What we do.
We aim to make the Aston & Cote Day Centre a place which provides a safe, warm environment for the seniors to come to once a week, where new friendships are made and old ones renewed. It helps to bring back a sense of belonging within the community where they can make positive connections, and have the choice of joining in with various activities all designed to stimulate and encourage, or if preferred simply sit and chat and catch up with their friends with a nutritional freshly cooked 2 course lunch provided on the day.
We also provide an Information Hub with leaflets providing details and samples of aids to make life easier around the home that members can try out and learn more about. Representatives of relevant organisations are invited regularly to give out information.
A message from Founder karen.
A little about myself.
I am the Founder of the Aston & Cote Day Centre. I have been working with the senior generation for over 25 years now. For 17 years I ran my own Landscape Gardening Business and most of my clients were seniors who were looking for a trustworthy, knowledgeable lady gardener. After 17 years I retired from gardening and gained all of my qualifications to be a Personal Trainer. I then went on to gain my specialised qualifications to enable me to work with the over 65’s with health, fitness and wellbeing. I ran seated exercise classes in care homes and independent living complexes and also classes in various village halls and community centres, focusing on enabling people particularly after falls/operations to gain more confidence and strength to enable them to keep as mobile as possible and in turn to keep their independence, and enjoy a reasonably good quality of life in their senior years. Whilst doing this work, I applied successfully to three Day Centres in the County as their Coordinator. Already having good organisational skills from running my own business for many years along with my passion that I clearly have for working with the seniors this was quite a natural step for me. I am currently the Coordinator at Eynsham Day Centre which is one of the bigger Day Centres in the County. I am a Dementia Friend and awaiting my Induction Days so I can take my training to be a Dementia Champion, which will enable me to share my knowledge with others about the often misunderstood dreaded Dementia. I am also a Gardening Support Worker work with the Guideposts Dig N Grow Project, which is an Outdoor Wellbeing Centre, this service helps to equip adults with learning disabilities with new skills such as planting, woodwork, nature crafts & cooking, in a safe and social setting. I am also the Aston Brownie Leader. I have a team of 16 fantastic Volunteers who are incredibly keen to be involved. All the volunteers have had their DBS Checks conducted by Volunteer Link, some are volunteering for cooking, driving, and assisting on the day. The cooks between them have many years of cooking experience, some for commercial establishments, one having 30 years teaching domestic science in the local school. They bring with them many of their own skills to the centre, for example, we have a retired nurse, a retired midwife, and a retired driver amongst other skills, but in my experience the fact that a person is volunteering, giving their time to assist at the centre shows kindness, understanding and empathy which are incredibly important qualities.