Caistor’s elderly residents were treated to a special film afternoon, courtesy of Caistor Community Cinema, which screened a special showing of The Italian Job, the classic 1960s comic caper movie about a daring plan to steal a huge gold shipment from the streets of Turin.

Around 30 senior citizens came along to Caistor Town Hall on the afternoon of 24 March to watch a youthful Michael Caine and his partners-in-crime mastermind the perfect heist, before escaping the Italian authorities in a trio of unforgettable Mini Coopers, a Land Rover and a bus.

The Caistor Cares film afternoon was made possible by the generosity of the team behind the Caistor Community Cinema, a voluntary group of film enthusiasts with a vision to bring the ‘big screen’ back to Caistor. With regular monthly film evenings already successfully up and running – and following a sell-out performance of Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody the previous evening – the screening equipment was already in place for Caistor Cares to show a film the next day.

“We were delighted at the turnout to our inaugural film afternoon and welcomed many familiar faces – and a few new ones – to a special showing of The Italian Job,” said Caistor Cares founder Chris Robey. “Our volunteers served tea and coffee before the film started and everyone in the audience was treated to ice cream during the interval!

“We had very positive feedback from all who came along so we’ll aim to do another screening later this year. I’d like to thank the fantastic team from Caistor Community Cinema for their time and generosity, our members for supporting the event and our volunteers who distributed the pre-event publicity and helped out on the day of course. I’m sure this can become a regular event in our calendar.”

The weekend of 12-13 May saw the start of one of the UK’s biggest ‘open churches’ festivals take place, with community groups in Caistor and the surrounding district — including Caistor Cares — invited to make displays and sculptures to help commemorate the end of WW1 and celebrate 100 years of the Royal Air Force.

West Lindsey is an area with a rich aviation heritage and a strong association with the RAF, and churches across the region were filled with poems and photographs capturing insights and stories of remembrance from the past century.

With around 50 churches open over the two weekends of the festival, the event was made possible by more than 700 volunteers across the region. In Caistor, volunteer Pat Harris asked all societies and groups in the town to contribute displays that would feature in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul. The impressive exhibition that resulted celebrated many residents’ recollections about their relatives’ experiences of the Great War and the RAF.

Volunteers from Caistor Cares also wanted to contribute a display and the idea of a sculpture incorporating floating poppies was raised at the weekly drop-in coffee mornings that take place in the Drakes Court building every Monday. Volunteer Terry Box provided a Sopwith Camel model bi-plane for the display, while Bob Oxley built a stand to house this famous British First World War single-seat fighter aircraft . The display was decorated with an array of poppies by Julia Whittaker, sourced from the Royal British Legion by organiser Pat Harris.

“We were delighted to contribute our little display to the church of St. Peter and St. Paul as part of the open churches festival,” said Caistor Cares coordinator Julia Whittaker. “Caistor Cares is a voluntary organisation, offering friendship and support to people over the age of 60 in Caistor and the surrounding district, and it was a great joint effort by volunteers to produce our own display. We were pleased that it featured alongside so many other interesting stories, photos and recollections from the past 100 years and helped raise donations for the Royal British Legion.”

If you missed the chance to visit the festival, many of the exhibits that featured in Caistor’s church of St. Peter and St. Paul will be displayed in the town’s Heritage Centre in a separate exhibition in November, to mark the end of WW1

After more than two years offering friendship and support to people over the age of 60 in and around the town, Caistor Cares is now looking to expand its area of operation and is seeking new members and volunteers in the surrounding Lincolnshire villages of Grasby, Searby and Owmby.

The voluntary organisation’s Befriending Service has seen around 20 ‘members’ personally matched to a volunteer ‘befriender’, allowing a friendship to develop and regular visits to take place. Now, this successful formula is being replicated to allow senior residents in the three aforementioned villages to take advantage of this free charitable service.

If you know of anyone over the age of 60 in Grasby, Searby or Owmby who could benefit from friendship and support, then please tell them about our dedicated and trusted, free service — and look out for the information leaflets which are being distributed in these villages imminently.

Caistor Cares is delighted to report that it has received official approval from Age UK, the UK’s largest charity working with and for older people. This seal of approval means that Age UK is actively referring older people in the local area to Caistor Cares, with a view to them possibly benefitting from our befriending service aimed at reducing social isolation.

The two organisations share similar aims, albeit it on different levels. Age UK’s mission nationally is to help everyone make the most of later life — a vision that is shared on a local level by Caistor Cares, which offers befriending through home visits to an increasing number of residents in Caistor, as well as hosting weekly coffee mornings and regular social events for the town’s senior citizens.

If you know somebody who could benefit from our free service, then please contact Caistor Cares founder Chris Robey on 01472 851189

Caistor Cares recently celebrated that famous institution of Scottish life — Burns Night — with a packed gathering of locals and dignitaries assembling in the Town Hall to celebrate the life and works of the Scottish Bard, Robert Burns.

The many attendees were welcomed in by a traditional piper and once the host (Caistor Cares founder Chris Robey) had warmly greeted the guests, the evening’s entertainment began. The Selkirk Grace was read by Caistor’s local Scotsman Jimmy Dutch, shortly followed by the Piping in the Haggis, several toasts and the all-important Address to a Haggis, read by Mark Colebrook.

