Chorlton Good Neighbours Care Group has been active in Chorlton, Manchester since 1967. This blog aims to capture the experiences of our members, many of whom are in their 80's and 90's. It also documents the variety of events and activities that take place in our group each week. Take a look at our website at http://chorltongoodneighbours.org
The CGN Radio Programme for Chorlton FM was broadcast during
the Chorlton Arts Festival in May 2012. There were interviews with the Good
Neighbours Coordinator, Helen Hibberd, with wheelchair support worker, Amanda and with
volunteers such as Carolyn, Peter and
Yvonne. We also got the views of users such as Hilda, Arthur and Nancy. As well
as the interviews there was music from Carolyn O’Hanlon singing a song about her grandmother, “Sweet Charlotte” and songs from the Spring Variety Concert – featuring:
The Loreto College drummers
Amanda singing “Breakfast at Tiffanys”
The Beech Band singing “the Manchester Rambler”
The Melodics singing
“Red River Valley”, and finally,
The Part Timers “Goodnight Sweetheart, goodnight”
The radio broadcast can be heard at the Community Reporter website by following this link
Chorlton Good Neighbours' day trip to Morecambe on Wed 23 May 2012. The coach was full, the weather was great and the trip was enjoyed by all. After a walk on the prom, they visited the Art Deco Midlan Hotel (www.midlandhotel.org) for afternoon tea and cake
Here is a picture of the Midland Hotel, Morecambe in its heyday
Putting the raised beds in position in the Good Neighbours garden, 25 May 2012.
On a sweltering hot morning (25-05-12) we dug trenches for our 3 raised beds at the Chorlton Good neighbours garden and lowered them into position. Next to fill then up with poor soil at the bottom (they are very deep raised beds), better soil in the middle and good soil plus compost in the top layer. Then get planting!
This musical event raised much needed funds for Chorlton Good Neighbours. Many thanks to all the singers and groups who gave their time and performances for free. Also thanks to all the volunteers who contributed to making this event such a great success. Here are clips from some of the performances on the day
Loreto College Percussion Ensemble
The group was formed to
showcase the talents of a number of drummers who have passed their Grade 8
examinations on the drum kit/percussion and as a vehicle to stretch and
challenge them. They have performed at numerous events during this academic
year, including opening the College Award Show at Manchester town Hall in
December as well as entertaining the Chorlton Rotary Club at their annual Gala
Evening back in October. They compose most of their material themselves and
enjoy
bringing a number of styles and influences into their music.
The Loreto College String Ensemble
The Loreto College String Ensemble is a chamber group that
forms part of Loreto College's
"Music Programme". They meet on a
weekly basis and their repertoire mainly consists of
arrangements of Baroque or
early Classical material.
The Sweet Cordials
The Sweet Cordials are Carolyn and Jo. In this clip of them
at Chorlton Good Neighbours' fundraising concert on April 28th 2012, Carolyn
sings "I will Survive and "Nine to Five"
and Jo sings and accompanies on the ukelele
The Beech Band
Members of the famous Beech Band, led by Les Jones, played
at Chorlton Good Neighbours Spring Concert. They finished with a rousing
version of Ewan MacColl's "The
Manchester Rambler" sung by Ken. This was very appropriate as this week saw
the 80th anniversary of
the mass trespass on Kinder (www.kindertrespass.com)
Elaine Evans
Elaine Evans combines her solo career with membership of the
Halle choir and bringing up her 2 young daughters with her husband David.
Studying for a diploma in choral singing,
Elaine kindly came long to share her
lovely voice with us all at Chorlton Good Neighbours.
In this clip she sings
"I Could have Danced All Night" from West Side Story
Amanda Latham & Tony
Chorlton Good Neighbour's very own Amanda Latham (Wheelchair
Support Worker)
and her guitarist, Tony, perform at the Spring Concert. This
clip is of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
The Melodics
Formed a couple of years ago, and led by Lea Cavanagh, the
Melodics are Chorlton Good Neighbours very own singing group, practising a
variety of songs each Thursday at 11:30 am in the big hall. In this clip they
finish with their own version of the "Neighbours" theme tune, dedicated to coordinator, Helen Hibberd.
The familiar song now becomes - "Chorlton (Good) Neighbours"
Catherine Tarpey
15 year old Catherine Tarpey, grand daughter of one of our
members and a student at Loreto High
plays the Cornet. Here is a clip of her
playing "Maria" from West Side Story
The Part Timers Choir
The finale to end the Chorlton Good Neighbours concert was a
performance of classical and other songs by a group of singers who rehearse in
their free time at the Bridgewater Hall and who call themselves, the Part Timers. Their songs range from traditional
motets to popular songs of the thirties. Their terrific final number was their
version of "Goodnight Sweetheart", originally recorded by the
Ray
Noble orchestra with singer Al Bowlley in 1931
MMU Design Lab Student Gemma Latham and two of her
colleagues, visited Chorlton Good Neighbours to report back on their 'creating
an age-friendly city' project. They talked to people atr the coffee morning on
26th April and showed them Annabel's lamp. This is a visual representation of
the concerns and memories of older people in Chorlton they had talked to.
They are working with the City Council Valuing Older People
team to provide a model of community engagement. Gemma herself will be
finishing off her project with an event on the 12th May at St Clement's where
she be asking people to donate memories that will be woiven on to a memorial
bench in Beech Road Park - "taking memories and turning them into
yarn" - or another way of looking at it - turning Yarns into Yarn!
We are no trying to clear one end of the allotment to get rid of all the rubble including the remains of an old scout hut base. We've ordered the raised beds made from old scaffold boards for us by TRIM timber recycling in Manchester. Once we have cleared the rubble they are our next priority
