Friday, June 28, 2013
Contact the Elderly - the Jo Walters Trust grant in action
In this blog post, one of the Jo Walters Trust trustees, Gilly Wilson talks a bit more about Contact the Elderly, an organisation the JWT supported in order to help them set up a new group in Bristol. You can read more about the grant itself here: http://jowalterstrust.org.uk/grant-awards/2012-grant-awards/48-contact-the-elderly.html
So it was the group's eighth tea together and the first I was actually hosting. We had eight guests, ranging from mid seventies to mid nineties - and three drivers. What seemed really nice is that the group is now "bonding" and conversations are deeper as they are getting familiar with each other. Three of the guests have just joined and were welcomed by the "old hands". Len, the one chap, didn't seem out of his depth surrounded by ladies at all! In fact when Margaret asked what type of hair dye he uses he called her a flirt.
The drivers are also getting to know their guests well as they drive them each month, and some of the hosts are now onto their second tea - so a bit of a routine and anticipation is developing. My favourite job of the month is ringing the guests the week before the tea to check they are still able to come, as they are so happy to have it to look forward to.
At the end of the tea most of the guests took a few sandwiches or cakes to eat that evening, or the next day, and politely turned down the offer of a brisk jog around the block to work the cakes off!
As for myself, what better excuse to bake so many different cakes for one day, and now the plates are cleared away I have the happy task of finishing the leftovers...
So it was the group's eighth tea together and the first I was actually hosting. We had eight guests, ranging from mid seventies to mid nineties - and three drivers. What seemed really nice is that the group is now "bonding" and conversations are deeper as they are getting familiar with each other. Three of the guests have just joined and were welcomed by the "old hands". Len, the one chap, didn't seem out of his depth surrounded by ladies at all! In fact when Margaret asked what type of hair dye he uses he called her a flirt.
The drivers are also getting to know their guests well as they drive them each month, and some of the hosts are now onto their second tea - so a bit of a routine and anticipation is developing. My favourite job of the month is ringing the guests the week before the tea to check they are still able to come, as they are so happy to have it to look forward to.
At the end of the tea most of the guests took a few sandwiches or cakes to eat that evening, or the next day, and politely turned down the offer of a brisk jog around the block to work the cakes off!
As for myself, what better excuse to bake so many different cakes for one day, and now the plates are cleared away I have the happy task of finishing the leftovers...