So much going on; so much more to come…

Please note: this post is 133 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Technology workshops, cooking, film clubs, discussion groups, local business and Parliament trips, afternoon tea, care home visits, signing and dancing and gardening... This is just a snapshot of everything our wonderful volunteers have been getting up to in the past two weeks, and there is so much more to come in the run-up to Christmas.

Last week was Parliament Week, which aims to engage and connect people across the country with democracy. So we decided to bring democracy right to our Tuesday evening film club, where our wonderful volunteer Charlotte and local Councillor Rakhia Ismail led a lively discussion on local and national policies that affect volunteers and older neighbours and what everyone can do to make their voice heard.

The following day, we brought older people to the centre of Parliamentary democracy by accompanying a group of our older neighbours on a visit to the Houses of Parliament.

It's wonderful to be able to learn from our volunteers' wide-ranging skills and experience, so as well as Charlotte sharing her political knowledge with her older neighbours, archaeologist Jen gave a talk on the evolution of man and how this has shaped the world in which we live today. This was followed by a special film about an arcaeological dig that took place recently to search for remains in Shoreditch Park, which was badly bombed during the Blitz: a time many of our older neighbours remember well.

Last weekend, we were delighted to join with The Challenge Network to host an afternoon of sandwiches, tea, cakes and a highly competitive quiz bringing local young people together with their older neighbours.

Cockney Rebels were the eventual winning team:

As NLC aims to connect older people with the fast-changing world around them, we were delighted to be offered the opportunity to take a group of older people to visit strategic reseach company Euromonitor, where employees offered their older neighbours an insight into their work, and sat down for a sandwich and a chat with them.

And yesterday we took part in an Old Time Music Hall event in Islington, hosted by Age UK Islington and Islington Giving: a wonderful opportunity for older people from across the borough to get together over some tea and scones and indulge in some nostalgic signing and dancing.

As well as these special events in the past two weeks, our volunteers have found the time to cook with their older neighbours, help out with their gardens, visit them in care homes and help them get to grips with new technology.

And there's so much more to come in the run-up to Christmas, including special Christmas storytelling and films, trips out and a special new project where volunteers will be decorating Christmas trees for older people who are alone at Christmas.

If you would like to take part in any of these activities, then please sign up!