We met up with our friends at Stepping Out for a festive walk around the medieval town of Rochester. Taking in the beautifully decorated shop windows along the high street, before going on a hugely informative tour of the Cathedral. We shared a delicious buffet lunch in the Catherdral Crypt Cafe and everyone had the opportunity to take part in a free raffle. A wonderful end to the year!

Lots of festive cheer this morning at our Optivo Wellbeing Group at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Sheerness. We were pleased to welcome Rose and Christina back from In A Space for some fun Christmas Crafting. Our members were all able to create a personal wreath to take home to add to their seasonal decorations. The mornings session was Live Streamed to our Facebook group, where our online members were able to follow along, and sign up to have crafting resources delivered to them over the weekend, to create their own wreaths and cards at home

Vaccines have helped us build a wall of defence and return to a more normal way of life, which is why this autumn and winter it’s vital that eligible people come forward for their COVID-19 booster vaccine and flu jab to protect themselves, their loved ones and the NHS.

Due to colder weather which favours transmission experts have warned there could be a significant flu surge this winter coinciding with continuing or rising COVID-19 cases.

The government has launched a nationwide advertising campaign to encourage those eligible to get their COVID-19 booster and flu jabs, to protect themselves and their loved ones this winter.

Boots, Asda and Lloyds Pharmacy, as well as the nation’s independent pharmacies, have backed this drive and encourage people to come forward and get their free flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster jab when eligible.

People will be invited for the COVID-19 booster jab when it’s their turn - if they have not been contacted within a week of reaching 6 months since their second jab they can call 119 or book online.

Everyone walked at their own pace while taking part in our fun Scavenger Hunt along the way. Finally we all headed back to the Appleyard, for a well deserved cuppa, a free raffle and some chat and laughter about everyone's mini adventure!

More help and advice for our Sittingbourne members when we met up at our regular 2nd Thursday of the month meeting, funded by Optivo at the Methodist Church Hall. With a copy of the NHS Community Health magazine, free PPE starter kits, funded by Kent County Council, as part of our Covid Awareness Project, and lots of fresh fruit to take home and enjoy!

Our members also got involve in a fun creative writing exercise. With some easy to follow prompts, we created some amazing pieces of poetry, that everyone was proud of and got them in the mood to enter our ongoing Poetry Competition. All entries will be published in our Friendly Faces Poetry Booklet for all to share after the judging. Entres can be emailed to Lesley@friendlyfacesofkent.co.uk or brought along to any of our Community Groups settings by 16th December.

We were out with the Sheppey Support Bus volunteers in Leysdown, on their regular Tuesday journey around The Island.  Great to see this invaluable service, of community food bank and information service being used by so many local people. We handed out our free PPE, funded by Kent County Council, and were excited to chat to those hearing about our activities and services, some for the first time.

• Get vaccinated

All adults in England have now been offered at least 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines are safe and effective. Getting fully vaccinated is the best way of protecting you and others against COVID-19.

• Let fresh air in if you meet indoors.

Meeting outdoors is safer. When a person infected with COVID-19 coughs, talks or breathes, they release droplets and aerosols which can be breathed in by another person. Meeting outdoors vastly reduces the risk of airborne transmission, but this may not always be possible. If you’re indoors, you should let fresh air in to reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19.

• Wear a face covering

COVID-19 spreads through the air by droplets and aerosols that are exhaled from the nose and mouth of an infected person. You should wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed areas where you come into contact with people you do not usually meet.

• Get tested and self-isolate if required

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms, self-isolate immediately and get a PCR test, even if your symptoms are mild. This is because many people experience mild symptoms from COVID-19, but may still pass on the virus to others.

• Take tests if you do not have symptoms to help manage your risk

Around 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have any symptoms. This means they could be spreading the virus without knowing it. Testing regularly increases the chances of detecting COVID-19 when you are infectious but are not displaying symptoms, helping to make sure you do not spread COVID-19.

• Try to stay at home if you’re feeling unwell

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms, self-isolate immediately and get a PCR test, even if your symptoms are mild. You should self-isolate at home while you book the test and wait for the results. You must self-isolate if you test positive.

