Well done to our volunteers who worked on our plots at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens yesterday. It was a cold and windy one, but we were finally able to work on the plots with the helping hands of Kyle Richards, Samantha, Sian Price, and Dillon, who showed us how to hoe the land and plant onions.
CPF is at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery every Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. Please feel free to join us!
Craft sessions are a great way to tackle isolation and loneliness, develop skills, make friends, improve self-esteem, and develop motor skills. Thanks to Cheryl Smith & Zoe Dummett for facilitating yesterday’s sessions, when the members made friendship bracelets.
On Friday our members were busy making lasagne. They prepped mushrooms and onions to add to the ragu and cauliflower, and carrots and broccoli to serve on the side. Members also enjoyed a quiz hosted by Sarah, and took part in a consultation with Liz Sharma and a member of the team from Caerphilly Council about recycling.
Thank you so much to all our lovely, hard-working volunteers. We don’t have a cookery session next week, so we’ll see you all on Friday May 10th for pasta bake.
Yesterday our members had a blast singing their favorite songs with Daniel Fitzgerald from RecRock. It was awesome to see some new faces join the group and participate in singing songs by the likes of ABBA, Dolly Parton, Bread, and Robbie Williams. These sessions are perfect for meeting new people, making friends, and having fun!
A big shoutout to Jeremy James and Shaun at Libanus Lifestyle Centre for providing us with the delicious hotdogs!
There was no craft session yesterday, so our members gathered to discuss health and social care changes. What is social care? Social care services support people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities/illnesses, and mental illnesses. This support covers practical activities, personal care, and social work, helping recipients live comfortably.
We talked about service changes since the pandemic. Some have experienced positive changes with support staff and daytime opportunities, while others have struggled to get health appointments and face-to-face contact with social workers. Thanks to Cheryl Smith and Zoe Dummett for facilitating today’s group.
Yesterday our volunteers planted chives at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens & Nursery. Chives are green herbs with long, green stems used to flavor a dish or as a garnish. Chives are in the lily family, but they’re related to onions as well. Like onions, they are bulbous perennials, but you’ll likely never see the bulbs unless you’re a gardener. Thanks to Kyle Richards, Samantha Sian Price, and Dillon for teaching us how to do this correctly. See you next week.
Last week Caerphilly People First staff and members were at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay for a peaceful protest arranged by All Wales People First, titled ‘Homes Not Hospitals: Stolen Lives’.
The aim of the protest was to bring publicity to the campaign of families for the release of people with learning disabilities and/or autism, who are trapped in mental health hospitals in Wales.
Our members Ffion, Gethin and Natalie were there with their banners, protesting about this awful policy which condemns people to hospital, just because the resources aren’t there to entitle them to live in the community.
It was great to see so many people there, and it is hoped that decision makers in the Senedd will listen to our pleas and do something about this inhumane policy where people with learning disabilities are locked up like prisoners.
At Friday’s Reconnect through Cookery session our volunteers and members cooked hot dogs and burgers, and chopped tomatoes, lettuce, spring onions, and cucumber for the salad to accompany them. We also made fresh, crunchy coleslaw using carrots, white and red cabbage, and mayonnaise. Well done, everyone! Lunch was served with a side of fries and onion rings.
Our member Gareth turned 40 on Saturday, so we celebrated with a disco, cake, and a visit from his favourite Pokémon character, Pikachu. Everyone had a blast dancing and socializing with friends, old and new.
Many thanks to all our wonderful volunteers, and to Jenna for arranging for Darren to come and do the disco. See you all next week for lasagna.
Yesterday, Gethin, Rees, Christy, Chris, Anthony and I visited our allotments at TARAGGAN Educational Gardens, where we worked alongside Samantha Sian Price and Kyle Richards.
Kyle told us we’d be planting onions, so we used hoes to make the soil level enough to plant the onions. The other tool we used was a dibber, which we used to make deep holes, which we placed the onions in, face upwards.
With all the torrential downpours we’ve had over the last few weeks, it was lovely to see the sun shining brightly. Lets hope the weather will be just as nice next Tuesday so we can all get a suntan!
Chicken curry – served with prawn crackers and spring rolls – was on the menu at Friday’s Reconnect through Cookery session. Thank you to our volunteers Cheryl, Zoe, Ffion, Connor, Rees, Alex, Gethin, and Delyth for your hard work in prepping and cooking the food, and washing up. Thank you also to Alex for running the bingo session. Next week burgers and hot dogs are on the menu, and there will also be a disco for Gareth’s birthday.
