The Lets Go Stroke Club

NEWSLETTER                                                        OCTOBER 2019

Welcome

Hi everyone and welcome. Tonight, we have Graham Deane to entertain us. I’m sure you will enjoy his music combined with his sense of humour.

Turkey and Tinsel              

A reminder that the balance for the holiday must be paid tonight as stated at the last meeting. Luggage tags will be given out next month.

Day Out 

Last month we had to cancel our plans to visit Boundary Mill, so that’s it for this year. If you have an idea for an indoor visit, where it doesn’t matter what the weather throws at us, please come forward, let us know, and we’ll do our best to make it happen.

Savings Club

There is still the opportunity to take advantage of our savings club to help budget for future holidays. Please see me to make a deposit, but make sure you get a receipt for it, to cover yourself from mistakes. Once again, I’ll remind you that I would prefer bank transfer, or cheque over cash. Thanks for your help.

Summer Holiday

Next year we are returning to the Croyde Bay Hotel on the north Devon coast. Dates are Saturday 13^th June for 7 nights, and the cost is £400 per person. If you would like to join us, then get your names down quickly. Non-returnable deposits of £100 per person are due now to secure your place.

Afternoon Club

We would love more people to come to the afternoon club in Runcorn to ensure its future viability. This month we have a visit from Trudy Jones from Halton Libraries who is bringing in some “memory boxes”, so come down for a natter and a free cup of tea and biscuits. 

Christmas Draw Tickets

These will be issued tonight to all members present, and we would like them sold and returned at the next meeting please. Alternatively, you can pop the stubs in the post to me or any committee member with a cheque. NO CASH PLEASE. Remember that they are £1 a ticket again this year in books of 10. Please don’t bring them to the Christmas party, we will be too busy to deal with them.

Christmas Party

We will be selling tickets for our Christmas party at the next meeting. The cost will be £10 a head. Admission will be by ticket only, and as next month’s meeting is the last before Christmas, can I ask that you bring the money to pay for them please. As always, it will be a great night, with good food and entertainment, in the company of friends. This year we have managed to book club favourite Dave Osborne to entertain us. We urge as many people as possible to support the party which is on Wednesday 11th of December. Meeting at 7.30pm for an 8pm start, we are hoping to finish at 11pm. Just a reminder that friends and family are welcome too.

Hampers

Once again, we will be accepting food and drink items for our Christmas hampers at the next meeting. These will be gifted to less fortunate members of our community, to make a difference to their Christmas, so dig deep please, and let’s see how many we can fill.

Mayors Charity

Unfortunately, the awful weather once again put paid to the vintage rally at Victoria Park last month. Better luck next year!

The next fundraising night is on Friday 18^th, here at the stadium and is a murder mystery night. Members of the performing arts course at Cronton College will be acting out the plot for us, so we can expect a professional performance. A 3-course meal is on offer for the bargain price of £10 a head. Put the date in your diary and order your tickets tonight.

CLUB NIGHTS

13^th November:

Irish Guards Singers

11^th December:

Christmas party

8^th January 2020

Entertainer TBA

AFTERNOON CLUB

20^th November

Christmas crafts

18^th December

Free lunch at Grangeway Community Centre, with entertainment from Nicole Jay and her daughter.

15^th January 2020

TBA

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

3^rd   Ann Dutton

4^th   Anne Cartwright

11^th   Cath Ashton

16^th   Val Sandison

18^th Sue Henry

18^th   Freda Mitchell

18^th   Rose Cook

24^th John Kingwill

27^th Shaun Dutton

29^th Dawn Jackson

If anyone’s name is missing from this list, or your details are wrong, please let me know

Thanks to you all for coming to support your club tonight. We hope you all have a great night.

Take Care

P.S. Don’t forget to bring your draw tickets, hamper items and money for your Christmas party tickets next month. Thanks!

NEWSLETTER                                                        SEPTEMBER 2019

Last Month

The clubs 22nd birthday party was a smash hit. The Mayoress, Margaret Horabin helped us celebrate, together with Ged Philbin and Ros Wong. Our entertainer, Allan Gill was sensational, and had you up dancing. We will certainly invite him back sometime next year. The buffet was excellent, as it always is, and the room was decorated beautifully. I hope you all had a great time.