• Wash your hands regularly and cover coughs and sneezes

Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day. Regular hand washing is an effective way to reduce your risk of catching illnesses, including COVID-19.

• Use the NHS COVID-19 app

Using the NHS COVID-19 app helps stop the spread of the virus by informing you that you have been in close contact with someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19, even if you do not know each other. You can also use it to check in to venues with an NHS QR code and receive advice if there has been an outbreak. The app is free and easy to use and doing so can help you protect your loved ones and others.

• Limit close contact with other people

When someone with COVID-19 breathes, speaks, coughs or sneezes, they release particles containing the virus that causes COVID-19. These particles can be breathed in by another person. You may choose to limit the close contact you have with people you do not usually live with. You may also choose to take a lateral flow test before being in close contact and also encourage those people you are meeting with to do so, which will help to manage periods of risk. 

With help from our amazing Staff, Volunteers, Trustees and Partner Funders we are proud to be supporting our community with our 'Four Ways to Connect' Projects. Encouraging adults 18+ to form friendships, improve their physical/mental wellbeing and connect with their local community through our interactive, inclusive activities. If

you know someone who would benefit from our Support please sign post them so they can join in our fantastic group.

A wonderful fresh afternoon with the lovely colours of Autumn on our 2nd Small Pod Walk, this time, through the fields and lanes around Teynham. Also joined by members from our Sheerness  and Sittingbourne groups, we finishing both our long and short walks at the Dover Castle, for some much needed tea and biscuits. Thank you to our funders Sport England Kent Sport and the National Lottery Community Fund

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, suggest around one in 50 people in England had the virus in the week to October 22, up from one in 55 the previous week and the equivalent of about 1.1 million people.
Professor Jim Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, said he hopes England's infection level has peaked - and if so, this will soon be reflected in the data - but warned that the country is still “running very hot”.
The estimates come as students are being encouraged to get tested for Covid-19 before returning to school after the October half-term.
Ministers and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) urged young people to take a rapid lateral flow test to minimise the risk of disruption to lessons and ensure families can “enjoy the best” of the festive season.

PLANTING A TREE IN MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS WE HAVE LOST

Friendly Faces of Kent sadly lost three of our valued members during the Pandemic before the relaunch of our group settings this month. We would like to remember them by planting a tree in their memory. We are in conversation with the families of these loved ones and The Elmley Nature Reserve, to be able to have a very special memorial tree,  planted in each of their names. Each tree will be a native tree of Kent which Elmley are encouraging to aid sustainability. We think this would be a fitting and beautiful way to remember these friends and our CEO’s father, who have all been active members of FFOK since we set up some 4 years ago. The trees we plant will be added to the RHS Roots of Remembrance tree map to demonstrate the mass UK wide tree planting effort, providing a physical place to remember, reflect and celebrate the lives of those we lost, for generations to come.

We are asking our members to help us choose a tree for each of these members, Ronnie, June and John and make a small donation to the cost of the tree and small plaque in their honour. For those of you able to attend group settings there will be a voting sheet and donation box. The trees will be planted in November, at a special memorial tree planting day, by our Volunteer Gardener Mick and the families of those we are commemorating. Everyone will be notified of the date, so you can join us from home on the day, as we commemorate the day in photos on our group pages for all to share.

Many thanks to Stepping Out for a wonderful series of outings throughout 2021. For our last Walk n Talk of the year we visited the glorious grounds and gardens of Leeds Castle near Maidstone. A Norman stronghold, a royal residence and a royal palace. It’s situation is stunning, set on two islands in a magnificent lake. After taking a stroll around the grounds and house we gathered for delicious lunch to share our experiences of the day. 

As part of our Covid Awarness project funded by Kent County Council we are able to provide our vulnerable members with information and PPE stater packs . Our Teynham members were pleased to be the first to receive their packs, as we strive to keep all our members safe and healthy. We'll be continuing the hand outs at all our group settings and at our mobile hubs. 

Today saw the relaunch of the Teynham group funded by Kent Community Foundation. Thrilled to see so many new members joining our village group, which continues to go from strength to strength.

