MARKING DEMENTIA AWARENESS WEEK

Again we were delighted to have been included in Warwickshire County Council and The Pamela Britton Trusts Dementia Awareness Day in Leamington Spa. The event was supported by a number of local providers showing how they can support those living with Dementia and their cares. There was an empowering opening speech by Tony Britton and lots of activities throughout the day. Emily took along Lewi one of our therapy dogs along and Sharon was pampering some of the ladies.

Appoint Us are happy to be supporting Warwickshire County Council and The Pamela Britton Trust in bringing an event together on Thursday 24th May from 10.00am until 3.00pm at Saint Peters Church Hall, Dormer Place, Leamington Spa.
An opportunity to find out about what local services and support are available, meet people sharing the experience and hopefully come away having gained something.

Our therapy pet department will be represented there along with our Support  Team doing some hand pampering, nails etc

Please come along and give your support

We had an amazing time in Loxley village yesterday and met some lovely people. Thank you Loxley ( Especially Richard at The Fox Inn) for hosting it and making us so welcome.

We had Emma making Christmas decorations, Sharon doing nails, a visit from Boo, a visit from Mander Hadley Solicitors and some excellent music provided by Playable Guitar.com We hope Loxley village enjoyed the morning as much as we did.

Well Our Christmas Community Cafe details are now finalised. The Cafe will be on 20th December 2016 from 10.00am-12.00pm

VENUE:  The Fox Inn  Goldicote Road Loxley CV35 9JS

Guest Appearance from American Guitarists playing Christmas music……our Creative Therapy Team will be in attendance bringing Christmas Magic to the table, Guest Speaker Andriy Buniak from Mander Hadley Solicitors talking about the importance of future planning…….and much more!

We will be providing tea/coffee/ festive accompaniments . All at no cost.

Stay on and enjoy lunch in this beautiful venue.

Please share this information and join us in the Festive fun!

We are in the midst of planning our December Cafe and are just waiting to finalise things before giving full details. What we can tell you is that we are working in conjunction with an extremely proactive Parish Council who want to support and do something positive about Social Isolation in their village. We are really impressed with their commitment to their Parish and happy to be working with them.

The provisional date is 20th December……..watch this space……..

We will be hosting our November event here at our offices at The Rural Innovation Centre Stoneleigh Park. It will be on November 16th from 2pm- 5pm. We will be providing  Afternoon Tea in return for a donation. 100% of funds raised will be given to the Neonatal Unit at the UCHW hospital in Coventry. These funds will go to benefit that specific unit and will not be absorbed by the NHS. This unit provides invaluable support and shows absolute dedication and commitment to the parents and prem babies that are here.

We look forward to seeing some regular and new faces.

Appoint Us will continue to run free Community and Dementia Cafes across the region next year and will shortly be compiling a calendar for next 2017 events.

If you are a Community Group, Residential or Nursing Home, Extra Care Housing, Retirement Village, Sheltered Accommodation complex etc and would like us to come to you, please contact Julie or Fiona to agree a date and to be added to the list.

At our community cafes we provide everything but the venue. We sometimes bring some of our Therapy Team along, including the animals and endeavour to provide a fun community event.

We had our first cafe in Knowle last week at Sunrise Senior Living. Sunrise were kind enough to provide tea coffee and pastries. Emma did some creativity with plants and pots and Boo was a real success doing her tour of the home and saying hello to everyone.

We are back on track with the Cafe and are pleased to announce our June Cafe will be on Wednesday 29th June 2016 3pm-5pm at

SUNRISE SENIOR LIVING

1270 WARWICK ROAD

KNOWLE. B93 9LQ. 01564 732400

This cafe is open to the Residents and Staff of Sunrise and People in the Community. This is an ideal opportunity for people  to come in and have a look around Sunrise and to come and meet some of the Appoint Us Team. We will have activities on and a visit by Boo and of course tea/coffee and refreshments. There is no charge for this.

Please come and support us.

If you want to be the venue for a forthcoming cafe please contact us on 02476998414

Thank you to Georgina for more of her creativity!

There will be no Dementia Cafe in May

We are planning a new project. We are looking to bring our services to your community. We will run the event from Care homes, Sheltered accommodation, Extra Care venues, Community hubs etc

If you have a venue and would like us to come to you, please contact us for more information and  to be added on to the rota. Please watch this space for updates.

Thank you to UCHW Ward 40 and to Kate Banbury for the recent donation of Dementia Muffs.We really appreciate your hard work.

