Terrific Tuesdays

13/11/2025

Dudley & members of Newmarket Community Choir are coming to sing for us on Tuesday, 18th November at the Westend Church, Withersfield Road, Haverhill CB9 9LA. They are arriving at 11:30 & treating us to not one but TWO sessions, the second full of Christmas songs & carols that we'll know well & can sing along! Put us in the mood for our Christmas Meal next week!☃🎅🎄🎁🎉

If anyone with a memory loss condition is interested in joining our group at just £2 pp [ including drinks, biscuits, entertainment & activities ] or is interested in becoming one of our much-valued volunteers, please get in touch

Please contact Dennis Wendell:-

01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com

07/11/2025

It's the last special Dementia Screening of a film for 2025, and it's a huge family favourite ............................Disney's BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS on Tuesday 11th November

At Haverhill Arts Centre in the High Street, parking in the car park behind the building, for easy access.

Starting prompt at 11:30. Arrive in good time to get seated around a table if that's your preference! A cup of tea, coffee or squash & biscuit, including Jaffa Cakes, a favourite & all for £2 per member.

For further details about Terrific Tuesdays, our fabulous dementia club, please get in touch with our lead volunteer Dennis Wendell:-

01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com

07/11/2025

Yesterday, we talked about ⭐️ Golden Rule No. 2 - ‘Listen to the Expert (the person with dementia) and learn from them.'

The tool we use here to help us is an observational one and we call it SPOT.*

We use it to find out what information we need to provide for the person with dementia to give them a feeling of reassurance that everything is okay – particularly when it comes to answering their questions.

Let’s first consider what normally happens whenever we need to find the answer to a question we have asked ourselves.
Could be something as simple as “Now, where on earth have I left my phone?! “ 🙄

We have a 'let me think' moment, where we consult our own store of information. We ALWAYS consult this first - it’s our go-to point of reference.

It’s only if we cannot (for whatever reason) find the information we’re searching for, that we ask a question of someone else: “Have you seen my phone? I can’t find it!” 🤷‍♀️

The person with dementia is no different - except the current information they have stored is incomplete and not much use to them. So they tend to ask many questions, often repeatedly and (depending on the topic), often anxiously.

By taking note of the most frequently asked questions, we can then begin finding the 'best' answer or piece of information ie the one that generates a feeling that all is ok.

That feeling will store, even if the words you have used (being facts) have not.

So, try out various responses to a question, and watch carefully to see what reaction you get to each one.

Once you have found the ‘best’ answer to a question (and these answers and responses will of course be very specific to your individual person), it should be used consistently by everyone coming into contact with the person, then move on to the next most frequent question ... and so on.

Carers using the SPECAL method find that anxious questioning gradually subsides.

*(For those interested, SPOT stands for SPECAL Observational Tracking – more on how it was developed another day!)

31/10/2025

TUESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER, Hannah is returning to see us from Shaftesbury, Suffolk Memory & Dementia Support organisation to talk to our family carer members, on a one to one basis.

From 11-2 we'll be at the Westend Church, Withersfield Road, Haverhill CB9 9LA for friendship, companionship and dementia and other memory loss advice. The usual activities of playing games, cards, chatting, crosswords, colouring and catching up with local and national news

Set up SEVEN YEARS ago in October 2018, when Sue Ryder Synergy Cafes were replaced by phone support, Dennis Wendell, who was a family carer at that time, with help from the charity, took the lead & Terrific Tuesdays Dementia Club was formed.

Membership was £2 pp back then BUT thanks to grants, the profit made from sales, fundraisers & donations, it's remained at that price, so it's affordable for everyone! Membership includes hot & cold drinks throughout with biscuits & activities & entertainment for 3 hours!

For further information contact Dennis Wendell:-
01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com

25/10/2025

TUESDAY 28TH OCTOBER, we're back at the Burton Centre, Camps Road above Haverhill Library UK from 11:00 -2:00 pm with everyone's favourite activity, BINGO with lots of prizes to be won!

At just £2 pp, it includes two games of BINGO, hot & cold drinks & biscuits. Just a few social hours of friendship & as a family carer or someone living with dementia, it's great value for money.

Run by an amazing team of volunteers, all of who have have been involved with caring for someone with a Dementia type illness.