A coronavirus (COVID-19) booster vaccine dose helps improve the protection you have from your first 2 doses of the vaccine. It helps give you longer-term protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19.

Booster vaccine doses will be available on the NHS for people most at risk from COVID-19 who have had a 2nd dose of a vaccine at least 6 months ago.

All COVID-19 vaccines should offer some protection, so even those who have a condition or take medication that affects their immune system, should still have the vaccine. The vaccine programme remains open and available for all those who are eligible. If you can’t have the vaccine for whatever reason, or if you are immunosuppressed, you should strongly consider these additional measures to keep yourself and others safe:

1. considering whether you and those you are meeting have been vaccinated – you might want to wait until 14 days after everyone’s second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before being in close contact with others
2. considering continuing to practise social distancing if that feels right for you and your friends
3. asking friends and family to take a rapid lateral flow antigen test before visiting you
4. asking home visitors to wear face coverings
5. avoiding crowded spaces

Anyone who is immunosuppressed and has any concerns about what this means for them, should raise this with their specialist at their next routine appointment, who can provide support and guidance on any extra measures necessary to further reduce the risk of infection.

We were so pleased to finally be able to welcome back both current, as well as new members, to our former venue at the Methodist Church Hall on the High Street. And with funding from Optivo, the group is now guaranteed to run into 2022. It was the turn of our Sittingbourne members to have a go at creating their own personalised painted mugs this week. Catherine from Espression Arts, with In A Space, was on hand again to guide everyone smoothly through the creative process. Some beautiful designs were created and we can't wait to see them, once the mugs have been fired in the kiln.

We were delighted to be asked to join the volunteers from the Sheppey Community Development Forum to promote the official launch of their new Sheppey Support Bus. Together with the Community Champions at Morrisons in Queensborough, some of our team attended on Saturday morning to offer our support. Customers were able to take a tour of the interior and view the facilities, and kindly donated lots of dried and tinned goods to help stock the food bank, located on the bottom deck of the converted bus.

As well as offering a much needed mobile food bank, this exciting project will also provide a meeting place to access local services and support on wheels, to help residents in even the most rural parts of the Island. We're pleased to be one of the local organisations able to offer extra services, support and information, and look forward to getting more involved, as the bus becomes a familiar sight on the roads around the Island, and an essential mobile hub for Sheppey residence. Please do go along to the launch if you are interested in finding out what services the Sheppey Support Bus can offer you as a resident of the Island or contact admin@sheppeysupportbus.org

Official launch

Wednesday 15th September From 5pm

Oasis Academy Minster Campus Sheerness ME12 3JQ. 

Our workshops in collaboration with In A Space continue at Sittingbourne and Sheerness groups. We've been getting all Inky with Casey, who's been showing our members how to prepare different plates to create Mono Prints, Collagraphs and Lino Prints. Our Members have loved getting messy and the results have been so rewarding.

We were thrilled to have members from across all our groups, as well as our friends from Stepping Out and Porchlight, take part in the Walk n Talk at Elmley Nature Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey today. With a choice of one and three mile walks, everyone was able to reconnect with nature in the peace and quiet of the huge open skies and the sounds of the marsh. Nature guide Abbie showed us the best places for viewing opportunities and the chance to see some stunning British Wildlife.

Lovely gentle walk and talk around Sittingbourne Recreation Ground in the sunshine catching up with some of our Sittingbourne members today. We provided a shared lunch at the Appleyard with support from our funders at Kent Community Foundation, The Dulverton Trust and Pargiter Trust, to finish off a great morning together. Looking forward to our group sesssions resuming once again in August at the Methodist Church Hall on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month from 10am - Noon

Our volunteer, Laura, met up with Sioux Peto from Polka Dot Arts, at the Yarn Trees on Station Road. She was handing over our first batch of crocheted and knitted items, for Teynham in Bloom. We are so grateful to all our creative members who have generously made flowers, butterflies, bees and caterpillars. The whole display will be amazing and we'll be going along on July 9th for the judging, to show our continued support for the project.

Although the decision has been made not to meet up in our usual indoor support groups, we are pleased to announce we'll be meeting up again, outside, for small pod group activities. With that in mind, here are the dates and times.

