Coffee, Cake, and Company afternoons at Woodlands
In partnership with AGE UK Bucks, we launched the first of our Coffee, Cake, and Company afternoons at Woodlands, one of our Independent Living Schemes in Haddenham. The hope was to provide a welcoming space for all residents to come together, share experiences, and enjoy delicious treats. The initiative aims to bring together those who may feel isolated and lonely, offering them a chance to make new friends and build a supportive community. Each month there is a new theme with engaging activities, providing the opportunity to have easy meaningful conversations, in a warm and friendly environment. The themes so far have included "May Day through the years in Haddenham," a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings with a presentation from the Royal British Legion and a sing-along visit from a local singing group, live music in July, and a summer holidays theme in August where children and grandchildren were invited to join.
The partnership is not only a fantastic opportunity to introduce our residents to some enriching activities but also to share more about the services AGE UK provides. Many of our residents have already benefited from their visits with one commenting, “I am over the moon with the recent events in the communal lounge, I can’t fault what you are doing at all, you’re doing a wonderful job and I really look forward to it each month”.
Esther Caesar-Gordon, the schemes coordinator who set up the gatherings said, ”I had set myself the objective to help the residents feel more connected to the wider community after some had voiced to me that they felt that their community was limited to within the scheme. When we started conversations with Age UK and their BOOST project it became clear that we were both working towards very similar goals, to reduce social isolation and create an environment where people were able to develop and grow organic friendships. We have some great communal spaces in our schemes that enable us to invite other community members to join us and widen their social circles. To see the communal lounge so full of life and activity again has been wonderful. The project is thriving and we’re very much looking forward to rolling similar events out across some of our other Independent Living Schemes.”
You can read more about our Independent Living Schemes and find details to contact our scheme coordinators on our website.
