Celebratory picnic for 150 at Gov. House
PICNICKERS had a lovely day of sunshine and song at Government House yesterday.
About 150 guests were invited to celebrate together after the challenges of lockdown.
Organised by Dementia Friendly Guernsey, Sir Ian Corder welcomed everybody before musician Karen Le Nourmand took to the stage followed by the Button Pushers.
DFG co-ordinator Julie Bulpitt said: ‘It is a beautiful afternoon and relaxed atmosphere. We are very grateful to be on these amazing grounds for a really lovely event.
‘We reckon 150 people are here, all come from a mix of island care homes or individuals living at home with dementia and their families.’
Events are organised by DFG so people living with dementia can get together, whether a loved one is diagnosed or they are diagnosed themselves.
‘We also work with Arts for Impact and deliver dementia awareness programmes. We believe there are at least 1,200 people affected by dementia in Guernsey. It can be challenging for those involved because it is facing the unknown.’
Familiar songs were played by Karen Le Normand, adding humorous Guernsey variations and rainbow scarves for the audience to wave and join in.
Ms Le Normand sang and played piano with a repertoire of ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’ and ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’, which went down a treat.
Guest Sandra Langlois said: ‘What more could you ask for on a sunny day? I love music. We’re lucky because we get to go to lots of places, and I love gardens.’
Ronald Le Moignan jokingly said: ‘I didn’t know anything about this until somebody came to my front door and said we were going on an operation. Being the sort of nosy person I am I said yes, and here I am – totally out of kilter. It was very last minute, but I know a lot of people here and am glad I joined.’
The Button Pushers played contemporary Irish toe-tappers, with recognisable sing-a-long songs such as ‘Whiskey in a Jar’ and ‘Wild Rover’.
‘Some are quite comical – we might get a few grins,’ they said.
All four band members work in healthcare.
‘It’s nice to be here, particularly as our audience may possibly have struggled the most without visits from family and loved ones over lockdown. We like to play foot-stamping upbeat songs to get people moving.’
At half-time Sir Ian Corder cut the cake.
Sir Ian said: ‘I’ve always felt a society the size of Guernsey could do is to have 100% awareness of dementia. It doesn’t take much to include people and create a community and increase quality of life. We are very happy we could host this wonderful event and celebrate together with our guests.’
