Category Archives: News

Reconnect Through Music – Today’s Session

Posted on by

We had a fantastic time at this morning’s Reconnect Through Music session! Our members were in great voice and together sang an amazing 25 songs, matching the beautiful sunshine outside. 🌞🎤 We heard favourites both old and new, and every performance was wonderful. Here are just a few of today’s highlights:

🎵 Sean sang Going Underground by The Jam
🎵 Ellysia performed Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie
🎵 Theresa gave us a lovely version of Eternal Flame by The Bangles
🎵 Anthony sang Against All Odds by Phil Collins
🎵 Christine performed Material Girl by Madonna
🎵 Morgan and Mandy performed a brilliant duet of Seasons in the Sun by Westlife

We truly loved every single performance – thank you to everyone who sang and supported each other. 💙 A big thank you as well to Christy, Cheryl and Zoe for preparing our delicious pizza lunch 🍕 and to Pete for setting up the hall ready for the session. It was also wonderful to welcome two new members to their first session — a big welcome to Robbie and Joe! 👋 We hope you enjoyed your first Reconnect Through Music experience.

💬 Some lovely feedback from today:

Chris said he enjoyed interacting with people
Judith enjoyed meeting new people
Olivia enjoyed the lovely atmosphere

Thank you to everyone who came along and made the session so special. We’re already looking forward to the next one! 🎶✨

A Visit From Gerraint from All Wales People First

Posted on by

Yesterday we had a visit from Gerraint from All Wales People First 😊 He delivered a SATV Roadshow session to our members. We talked about the Manifesto 🗣️

👉 What is a manifesto?
A manifesto is a document that says:

  • What we believe in
  • What is important to us
  • What changes we want
    It helps people with a learning disability speak up and be heard 👂

We also talked about Adfest 2026 🎉

Adfest will be in Cardiff
📍 At the Future Inn Cardiff
Bookings are now open! 📝
You can get the booking forms from:

  • The All Wales People First Facebook page
  • The All Wales People First website

Thank you Gerraint for a great session! We enjoyed it 😊

Reconnect Through Cookery

Posted on by

What a lovely Reconnect through Cookery session we had on Friday💛 We enjoyed a delicious chicken curry with rice, prawn crackers and vegetable spring rolls 😋🍛🥟 and our members did a fantastic job preparing the peppers, onions and mushrooms — great teamwork and confidence in the kitchen! 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳

We also had lots of fun with a quiz and bingo 🎉 Huge well done to all our winners 🏆👏 A big heartfelt thank you to our amazing volunteers and everyone who helped out today — we truly couldn’t do it without you ❤️ And special thanks to Peter the caretaker for kindly setting up the tables for us 🙌

These sessions are about more than just food… they’re about friendship, laughter and feeling connected 💞 We are so proud of everyone who comes along and gives it a go. We will see you all Wednesday for music and pizza 🎶🍕 🎤

Gardening Report

Posted on by

Today we visited the TARAGGAN Educational Gardens and continued digging and weeding on our plot 🌱🧑‍🌾 Everyone worked really hard and the plot is really starting to take shape – we’re so proud of the progress! Huge well done to our amazing volunteers 💚👏 The beautiful flowers have started to bloom 🌼🌸 and it really feels like spring is almost here!

Just a reminder that we won’t be at the gardens next week as we’ll be welcoming the lovely Gerraint from All Wales People First to talk about their manifesto and Adfest. The meeting starts at 11am – you’re very welcome to join us 🗣️✨ TARAGGAN is always looking for volunteers who have knowledge and some time to spare. If you think you could help, please get in touch 🙌🌿

Reconnect Through Music – Session Report 🎤✨

Posted on by

We had another fantastic Reconnect Through Music session this morning! The room was full of energy, laughter, and brilliant performances as we sang an amazing 28 songs together. 🎵💃 Our members brought us a wonderful mix of classics and hidden gems, covering music from the 1950s right through to the 2020s – what a journey through the decades, and what a joy to see everyone dancing, smiling, and socialising 🕺📻🎶 It was also lovely to welcome two new members, Cheryl and Claire, to their very first session with us. We hope you both enjoyed it and felt the warm Reconnect Through Music spirit! We were treated to so many brilliant performances, including:

Hywel and Kelvin – bringing us some fantastic Cliff Richard favourites 🎸
Rebecca – with a toe-tapping rendition of 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton 🤠
Adrian and Andrew – rocking the room with a couple of Elvis classics 🕺✨
Sean – getting us Eurovision-ready with Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz 🎉
Christine – bringing the party vibes with We Like to Party by Vengaboys 🚌🎶
Ffion and Amy – delivering two powerful Tina Turner classics 🔥🎤
Anthony – leading us in a triumphant We Are the Champions by Queen 👑🙌

And of course, there were many more brilliant performances that kept the atmosphere buzzing all morning! 🌈🎼A big thank you to Christy and Cheryl for preparing our delicious lunch of ham and cheese rolls and crisps – it was very much appreciated after all that singing! 😋👏Thank you to everyone who took part and made today’s session so special. We can’t wait to do it all again in two weeks! 🎶💙