Appoint Us were delighted to receive in the post today these beautiful and colourful Twiddlemuffs knitted for us by Georgina in Leicestershire. We are sure that users of our Dementia Cafes will love them as much as we do. Thank you so much Georgina!

If anyone else out there is able to knit some that would be great. Julie and Fiona decided to undertake the challenge and have a go at knitting one but a month on neither are finished! Perhaps we should post pictures of their work so far!

A reminder that the next cafe is at Saint Christopher Church hall  Allesley Park Coventry on Thursday 7th April 2016 10.00am-12.00pm

Whilst on the subject of the Dementia Cafe we are thinking of doing a pop up Cafe in care homes across the Midlands, starting with Coventry and Warwickshire. The idea would be that we provide the staffing and activities, tea coffee and refreshments and someone provides the venue a kettle, cups saucers etc. If you are  a Care Home Manager and like the idea of us delivering a cafe from your home please contact us to express an interest. Ideally,we would like to open this out to your local community and invite people in to attend. What are your thoughts?

3rd March

7th April

5th May

2nd June

7th July

4th August

1st September

6th Octiober

3rd November

1st December

We have found a new venue for our Dementia Cafe  – Saint Christophers Church Winsford Avenue Allesley Park  CV5 9NJ

The day will be changing to a Thursday and so the next Cafe will be on Thursday 4th February from 10.00am – 12.00 pm.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Sadly due to unrealistic demands from Enterprise Breweries John and Martin who kindly supported and hosted our Dementia Cafe have been forced to leave The Minstrel Boy.

This leaves us with no venue for the February Cafe although we are in negotiations with some new potential venues and are still hoping to run the February Cafe.

We will be putting updates on our webpage, Facebook and Twitter.

We would like to thank John and Martin for the support they gave us and wish them well for the future.

The Dementia Cafe reopened today for the New Year. It was good to welcome visitors from Coventry City Council and Mander Hadley Solicitors.

The next cafe will be 2nd February 2016

A reminder that the next Cafe date is Tuesday January 5th and then

February  2nd

March 1st

April 5th

May 3rd

June 7th

July 5th

August 2nd

September 6th

October 4th

November 1st

December 6th

Hope to see you there.

TWIDDLEMUFF INSTRUCTIONS

Materials

• This muff pattern is perfect for using up left over or odd balls of wool. Different textures of wool are also good for stimulation
• Needles 6.5mm straight needles or 8mm circular
• Beads ,zips ribbons, things that can be twiddled with bit will not break and are not sharp to touch or brittle.

Directions

Cuff

• Cast on 40 stitches using two stands of double knitting wool. You can also use 1 strand of chunky wool
• Work in stocking stitch (knit a row purl a row) for 11inches (28cm)

Muff Body

• Continue with stocking stitch and use up oddments of various textures of wool for example chunky mohair snuggly eskimo ribbon and chenille
• Knit until work measures 23 inches 58.5cm)
• Cast off

Finishing and Decoration

• Neatly sew along the long edges together with purl side facing you
• Turn the muff inside out
• Push the cuff up inside the muff body and neatly sew together the two short ends
• Now is the time to decorate your Twiddlemuff.
• Consider: A good variety of colourful beads, pastel colours, think about whether its for a male or female
• Try to include at least 6 decorations on the outside and four on the inside. You can add more if you like.
• Make sure everything is sewn on securely so it doesnt come off and there are no loose threads
• Include bits and bobs on the inside too. Agitated hands can be soothed and kept warm at the same time

What a lovely time we had at The Cafe today. Christmas songs from Elsa The Singing Princess went down really well with lots of people joining in with the singing and there was even a bit of dancing too.

Emma and Kirsten from our Therapeutic Arts team helped create crackers and cards with Elsa getting her first Christmas card handmade by Patrick.

Deana the Labrador came in to say hello.

A Few Thank Yous

Thank you to the Minstrel Boy for their continuing support and for providing refreshments and a selection box for everyone to take home.

Thank you to solicitors Mander Hadley and Band Hatton Button for coming along and supporting the event.

Thank you to our staff who gave their time and support

Thank you to Sarah the Singing Princess who gave her time voluntarily today. Sarah is available for events, weddings parties etc and can be contacted at singingprincesssarah@hotmail.com

If you are a care home and want to bring residents along to the Cafe  or want us to set up a Dementia cafe in your home please contact us for more  information.

The Cafe is open to people with Dementia, Carers and families and is on the first Tuesday of the month at The Minstrel Boy

The next Cafe is 5th January 2016 10.00am – 12.00pm

Thank you to Dunelm Mill Coventry for donating a box of Luxury Crackers for the December Dementia Cafe. We really appreciate it.

