Memory Lane Carers Event October 16

Oct 4, 2022Oct 4, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / Leave a comment

October begins with The International Day of Older Persons on the 1^st .

Memory Lane Cafe is holding an event to recognise the enormous contribution of senior unpaid carers in supporting people living with dementia.

In conjunction with Bridge Community, we are hosting an afternoon tea, information and support event for unpaid carers of people living with dementia on Sunday 16^th October at the Maurice Jagger Centre in Halifax.

Carers, ex-carers and their cared-for will be invited to come along for an afternoon of:-

live music
bingo
quiz
wonderful cakes & scones
information and support from a range of service providers

With the aid of a grant from Calderdale Council we are making this a free event – but we ask that people book their place(s) in advance.

Please contact June on 01422 706373 or 01920 549131 to book your free place.

Memory Lane Cafe Halifax – Change of Venue

Aug 19, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / Leave a comment

Our Halifax cafe has been running at Boothtown Methodist Church since 2021. All of our cafes have been getting much busier this year so we have decided to relocate to the Maurice Jagger Centre from the start of September. We are very grateful to the lovely people at Boothtown & Southowram Methodist Church for allowing us to use their building for the past year – they enabled us to run extra cafe sessions during the long months of COVID restrictions.

Aside from the new location we will also be changing the days on which we meet (the cafe will run on 1^st & 3^rd Mondays of each month).

Please see flyer showing full details for the rest of 2022

For more questions and to book, please contact:

June Harvey – Cafe Co-ordinator
t : 01422 706373 or 07920 549131
e : june@memorylanecafe.org
w : www.memorylanecafe.org

Memory Lane Cafe’s June Harvey named Platinum Jubilee Champion

Jun 14, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / Leave a comment

Memory Lane Cafe Calderdale is delighted to announce that June Harvey, our Cafe Co-ordinator and Volunteer Manager, has been named as one of 490 Platinum Jubilee Champions by the Royal Voluntary Service.

June was one of 70 who were selected to be invited to attend the Platinum Party at the Palace on Saturday followed by the Big Jubilee Lunch with the Duchess of Cornwall at The Oval on Sunday.

This well-deserved nomination reflects her work in establishing, running and developing the cafe, expanding its reach, fostering our volunteer team and inspiring others to develop similar cafe operations.

Congratulations June!!

Grove Court and Moorside Primary School Intergenerational Activity

May 25, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / 1 Comment

Many people can experience social isolation in many ways. Some live on their own, and others have their nearest and dearest around them but still experience a sense of loneliness. This is what we had seen with the residents at Grove Court, in Ovenden.

Many older adults were isolated and reluctant to socialise and engage with others due to the fear of covid-19 still being present. Grove Court is a Together Housing Residency with facilities of a large community room and kitchen, yet this was not being used much by the residents.

June Harvey, who runs the Memory Lane Cafés in Calderdale and another volunteer have recently volunteered more of their time to run a weekly Bingo activity every Thursday afternoon for the residents at Grove Court in the community room. This was to support residents to interact and socialise, play a fun game of Bingo, share a brew and a natter and to reduce isolation and loneliness.

Following a meeting with June, Zain (Staying Well worker in North) and Linsay (Community Wellbeing Officer for Together Housing) we decided to explore other ways to engage with more residents in Grove Court out of their rooms to reduce their social isolation.

Skipping forward a few weeks, another meeting was arranged with Paula Howarth (Pastoral Manager at Moorside Primary School) to discuss whether children from the school would like to support the Bingo activity as part of their programme with the Junior Warden Scheme. This idea was well received, and a plan of action was formed.

Fast forward a month, six children from Moorside Primary School attended the Bingo activity with a total of 12 residents attending. This intergenerational activity benefited both generations by bringing a new dynamic into the activity, bringing new energy and conversation between everyone, and putting smiles on everyone’s faces!

We were also delighted to be joined by the amazing Tony Austin, guitar player and musician who plays at the Daisy Chain café at Blackburn House. Tony played a variety of songs from the 1940’s and 1950’s of which everyone played Musical Bingo (crossing out the songs on their card Tony was playing). The children helped the residents in completing the Bingo cards, engaging in conversation, and supporting with handing out snacks and drinks.

Overall, the Bingo was an even bigger success with more people coming out of their own rooms to take part in this activity. As an outcome from this, Moorside Primary School have arranged to send six new pupils down once a month to support in the activity with dates for the next academic year to be discussed in September 2022.

Similar event at the Daisy Chain cafe, picture not related to this article

Memory Lane Gets Back to full-length afternoon cafe sessions

May 4, 2022May 4, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / Leave a comment

From the start of May 2022 we revert to our pre-COVID arrangement of afternoon-only sessions (1.30-4pm). These run for two and a half hours – just as we did before COVID.

Our first afternoon-only cafes (1.30 – 4pm) of 2022 will start at Boothtown (4^th May) and Sowerby Bridge (14^th May).

We want to make the most of this extra half hour – so we’re asking all of our members what they’d like to do.

Venue:
Boothtown Methodist Church
Boothtown Road
Halifax HX3 6LP
(use side entrance in Beverley Place)

Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday

£2 including refreshments

Upcoming dates:
May 4 and 18
Jun 1 and 15
Jul 6 and 20
Aug 3 and 17

For more information call June on 01422 706 373 / 07920 549 131
june@memorylanecafe.org

www.memorylanecafe.org

For the Sowerby Bridge sessions, click here

We’ve been running morning and afternoon cafes (of 2 hours each) since September 2020. We began to do this because of legal (COVID) limits on the numbers we could have in the room and we’ve continued so as to optimise space between people. We’ve been able to continue to operate these “double” cafes for the past 18 months through the efforts and dedication of our wonderful volunteer team.

Whilst COVID certainly hasn’t gone away, we are confident that we can operate safely with larger numbers in a single session. Now that winter is over we’ll focus on ventilating the room to improve air flow (also using a Carbon Dioxide monitor to measure air quality during the cafe).

We’ll continue to sanitise tables and other surfaces. Hand-sanitiser will still be provided.

We have ended the requirement for people to wear masks – but people may, of course, choose to wear them.

Thanks to all our members and volunteers for staying with us through the trials and tribulations of the past two years.

Express interest in becoming the Volunteers’ Week Pin Badge Designer by March 31

Mar 17, 2022Mar 17, 2022 / North Halifax Partnership / Leave a comment

For Volunteers’ Week 2021, we wanted to do something special to thank the volunteers of Calderdale by creating the first Volunteers’ Week pin badge – and who doesn’t love a pin badge?

Thanks to the artistic flair of Memory Lane Cafe volunteer, Georgia, we designed a glow-in-the-dark pin badge that was given to Calderdale volunteers as a thank you for their hard work and dedication, especially during such a difficult year.This small token of big appreciation went down so well last year that we would like to do it again! All we need is this year’s designer!We are looking for a local volunteer who has a love for design/art/illustration and would be up for co-creating our next pin badge, seeing them proudly displayed on volunteers’ coats around the borough!

If you would like to nominate one of your volunteers to help create the 2022 Volunteers’ Week pin badge, please email emma.worsley@cvac.org.uk by Thursday 31st March 2022.