Caerphilly People First

🥔🧀 Reconnect Through Cookery at Caerphilly People First! 👩‍🍳💚
What a fantastic day we’ve had! 🥰 We had a full hall today, with everyone working really hard together! 🙌❤️
Our members got busy peeling potatoes 🥔 and preparing a delicious cheese and potato pie, served with ham, baked beans or green beans. 😋🧀🍽️ Everyone played their part, and it was lovely to see so much teamwork, laughter and smiles! 💪😊
A big thank you to Sarah for our brilliant quiz 🧠❓ and Sian for keeping everyone entertained with bingo 🎱🎉
We’re so proud of all our members for their hard work and for making our cookery sessions such a wonderful place to learn new skills, make friends and have fun together! 🫶💚
Full hall, full plates and lots of happy faces! 😍👏
💚💙

Yesterday Ffion delivered a Relationships course to our members, exploring healthy relationships, including friendships and romantic relationships. We talked about why trust, respect, honesty, communication, and consent are so important in all relationships. 🤝

We discussed LGBTQIA+ inclusion 🌈 and why everyone deserves to be accepted and respected for who they are. The group also enjoyed a Relationship Circle activity 🔵 to think about the important people in their lives, and healthy boundaries.

We played fun games 🎲 to spot the signs of healthy ✅ and unhealthy ❌ relationships, then finished with a Fact or Not a Fact quiz 💡 to test everyone's knowledge. It was a fun, interactive session where participants learned about healthy relationships, boundaries, equality, inclusion, and human rights.

🌟 After the session, one of the people who took part said how impressed they were with Ffion's presentation, calling it "professional and informative". Well done Ffion!

There’s something for everyone at V-Fest! 🎉
Come along for family activities, entertainment, health checks and a chance to discover local organisations and what’s happening near you.

https://www.gavo.org.uk/post/caerphilly-s-voluntary-sector-comes-together-for-v-fest-2026

🎉 Join the V-Fest 2026!

It’s a free event and a great chance to:
🌟 Discover local community groups and organisations
🎭 See live demonstrations and activities
🛍️ Browse and buy locally made products
🤝 Find out about services, support and activities available across Caerphilly

Bring along your family and friends and come and see the fantastic things happening across our voluntary sector.

📍 Blackwood Rugby Club, Glan-yr-Afon Park
📅 Wednesday 28 October 2026
⏰ 10am–3pm
🎟️ Free entry

We’d love to see you there!

More info: https://www.gavo.org.uk/post/caerphilly-s-voluntary-sector-comes-together-for-v-fest-2026

🎶 Reconnect Through Music 🎤💙

What another wonderful Reconnect Through Music session! 🌟 The room was filled with fantastic singing, laughter, smiles, and good vibes. It was lovely to see everyone coming together, having fun, making memories, and showing off their talents. ❤️️🎵

🎤 We were treated to 24 amazing performances, with a fantastic mix of classics and favourites, including:

✨ Ellysia performing History by One Direction ❤️️
👑 Conner singing I Want to Break Free by Queen 🎸
🌹 Richard performing All Woman by Lisa Stansfield 💃
🦸 Kai entertaining us with Superman 💥
🦅 Kyle performing Hotel California by Eagles 🎶
🎄 Kian got everyone into the festive spirit early with two Christmas classics: 🚗 Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea and 🎁 Last Christmas by Wham!

Every performance was met with applause, encouragement, and plenty of singing along, making the session a joy for everyone, and it was lovely to read the positive feedback we received after today's session:

💙 Kyle said he loved seeing how much everyone enjoyed the session.
🤗 Jackie enjoyed catching up with friends she hadn't seen for a long time.
💃 Ellie loved dancing along to the music, and so did Tilly! 🎶
🤝 Mark said he liked making new friends.

🥪 Thank you to Christy for preparing such a lovely lunch that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 😊 Thank you to Cheryl for welcoming everyone as they arrived. 🎤 A huge thank you to Ffion and Amy for leading another fantastic session and keeping the music and positive energy flowing throughout the afternoon.🧹 Thank you to Andrew for helping with the cleaning up afterwards — your support is always greatly appreciated. And thank you to everyone who joined us today and helped make another memorable afternoon!

💙 Sessions like these remind us just how special our Reconnect Through Music family is. We love seeing everyone come together to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, support one another, sing their hearts out, and enjoy every moment. Every session is filled with encouragement, confidence, and plenty of smiles, making it a place where everyone feels welcome. 🌟

Travel Confidence Training Trip 🚌

Today was the day we had all been working towards – and what a fantastic day it was! 🚌🎉😊 After several weeks of Travel Confidence Training with the amazing Marid and Kurtis from Innovate Trust, we finally put everything we had learned into practice with our trip to Pontypridd. 👏💙

Eleven of us caught the X38 bus from Gilfach, travelling through Nelson before arriving in Pontypridd. 🚌📍 Members confidently used their bus passes, and two of our members were able to use their +1 passes which also allow a carer to travel free, helping everyone travel together with confidence. 🎫😊

Over the past few weeks we've learned so much, including:

🚶 Staying safe near roads
🚦 Using pedestrian crossings safely
📱 Staying alert by putting phones away
🎧 Why it's important not to wear headphones when crossing roads
⚖️ Our rights when using public transport
🧡 How our Orange Wallets can help us access support when travelling
🗺️ Planning journeys, checking bus times, remembering bus passes and giving ourselves plenty of time before setting off
🚆 Rail safety with the British Transport Police

Today, all of those skills came together! 💪🌟 Once in Pontypridd we enjoyed exploring the town together. We visited the indoor market for some delicious cake and refreshments 🍰☕, had a look around the impressive new library 📚, browsed a few charity shops 🛍️, and on our way back to the bus stop we enjoyed a lovely walk through the park and alongside the Lido. 🌳🌊

It was wonderful to see everyone growing in confidence, supporting one another and travelling more independently. 😊❤️️ The day was a huge success, and everyone agreed that we'll definitely be catching the bus to Pontypridd again very soon! 🚌🎉

A massive thank you to Marid and Kurtis from Innovate Trust for delivering such a brilliant programme over the last few weeks. Your support, encouragement and enthusiasm have helped our members gain valuable skills, confidence and independence that they'll continue to use long into the future. 💙👏 Well done to everyone who took part—you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves! 🌟❤️️😊