Gardening at TARAGGAN

Posted on by

Today we visited TARAGGAN Educational Gardens 🌱✨ It was lovely and fresh with the sun shining ☀️ but still a little chilly ❄️ We started digging on our plot and over the next few weeks we’ll continue working on it to get everything ready for planting 🌼We’ll be volunteering at TARAGGAN every Tuesday from 10:30am – 12pm ⏰ If you’d like to join us, we’d love to see you 💚🙌

Reconnect Through Cookery 👩‍🍳🥔🧀💕

Posted on by

On Friday we made a delicious cheese and potato pie 😋 Our members worked hard preparing fresh salad with tomatoes 🍅, cucumber 🥒 and lettuce 🥗 to go alongside it. We also served ham with the pie – it was absolutely delicious!

We were pleased to welcome a trainee social worker who visited to see the fantastic work we deliver in the community 💬💙 We also had a fun Valentine’s quiz ❤️🧠 which everyone really enjoyed! As always, we had lots of fun with bingo 🎉 and even a little dance from Sian and Paula 💃🕺 which made everyone smile!

A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers 🙌 Your support makes these sessions so special. The feedback from members was great as always 🌟See you all on Wednesday for music! 🎶🎤

Lewis School & The First Give Programme

Posted on by

Last week Ffion and Christy attended The Lewis School for the First Give Final 🌟 The First Give programme gives Year 7 students the chance to learn about social issues in their community, choose a charity they care about, and take part in fundraising and social action. Each Year 7 group delivered a presentation on their chosen charity to a panel of judges, who asked questions and decided which group had made the biggest impact. The winning group receives £1,000 for their chosen charity 👏 All Year 7 groups did an amazing job presenting their charities — congratulations to the winners! 🏆

A very special thank you to Year 7S for choosing Caerphilly People First. We thought your presentation was absolutely fantastic 💙 As well as raising an incredible £75 through your scavenger hunt, 7S also wrote us a beautiful poem, which will be framed and proudly displayed in our office — a truly thoughtful and meaningful gift 🌈✨

If you know of a secondary school that would like to take part in the First Give programme, please contact info@firstgive.co.uk for more information. Well done everyone!

Reconnect Through Music

Posted on by

Today’s Reconnect Through Music session was packed with talent, energy, and big smiles all round 😄✨ The room was buzzing from start to finish, with our members singing an incredible 28 songs — and even then, the singing carried on while we were packing up! 🎤🎶 We were treated to a fantastic mix of classics and favourites:

🎧 Ellysia kicked things off in style with Saturday Night by Whigfield
🚒 Sean took us back to the 60s with Fire Brigade by The Move
🎵 Ffion and Amy delivered a brilliant duet of Valerie by Amy Winehouse
❤️ Anthony sang a heartfelt performance of Amazed by Lonestar
🎸 Kelvin gave us two great songs by Cliff Richard
🌙 Natalie performed Different Corner by George Michael
👯‍♀️ The twins, Christine and Elizabeth, wowed us with Let It Go from Frozen and The Best by Tina Turner
🕺 Chris stole the show by dressing up as Elvis and singing Hound Dog! 🎤🕶️

During lunch, everyone enjoyed delicious hot dogs prepared in the kitchen by Christy 🌭👏 — a much-appreciated treat! A big thank you to Pete for arranging everything at the centre and helping make the session run smoothly 👍 And of course, a huge thank you to our amazing members for attending and making every music session such a joyful occasion 💖🎶 As always, the session was full of singing, dancing, laughter, and smiles, and it was a pleasure to be part of it 😊💃🕺We’re already looking forward to the next one! 🎼✨

Midwifery Training at the University of South Wales

Posted on by

✨ Yesterday Amy, Nat and Gethin visited the University of South Wales, Glyntaff working in the simulation suite with Year 3 Learning Disability and Midwifery students 👶🩺 Nat and Gethin played the fantastic role of new parents with a baby just a few days old, while Amy took on the role of a pregnant patient 🤰👏 These real-life scenarios helped future nurses better understand the experiences of adults with a learning disability.

💬 We talked about how everyone must work together to support adults with learning disabilities before, during and after pregnancy, ensuring parents are supported, cared for and understood, and giving families the best chance to raise a family together 💞 The students were amazing 👏 They learned not only from the “patients” but from each other, working across different fields.

Key topics included:
📄 Easy Read information
🗣️ Clear communication — no jargon
📘 Health profiles and why they are so important

This session highlighted the crucial role of all nurses, especially Learning Disability nurses, in delivering inclusive, person-centred care ❤️ 🎓 Interested in becoming a Learning Disability Nurse? You can enrol at universities like USW and make a real difference supporting people with learning disabilities and their families every day 💙 Another successful visit with so much learned by everyone — thank you USW Treforest! 👏✨