SATURDAY FRIENDS WELCOMES A NEW LEADER 

A big welcome to Julie Mills who has recently taken over as the PramaLife Activities co-ordinator for Saturday Friends. She is an experienced member of the Prama Team and has organised an exciting programme of entertainment to take us through to the end of this year.

Why not come along to the next Saturday Friends at St Pauls church hall Culliford Crescent on the 11th May at 10am, when there will be a visit from Russell Saunders from Community Development, Trading Standards, Dorset Council who will be giving a talk on scammers followed by a questions and answers session. Also, Sue Parsons (past leader) will provide us with a quiz; Plus, there will be the usual fun and games, not forgetting tea, coffee & homemade cakes all for just £3.

Saturday Friends were  joined last time by Steve Dominey, who entertained everyone with his singing. This successfully followed a visit at the previous session by Andy Hague the famous accordion player and on a previous meeting some of the Saturday Friends talked and showed photographs about their childhood and life when they were most happy. Others shared their memories of growing up on Canford Heath. Also, the students from the Magna Academy spoke about their lives on the heath in modern times.

For more information about Saturday Friends contact Group Leader: Julie Mills Tel: 07703101360 Email: juliemills4@sky.com or contact Chris Beale at Prama Telephone 01202 207329. Also, why not click or tap Here to check out the Saturday Friends Facebook Page where you can see videos from previous week’s events.

ARCH and PramaLife have jointly developed a social and support group for older people and carers living on Canford Heath and surrounding area. The Saturday Friends group provides a great opportunity to meet up socially, helping older residents of Canford Heath and surrounding area to maintain and/or develop new friendships and provide peer support.  The group is led by Julie, who is a PramaLife activities coordinator and supported by a team of volunteers including students from Magna Academy.

There is an exciting programme planned for the rest of this year – details here soon…

Here is a small sample of what the Friends have been up to in the past year

Tap or click HERE to go to the  photo gallery to see  a selection of what the group have been up to.

At a previous  meeting (18th November) there was a real treat instore with an appearance by The Citrus Singers. They were a great entertainment, getting everyone singing along.

 The Brownies and Guides recently visited the Saturday Friends. The Saturday Friends welcomed local Brownies and Guides along for a joyful intergenerational visit. Working towards earning their Support in the Community badge, the young people from the Canford Heath groups had fun getting stuck into playing tabletop games, doing a quiz on childhood toys and sharing memories of childhood toys. Thank you to Helen Metcalfe who is a Brownie Leader for arranging the visit and overseeing the morning.

The fun starts at 10am and goes on until 12:00 and is normally held twice a month on a Saturday at St Pauls Church Hall, Culliford Crescent.   The cost of each session is just £3 with a rolling programme of interesting activities and always includes tea/coffee, biscuits and usually homemade cakes!  New members are always welcome.

Previously the students from Magna Academy who help at Saturday Friends, gave a brilliant presentation on Saturday 22nd July about their recent visit to Zanzibar. They were involved with the African Adventures Foundation (a registered charity that provides support in developing areas of which Zanzibar is one). The group helped with teaching the students and also lending a hand with some construction work. They all found the whole experience very humbling, but at the same time uplifting.

If you would like to donate to the African Adventures Foundation, please follow this link. https://www.african-adventures.co.uk/foundation/