Dunbar Dementia Carers Support Group

Our recently formed Moving Forward group had a really lovely afternoon at West Barns Village Hall on Sunday, when we enjoyed a performance from DADADA of Sue Glover’s
‘The Bondagers’. Wonderful cast, and a really lovely venue.

We had a lovely outing to the King’s Gallery at Holyrood Palace last week. Huge thanks to Fiona Johnston (once again) for organising our visit. Her talk was outstanding, and we all learned so much. Thank you also to the staff for their help and kindness.
Our thanks to ELHSCP for assistance with the outing, and to our driver at Eves Coaches, Ryan, for transporting us safely.
East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership
Holyrood Palace

This was the only session this year when no particular activity had been planned, so we blethered and blethered, drank tea/coffee and ate some beautiful homebaking. Oh, and we also managed to raise £70 towards our volunteer Beth’s fundraiser for mums & babies in Ukraine! Couldn’t have planned for anything better - thanks to all who gave so generously. A perfect day❤️

Great fun this afternoon when Ruth led our monthly Chair Zumba session. Doesn’t great music and a bit of movement fairly lift the spirits?! We had the flamenco hands and the jazz hands going - just lovely!!

Joined once again by Hilary from the ‘Creatives’. Lots of fun wool-felting. Our thanks to ELHSCP for making this possible.
The Creatives

Fewer in numbers at this week’s meeting due to holidays and clashing appointments. We really did miss our friends but it meant ‘doubles’ of Maggie’s delicious homemade scones for everyone!!
The chat was great (lots of it when we weren’t eating Maggie’s scones😊), and Chris then led us in a beautiful relaxation session, with focus on the breath. Just lovely all round.

Our Moving Forward group enjoyed a great day out in Eyemouth. Couldn’t have picked a better day. We had everything - glorious sunshine, great company, the best fish & chips (and ice cream, for some!)

Great afternoon at Amisfield Gardens (our 3rd visit there over the years). What a pleasure to see how these beautiful gardens are progressing. After a lovely walk, Ruth led us in a flower arranging session, which was just the perfect end to such a perfect afternoon. Our thanks to Ruth, Louise and Cheryl for all their help and kindness.
Amisfield Walled Garden, East Lothian

A room full of joy! Ruth Hunter Pepper put us through our paces at our Chair Zumba session this week. Thought we might have been too tired after our busy day at Paxton House but no, all happy to join in. Great fun. Huge thanks to ELHSCP for making these sessions possible.

Lovely outing to Paxton House, Berwickshire yesterday! Great fun had by all. Beautiful house and surroundings and our fantastic tour guide, Jim, brought everything to life - so knowledgeable!
Our thanks to everyone who made this trip possible. We had just the best day - thank you❤️

Rachel, Julie & Amy from Age Scotland joined us this week to seek input and gather ideas from our group members on a variety of issues, which will help in planning future Dementia Training workshops.
Lots of interesting discussion on individual experiences, which will hopefully help in assisting others in the future. Great to be involved.

Our thanks to Dunbar Community Pétanque for hosting us once again. What a great afternoon! Wee bit breezy (Rhona made a great save when a box of Maggie’s delicious homemade scones flew off the picnic bench!) but just a few wee spots of rain. Never asked if our game had improved any since last year??
Dunbar Community Pétanque

Do you know that we run a variety of monthly support groups? They happen in different locations across East Lothian. We also run an online support group for those that may not be able to attend in person. See the image for our regular programme of groups and contact us if you are interested in attending any of the groups👇👇👇

Great afternoon outlining forthcoming group activities over the Summer. We were joined by 3rd year Mental Health Student Nurse, Teresa McKenna who, apart from impressing us with her lovely, kind manner, gave a valuable insight into her role on placement at ELCH.
Chris then led us through some chair exercises, followed by some breathing exercises and a wonderful relaxation session.

Our Moving Forward group spent a lovely morning at The Creatives workshop, followed by an equally lovely, great value lunch at The Mac!! All very relaxing and great fun. Our thanks to ELH&SCP for making this possible.

We celebrated National Carers Week with a wonderful Afternoon Tea at Dunbar Garden Centre. What a great treat - wonderful Afternoon Tea, beautifully presented and served. The staff made it extra-special with their kindness and great service. Huge thanks to all❤️
Dunbar Garden Centre & Restaurant
National Carers Week
Week

We celebrated National Volunteers Week in great style at this week’s meeting:
Firstly our lovely volunteers and volunteer helpers (all ex-carers) were presented with a token of our appreciation. Maggie had made her wonderful shortbread, and Ruth Hunter Pepper led our Chair Zumba Session.
Lynda and Moya of ‘The Stenton Singers’
also came along to present the group with a cheque for an amazing £1000!! This had been raised at their recent concert, and we were overwhelmed by their kindness. Our huge thanks to all choir members for their efforts - so, so appreciated.

Burning off the chocolate biscuits as Chris put us through our paces at Chair Exercise. What fun!

Flower pot painting this afternoon, when art teacher, Hilary, from local businesd ‘The Creatives’ joined us. Very calming but lots of fun.
Huge thanks to ELH&SCP for making this possible.

Chair Zumba at this week’s meeting - great fun! Nothing like a bit of Latin American dance music. Our thanks to Ruth Hunter Pepper for leading the session, and to ELH&SCP for making it all possible.

This is the new group (our Moving Forward Group) which we have set up for ex-Carers from our Support group who are now bereaved or adjusting to life on their own, when a loved one has gone into care. Been at the Fort. What a great day spent in wonderful company (and sunshine😎). Our thanks to East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership for their support.

We had the pleasure of welcoming local
resident, Mrs Muriel Sinclair, who gave a delightful talk on her career as a porcelain painter. So enjoyable.
Also enjoyable were Maggie’s homemade scones. Two very talented ladies❤️

Today we were privileged to have artist/designer Andrew Crummy join us. What a lovely afternoon, filled with colour and creativity as Andrew guided us through many of the wonderful community art projects that he has been involved with. So looking forward to planning our trip to view The Great Tapestry of Scotland.
www.andrewcrummy.com

Dr James Herring joined us once again to
give a talk on “Dunbar in the 1950s: Shops and Shopping - Lipton’s and some independent shops”. We had a lovely ‘wander’ along the High St, back in the day, when you could buy everything from Belfast Ham to corsets, and everthing in between! A lovely interesting and fun afternoon - thank you James.
Looking forward to reading James’ book,
Dunbar in the 1950s: Rationing, housing, entertainment, shops and shopping.

Our heartfelt thanks to the Stenton Singers, for arranging their Spring Concert (28 April 2024) which is to be held in aid of our group. Looking forward to this lovely event.

Great afternoon when ‘The Herbour Mooths’ came along - in the words of one of our Carers, “Boy, didn’t they lift the spirits??”. Great music and songs, as well as loads of laughter. Thank you so much to all the boys for taking the time to come along. You made a lot of people very, very happy❤️