On Friday’s menu at our weekly cookery session was Mayflower Chinese chicken curry, served with egg-fried rice, chicken balls, spring rolls, and prawn crackers, chosen by our lovely member, Celine.
Our members and volunteers chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms, which we added to the curry, and it tasted amazing! Ffion hosted a quiz and bingo to keep everyone entertained while lunch was cooking. Well done to all the winners, and a massive thank you to everyone who worked very hard in the kitchen. On the menu next week is lasagna, chosen by our member, Richard.
When me, Christy Taylor, Rees Powell, Sophie Morgan and the twins, Chris & Anthony Davies, went up to TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery allotments yesterday morning it was a bit drizzly but it didn’t stop us from working.
At the far left of the allotments, there were loads of wood chippings which needed shifting. So we all took turns shovelling the wood chippings into the wheelbarrow so it could all be taken down to the fruit patch to be evenly spread.
Once we’d finished taking the stuff down to the fruit patch, Kyle & Christy raked the chippings out so that the ground was even. When all of us had cleared tools away, and put the wheelbarrows back it was time to go back to the YMCA for lunch.
Following this Cheryl started her craft session with us. Originally she said we’d be making necklaces, but when Cheryl told us we would also be making wooden bookmarks, I was really pleased because I’m an artistic person. When I had finally finished making a necklace and two bookmarks, I was proud of myself.
We had a full house for our craft session on Tuesday when our members and volunteers made beautiful suncatchers. Check out their work below. Thank you to Jess, Zoe, and Cheryl, for running this session and for our lovely brisk walk to end off a great day.
We had another great music session yesterday with Daniel Fitzgerald from RecRock. Our members and volunteers performed their favourite songs, danced, and enjoyed catching up with their friends. Thanks to Jeremy and Sean for providing lunch; the burgers were delicious. We won’t have a music session next week, but we will be back at Libanus Lifestyle – Wales CIC on June 5th from 10:30am until 12:30pm.
Yesterday, our volunteers at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery were awarded certificates for their outstanding contributions to the gardens by the lovely Caren from GAVO Caerphilly. Thanks to Kyle Richards for presenting the certificates to our volunteers: Christopher Davies, Anthony Davies, Morgan Jones, Gethin Chamberlain, and Rees Powell.
During the morning everyone continued to work hard, weeding the fruit plot and transferring pots to the greenhouse. Next week, we plan to continue removing bindweed from the plot and laying some bark. We are at the gardens every Tuesday morning from 10:30am until 12:00pm. Please feel free to come along!
Reconnect through Cookery brings together over forty adults with a range of learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and autism. Some of our members also struggle with mental health on top of everything else. On the menu last Friday was beef chilli tacos, and they tasted amazing. Some of us had never seen or tasted a taco, but they went down a storm, along with the fresh salad our members prepared.
We chatted about what makes you feel healthy and captured some of our thoughts. Georgia said walking, swimming, and salad makes her feel healthy. Richard said he enjoys singing in a music group, chicken, and rice. Our lovely members Richard and Mandy, who are a couple, said their relationship makes them happy, as they go on walks and feel good being together. Gethin said he likes meeting friends, walking, and going to activities.
Thank you so much to Sarah Ballett for hosting the quiz, and Hayley Fishbourne for seeing to the bingo and raffle; your help is most appreciated. Thanks also to Zoe Dummett, Cheryl Smith, and Lauren Price for being hands-on, and to Rees, Mark, Natalie, and Connor for helping in the kitchen (and not forgetting our long-time volunteer Chris who was awesome on the kitchen clean). Our sessions couldn’t go ahead without your support and help.
This project is funded through the National Lottery Community Fund, thank you.
Yesterday, another great morning was had by all, singing and dancing at our weekly music session with Dan from RecRock. We even had our member, Paula, on the drums. We didn’t think Zak would get them back as she enjoyed playing them so much.
Sophie Morgan and Gethin Chamberlain belted out “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Natalie King did a few classics, but our favourite was Cher’s “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)”. Richard’s version of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” was fantastic and had everyone singing along. We also had the lovely Paula doing her mic swap session with Dan, as she performed “Unchained Melody” (her favourite), and Jamie sang “A Friend Like Me” from Aladdin. My favourite was The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah.” Shaun nailed it.
Thank you, everyone; we had the most enjoyable morning as always. Next week, Jeremy and Shaun will be serving up burgers to end the session. See you all next Wednesday at 10:30am at Libanus Lifestyle – Wales CIC.
Yesterday our volunteers managed a visit to TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery, until the rain came down so heavily that it was too wet to work on the plots, so everyone worked together transferring pots from the polytunnel over to the greenhouse. We volunteer at the gardens every Tuesday from 10:30am until 12:00pm. If you would like to join us, please let us know.
As there was no crafts session yesterday, the group decided to go for a walk around Gilfach, as you can see in the second photo below.
