You've Got A Friend Community Group
We are a voluntary non-profit community group in Cheadle Hulme who host monthly social events for elderly, vulnerable & socially isolated community members.
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We are thrilled to be hosting our inclusive lunches for elderly and vulnerable people in our local community! If you'd like to join us or know of a relative, friend or neighbour who would, please get in touch either by the contact form below.
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The next lunch dates for 2024:
Wednesday:
17th April
15th May
19th June
17th July
Aug TBC
18th Sept
16th Oct
20th Nov
4th Dec
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1pm - 3:00pm
Manchester Rugby Club, Grove Lane, Cheadle Hulme, SK8 7NB
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The lunches are free but if you're able to, we ask for a donation to help us fund future events.
Where it all began...
You've Got A Friend Community Group started out as an idea for Christmas lunch for some local elderly and vulnerable residents of Cheadle Hulme in Greater Manchester. After caring for my nana before she died and seeing an interview on the tv with an elderly gentleman relying on his weekly visit to a social group for company, I felt there was more we could do to support our own community. I approached the club I teach my fitness classes at and they agreed to host a free pre-Christmas dinner and my incredible class members offered to donate where they could to help make this happen. We flyered the area and anticipated 20 or so would want to join us. We had a response from more than 200 people and ended up holding two events to be able to cater for everyone!
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We were able to serve them a three course Christmas dinner with entertainment from a local school choir and singer - all made possible by very generous and kind people. It was at this moment we realised the level of loneliness and need for friendship was more than we knew and so decided to make our Christmas lunch a monthly social event!
Our New Friends
Following the success of our Christmas lunches, we launched our community group. A team of four of us organise each event along with the support of some truly wonderful volunteers - giving up time to talk to our group members and make new friends. We provide entertainment each month that gets everyone involved, free lunch and transport if required. We have no less than 80 community members attend each event and our group is very special to us.
Monthly Events
We hold quizzes, afternoon tea, have themed dancers and singers perform, an outdoor BBQ and even our own afternoon at the Proms! We really get to know our group members, their stories and families and each month we celebrate their birthdays too! (Who doesn't love a goody bag and birthday cake!)
Our last community group pre-Covid ran in February 2020, we had to put our monthly lunches on hold because of the virus. Having built valued friendships with these people, our volunteers kept in touch with members of the group - between us we made sure everyone had someone to call and touch base with. We had to make sure they didn't feel like we had just forgotten about them, knowing how much having something on the calendar to look forward to meant.
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My husband and I began weekly food shops for many of the members who didn't have local family or neighbours that could help and along with the other volunteers. It's been a long three years and we can't believe how long it has been since we were together, but we are so excited to be launching our group again.
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We can't wait to see you there!
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If you would like to see more from our community group, you can visit our Facebook page: You've Got A Friend Community Group.
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