Day Trip

The proposed trip to York or Stratford was poorly supported and didn’t go ahead. Last chance for this year is a trip to Boundary Mill, Colne on Friday 27^th September. The coach leaves the Red Admiral at 09.15 and the stadium at 09.30, the cost is £10 per person.

Vintage Rally

As I said last month the Mayor is looking for items for the tombola we are supporting at Victoria Park on 28th and 29^th September. If you have brought anything in tonight then thank you. It would be nice to see as many of you as possible attending over the weekend.

Tonight

We are welcoming the Dukes of Halton, Ukelele band tonight to entertain us. Please give them your best attention and enjoy their blend of old and new songs.

The “C” word

No, not that one! Christmas! Next month we will be issuing raffle tickets again for the Christmas party. It would be helpful if you could have them back to us at our November meeting please, but definitely before the party. Tickets will NOT be accepted on the night, we’ll be too busy doing everything else.

Summer Holiday

Next year we are returning to the Croyde Bay Hotel on the north Devon coast. Dates are Saturday 13^th June for 7 nights, and the cost is £400 per person. If you would like to join us, then get your names down quickly. Non-returnable deposits of £100 per person are due now to secure your place.

Alice Howells

Unfortunately Alice is unable join us tonight, so I just wanted to make you aware that she will reach the grand old age of 90 on the 15^th of this month, an achievement in anyone’s estimation. So Happy Birthday Alice, have a great day.

Congratulations!

On the subject of congratulations, Pat Williams and Roy Cosgrove are getting married tomorrow. We have sent them a lovely card and a small gift. We wish them both a happy life together.

Turkey and Tinsel          

I am still in negotiation for a discount for the holiday to Llandudno. The dates for your diary are 22nd to 25^th November. As usual, we will call at Tweedmills for a couple of hours on the way down. If you want to go, I will need your £100 non-returnable deposits tonight, or as soon as possible. The savings club is available if you want to spread the cost.

Afternoon club

Nicole Jay came along to give luxurious hand massages, and her daughter and friends sang for you. It was hard to believe that her daughter was just 12 years old, such was the confidence and power in her voice. They are coming back to our Christmas buffet meeting to sing for us again.

Hampers

As is customary for the club at this time of year, we are asking you to bring in items to help us fill as many hampers as we can. We will pass them to Age UK to distribute to less fortunate members of our community. So if you can spare any food or drink items which are still within their sell by date, please bring them in from next month and we will prepare the hampers. Thanks in anticipation.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CLUB NIGHTS

9^th October

Irish Guards Singers

13^th November

Graham Deane

11^th December

Christmas party

AFTERNOON CLUB

18^th September

Chair based exercise

16^th October

Trudy Jones from Halton Libraries is bringing “memory boxes”

20th November

Christmas Crafts

18^th December

Free buffet at Grangeway, with Nicole Jay and friends

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

4^TH   Jim Kay

4^th   Tony Moffatt

15^th   Alice Howells

If anyone’s name is missing from this list, or your details are wrong, please let me know.

Thanks to you all for coming to support your club tonight. We hope you all have a great night.

Take Care

On Wednesday 14th August the Let’s Go Stroke Club celebrated it’s 22nd birthday.  It’s hard to believe that thanks to a small group of stroke survivors hard work and commitment and the continuing hard work of Committee members, our club continues to survive and provide support and recreational activities for stroke survivors and their loved ones.

We are extremely grateful to the continuing support of Halton Borough Council and several mayors over the 22 years.  Also we benefit from support from Last Man Standing/ Norman Atherton, Halton Print, Apec Taxis, Anthony’s Travel and numerous other individuals in many ways.

We are extremely fortunate that, once again was have been chosen as charity beneficiaries by this year’s Mayor, Cllr Margaret Horabin. Recently, our life president Bob Bryant, for some strange reason decided to return to Halton after his sojourn for the past few years in sunny, beautiful  Babbacombe.  Welcome home Bob and Carole, we have missed you so much, but can’t help thinking ‘why?’.

Cllr Margaret Horabin and Bob Bryant

Terresa Cook and Barry Heap presenting Cllr Margaret Horabin with a Bouquet of Flowers

Well we had a wonderful birthday celebration with raffle prizes, a delicious buffet and excellent entertainment from Alan Gill.  Our many thanks to the catering team at Halton Stadium for the buffet and to our Chair, Teresa Cook for providing the birthday cake.  With excellent team work and support, we continue to prosper.  Thank you everyone for your support.

