Our festive activities are continuing at the Teams and Bensham Community Care centre.
Our wonderful lunch club assistant, Karen, has helped our lunch club attendees to get into the festive spirit early. First, we had Christmas flower arranging and then card making in October.
The cards will be lovely to share with loved ones or used as a festive decoration at home.
Activities like these are made possible thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund who helps our small charity to employ Karen, and the Co-op Community Fund who help us to offer arts and creative projects like this with the older people who join us at our centre.
October seems a little early however our Christmas preparations go back even further!
Each year, our Tuesday card making group have to start thinking of Christmas as early as Summertime. They receive many orders for personalised greetings cards throughout the year for different occasions and Christmas is even busier.
Each card is handmade, with a special message printed inside and there are many designs to chose from.
After the cards are made, the card making group stay for lunch before being taken home on our accessible minibus which offers door to door transport in the area.
Being creative and taking part in arts and crafts has many benefits to overall well-being, particularly for older people including our attendees who are experiencing the early stages of memory loss. It helps people to relax, encourages socialising with others in the group, and can even improve cognition and fine motor skills.
To find out more about our Tuesday card group or the activities we have at our lunch clubs, contact our coordinators on 0191 4600297.
Teams and Bensham Community Care is a registered charity supporting older people in Gateshead to alleviate and prevent the ill-effects of isolation and vulnerability. For almost three decades, we have provided lunch clubs, men’s groups, art and activities every weekday in our welcoming and accessible centre for up to 25 people each day. Our on-site cooks create traditional, freshly cooked meals and desserts as well as freshly baked goods for our beneficiaries to take home. For more information, visit tbcommunitycare.wixsite.com/gateshead or call 0191 4900945.