Alzheimer’s carers group enjoys Tea and Tales
GUILLE-ALLES librarians went on a mini road trip around the island this week.
Among their stops was the Guernsey Alzheimer’s Association.
Guernsey Alzheimer’s Carers group members were treated to a free book during a Tea and Tales event, which takes place about every six weeks.
The event also coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Reading Agency partnering with Specsavers’ annual World Book Night, which is today.
‘Tea and Tales is a new initiative of ours and along with World Book Night, which is taken from the UK, we’re hoping we can encourage more adults to read for pleasure,’ said Guille-Alles community and outreach librarian Jackie Burgess.
‘We’ve been coming out doing these kind of things for the last year, on and off with the pandemic, but everyone really enjoys it and it’s great to see everyone after everything.’
One of those enjoying the afternoon of tea, cake and tales and the free book was Tony Rowe.
‘My wife is in [specialist dementia care home] GreenAcres and coming here is great for support.
‘We both used to come most weeks but now I come by myself – I get to meet other people who I can talk to and ask questions and I can also provide them with support too.’
GAA manager Julie Thompson said everyone who turned up to the reading events loved hearing the Guille-Alles’ community and outreach librarian Patrick Ogier read the stories, as well as being part of the subsequent discussions.
‘Everyone absolutely loves it. Patrick has such a lovely voice that resonates around the room. It’s a full house every time, with lots of interaction and discussions.’
Mr Ogier said the hope was they would be able to continue to get more involved in the community.
‘It’s a really nice part of the job to be a part of these events,’ he said.
‘There’s some great characters here. We really get to know people and hopefully by putting these events on we can change people’s perception of what they can get out of reading.’