A tasty meal, prepared by many different volunteers and served up by the local Scouts, included a traditional main course of Haggis, ‘neeps & tatties’. This was followed by a selection of prepared desserts, kindly, cooked, baked and freshly supplied on the day by many who gave their time freely to help this worthwhile cause.

There was a traditional Ceilidh that inspired many of the party-goers on to their feet for a spot of traditional dancing and by the time that the carriages turned up (or taxis arrived!) to take people home, the overriding feeling was that the townsfolk had done Robbie Burns proud.

“It was a memorable evening for all concerned and and an important fundraiser for this local charity,” said Chris Robey. “I’d like to thank those involved who contributed their time, culinary skills, raffle prizes, musical skills and much more — and each and everyone who came along and supported the event of course. I’ve been told it was one of the best nights ever at the Town Hall, so this will be a hard act to follow. More importantly though, it gave us a chance to raise the profile of Caistor Cares within the wider community, which will help us moving forwards.”

For more information about this local voluntary organisation, which offers friendship and support to people over the age of 60 in Caistor and the surrounding villages, please visit www.caistorcares.orgor call Chris Robey on 01472 851189.

In the first six months of operation, the Caistor Cares free coffee mornings have been declared a runaway success by many of the town’s elderly residents, who support this weekly social get-together every Monday morning.

Since they began last September, the hour-long informal gatherings have been well attended by an increasing number of ladies — and gentlemen — keen to make new friendships in the town, catch up on all the latest news and of course enjoy the free cups of coffee and tea on offer, as well as a few biscuits and the chance of winning the monthly raffle!

One of the newer recruits, a gentlemen in his seventies, commented: “I was a little apprehensive about coming along initially but I needn’t have worried. I was welcomed by everyone and there are always plenty of interesting folk to talk to. I was surprised by how many gentlemen attend too; I’ve already met some nice chaps and thoroughly look forward to Monday mornings now — it’s one of the highlights of my week.”

The Caistor Cares coffee mornings are held every Monday morning at Drakes Court (next to Southdale flats, near the petrol station) from 10-11am. Everyone over 60 is welcome and more information is available from Angela Clark on 01472 85274.

Caistor Cares has launched free coffee mornings every Monday.

The organisation already offers befriending through home visits to a number of people in Caistor but it was felt that a weekly social event would add to this service.

This follows the great success of the parties that the Group has held in the Town Hall. Around 100 people attended each of these which included a tea and entertainment from various local groups.

The first coffee morning on 11^th September coincided with a huge rainstorm but a good number of people turned out to enjoy the friendship that was on offer. Chris Robey, Chair of Caistor Cares welcomed everyone to the first event, saying how delighted he was to see so many people there.

The coffee mornings are being held every Monday morning at Drakes Court, next to Southdale flats from 10.00 – 11.00 am. Everyone over 60 is welcome to these drop-in sessions and there is no need to book a place.

Further information is available from Angela Clark on 01472 852749

Special party organised by Caistor Cares for town’s elderly community

Christmas came early for Caistor’s senior citizens as the festive season celebrations got into full swing with a party organised by Caistor Cares – the community volunteering network aimed at reducing social isolation.

Caistor Cares launched earlier this year with a commemorative party for Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations. This latest event, also taking place at Caistor Town Hall, brought together a wide and varied selection of talented performers from the town’s active community who gave up their time to enthrall the town’s senior residents with a festive-themed programme of entertainment.

Performances included a duet by Pearl McCann and Alice Morton, a ukelele band of children from Caistor Primary School (the Caistor Angels). From the Grammar School, there was a singalong led by Katie and Ellie Robey, three festive favourites by Robert Hewis, followed by a beautiful performance by Caistor Ladies Choir, with a rousing finale by the band The O’Claires.

Commenting on the party, Caistor Cares founder Chris Robey said: “We were pleased to welcome around 100 senior citizens to our first Christmas party. Since our launch in June, we have matched 12 volunteers to members, with regular meetings taking place. We do have more volunteers, trained and checked, and would be pleased to hear from anyone over the age of 60 who is interested in our befriending service.”

Caistor’s senior citizens were treated to afternoon tea and entertainment on Sunday 12 June, at a special party held to celebrate the launch of Caistor Cares – our new community volunteering organisation for the town’s elderly residents, aimed at reducing social isolation.

Timed to coincide with Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations, the party at Caistor Town Hall was organised to promote our new befriending service offering friendship and support to older people in Caistor and the surrounding district.

The party brought together many different sections of Caistor’s active community, from young to old, to organise a programme of entertainment that included performances by the children of Caistor Primary School, the Encore Dance Academy, a string quartet, entertainer Trevor Cunningham, and an arousing finale and singalong with the Caistor Ladies Choir.

“Our launch party was a huge success and enjoyed by the many senior citizens who came along. There was a real buzz in the air and we had quite a few expressions of interest in our service,” said Caistor Cares founder Chris Robey.  “It couldn’t have happened without so many people giving up their time to help, but that’s Caistor for you. Finally we are up-and-running, and ready to provide a friendly and caring volunteer service to our elderly residents.
“Our befrienders are now in place and we invite contact from anyone that is interested in our free service or knows someone who might be. We can take referrals from friends, family, neighbours, doctors’ surgeries, nursing homes and other organisations for our volunteer service, as long as the person in question gives their consent.”