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- TDS Newsletter December 2023
in December’s Issue…..
Table of Contents
December greetings to you all!
Our newsletter is fairly short and sweet this time as we’ve been busy with all the seasonal festivities this month brings.
We do appreciate that Christmas isn’t light-hearted and joyful for everyone, but we hope that you can find a
moment or two when something makes you feel happy or you experience someone’s love and kindness.
For me, it was a winter walk last weekend, when I unexpectedly saw some wildlife - seals on the beach near Llandudno! I also got a warm feeling when one of our first-time choir members said that the Christmas at the Cathedral concert was ‘a magical experience’.
As a charity, we have things to look forward to in January. One is our new minibus, with good heating and a tail-lift. The lift will make it possible to safely transport one or two of our members who use wheelchairs. Another is welcoming our new Volunteer Co-ordinator, Mary, who will help us to look after and recruit more volunteers.
Again, we can’t thank our donors and fundraisers enough for helping us reach our target for the minibus!
We also plan to hold a Carers’ Evening Meal in January, as we know that some of you are in paid employment and want a chance to meet up.
We are confident that, working in partnership with you and others, we will see more small improvements in dementia services thanks to the work of the Dementia Changemakers.
If you would like to be a Changemaker, you can read about our work below and book on to our Thursday 11 January meeting.
We wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas, a fun festive period, and a happy new year.
Stay well and warm, and relaaaaaxxxxxxxx……!
Sally
Last-minute Christmas Gift?
Buy the TDS Calendar 2024!
Every penny helps people with dementia!
Our calendar this year features over 100 photos of members, carers, volunteers and staff members enjoying groups, visits and trips out.
A cheery addition to any wall, and only £5 per calendar!
Thank you to our festive donors!
John Lewis, Waitrose & Partners, Trafford Centre
The donation of £2,600 from John Lewis, Waitrose & Partners at the Trafford Centre enabled us to have a fantastically lavish carers party at The Compass Room in The Lowry
Mason Advisory
The Mason Advisory donation of £1,000 enabled us to buy a gift for our members with dementia who attend groups or receive Together @ Home visits. The gifts were delivered by Father Christmas and his elves throughout December
Alliance Medical
A generous donation of £1,000 from Alliance Medical has covered the total cost of our volunteer Winter Social at Cosmo Manchester, giving some very hard working people a well-deserved opportunity to relax, chat and socialise.
Private Client Solicitors
Our headline event sponsor for ‘Christmas at the Cathedral’ donated £500 to cover the cost of hiring the venue. Their generous contribution made the event possible, and we went on to raise …. Well, you’ll have to read on further in this newsletter to find out!
NSL Ltd
Aimee Millen and ex-volunteer Brad are employees at NSL, and their organisation pledged £500 to our Big Give Challenge back in August. They made their pledged donation in December, and thanks to the Big Give and The Hospital Saturday fund, their pledge has been doubled to £1,000! Their donation goes toward our brand new minibus.
Thank you, fundraisers!
Rig2
A huge thank you to Rig2 who donated the proceeds of their recent festive bake sale to local charities. TDS received £200! Wow!!
Ian & his sponsored walkers
The group raised £200 for TDS! Thank you so much for your fundraising efforts.
The TDS Moments of 2023
Sally, CEO
My moment of the year was the poem written by one of our carers, Kay, about the weekend away we had to Ghyll Head.
The Things I Learned From Spending Time With You
It’s not just me that finds things hard
Even if it scares you, you should jump
Not only from a zipline
But jump into the next phase of our journey with our loved one
Others have been where I am now
They’ve survived and moved forward
So keep going
Everyone gets sad and upset
It’s normal
People who don’t understand will judge
But people who get it
Will support you in ways you never thought possible
And most importantly
When you are trying with all your might
To carry on and keep moving forward
When the wind is against you
And the waves are splashing in your face
People have my back
And will row for me
Others are stood in front with encouragement
Showing me the way
I’ve got this!
Thank you!
