11 Mar 2019
This week at Young At Heart ULO has been very busy – it has been great meeting some new people and welcoming back people we haven’t seen a little while!
On Monday morning, at St John’s Church in Stockton, the group’s theme was physical games. Much to their delight, we started the session by splitting the group into 2 separate circles and playing with the ‘Toss’n’talk’ balls in order to better get to know the group members and break into physical games gently. After a short time getting to know more about each other, the members then exercised with the parachute; following the instructions and moving to the music. The group always gets a little bit more excitable when the bean bags and beach balls make an appearance!
On Monday afternoon, at St Cuthbert’s Church Hall in Billingham, the theme for the session was number games. The group members were very unsettled as this was our first session in a new venue and any change can unsettle anyone. It took the team a while to get everyone settled with drinks and nibbles but we eventually had everyone taking part in a game of bingo. Bingo took a while as the group remained unsettled for the duration of the session, however, we did manage to complete a game of bingo before moving on to Play Your Cards Right. We split the group into 2 teams while playing the card game (with giant cards) so that everyone would definitely be heard and able to take part. Each team played alternately until they had each won a game, which they did.
On Tuesday afternoon, at the LiveWell Hub in Thornaby, the group also had a session themed around physical games. Again, the group were unsettled because the tables had already been removed and replaced by chairs arranged in a large circle in the centre of the room. Once we had everyone in and settled with a drink and a biscuit, we chatted and completed our orientation exercises. Our activities started with the ‘Toss’n’talk’ ball to give the members chance to get to know each other a little better. Next, we moved on to the parachute, which had everyone taking part. The magic moment of the session was when one of our group members woke up, looked at the parachute, smiled, passed the parachute to the left and then sat back to go back to sleep. To some, this may sound patronising but, when you really know some of the group members, moments like this are truly priceless!
Wednesday lunchtime, at Grays Road Institute in Grangefield, was a quiet session as nobody attended, as was Friday’s session in Ingleby Barwick. We will be trialling the Grangefield group until the end of May and assess attendance at that time, however the group in Ingleby Barwick will meet for their final session on Friday 22nd March before moving to Egglescliffe in April.
Join us next week for some brain games, circus skills, fun and laughter!
