By Rachel Cole, Senior Projects Officer
I first visited this Centre in April 2022; it was one of the Centres selected by RMBC to look at the usage. This Centre is used every single day by a group of lovely residents who hold and run regular activities and events. They see the Centre as an extension of their homes and say they would be lost without it; this is apparent in the Centre too as it has a lot of homemade furnishings around making it feel homely. As a lot of the residents live alone the Centre gives them the opportunity to get together and have a chat, without having to go far.
Since then, I have visited the group on many occasions. On a weekly basis they hold coffee mornings, craft sessions, book club, film afternoons, games afternoons and bingo. They also hold afternoon teas or parties for special events i.e., Christmas, Easter etc as well as trips out. They had a trip to the pantomime in January and this month visited the luncheon club at Dinnington Resource Centre, both of which they really enjoyed. The are now planning events for Easter and the King’s Coronation. I have recently helped them with a leaflet giving details of everything that is happening in the Centre, this has been distributed to all residents to try and get more people involved in the group and using the Centre.
I submitted a ward housing hub proposal last year with this group for extra lighting around the bungalows and this has now been completed. This month a ward housing hub proposal has been put in for them to have a noticeboard outside the Centre.
When I first met this group they really didn’t want to become a constituted group, therefore, I never pushed this. However, just recently they have talked more about this and would now like to investigate becoming constituted. I will support them with this. This is a lovely active group of residents who I enjoy working with. I will continue to support the group as and when required.