If you need further details, please contact Dennis Wendell:-
01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com

23/10/2025

As summer comes to an end and the nights become longer, it’s soon that time of year again when the clocks go back. Get prepared ahead of time for the change on Sunday 26 October.

From preparing on the Saturday evening to having a routine during the day and at bedtime, read tips for supporting people with dementia when the clocks change here: http://spkl.io/6188AntGa

22/10/2025

Our T Shirts designed, made and kindly donated by Holly of CustoMe were received on Tuesday at our weekly session. Holly was surprised how many members we had and was impressed by what we achieve with just a £2 weekly fee charged and thankfully a few donations from local organisations and fundraising events and is going to keep in touch and return to another session in the New Year!
" It's all thanks to lovely people like Holly who appreciate what Terrific Tuesdays is doing for the community & then act so generously. It's given us all such a boost & will promote us attracting new members that mean we can survive these difficult times. We would never been able to buy such beautiful shirts for all our volunteers. They will raise our profile and we'll be eye catching with a more professional identity " said Terrific Tuesday Dementia Club

22/10/2025

Our T Shirts designed, made and kindly donated by Holly of CustoMe were received on Tuesday at our weekly session. Holly was surprised how many members we had and was impressed by what we achieve with just a £2 weekly fee charged and thankfully a few donations from local organisations and fundraising events and is going to keep in touch and return to another session in the New Year!
" It's all thanks to lovely people like Holly who appreciate what Terrific Tuesdays is doing for the community & then act so generously. It's given us all such a boost & will promote us attracting new members that mean we can survive these difficult times. We would never been able to buy such beautiful shirts for all our volunteers. They will raise our profile and we'll be eye catching with a more professional identity " said Terrific Tuesday Dementia Club

Something happened today!! Thanks for having me Terrific Tuesdays an absolute pleasure to donate to your wonderful cause with beautiful people 🌺

20/10/2025

What an exciting day to look forward to Tuesday 21st October, and this time something for the volunteers too, at our usual meeting at the West End Church, Withersfield Road, Haverhill CB9 9LA,

Two separate presentations & both have something for the club!

The first, Holly an amazing lady, owner of local business CustoMe who has designed our brand & DONATED TEN beautifully embroidered, eye-catching T-shirts, one for each of our volunteers.

If anyone is looking for a smarter corporate look for their business, or maybe Christmas Jumpers for the family, you could do no better than talk to Holly Page on 07305 828073

We also have Andy and Kelly, visiting us, Two incredibly hardworking members from the Haverhill Show team, with a cheque for us from the proceeds of this year's show to hand over to our Dementia Club, enabling us to keep our membership price frozen at just £2 pp for another year, important for members during these difficult times.

Huge thanks to all who attended the show, which made the £2,000 profit a reality & shared gratefully between ten local charities!

For details about Terrific Tuesdays, contact Dennis Wendell:-
01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com

17/10/2025

A fortnight ago we held our Show "Wrap" and Beneficiary Selection meeting.
We have now heard back from all beneficiaries and we can now announce that the following groups will get a share of the £2250 raised.

2025 Beneficiaries:
• West Suffolk Deaf Children’s Society
• Free Food in Haverhill
• Befriending Scheme
• Boomerangs Pet Food Bank
• Memories are Golden
• Terrific Tuesdays
• Sunflower SEND Hub
• Haverhill Girl Guides
• Owl & Birds of Prey Rescue

We will soon be presenting cheques to these fabulous organisations.

Thank you to all the local groups and beneficiaries that applied and a special thanks to the people of Haverhill who e.g. bought a raffle ticket, held a car boot or bought a cup of tea at the refreshments tent and in doing so contributed to the total raised.

12/10/2025

Tuesday 14th October, we'll be at West End Church, Withersfield Road, Haverhill, from 11:00 - 2:00 & have a wonderful reflexologist & Indian Head Massager visiting to encourage us with relaxation.

If you have been given a diagnosis of any memory loss condition or care for someone with it, why don't you become a member of our fabulous Dementia Club? It costs £2 per week, which covers all activities, hot & cold drinks, biscuits & cake when we are celebrating a birthday.

We are looking for new volunteers to join our team. Please pop in or contact us if you would like to help us. We're a friendly bunch!

For further details please contact Dennis Wendell:-
01440 768404
07774 412736
dwendell@btinternet.com