Caerphilly People First would like to thank Rachel and the Team from Groundwork Wales for another great workshop. This week (week 7) we planted sweet peas, and parsley and thyme. The group finished the session by digging up some new potatoes, which they will take home and cook.
The team at Caerphilly People First recently met with the outreach team from Autistic Minds to discuss the skills courses they have on offer. Our members decided that they would like to learn more about living skills such as: cooking, shopping, cleaning, budgeting money, understanding bills, and many more. The group will be taking part in these skills workshops in the near future, and they are open to all who are interested.
Hate Crime Awareness week 2022 ran from Sunday 9th to Sunday 16th October. On Thursday 13th October we delivered hate crime training at the Fleur-de-Lys community centre. Ffion, the trainer, talked about:
We also watched some videos produced by Newport People First, showing four people with learning disabilities talking about their experience of hate crime. Ffion ended the session by handing out easy-read leaflets co-produced by Caerphilly People First, which cover many of the topics included in her presentation, and also include useful telephone numbers and website addresses.
On 6th October Ffion held her third relationship course, this time at Neuadd St Catwg Community hall in Gelligaer. The group spoke about the differences between men’s and women’s bodies, and what people call their private parts. We did an exercise called “you can touch me here” where we used pictures of men’s and women’s bodies and highlighted different areas in three colours: green for areas you are happy for anyone to touch, yellow for areas only those closet to you can touch, and red for areas that are private and just for you to touch. Ffion stated: ‘this was one of my favourite sessions so far; everyone enjoyed the session, and people weren’t too shy to ask questions’.
We had another great craft session last week, which involved designing our own mugs and glasses. Members had a great time, while learning a new skill. Thanks to Cheryl from the Parent Network for helping out, and thanks to Caerphilly Cwtsh for funding the activity.
This week we held our third workshop with Groundwork Wales at Taraggan Educational Gardens & Nursery. The group planted herbs, purple mustard, oregano, coriander, parsley, rocket, and broad beans. Many thanks to Rachel and the team from Groundwork for another enjoyable session.
It was great to see everyone at our crafts session yesterday, where we took part in a scrabble art workshop. We used scrabble letters and glitter to make name frames. Thanks to Cheryl from The Parent Network for running the session; she will be joining us again next week when members will personalise their own mug. Thank you to Caerphilly Cwtsh Community & Localgiving (Magic Little Grant) for funding this activity.
This week the focus group had a meeting with Mandy from the Welsh Ambulance Service. At the workshop we learnt about the 7 important checks ambulance staff will do to find out what is wrong. The 7 checks are:
1. Temperature (how hot or cold you are)
2. Blood Pressure (how hard your heart is beating)
3. Oxygen Levels (how much oxygen is in your blood)
4. Pulse (how fast your heart is beating)
5. Breathing- Ambulance staff will watch your chest to see if you are breathing ok.
6. Blood sugar levels (how much sugar you have in your blood)
7. Pain score (how much does it hurt?)
We also talked about what happens when you call 999.
This week we attended our second workshop with Groundwork Wales. We planted onions and lettuce, and learnt about different types of mint and tiger nuts. We planted the onions and lettuce into small pots, and we will transfer them into the ground when they begin to grow. We also took some cuttings from two types of mint plants (mint and strawberry & mint and pineapple) and planted the cuttings into hanging baskets, so they will have plenty of room to grow. Rachel showed us the grapes they are growing in the polytunnel, and they tasted delicious.
This week we met with Groundwork Wales to begin our eight week gardening course at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery. During the first week of the course we learned how to sow seeds, and planted garlic, spinach, spring onions and radish. We finished the session by digging up the remainder of our potatoes we planted many weeks ago. We look forward to meeting with Rachel and the team again next week.
During the afternoon we attended our first yoga session with Michelle from Sweetpea Yoga, Reiki & Guided Meditation. We’d like to thank everyone who attended – it was lovely to see some new faces from our community. We all enjoyed a lovely relaxed yoga session with gentle exercise, followed by tea, coffee and cake. This event was kindly funded by Caerphilly Cwtsh Community.
