The last time our Lunch Club was able to meet was on the 11th March, when we played adapted table tennis together. It feels a long time ago now, but we haven’t forgotten about our seniors! Our 28 members are telephoned every week by the fantastic Lunch Club team, which brings a welcome chance for a chat and a catch-up. As we speak to the same people each week, we are getting to know more about them – there has been a discovery of a former competitive female cyclist in our midst, a keen gardener who is growing his own veg during the lockdown, and a teenager present at VE day in 1945 who sat on top of the lions outside the Leeds Town Hall!
Carole Smith, MBC Seniors’ Worker (left) is also sending a mailout of information and activities every few weeks to Lunch Club members.
The latest mailout is themed around ‘Eating Well and Self-Care’. It includes a recipe leaflet with culinary contributions from the team, a craft activity, sunflower seeds, and ideas about how to be kind to ourselves and others. Also, an issue of SHINE magazine from the Leeds charity Time to Shine is being added to the pack for the first time. SHINE magazine is being produced for older people in Leeds during lockdown as a way of helping them to feel connected – printed copies are being delivered to those who don’t have access to the internet. It is also published online: https://timetoshineleeds.org/projects/shine-magazine
Carole says: ‘It is great to be in contact with our wonderful seniors at this time to let them know that we are thinking of them and to hear about how life is for them at the moment. We are hearing about their resourcefulness, their resilience and their care of others, as well as their difficulties – older people have so much to give and to teach us about coping in hard times. SHINE magazine are looking for local older people to tell their stories and share their memories, poems, advice and more – the magazine is about them and for them. I hope that some of the Lunch Club seniors will do that, and perhaps there are others from MBC or their families who might be interested to contribute too.’
If you are an older person who would like to contribute to SHINE magazine, you can ring 0113 2441697, or email hello@shinealight.org.uk or post a contribution to: Shine magazine, PO Box 908, Elland, HX1 9WF.