• This is great….theres nothing over this side of Coventry for people with Dementia
• What a fantastic morning at The Dementia Cafe at The Minstrel Boy pub in Allesley park. Appoint Us services were amazing and very welcoming and friendly. The clients I help look after really enjoyed meeting everyone and the little pony and dog not forgetting they really liked the cakes
• Wish this had been about a couple of years ago while my stepmum was around to take part. Amazing idea
• Can I come again?
• Great time. See you next month
• It was great being part of this new Appoint Us venture today meeting and chatting to such nice interesting people – well worth the time and efforts-see all at the next get together on 1st December. Thanks for including me
• Lovely morning. Very friendly and welcoming. Looking forward to next time

Our Dementia Café opened today at The Minstrel Boy Buckingham Rise Allesley Park Coventry. It was lovely to welcome people who brought their Carers along for tea/coffee and cake, a chat and some fun provided by our Therapeutic Arts staff Emma and Kirsten. Lewi and Boo from our Pet therapy team also came along and joined in the fun.

We asked for ideas people wanted for the café and will be  making sure the requests made are provided at future events.

I think everyone who came along enjoyed it. We certainly did.

We would like to thank John and Martin of The Minstrel Boy for providing the room and tea and coffee. Thank you to The Stoke Bakery for providing the cakes and Thank you for everyone who took the time to come along and support the Café – a big Thank you to the Carers who came along to support people to attend.

The next date is 1^st December 2015 where we will have Elsa the singing Princess singing Christmas songs. We will also be making crackers and having fun.

Donations to this project can be made to Appoint Us directly or to the collection box in the Café.

We are all very excited and counting down to the Dementia Cafe opening on 3rd November and have lots of ideas to share. On 3rd November we will have our Therapeutic Arts department in attendance along with Boo the Therapony.  We are hoping in December to have a Disney Princess in attendance to sing Christmas songs and carols.

We would like to thank John and Martin at The Minstrel Boy for giving us the room and tea and coffee and  their ongoing support to The Alzheimer Society. Thank you to Stoke Bakery in Coventry for donating the cakes for the November opening.

If you have any ideas for the Cafe, want to be considered as a Guest Speaker, want to donate cakes/cookies/biscuits, want to volunteer as a musician or want to make a donation to keep the Cafe going or to help in any way we would love to hear from you. Please complete the online form or phone us on 02476214420 or email us on info@appointusservices.co.uk

We are still seeking  volunteer musicians to be able to play late 50s early 60s music at our Coventry Dementia Cafe for about half an hour once a month. can you help or do you know someone that can? Or if you want to volunteer to staff the cafe… Please contact us on 02476214420. Thanks everyone!

Appoint Us Services and The Minstrel Boy in Allesley Park are pleased to announce the opening on 3rd November 2015 of our

Dementia Cafe

 The Cafe will initially run once a month on the first Tuesday of the month from 10.00am – 12.00pm  The cafe is open to all those with Dementia, their families and carers.

Admission is free and tea, coffee and cakes will be provided. Any donations will be used to keep the cafe running.

We will have activities such as  Therapeutic Arts, Pet Therapy and Music and will have Guest speakers.  

If there is anything you would like to see the cafe provide to offer support to people with Dementia or their families or carers please tell us.

If you would like to offer support or volunteer please contact Appoint Us

Appoint Us would like to thank:

The Minstrel Boy for providing the venue, tea and coffee and support for the cafe

Stoke Bakery for providing the cakes for the opening event

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD…THIS CANNOT  WORK WITHOUT SUPPORT

Appoint Us and Minstrel Boy are still working hard on the set up of the Dementia Cafe. We have been sponsored by Renaissance for the flyers (Thank you Renaissance) and so are in the midst of designing them.

We are hoping to start up in October or November so watch our news page or Facebook page for further information.

Please let us know if you have any ideas or know a musician who may do some volunteer work.

Exciting News… Appoint Us Services are pleased to link with John and Martin from Minstrel Boy in Allesley Coventry to work towards opening a Dementia Café for the people of Allesley and surrounding areas.

We will have our Therapeutic Staff in attendance delivering Therapuetic Arts and Pet Therapy and hope to offer live music and other activities. Minstrel Boy are providing the venue and tea & coffee.

If you are a musician or would like to help in another way and can offer an hour or two free to support this cause and would like to work with us please contact us.

If you have any other ideas please share them. We can be contacted on our normal telephone numbers or on facebook or by email.

Please share this information.