Wetley Rocks WI report

WHAT a great turn out we had for our February meeting!

We started off with a bit of a switch up as Cynthia the Secretary was unable to attend, so June the Vice President stepped in and read the minutes from last month.

All the members agreed on the minutes and President Pat signed them before sharing the news from Stafford and introducing the speaker, Val Alcock.

Val works for the Alzheimer’s society and gave us a talk on her role and how singing benefits people suffering from Dementia but also their carers. It was insightful in to how a simple activity can help improve people’s quality of life whilst also providing a social aspect. The evening wasn’t just a talk there was also a fun session where we sang songs (the lyrics were provided on a sheet). What made it enjoyable was it didn’t matter if you could sing – all that mattered was you enjoyed it.

We sang some songs in rounds and Val gave some background to why she had picked them, most of the songs were well known and it was lovely to hear members stories about what certain songs meant to them. There were songs with actions, and songs where we had to miss a word. The “miss a word” songs were fun as it is harder than you think, so we all laughed together when we got it wrong!

Val was brave and gave the members musical instruments like maracas and tambourines, it is strangely satisfying to shake things and sing. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with plenty of laughter!

After all the singing, we put the instruments back and then settled down for some well-deserved drinks and cakes. As ever, it was great catching up on everyone’s news and getting ideas for social outings later in the year.

We look forwards to welcoming Penny Wheat on March 8 for a talk on Silver Smithing at 7.30pm in Wetley Rocks Village Hall.