A year of Social Clubs!
In October 2023 we celebrated a full year of Social Clubs. Our Social Clubs bring together older and younger neighbours to share time and new experiences through a programme of free activities catering to various interests. These activities are all designed to allow people to come together to offer each other social support and friendship.
In 2023 we hosted a mix of daytime, evening and weekend activities totalling 14 Social Clubs. Overall we had 90 older neighbours and 158 younger neighbours, employee volunteers, who attended these activities. Some highlights of the year were our Paint and Prosecco event as part of the York Food Festival and our Shimmer and Shine Christmas Social at the De Grey Rooms with 70 neighbours in attendance.
As part of our 2024 Winter Programme, we hosted our first Chop and Chat. This is a super fun activity where all neighbours in attendance get to prepare and share a meal. There were over 40 older and younger neighbours in attendance at the Spurriergate Centre including a fabulous group of volunteers from Aviva. We had the best time chopping, cooking and chatting. As this was a very successful event, we will continue hosting a Chop and Chat once a month.
We have already started planning our Spring and Summer Social Clubs programmes with some very exciting plans coming up. In March, we will be taking part in the York Chocolate Festival to deliver a Social Club in collaboration with Nestle. This event will be themed around the history of chocolate, fair trade and sustainability as well as the tasting of many delicious treats. Some of our spring activities include a foraging walk, more paint and prosecco and a summer-themed chop and chat. In June we will be taking part in the York Festival of Ideas and the Jo Cox Foundation Great together by organising a rooftop summer party.
There are plenty of activities coming up that cater for all interests and are completely free of charge! Feel free to come along, meet new people and take part in a fun activity or just have a chat.
Written by Kali Klimentova, Volunteer Support Officer, York Cares
View our January – March Social Clubs programme. For more information about our Social Clubs, contact us via email at info@yorkcares.co.uk or Meg via phone on 07769178998.
