“After my stroke, I have been struggling for a while and my independence has been affected. The Tai Chi Therapy I have had over the last 3 weeks is helping me with my movement, I’m doing this at home every day and look forward to coming to the group every week, getting out of the house, meeting and socialising is helping me.”
Cha Da Cup-Monday drop-in at Touchstone Support Centre 10-12.30pm started back end of Feb 2016. In this 4 month period we have seen numbers grow to 15/20 elderly and further interest is being shown every week. With a weekly Tai Chi class, we also offer tea and cake, a light lunch and lots of activities.
The group have contributed in several focus groups including, ‘The Time of Our Lives Charter’ making Leeds a more age-friendly city; ‘Urgent Care Services in the NHS’ and how to improve on current standards. They have also earned their own status as individual Dementia Friends’ and take all this knowledge back to their families and their wider communities.
Some of the group now take part in The Silver Surfers initiative which will be followed up with smart phone training. There will also be English classes for those who wish to improve their language skills. At the request of the group, we have also recently had a session on ‘Brexit-What happens now??’
We have covered nutrition and will be inviting our colleagues in for a talk on Diabetes later in the year. Members of the group have also shown interest in gardening, art therapy; alternative therapies in addition to those who just wish to take recovery at their own pace and play a game of cards or knit a scarf for a grandchild.
Over the summer period we have been busy scheduling excursions to various attractions around Leeds, including Golden Acre Park, Kirkstall Abbey and Lotherton Hall. We have also been invited to visit The Discovery Centre; Leeds City Museum by Antonia Lovelace an outing looked forward to by the entire group. Transport has been a challenge but with the kind support of our volunteer drivers, we are meeting our goals. As autumn draws in we will run 3 sessions on Mental Health Awareness, Signs & Symptoms and finally, culminating with Recovery and our Celebration event on 3rd October for the International Day of Older people.
