23rd May 2019

Guild Care’s Bradbury Wellbeing Centre, which provides day respite services and supported outings for people living with dementia in the community, is also host to a talented group of poets.

Poetry at the centre started as a collaborative activity where the service users and the staff who would sit around a white board and talk about their daily lives and seasonal activities.

Mary Cronin, support worker at Bradbury Wellbeing Centre  added: "This generated a lot of fun and enjoyment, as well as a sense of purpose and achievement from creating collective poems. Individual poems followed on from this and everyone was encouraged to take part, whether this was in verse form, a few lines or just a word.

"Behind such words there is a world of memories and feelings that can sometimes be difficult to express in everyday conversation. These poems have created a channel of communication to express the joy and laughter in life as well as the sadness and loss. The Bradbury Poets are truly inspirational.”

Now a collection of over 40 poems written by the Bradbury Poets have been put into a book and is available for sale for £2, with proceeds going to the Bradbury Wellbeing Centre.

   

The poems are based on the seasons, New Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Christmas and Winter, as well as the subject of love.

An extract from the book

The Joy of Spring, by Jean

I look forward to watching the buds of daffodils

And Spring flowers burst into bloom.

Colours of all varieties,

They make a wonderful display in

Our gardens and homes

Eagerly awaiting the Summer.

If you would like a copy of the book, or for more information on Guild Care’s wide range of dementia services, please visit www.guildcare.org, call 01903 327 327 or email [email protected] 

Or to download a copy please click here.