Alan Gill

Below is a selection of videos and photos from the party.

NEWSLETTER                                                                    AUGUST 2019

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tonight, we are celebrating the club’s 22nd birthday. I’m sure that Bob and his small group of like-minded friends never imagined 22 years ago that we would be celebrating this milestone tonight, which is testament to their tenacity and can-do attitude. We are privileged to welcome Haltons Mayoress Cllr Margaret Horabin and her husband Carl to the club, together with several of our friends and supporters. We hope you all have a good night with us.

Party

We are fortunate to have enlisted wonderful vocalist Alan Gill to entertain us again tonight with his superb  voice, and brilliant humour. We have a buffet served around 8.30pm, followed by the raffle, before Alan comes back on to take us to the end of the very busy evening. We are looking to finish by 10.00pm.

Last Month

The trip last month to Bury Market was a popular choice, and I believe the weather was very kind to us. Hopefully this month the trip to either Stratford or York will go ahead. It takes place on Friday 23rd August. As both venues are at least a couple of hours away, we propose to leave there at 6.30pm, to ensure we have enough time in there. Pick up times will vary dependant on which venue you choose. The cost is £15 each. If you remember, as a result of a request from a member previously, we opened up our coach trips to well behaved children aged between 5 and 12. So, if you are prevented from coming on one of our trips because you are minding your grandkids, bring them along with you for a great day out. The cost will be half the adult fare, in this case £7.50 each. 

Turkey and Tinsel

I have provisionally booked the Esplanade Hotel in Llandudno for our Turkey and Tinsel holiday.  The cost is £210 per person, although I hope to negotiate a discount, and I will need your £100 deposits next meeting. The dates for your diary are the 22^nd to 25^th November.

Payments

As I explained last month, I am handling too much cash at times, so I proposed the following changes:

If possible, pay for holidays, day trips and Christmas party tickets via personal cheque.

I realise that cheque use is dwindling so alternatively:

Use bank transfer to pay for these items.  Its quick, easy and safe and I use it all the time to pay bills on behalf of the club. And its easy for me to see who the payment is from as you have space to include a reference like your name. I will give out our account details to everyone who would like to use this payment method.

Thanking you all in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Vintage Rally

The Mayor is looking for items for the tombola we are supporting at Victoria Park on 28^th and 29^th September. If you have anything suitable, please could you bring it in next month.

Mayors Charity Fundraiser

The next event to take place, will be here at the stadium on Saturday 14^th September, and is the Last Night of the Proms.  It includes a 3-course dinner and live entertainment, including a live screening from the Royal Albert Hall.  Tickets are at the special price of £15.

Other events

The Mayor will also have a stall at two other fundraisers this month:

Mon 19th August

Castlefields Community Centre, Summer Fayre,  11am to 3pm 

Tuesday 20^th August

A retail space in Runcorn Shopping City, selling clothing, and other retail items.  8am to 3pm

Please support these events if you can to raise funds for the club

Afternoon Club

Next week at the afternoon club, we are welcoming Nicole Jay to carry out hand massages.  This time she is bringing her talented daughter and some friends along to sing for you.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CLUB NIGHTS

11^th September

Irish Guards singers

9^th October

Ukelele band

13^th November

Graham Deane

11^th December

Christmas Party at the Stadium

AFTERNOON CLUB

21st August

Nicole Jay and her daughter 

18^th September

Quiz

16^th October

Chair based exercise

20th November

Christmas Crafts

18^th December

Free buffet at Grangeway Community Centre

FUTURE TRIPS

23^rd August

Stratford or York

26^th September (Thurs)

TBA

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

Irene Brindle 5^th

Norma Sherwood 9^th

Beverley Williams 18^th

Pauline Jackson 23^rd

If anyone’s name is missing from this list or your details are wrong, please come and see me.

Thanks to you all for coming to support your club tonight, especially our invited guests. We hope you all have a great night.

Take Care

NEWSLETTER                                                                           JULY 2019

Welcome

Hello everyone, and welcome to the July meeting.  Tonight, we have a club favourite to entertain us, Graham Deane. Please give him the best of order.

