Tag Archives: caerphilly people first

Reconnect Through Music 🎵

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What an incredible Reconnect Through Music session we had today at Fleur-de-Lys! 🎉 The room was absolutely packed with people, talent, and smiles, making for another unforgettable day of music and friendship. 🎵 We enjoyed an amazing 27 songs, spanning every genre and era, all performed by our wonderfully talented members. It was also fantastic to welcome two newcomers, Helen and Kyle to the group – we hope you both enjoyed your first session! 👏💐

🎤 Anthony got everyone singing along as he opened the session with the classic “Sweet Caroline”, while Kyle brought the afternoon to a perfect close with “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins. 🌟 ✨ Along the way we were treated to some fantastic performances, including:

🎭 Tilly singing Evermore from Beauty and the Beast.
👑 Sean, Kyle and Adrian performing songs by Elvis Presley.
💃 Helen and Paula belting out some ABBA favourites.
🎸 Rhys entertaining us with hits from Huey Lewis and the News and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
🎶 Brilliant performances from both Chris Evans and Chris Davies, Hywel, Curtis, Morgan, and Christine, who all helped make the afternoon so special.

👏 A huge well done to everyone who performed—you were all amazing! 💙 As always, a massive thank you goes to our fantastic team:

🛠️ Pete for setting everything up.
😊 Cheryl for welcoming everyone and taking care of the paperwork.
🎙️ Amy for being such a brilliant compère.
🥗 Christy for keeping everyone well fed with delicious wraps and salads for lunch.

🌈 These sessions mean so much to our members, and it’s wonderful to hear how much they enjoy them. 💬 Here’s what some of our members had to say:

❤️ Helen: “I enjoyed seeing old friends.”
🎉 Hywel: “The session was great fun.”
🌟 Kyle: “Everything was great.”
💃 Andrea: “The staff are fantastic and I loved dancing in my wheelchair to the music.”
🤩 Emily: “The session was amazing.”
💙 Anthony: “I cherish these sessions.”

Hearing comments like these reminds us exactly why Reconnect Through Music is so special. 🎶💖 It’s about much more than singing—it’s about friendship, confidence, community, and creating lasting memories together. 📅 We can’t wait to do it all again—see you at our next session in two weeks! 🎤🎵✨

🌞🐐 A Fantastic Afternoon at Fferm Gelli Farm! 🦙🐴

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After a busy morning yesterday, we enjoyed a lovely free visit to Fferm Gelli Farm. 💚 Christopher, Anthony, Gethin and Amy had a brilliant time feeding the goats, llamas, ponies and horses. 🐐🦙🐴 Gethin is definitely a horse whisperer – the horses absolutely loved him and were so calm around him! 🐴❤️

Ellie enjoyed sitting by the pond with a fresh salad and sweet strawberries. 🍓🥗🌿 She also loved taking a peaceful walk around the pond, enjoying the beautiful scenery. The facilities at the pond have improved massively, and we saw a few fish jumping and beautiful geese with their babies. 🐟 It was also the first time we had ever seen a foal feeding from its mum. What a special treat and such a lovely moment to witness! 🐴💕

The café by the pond was a real treat! They serve delicious jam and cream scones, amazing coffee, toasties and freshly made baguettes. ☕🥪 The boys especially loved the tuna mayo and sweetcorn baguettes! 😋 We finished the afternoon with a peaceful walk around the pond, enjoying the sunshine, fresh air and great company. Thank you, Fferm Gelli Farm, for such a wonderful visit! 💙😊

🌮🍗 Reconnect Through Cookery 🍗🌮

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What a fantastic cookery session on Friday! 💚 We made delicious BBQ chicken fajitas. Some members chose plain chicken, while others enjoyed theirs with tasty mushrooms, peppers and onions. 🌶️🧅🍄 Everyone worked together to prepare a beautiful fresh salad 🥗, and we added salsa, sour cream and jalapeños to make our wraps extra delicious! 😋

A huge thank you to all our amazing volunteers for your hard work and support. 💚👏 🧠 Thank you, Amy, for running our fun quiz. 🎉 Thank you, Sian, for leading bingo. 🏆 Congratulations to all our quiz and bingo winners!

☀️ Don’t forget! Our next cookery session is Friday 31st July, and it’s our Summer Party! 🎈🌭🍔🎶 🎟️ You can also buy your ticket at Wednesday’s Music Group.

🌟 Ffion delivers Easy Read Training 🌟

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Yesterday morning, Ffion delivered an online Easy Read presentation to Geraint Ashton and his colleagues from Caerphilly Council. 💻👏 We started with a fun icebreaker question: 🎵 “What are you looking forward to?” Many people said music concerts! 🎤🎶

Ffion talked about: 📖 What Easy Read is 💡 Why Easy Read is important 📄 Which documents should be in Easy Read ✏️ How to create Easy Read information. Everyone took part in an activity where they changed a complicated sentence full of jargon into an Easy Read sentence. 👍

Ffion did an amazing job speaking, explaining, and answering questions. We are very proud of her! 💙⭐ Easy Read helps make information accessible for everyone and supports people to understand important information. 👏 Well done, Ffion! 👏

🎵🥁 Joint Reconnect Through Music & African Drumming Session 🎶✨

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We had an amazing and uplifting day today at our fortnightly Reconnect Through Music session, followed by an energetic and fun one-hour African Drumming Workshop! 🌟 The singing session got off to a fantastic start with Tilly performing Beat It by Michael Jackson 🎤🕺 which was followed by a series of wonderful performances from our talented members:

