News
Most recent party - Thursday 27th November
Contact hosted its Christmas party this year on the 27th November, from 1-3pm. There was a wonderful Christmas dinner, a magician, a choir from Trinity Hall, and best of all, plenty of Christmas cheer! Thanks to all who came and made it such a success!
Next Party
Watch this space!
This Term's Newsletter
The Newsletter is how CONTACT keeps in touch with its visitors. It contains news about the parties and about the fundraising efforts of the Committee. It often includes contributions by the visitors themselves, too. For the latest newsletter click here.
News Archive
Easter Party 2007 - Thursday 14th June
Recently Contact hosted its Easter term party at the Botanical Gardens. Many of our visitees enjoyed a tour in the beautiful grounds before we all congregated for tea, sandwiches and cake. Despite a downpour as people were leaving everyone enjoyed the afternoon and the time spent together.
Lent Party - Lent term 2006
Contact hosted its Lent term Lunch for it's visitees at Selwyn college. Everyone loved the food and we also invited the CU Tap and Jazz society - in all it was a great success!
Christmas Party - Michelmas 2005
Contact's traditional Christmas party was held again at Girton College. As well as the excellent food, we enjoyed some fabulous dancing as you can see below! Thank you so much to all those who came, especially the volunteers who did such a great job of looking after everyone.
SQUASH
Our Squash was held in the Godwin Room, D staircase, Clare Old Court on Thursday the 13th of October from 6pm. Sorry if you missed the sumptuous cheese and wine, and the great chance to find out a bit more about volunteering with Contact. However, it is still easy to find out more: either look around the website, or email one of us . If you have (wisely) decided to get involved, then all the forms you need can be found HERE (scroll down to 'the next step'). Just an hour a week can make all the difference!
Summer party afloat - 2005
Contact's Summer party was held afloat on "The Georgina" a lovely floating cruise barge on the Cam. Much fun was had by all, and a few college rowers were spied rowing in "bumps".
Contact hits the headlines, at home and across the world
Contact's work bridging the divide between town and gown is recognized in a feature article published in the Lent Term issue of CAM, the magazine for Cambridge alumni. In addition to experiencing the brandy-butter-fuelled George Formby-fest that was our Christmas Party, CAM's team of reporters and photographers also accompanied Fundraising Officer Katie Taylor on a typical visit. Katie's visitee, Elizabeth T., was unfazed by all the attention - after all, she'd only just finished being photographed for the Cambridge Evening News, who ran a two-page spread about Contact on February 10th.
Though we may be used to media attention, Contact doesn't run the news cycle. So we grudgingly conceded the front page to another story involving old people (see above). Our own reporter nonetheless found outgoing Chairman Jon Conlin in ebullient mood: "The CEN piece was a wonderful boost to our morale, and goes some way to tackling the widespread impression that students are uninterested in being anything more to the community than exotic birds of passage on their way to high-paid careers in consultancy. CAM magazine may not receive much attention here in Cambridge, but it is the main conduit relaying university news to CU alumni across the world. We look forwarding to hearing from some of our former volunteers out there, who will doubtless be delighted to hear that Contact is still going strong." We couldn't have put it better ourselves!
To view the CAM article (in PDF) click here.
Daffodils and Irish Cheer
March 17th may have been slightly early to celebrate St Patrick's Day, but none of the fifty-five guests who thronged Selwyn College's Diamond Room seemed to let that get to them. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to have one genuinely Irish party goer, Susan our new college reps officer. Irish eyes were smiling as the CU Ceildh Society band (no Irish people there suprisingly) performed a medley of lively folk melodies. Daffodils and complimentary easter eggs rounded off a very enjoyable afternoon. Many thanks to all those who turned up to help serve food or chat to our visitees.
Contact Wins 2004 Changing Lives Award
Christmas came early for Contact this year! We are delighted to announce that Contact has won this important award, coming out top of a field of 34 worthy, Cambridge-based charities tackling social exclusion in our community. Sponsored by Barclays, this award is a testament to the work all of our volunteers do to change the lives of our housebound elderly for the better. As well as a grant, the award represents an opportunity to raise our profile city-wide: come the New Year our work will be featured in a special edition of the Cambridge Evening News. Thank you to the sponsors, to our Fundraising Officer Katie Taylor...and to all our volunteers, for making us look so good!
Lent Term 2005: Drinks Reception, Thursday, February 24th
Contact volunteers and their friends packed out the Dean of Chapel's Rooms in King's College to enjoy wine, cheese and company. Shelley Gregory-Jones, Chief Executive of CamSIGHT, gave a short demonstration of household gadgets specially adapted for use by the partially-sighted - a display of ingenuity of interest to all, but especially those with visitors who struggle with everyday tasks. The gizmo that 'reads' clothes and other objects and then announces what colour they are was particularly admired!
Michaelmas Term 2004: Christmas Lunch, December 3rd
This year's Christmas Lunch saw Contact play host to 60 visitees, volunteers and others in the Old Hall at Girton. After enjoying turkey and Christmas pudding with all the trimmings our guests were serenaded by a ukelele duet performing George Formby hits from the 1930s. Although the lyrics to "I'm Leaning on a Lamp-post" and the downright salacious "My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" were new to those helping out, this was clearly not the case for our guests, who needed little encouragement to sing along. A barbershop quintet from Jesus College rounded up the live entertainment with more seasonal carols. We welcomed a number of those currently on our waiting list at this event, and hope to be able to find student visitors for them soon.
Michaelmas Term 2004: Cheese and Wine Evening, November 11th,
This event attracted a healthy number of new, old and prospective Contact visitors - drawn to Sidney Sussex's plush New Parlour by the delicious odours wafting off the particularly gooey cheese on offer. Lindi Wood of Abbott Healthcare kicked off the proceedings with a short talk about how visual, haptic, and olfactory (more smells, in other words!) aids can be used to stimulate memories and conversation with elderly people. She wound up with an impressive hands-on demonstration of how to dance with one's visitee. Shelley Gregory-Jones, Chief Executive of CamSIGHT then gave us the lowdown on "sighted guiding" - the safest and most convenient way of helping a visually-impaired person get around. Before and after the audience had the chance to enjoy more cheese and get to know other Contact visitors. The event was a great success and we hope to have a similar one sometime next term, so watch this space!
Summer Term 2004: Strawberry Tea Party Cancelled
At their meeting at the end of Lent Term the incoming Committee felt obliged to take the painful decision of cancelling this year's Strawberry Tea Party, which had been scheduled for June 10th. While they appreciate how eagerly many of our regular attendees were looking forward to this year's party, we felt that our financial situation was such that going ahead would have been inadvisable. Several ideas for fundraising are being considered and we hope to get back to our usual programme of three parties a year in the near future.