Summer Holiday

The holiday to our new venue, Croyde Bay in north Devon, was not blessed with the lovely weather we are used to, but we managed to get out each day and dodge the showers. The drive along the coast road into the bay was breathtaking, with golden sands, and rolling waves popular with the surfers. The hotel rooms were huge and comfortable, and the food was of good quality if a little limited in choice. Hopefully we have persuaded them to provide a larger choice of dishes when we return next year. Facilities included a heated pool, hot tub, gym, crazy golf, kids playground and tennis court. Mike, our driver for the week, had suggested several possibilities for day trips, which we had not visited before, and we took full advantage of his comprehensive knowledge of the area. We have already booked for next year, the dates being Saturday 13^th June for 7 nights, with the cost being £400 per person. I will open the bookings at the September meeting, and as always its first come first served. The non- returnable deposit will be £100 per person, and you will need to fill in a booking form detailing your requirements, which we will endeavour to fulfil. I anticipate that bookings will flood in early so if you want to go, get your name and deposit in soon.

Joyce Vaughan

This lovely lady turned 91 on the 9^th of this month and is officially our oldest member.  So Happy Birthday Joyce!

Day Trips

The proposed day trip to Stratford upon Avon did not manage to attract enough interest. This month, as advertised we are going to Bury Market on THURSDAY 25^th July. The coach leaves the Red Admiral at 09.30 and the stadium at 09.45. Cost is £10 each. Please give your names to Dianne.

22nd Birthday Party

Next month we celebrate our 22nd birthday with a party. Superb vocalist Alan Gill will be entertaining us again, and there will be a buffet.  Please note that the fun starts at 7.30pm, so coach pick ups will be correspondingly early. We still aim to finish at 10pm as normal.

Payments

I am handling too much cash at times, so I am proposing the following changes:

If possible, pay for holidays, day trips and Christmas party tickets via personal cheque.

I realise that cheque use is dwindling so alternatively:

Use bank transfer to pay for these items.  Its quick, easy and safe and I use it all the time to pay bills on behalf of the club. And its easy for me to see who the payment is from as you have space to include a reference like your name. I will give out our account details to everyone who would like to use this payment method.

Thanking you all in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Turkey & Tinsel

I am proposing a Turkey & Tinsel weekend at the Esplanade Hotel in Llandudno from Friday 22^nd to Monday 25^th November. I need to negotiate a price, but I expect it to be around £189 each. If you could just give your names to Dianne tonight to gauge the amount of interest.

Mayors Tombola

Every year, the Mayor has a Tombola stall at the Vintage Rally at Victoria Park in September. I am asking you all to bring in small items you do not want, or purchase cheaply, to  provide prizes.   So, if you have anything suitable, please bring it to the club and we will give it to the Mayor.  Last weekend I picked up bags of gifts from Pat Williams and Roy Cosgrove, which has given a great start to this years appeal, so many thanks to them.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CLUB NIGHTS

14^th August

22nd birthday party with buffet and entertainment from Alan Gill

11^th September

Irish Guards Singers

9^th October

Ukelele Band 

AFTERNOON CLUB

21^st August

Chair based exercise

18^th September

Quiz

16^th October

TBA

FUTURE TRIPS

Thursday 25^th July

Bury Market

Friday 24th August

York

Friday 21^st September

TBA 

BIRTHDAYS THIS MONTH

6^th   Jean Bates

7^th    Alyson Carter

9^th     Joyce Vaughan

20^th    Stuart Day

21^st     Elaine Robinson

24^th   Barbara Thorley

26^th   Martin Higgins

28^th   Marion McDonald

30^th   Doreen Orme

Once again, if anyone’s name is missing from this list, or there are any errors, please let me know.

Thanks to you all for coming to support your club tonight.  Have a good night.

Take Care

Today we made our way back to Runcorn after a week down at Croyde Bay stopping at the Gloucester Services on way back.

Today our members went to Atlantic City at Bideford to explore over 25 famous name stores for our members to look at and plenty of places to eat and drink.

Today was a free day as far as trips were concerned so it was up to individuals what they wanted to do. A few went to the local villages of either Croyde or Braunton, some enjoyed the swimming pool and other facilities in the hotel.

Today our day out took us to Taunton which is a large regional town in Somerset. Taunton has over 1000 years of religious ad military history. Other places of interest include Taunton Castle and the Museum of Somerset as well as a large variety of shops and eating places including the obligatory Wetherspoons. The weather was once again kind to us even though it wasn’t sunny at least it was dry.