🎵 Amy – Rehab by Amy Winehouse
🎵 Dennis – Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars
🎵 Sean – Don’t Bring Me Down by ELO
🎵 Chris – Hound Dog by Elvis Presley
🎵 Anthony – Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations

As always, the performances were met with plenty of encouragement, singing along, and smiles from everyone in attendance. 😊👏 During a brief break for lunch, members enjoyed delicious pizza 🍕. A huge thank you goes to Christy and the gang stationed in the kitchen for keeping everyone well fed and ready for the afternoon’s activities! 🙌❤️

Following lunch, 15 members took part in an exciting African Drumming Session led by Liz Mullins 🥁🌍. The group learned a couple of different rhythms, including one set to the memorable phrase:

☕ “I don’t like tea, I like coffee!” ☕

The workshop was full of energy, laughter, and teamwork, and everyone sounded absolutely amazing drumming together in the big hall. 🎶🥁✨ The sense of togetherness and enjoyment throughout the session was truly special.

❤️ Olivia said the drumming session was “amazing.”
❤️ Matilda said the drumming was “an experience for her that she may never have the opportunity to do again,” adding that it would be hard to improve such a great session.
❤️ Anthony said he “loves this session, with all his friends around him.”

A huge thank you to Liz Mullins, all our fantastic volunteers, and every member who joined us for another magical, music-filled Wednesday. 🎵🥁🌟

There will be no music session in two weeks, as Caerphilly People First will be attending the All Wales People First Adfest conference in Cardiff, so our next session will be on Wednesday 8th July. We look forward to seeing everyone then!

🍽️🌟 Reconnect Through Cookery 🌟🍽️

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What a wonderful day we had at our Reconnect Through Cookery session on Friday! 😊💛 Our amazing members got stuck in by peeling the potatoes 🥔, chopping the carrots 🥕 and broccoli 🥦, helping to prepare a delicious sausage dinner 🍽️. We served it with creamy mash, peas and plenty of tasty gravy 😋.

The dinner was absolutely delicious, and it was lovely to sit together, enjoy good food, have lots of chats and take part in a fun quiz 🧠🎉. There were plenty of smiles, laughter and great teamwork throughout the session 😊👏.

A huge THANK YOU ❤️ to all of our wonderful volunteers who give their time, support and kindness each week. These sessions simply wouldn’t be the same without you. Your dedication helps create friendships, build confidence and make our members feel valued and connected 🤗🌈.

✨ Another Fantastic Day at USW in the Simulation Suite! ✨

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Yesterday we visited the University of South Wales for another brilliant session with the TRAC team.

🎭 Hannah took on the role of Geraldine, who is non-verbal, has a learning disability and Williams syndrome.
🧡 Christy played the role of Geraldine’s support staff.
💥 Nat played a patient who had a fit and knocked herself out, bruising and cutting her head.

The students were amazing! 👏 They asked thoughtful questions about the best ways to communicate with someone who is non-verbal and explored what medical checks and support Geraldine would need for her constipation. They also worked brilliantly as a team supporting Nat’s scenario. The feedback was fantastic — it’s wonderful that TRAC students get the chance to teach, share real-life experiences, and help future nurses learn in such a meaningful way. 🌟 Well done everyone! 🌟

✨ Breakfast & Craft Yesterday ✨

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We had such a lovely morning together! 🥰 Everyone enjoyed a warm breakfast 🥐☕ and then got stuck into some gorgeous Christmas crafts 🎄🎅🎁 There was plenty of chatting, laughing, and learning something new 💬✨ The crafts looked amazing and the room was full of festive cheer! Groups like this make such a difference ❤️ They help people:

⭐ Feel less isolated
⭐ Build friendships
⭐ Learn new skills
⭐ Boost confidence
⭐ Have fun together

Thank you to everyone who joined us — you made the morning special 🤗 Can’t wait for the next one! 🎨💖

Annual Health Check Video Launch

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✨ This morning we were joined by Clair, Leah and John from the Primary Care Learning Disability Health Team for the official launch of the Annual Health Check video we’ve been working on together! 🎥💙

We talked about what an Annual Health Check is — a free check-up offered every year to people with a learning disability to help them stay healthy, spot any concerns early, and make sure they get the right support from their GP 👍🩺

The new video will now be used to train doctors, helping them understand how to make health checks easier, clearer and more accessible for everyone 👏

A huge thank you to the team for the delicious pastries and juice 🥐🧃 Everyone who took part received a voucher and certificate for the fantastic job they did featuring in the promotional video 🎉🎖️ We’re proud of everyone involved and we’re already looking forward to working together again in the future 🤝✨

TRAC members at the University of South Wales

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Friday’s session was all about midwifery 👩‍⚕️💛 Ffion played the role of someone who was 9 weeks pregnant and did a fantastic job in her role. Christy played her mam, and the student nurses interacted brilliantly — speaking directly to Ffion, explaining everything clearly, and taking their time.

We also had a Learning Disability Nurse on hand 👩‍⚕️💙 who clarified things with Ffion and offered easy-read information, making sure she understood everything in a way that suited her needs. LD nurses are so important, especially when someone with a learning disability is pregnant. All fields of nursing should practice the same approach — clear communication, patience, and respect. It makes a huge difference. ❤️

Meanwhile, Gethin and Nat had just come home from the hospital with their new baby 👶🍼 And yes… believe it or not… they didn’t bicker for a change! 🤣 They were absolutely hilarious and kept everyone laughing.

A huge well done to everyone — our TRAC members and the students. ⭐ We’re already looking forward to the next session and working with you all again soon! 🙌💛