Exeter Gateway Centre

As the upcoming Friday 13th was Sport Relief, the members again decided to have a week of taking part in physical challenges. These included air-hockey, exercise biking, aer/chairobics, Wii Fit and ‘lifting the roll of silver boarder roll’! (invented by Jane, one of the centre’s support workers).

During the week, over 25 members attempted various activities and hopefully we will have raised some funds for this worthwhile charity.

As well as the physical activities, members have been busy with the usual bingo, colouring and word-searches. The theme for the next couple of months is dinosaurs, so several members have been working on a couple of creations-we have both friendly and ferocious looking creatures!

Gareth, amongst others, has been working exceptionally hard on our mosaic sign and he also joined Suzanne, Tracy, Mickie, Rachael and Peter in the greenhouse, under the direction of Jane, where they manged to pot up some vegetables and sieve some of the soil.

At the beginning of the month, the bakers treated the members to some tasty Welshcakes in honour of St David’s Day and also baked a cake for Lisa’s birthday.

Next week, we are looking forward to a behind the scenes tour of Exeter City’s stadium and getting more work done in the garden…

With this Tuesday being Shrove Tuesday, we decided to have pancakes on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday! Over the three days, Debbie and Daryl cooked over 100 pancakes for the members! Paul, Tracy, Amy, Emma and Victoria all helped to prepare the batter and the fillings. There was a choice of cheese, ham, sugar and lemon, chocolate spread, jam and golden syrup…some members chose the entire selection in one pancake!

Activities have continued as usual-Gareth is determined to finish the new sign and Peter K has made several mosaic based gifts for family and friends. Colouring, bingo and papier-mache continues to prove popular as has Daryl’s childhood Hornby railway!

Jane and her gardeners have added what will hopefully be  splash of colour to the outdoor planters and there will soon be some seeds sown ready for the summer.

Michelle and Donna celebrated their birthdays (Donna’s being a special one!) and they enjoyed the usual rendition of happy birthday, where Donna nearly drowned out the remainder with her singing!

Activities have been in full swing again, with the Tuesday group carrying on with mosaic tiling projects. We are continuing with coasters, trivets and up-cycling pots as well as creating an extra sign for the exterior of the building.

Peter K has finished yet another creation and David A celebrated his 53rd birthday (we’ve lost track of how many times he’s said how good he looks for his age!). Vincent has been busy entertaining us with his singing-we’ve had Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Neil Diamond this week!

There were plenty of Valentine’s cards made and themed word-searches completed along with the usual games of bingo, colouring, pool, Scalextric, computing and air-hockey.

Hopefully it might stop raining and we can eventually get out and prepare the beds for this year’s vegetable crop…

As the centre is closed on a Friday, we had our annual Valentine’s Lunch on Thursday 13th-twenty-nine members enjoyed a two course lunch and raffle. During the week, members had baked sponge-cake and biscuits in preparation for dessert with the main course being freshly made cottage pie and veg (some of which was from last year’s harvest from our garden). Everyone that dined was entered into the raffle for a chance to win a selection of prizes- a great time was had by all.

Over the past couple of weeks, members have been busy as usual with their activities. Tuesdays have been focused on mosaic working (although plenty of other choices are available) so we have made coasters, trivets and also decorated plant-pots.

Woodwork, papier-mache, dancing, cooking and music have all been going on around the centre. This week we celebrated Emma and Sarah’s birthdays with the sounds of Happy Birthday. 

For three days this week, members had the opportunity to enjoy a Chinese lunch to celebrate Chinese New Year. Several sous-chefs, under the supervision of Daryl, helped to prepare three different meals for the benefit of the members. As usual, there was plenty to go round and everyone enjoyed their food.

Many members used their creative skills to make lanterns as well as complete Chinese themed word-searches and colouring. We also had ‘The Chopstick Challenge’, where members used their chopstick skills to move ten jelly-babies from one dish to another in the shortest time. There were some varied methods but everyone had fun trying!

This week continued as we finished the last, with plenty going on! Gareth, Peter K, Jamie and Brian all continued with their cardboard and papier-mache objects, with Jamie proudly showing off his Coca-Cola lorry by Thursday.

Angus is well on the way to completing his bird-box while Paul, Tracy, Amy, Suzanne and Sarah spent time baking. Vincent and Scott have been busy making posters and scrap-books about their favourite pop-stars and James Bond actors!

We have also been playing various games-as well as the usual dominoes and bingo, we have been testing our observational skills with ‘Dobble’ (Harry Potter version). This has proven a popular addition to the games selection, especially with Emma.

Outside, the old greenhouse has been removed and thanks to the generosity of Exeter Southernhay Rotary, a new and larger one is being assembled by John (our amazingly patient and weatherproof gardener!). He is also laying slabs and making the garden more accessible all year round.  By early Spring, we should be able to make a start on preparing our fruit and vegetable areas and enjoying the outside space.