Clare Mason who supports the Pathways group in Bradford writes:
“One of the few good things to come out of lockdown is that as we’re meeting on Zoom every week for support group meetings and activities, we realised how many others there are out there who might get something out of taking part but who live out of our usual area (Bradford). The great thing about technology is that this has become possible, even though we’re very mindful that there are some group members who we don’t hear from as often as they don’t have access or the skills to use it. However, we’ve widened out ‘net’ so to speak and were thrilled this week to welcome two new members, Jacqui and Julie. We’ve also had contact from other people with dementia through our Facebook page and look forward to others joining our zoom sessions.
Added to this, we’ve started sending out ‘activity packs’ with the first one being on the Hallowe’en theme. Our creative volunteer, Sue has sent out several pumpkin templates to group members for them to decorate any way they wish and then people are asked to display them in their windows and take a photo which we’ll share in one of our zoom meetings. Next we’ll be sending out packs containing art materials and poppy themed templates. Members are sharing ideas about future activities and can then look forward to their parcel arriving, full of goodies to get them busy and creative. One member, Michael joined in an activity recently with another group and enjoyed taking part in a poetry session, he enjoyed it so much he read his Irish poem to us and we’re now going to have a go at doing poetry too. It’s amazing how one small idea can spark off a hundred others!
With many areas heading into Tier 3 Covid restrictions, these activities are more vital than ever and we’re so grateful for any ideas and new ways of keeping in touch so we’d welcome ideas from other DEEPers.
Love to all.
Clare – Pathways”
If you want to find out more about Pathways please contact Clare by email: ">
