NORTHAMPTON 01604 621259 | CORBY 01536 268133 | WELLINGBOROUGH 01933 228453

November 2024

New groups in Wellingborough

This Month saw 2 new groups start up at Wellingborough Bridge. Both were suggested by members and have started off really well. Darts,Bat & Chat now on Wednesdays at 12:15pm, and Knit and natter on Fridays at 11:15am.

What a fantastic start to Knit & Knatter we had, it was wonderful to see everyone getting involved and learning new skills. We can’t wait to see your new creations! A huge thank you to Button Boutique for their generous donation of wool- we are very grateful!

If you are interested in crochet/knitting, join our Wellingborough members every Friday.

Adult Learning sessions

We had another busy month of Adult learning sessions across all of our sites in November.

We had World Food cookery, Journaling, assertiveness amongst others.

These sessions are always well received, and they are always looking for ideas of other sessions that would be beneficial to members, so if you have any ideas feel free to get in touch.

The Cube Cookery sessions

In Northampton we recently spent the day at Cube Cookery College thanks to the Peer Led Initiative Fund.  
Some of our members really enjoy cooking but are not motivated to cook at home for one, others need to build confidence and others would like to work in the catering industry.  
We contacted The Cube, who have great facilities for groups of up to 10 people to experience cooking in a learning environment. 

The Cube have expertise with cooking and working with people with mental health issues.

Our members got the opportunity to attend a tasters session, in the morning or afternoon.  They were provided with all the ingredients and equipment needed, and given guidance on how to make the specified recipes.  Members made chicken stir fry in the morning and “Millies” style cookies in the afternoon.  Members were given information on the cost of each recipe, they learnt about how different vegetables take different times to cook and how to cook them in order of longest time to cook first.  They also learnt different ways of cutting vegetables and how to adapt the dish using individual creative skills and to each person’s individual taste, they also got the opportunity to use measuring scales and learn the creaming technique to blend ingredients for the cookies.  

 
Some of the members said they had never made a stir fry before and couldn’t believe and how simple it had been to cook, they were amazed that with so few ingredients, they could make something so tasty and cheap.   
 
Members gave us great feedback from the session and said they would like to go back to learn more.  With support from the Peer Led Initiative Fund we are planning more sessions in the new year, to give up to 40 more members the opportunity to attend a session at the Cube.   
 
So, if you are interested in attending or have any feedback about the session please get in contact with us.

Paintballing

Members from Northampton had an afternoon trying out paintballing after one of our members put the idea forward for the Peer Led Initiative Fund.
We travelled over to Conflict Paintball at Grendon Lakes and were looked after by our brilliant marshall Dale who guided members as they played in teams against each other. Teams battled it out in different games such as trying to be the last player not out and to capture the other teams flag.
The teamwork on show from the members was amazing to see as well as the encouragement and support given to each other and the feedback from members was that they had such a good time playing!

Rage Room

On November 13th our members in Wellingborough went to a Rage Room!
One of our wonderful members applied to the Peer Led Fund with a view of bringing everyone together for a Fun and Therapeutic activity and it was certainly a success!
The feedback has been incredible with members stating how great they felt afterwards, including an improvement to their mental well-being.

Meditation Centre

On November 27th our members in Wellingborough went on a trip to Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre!
One of our members planned a therapeutic day out at the meditation centre, with a view of bringing women together in recovery and strengthening their relationships- this was applied for through the Peer Led Fund and accepted! 
Members were first led through a 15 minute silent meditation, which members found to be new and eye opening. They were then given a guided tour of the building by Mandy, who shared some interesting facts about when each parts of the structure were built!
The members went on to enjoy a hot drink while taking part in an art session. The day finished on a delicious lunch with a sweet treat of cheesecake! 
Members shared that they felt fully relaxed by the end of the day and were excited to use the new meditation technique they learnt at home!