Early in March, "Mums Making Moments" was launched for the older people in Epsom. The project was launched by a local Epsom Mum wanting to celebrate her 45th birthday in a way that serves the community of Epsom. As 'time strapped' as Mums are, Nilakshi Soni got a group of Mums together mainly from Stamford Green Primary School and kicked off the planning of the project in January 2016, meeting in the local coffee shop (Chads on Manor Green Road).

After leaving this first meeting, Nilakshi was left with trying to work out the transport of the older people, DBS certificates, hiring of a venue with suitable disability facilities and cakes being made without gluten and nuts and even sugar! Moreover, where could these older people be found, was a question she needed to answer by 7th March. And the icing on the cake was that due to conditions such as dementia, there would be a need to establish familiarity with the older people as a priority before even thinking about playing Bingo and Bridge. Nevertheless, one of the Mums also offered a contact person at the Appleby House Care Home.

After many closed doors and almost reaching the cliched "dead end", the call with Appleby House Care Home was a beacon of light. Appleby House spoke with such warmth and appreciation over the phone.  The Mums Making Moments project's intentions were to engage with the older people at Appleby House on a regular and volunteer basis. By 6th March, Nilakshi had also arranged for a local beauty salon to provide their hair dressing and nail painting services to the residents of Appleby House.

6th March 2017, not only saw Mums spending time with residents at Appleby House but was also a start of another project called the 'Happy Café'. This is the vision of Shona Bradbury where older people and isolated people could visit the Home on a weekly basis for 2 hours and begin to feel part of a community that was theirs.

"The generation exchange between Mums and residents was inspiring in so many ways and we all learned so much about Epsom, the cabbage patch path through to Roseberry School and why it's called that and the Irish seaside. The afternoon was brilliant and it was touching to hear the stories of what people cherish most in life". It's a birthday that will be imprinted in my memory forever, says Nilakshi.

With plans under way to launch the Happy Café project in May 2017, the Mums Making Moments project has a bright future and the older people of Epsom will now have a regular place to meet and feel a part of a wider community.

Article supplied by Nilakshi Soni