pro!
These sessions aren’t just about food – they’re about friendship, laughter, learning new skills, reducing isolation, and having a great time together. 💬👫🧠
Thank you to our fab volunteers and members for making it all possible – you’re the heart of Reconnect 💚

Caerphilly People First Woodland Adventure!

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Our focus group went on an amazing adventure through Bargoed Woodland Park, walking all the way to Fleur-de-Lys and back via Pengam Lights! 💪 The walk took us two hours and our members absolutely smashed it! 🙌👏
We were a tiny bit disappointed there were no picnic benches on route 🧺😢 — but that didn’t stop us! We headed back to the YMCA and enjoyed our lunch together at the office 🍽️😊 while a few members made their way home for a well-earned rest. 🏡
Well done everyone – what a lovely way to stay active, social, and connected! 💚✨

Adfest 2025 – What an Epic Adventure!

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We had an amazing time at the All Wales People First conference in North Wales! 🏔️✨
The hotel was lush 🛏️, the food was delicious 🍽️, and the company was just perfect 💬💖. A massive congratulations to everyone who won a Mirror Award 🪞🏆 — so well deserved for your outstanding work and contributions across Wales 👏👏👏.
The workshops were so much fun! 🎨🎤
🎵 We learned to sing using Makaton and other signs – and totally nailed it!
💃🏽🕺 The House of Deviants brought the energy with a lunchtime drag performance that had us all smiling and dancing!
We loved browsing the information stalls 🛍️📚— packed with great resources and freebies to take home 🎁.
And the silent disco? Absolutely EPIC! 🔇🎧
The dance moves were on fire 🔥 and the laughter was non-stop 😂💃.
Huge thanks to all the organisers who made it such a fab two days 🙌💐. We’re already counting down to the next one!

Reconnect through Cookery Update

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What a fabulous (and very warm!) session we had at the end of June! ☀️
Our wonderful group made three amazing pasta bakes:
🍝 Cold tuna pasta with mayo & sweetcorn
🔥 Hot tuna bake with mushrooms, peas & sweetcorn
🌭 Hot Mattessons reduced-fat sausage bake with mushrooms, peas & sweetcorn
🧀 All topped with melty cheddar and served with fresh salad & crusty French loaf – simply delicious! 😋🥖
Our members prepared a gorgeous, colourful salad full of:
🥬 Lettuce 🥒 Cucumbers 🌶 Peppers 🌰 Spring onions 🌰 Red onions 🍅 Tomatoes 🥬 Beetroot – it was fresh, healthy and beautifully presented!
🙏 A huge thank you to:
🎟 Sarah for doing the raffle
🧠 Hayley for the fun quiz
👩‍🍳 Cheryl, Helen, Libby, Connor & Ress for all your help in the kitchen
🧹 Peter the caretaker for setting up
👏 And everyone else who supports the smooth running of our sessions
💚 The food was so tasty there was hardly any waste! Even our salad trimmings went to the horses (with the owner’s permission 🐴) on the way home – nothing wasted!
💰 All raffle money goes toward buying prizes and refreshments – thank you for your support! This project is funded by the Postcode Lottery, helping us make every session special.

Sponsored Walk at Pen Y Fan Pond

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A HUGE thank you to everyone who turned up to support Caerphilly People First for our sponsored walk at Pen Y Fan Pond yesterday!

The sun was shining, the spirits were high, and the laps were… well, many! Some of us did one, some smashed two, others powered through three, and a few even managed four laps!

Every step counted, and every penny raised means so much to us. We’ll let you know the total sponsorship money as soon as it’s all collected. Well done team – you absolutely smashed it!

Reconnect Through Music

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Thanks to our brilliant members for another great music session today! We broke our personal record for most songs sung at a session with 33 songs! Our gifted members sang songs by a range of artists including Jason Donovan, Liv Harland, Tina Arena, Eric Clapton, Jackie Wilson, Patsy Cline, the Bangles, Adele, Shania Twain, and many more!

We love seeing people coming together through the magic of music, with the added benefit of a buffet lunch and the chance to catch up with old friends and make new friends. Here are some compliments we received today:

I love these sessions – the group are nice people to be with.
Amazing – I really enjoy myself.

Thanks to Cheryl and Helen for working hard in the kitchen to make everyone’s pizza, and to Sharon for helping out with the paperwork in the hall. Most of all, thanks to our members for bringing the joy, the singing, and the dancing!

There won’t be a music session on Wednesday 25th, because Caerphilly First staff and members will be in North Wales for the All Wales People First conference, so we’ll see you all on Wednesday 9th July for our next session, so keep practicing those vocal skills and dance moves!

First Aid Level 3 Training

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On Friday we attended First Aid Level 3 at Bargoed Community Centre. Well done to everyone who passed — it’s not as easy as you might think!

We most definitely had a giggle at times, and really enjoyed the practical side of it — there’s nothing like getting hands-on when it comes to learning life-saving skills.

First Aid Level 3 covers a wide range of important topics, including:

Primary and secondary assessments
CPR and using an AED
Treating bleeding, burns, and shock
Managing fractures, sprains, and spinal injuries
Responding to medical conditions like strokes, heart attacks, epilepsy, asthma, and more.

A huge thank you to Kyle for staying open so we could finish — it was a long day, but we learned loads! And big thanks to Cheryl for supporting Nat throughout the session.

Able Radio Interview

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Huge thanks to Jenny and the Torfaen People First members for inviting us to Able Radio recently! We had a fantastic time recording a show all about the Police Crime and Justice Plan, and we were also joined by Rhian, the Communication and Engagement Officer, who added some brilliant insights to the discussion

Special shout-out to Chris, who did an amazing job as our radio show host – confident, clear, and professional – we’re so proud of you!

Big thanks to Ffion and Nat for sharing how Caerphilly People First helped with the Easy Read version – such important work making information accessible to everyone! Stay tuned to hear the show soon!

Reconnect Through Music

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We enjoyed another brilliant music session this morning when our talented members belted out 24 songs by a diverse range of artists including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, the Bee Gees, John Legend, UB40, and Adele. We also welcomed new faces Hywel, who performed How Great Thou Art, Josh, who performed Greased Lightning, and Andrew, who performed Suspicious Minds.

Our members absolutely loved it, with people saying they love how friendly everyone is, and how they love singing and meeting up with old friends and making new friends. Thanks to Cheryl for providing a delicious buffet lunch, and to Helen (happy birthday!) and Sharon for helping out in the kitchen and in the hall – we really appreciate it.

Seeing everyone smile and connect through music is truly heart-warming, and we can’t wait to do it all again on Wednesday 11th June. See you all in two weeks!