If you or someone you know wants to join a group in Gateshead, you aren't alone in wondering if it'll be the right fit, or what activities are available.
Our blog helps take away the guess work by giving you a run down of a typical day at the Teams and Bensham Community Care lunch club, so you know what to expect from start to finish.
What is a Lunch Club?
If you're wondering what a lunch club is, they can vary across Tyne and Wear, but they all have at least one purpose in common, and that is to bring people together. Some lunch clubs may focus on a specific activity or interest, or provide support with an issue people might share, such as bereavement or a health condition.
What type of group is the Teams and Bensham Lunch Club?
Other groups, like the Teams and Bensham Community Care lunch club, are more social in nature and provide the right environment and facilities to bring people aged 65+ together to chat, relax and enjoy a hot meal.
Here's what they get up to every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at their centre on Bolam Street in Teams, Gateshead...
9am to Mid-morning
We're getting ready to welcome people to our lunch clubs!
Our lunch club coordinator and lunch club activity assistant are setting tables, returning any messages and responding to queries about our charity, and preparing activities.
Meanwhile, our cooks are preparing a freshly cooked, two course meal for everyone to enjoy at noon, and they're also getting baked goods ready for people to take home.
The drivers set off to start picking people up at home to bring them to our centre.
Mid-morning
The minibus drivers greet our lunch club attendees at their homes, and help people onto the bus safely. Our minibus is wheelchair accessible, and collects anyone living in Teams, Bensham, Dunston, Saltwell, Lobley Hill and Central Gateshead. There's a great atmosphere on the bus, and it's a great way to start the day with us.
For anyone not in our minibus areas, they make their own way to our centre.
10am to 10:45am
Our lunch club attendees start arriving.
Whether you use our minibus, or make your own way to our centre, each lunch club attendee is greeted on arrival by a member of our team. We have a lunch club coordinator, activity assistant, a cook and one or two volunteers each day.
Once you are comfortably seated, we get you a nice cup of tea and a biscuit while you catch up with other people or start an activity and settle in for a lovely day.
11am
Everyone has arrived by now, and it's always a great atmosphere in our centre at this point. There's lots of conversation going on and we pop the radio on low. The coordinator and activity assistant and our volunteers are at hand to make sure you have everything you need, and they also enjoy catching up with everyone and joining in with the conversation.
Anyone new to our groups are quickly made to feel welcome by our team and by the other attendees. It is often on the first visit that connections are quickly made. People who join us often find they have the same acquaintances as another attendee, had similar work and life experiences, or share something in common, which sets off excellent conversations and the beginnings of great friendships.
We have lots of creative activities too if people like to paint, draw or craft, and there’s always plenty of puzzles, such as wordsearches, crosswords and quizzes available.
Or just sit back and relax and join in with the conversation.
There’s something for everyone.
We often have funding for regular activity sessions delivered by Active Families NE CIC at one lunch club per week. It’s inclusive for everyone who wants to join in, with the coaches setting everything up so that everyone can take part either seated or standing if they want to. It's a great half hour of brilliant music and gets us moving safely.
We have a serving hatch in our lounge area so people can see directly into our kitchen where your cooks, Allyson and Tracey, are making lunch and freshly baked goods. Allyson or Tracey pop out to see what people might like from the selection of fruit and cheese scones, quiches and pies available to take home.
Noon
One of the highlights of the day is lunch!
We serve you a main meal and a pudding every day, with refreshments for just £7.50.
On the menu are hearty mains such as mince and dumplings, steak pie, sausage and mash for example, and pudding might be homemade sponge and custard, rice pudding, or crumble for instance.
If you live in our minibus pick-up area and can’t make it to the lunch club, due to being unwell for example, we deliver your meal to you at home if wanted. It's always delivered hot and ready to eat so you don’t miss out.
12:30pm Onwards
We have a range of activities every afternoon.
We have a daily raffle and a daily general knowledge quiz (there's a few tricky questions thrown in, and there’s a prize for the top score of the day.) We also have a great music quiz, where the song title and artist need to be identified, but the best fun comes with singing along.
After our quiz and raffle, we get the bingo dabbers out and have a couple of games of bingo.
We also celebrate everyone's birthday too, with a card, gift and a sweet treat.
Mid afternoon
From around 2:15pm, people tend to start leaving who travel to our centre on their own, and the drivers start getting the bus ready to take people home
The drivers walk everyone to the bus, and everyone is dropped off to their door.
What About Special Occasions?
If there's something to celebrate, such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween etc, we do it in style. There's always a special meal, table and room decorations, and singers/live entertainment. We have themed activities leading up to it too.
We also invite speakers to come in to talk about a topic of interest, such local history for example.
If you or someone you know would like more information about the Teams and Bensham Community Care groups, we're always happy to answer any questions, arrange a home visit or to help in any other way we can. Call our team on 0191 4600297.
Other Useful Resources
Find us on Facebook to see more images and information of our lunch clubs, men's group and other activities.