Claire, Service Delivery Manager
My hightlight was this year’s trip to St Anne’s. It started out not so great - we had a lot of cancellations as there was illness going round, and we had fewer people to take on the day trip than originally intended.
It was a little stressful as the coach company had lost the booking, but they more than made up for it by sending the most luxurious coach in their fleet! It was a hot day, but our lovely modern coach - with disco lights and table seating - had air conditioning and climate control!
The day itself was so wonderful. Fish and chips, the seaside, happy carers and happy members. It was brilliant! I just wish more families had been able to enjoy the day with us. Maybe next year!
Fiona, Business Support Manager
The moment we hit our target for the new minibus was very exciting! When we started fundraising in April £58,000 felt like such a huge target. Hitting it as soon as November was hard work, but thanks to volunteers, fundraisers, pledgers, and our staff members flying the flag for our campaign we got there.
Anna, Service Delivery Team Leader andCarer Support Co-ordinator
Just choose one?! I’m choosing two!
Seeing the first ever performance of the brand new dementia choir made up of North Manchester group members, The Choir That Can, at Manchester Cathedral. It was fun, it was joyful, and it was something I won’t forget.
My second moment was when a carer who had never felt able to access support before said to me, ‘I have never felt so welcome’. It was humbling, and reminded me of the real day-to-day impact we have just by listening.
Jo, Dementia Support Co-ordinator and Together @ Home Project Lead
Mine was seeing a member of the South Manchester group change from being an anxious, quiet, tearful lady when she first started the group to this outgoing, bubbly, funny lady - who is an absolute joy in the group!
She reminds me that what we do is making a difference to people’s lives, bringing joy and empowerment to those who thought they had lost it.
Beth, Dementia Support Co-ordinator
My moment of the year was when DJ Natural Mystic came to the Trafford Group. Once the music started playing, the group came alive! I had to run around giving people water because they didn’t want to sit down. They just wanted to dance.
Rukaiya, Dementia Support Co-ordinator
Seeing the real sense of teamwork and pride in the team we have at the Pyaari Yaddein group was my highlight. We were all there at the Volunteer Winter Social and had a team photograph. The volunteers are part of what makes our group so special and they are such wonderful, wonderful people.
Zsuzsi, Dementia Support Co-ordinator
I couldn’t pick just one moment from my year, so I am going to tell you two!
My role is hybrid with TDS and Carers Manchester South. Back in June, together with carers and the person they care for (many of them TDS members), we wrote a song called ‘Miracle’ to express all the emotions and the journey that caring for someone involves.
The process and the result were really moving!
Another favourite moment is a recent one: Simpson’s birthday speech. I have been lucky to witness from the very beginning how the Longsight group has become a real friendship group where everybody, members and volunteers included, are deeply about each other. Simpson’s speech sums it up!
Mike, Dementia Support Co-ordinator
While bringing the Wythenshawe session to a close, a member asked me if he could have a word. I asked if he wanted to have a quiet chat, and he said no. He said he wanted to speak to the group.
We quietened down the room, and he started to talk. He said, “I have not been coming tot he group very long, and at first I didn’t want to come, but since I’ve been coming I have made new friends. I would like to thank Mike and all the helpers for everythign they do. If I didn’t come to the group, I wouldn’t get out. So thank you all!”
Daphney, Dementia Support Worker Together @ Home
My favourite moment this year was when one of my Together @ Home members with dementia told me I was his second favourite person after his daughter. It really made me smile.
Say ‘Hello’ to our new team member!
Mary Sharples joins TDS as our new Volunteer Co-ordinator
Our previous Volunteer Co-ordinator, Solomon Hayes, left us for pastures new at the start of December.
Our growing team of over 100 volunteers are the lifeblood of our services, and knowing we can’t leave them without their vital programme support we moved quickly to ensure a replacement would be ready to step into Solomon’s shoes as quickly as possible.
We are very excited to introduce you to Mary, who will join us on 3 January 2024 as an experienced and energetic Volunteer Co-ordinator, and she has lots of ideas for how we can continue to develop the building blocks of our TDS volunteering community.