NOTE:  To attend, your space must be pre booked and a confirmation received.

Come along for a much needed get together.

We'll provide a fun quiz and raffle, and a light lunch.

All spaces must be booked in advance by telephoning Lesley on 07825 630108.

If you need help finding local support, call a Carers Direct helpline adviser on 08088 020202.

Carers Direct is a national information, advice and support service for carers in England.

Wonderful walk today at Riverside Country Park in Rainham with our friends from Stepping Out. A gentle walk along the River Medway estuary with its various habitats within the park, including mudflats, salt marsh, ponds, reed-beds, grassland and scrub, which provide a haven for wildlife. With time to catch up with old friends and new, as well as a number of our Pedometer Challenge participants from the last cohort. A shared picnic, sitting in the sunshine finished off a great day out and was enjoyed by all.

We started the week with our Mindful Monday visualisation, connected us with a Mindful walk through a woodland to reconnect with someone close to us. Margaret's Natural Solutions gave us some great advice about using essential oils in our gardens.

Exercising in nature may help to prevent or reduce feelings of anger, tiredness and sadness. For those unable to take part in our upcoming walks to Milton Creek and Medway Riverside, we brought nature to you, as we revisited one of our virtual walks around Lullington Castle and World Garden

It's great to be announcing this new partnership with In A Space during Mental Health Week. What better way to support members with their Mental Health, then with Art. Surveys show that losing yourself in Art, Being creative and coming together with others offers an ideal arena to support your Mental Health, it's also a great way to re connect you to your local community. So why not join us for our 6 week Art classes during July/August. We'll be covering topics like water colour, printing, ceramics and much more for all abilities. So don't worry if your not artistic use this as a chance to come together with others in a small pod group and have some fun. 
Please note you don't have to come every week, you can pop in and out, it's very flexible.

Crochet & Cake!

Great to be out and about today delivering our Crochet packs, together with a selection of cakes donated by ASDA. During the month of May our members will be getting crafty with their wool and crochet hooks, some for the very first time. They'll be learning everything they need to know, with our 'Crochet Basics for Beginners' tutorial on Facebook and our Youtube Channel to create some colourful flowers to donate to Teynham in Bloom's village Yarn Bomb!

Just a few of over 130 fantastic miniature canvases created for our 'Sharing the Love' Mini Canvas Art Project. Once everyone's art has been displayed together in an exhibition, they will be gifted to friends and family.

We are pleased to share the great news that we've been successful in our bid to receive funding from the ASDA Community Fund. This awarded will help us to deliver our exciting new projects over the next few months, including some Let's Cook with Cheryl, Virtual Coffee Mornings (coming in May) and materials for Mindful craft and relaxation sessions.

Also a big thank you goes out to ASDA once again for supporting our current Pedometer Challengers with this haul of breakfast bars to include in their goodie bags

Citrus Hot Cross Bun Pudding

We have Cheryl with the Let's Cook Together workshop every Tuesday at 11am. This week we learnt how to make citrus hot cross buns, delicious and just in time for Easter! Thanks Cheryl and thanks to the funders

Kent Community Foundation, #pargitertrust #dulvertontrust .

Blooming Marvellous Together – Spring Gardening Project.

Well done to all our members who took part in our project this week, your Hyacinths look amazing all planted up. June even decorated some of the tiny stones as ladybirds! Do keep us updated with photos as they come into flower, as we’d love to share how they look in full bloom!

Let us know if you’ve enjoyed this project, and would be interested in taking part in another gardening activity later in the year.

Some of the Participants from Round 1 of our Pedometer Challenge met up for the final maintenance catch up this morning. With lots of lively chat, motivational tips and  advice for carrying on their healthy lifestyle, with ongoing support still available in our Facebook group.

Meanwhile we have 22 new participants all ready and raring to go in Round 2 of the challenge and look forward to sharing their progress as they increase their steps each week. Whether you go out walking regularly or would like to become more active at home, and are interested in getting involved please contact us.

We are proud to be working in partnership with Moat Foundation, Swale Council and Strengthening Minds. Our Volunteers will be out in the community again this week delivering much needed Food Boxes to our members.