Mary is excited to join us, and said:
“In my life and work, I want to be part of growing communities where everyone is welcomed, included and celebrated. I moved to Manchester 6 years ago as a student of Drama and I graduated in 2021. I have spent the past 2 and a half years working with student and local communities through the university chaplaincy at St Peter’s House. In my spare time, I’m often found outdoors - in the mountains or in a kayak, and I’m a big fan of oat milk lattes and colourful vegetables. I’m really excited to start work and I’m looking forward to meeting the TDS community.”
We’re on the road with our NEW accessible minibus!
We are so very excited to confirm that, after a hard few months of fundraising, we have ordered our new accessible minibus!
From January, you might be able to get a glimpse of our big silver bus driving around the streets of Manchester and getting our members to their groups.
Thank you to everyone who pledged, fundraised or donated to help us purchase our bus. Especially, we would like to thank our Fundraising Volunteers who supported our events and gave their time to help raise the money needed.
Our Pledgers
Aimee & Brad at NSL - Alan & the Masonic Lodges - Alistair & Gabrielle - Ann Caroline - Christine - Colin & his colleagues at Kellogg’s - Eira - JamesKaty - Madeline - Margaret - Vivien
We’ll share some pictures once the bus has its fine new Together Dementia Support livery. We can’t wait to get it out and about and on the road!
Christmas at the Cathedral -
our fun and festive fundraiser
It was certainly an event to remember!
On Sunday 10 December 2023, we held our biggest and most ambitious fundraising event yet: Christmas at the Cathedral.
A total of six acts, including our own dementia choirs the Together in Song Choir and The Choir That Can, got the whole room into the festive spirit and even dancing in the wings!
The event raised a total of £5,635.50!
Thank you to everyone involved with perparing for the event, making sure that the even itself ran smoothly, and tidying up again afterwards. Our wonderful volunteers gave up their time to make sure every attendee had the best time possible, whether they were welcoming at the door, serving refreshments, or looking after our members with dementia.
Thank you to Megan Preece for voluntarily photographing the event
Event Volunteers
Lisa Burton - Bob Day - Brenda Day - Catherine de Rouffignac Christine Howard - Paul Hutton - Mark le Gallez - Helen Milnes - Lisa Pearson - Mark Pearson - Megan Preece - Jeff Seneviratne - John Smith - Karl Tonks - Joe
Choir Volunteers
Anne de Rouffignac - Anne Guy - Hazel Lawson - Joy StoneAlima Niang - Sue Shaw - Janet Crossley - Jess People - Yi Lei Wong -
Kath Purcell - Niannu Gao
Planning Volunteers
Anne de Rouffignac - Sylvia Hinde - Christine HowardGay Lemmey - Lisa Pearson
Raffle Prize Donors
Fundraising Better - Lakeland Trafford Centre - The Royal Exchange TheatreHOME Cinema - Sylvia Hinde - Carole Marrett
Be a Dementia Changemaker - join us in January 2024!
The work of the Manchester Dementia Alliance continues, and we are shaping the way dementia services will be commissioned and delivered in the Manchester region. This will be the third meeting of the Changemakers, and each meeting has a specific focus that you can bring your lived experience and vital feedback to help inform.
At this meeting, we will discuss:
How services support you, and if / how they need to be better. We will think particularly about homecare, daycare, respite, GP support, crisis help and other community health services
Thursday 11 January 2024
1 - 3pm
The Brunswick Village
50 Brunswick Street
Ardwick
Manchester
M13 9PE
Parking and public transport
On-street parking in designated areas is available in close walking distance to The Brunswick Village, and is free for up to three hours with no return within an hour.
Alternative parking is at the rear behind the church, which is pay and display.
Bus number 192 runs from Piccadilly Train Station. The nearest stop is the Apollo.
The nearest tram stop is Piccadilly, where you can catch the 192 also.
Let us know you’d like to join
If you would like to join us, please e-mail [email protected] or contact 0161 477 6999
That’s all, folks!
See you next year!
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