ALL ABOUT OUR GOLDIES CHARITY
Now in its 16th year and more commonly known simply as “GOLDIES," our founder is the highly respected Bath-based musician Grenville Jones who recognised how singing and music, brightened the lives and wellbeing of the many people across his choirs. Grenville himself took the first daytime singing and activity sessions in sheltered housing community rooms in and around Bath back in 2007. Since that time the work of the Charity has spread across England and Wales (GOLDIES Cymru).
Forced by COVID to cancel daytime sessions, they have now restarted across England and Wales - these are in community rooms, church halls and libraries – they are taken by our dedicated freelance leaders. More sessions are starting back in the months ahead and Grenville is always anxious to point out that the charity he started, is NOT about choir singing, but sing-alongs to the popular memory-evoking hits of the 50s onwards.. SONGS and SMILES lie at the heart of all we do.
In England there are now nearly 100 monthly Goldies' 'Sing & Smile' sessions taking place across B&NES, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, East London, Essex, Gloucestershire, Mendip, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, South Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Swindon, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. Find out where your local group is by clicking on the WHERE tab above.
GOLDIES recognises the issues of loneliness amongst the increasing older population. It gives vulnerable people a REASON to get out, to be with others, laugh, sing out, and to make new friends.
There is a dedicated website for Goldies in Wales with full details of sessions and much, much more!
www.goldiescymru.org.uk
Forced by COVID to cancel daytime sessions, they have now restarted across England and Wales - these are in community rooms, church halls and libraries – they are taken by our dedicated freelance leaders. More sessions are starting back in the months ahead and Grenville is always anxious to point out that the charity he started, is NOT about choir singing, but sing-alongs to the popular memory-evoking hits of the 50s onwards.. SONGS and SMILES lie at the heart of all we do.
In England there are now nearly 100 monthly Goldies' 'Sing & Smile' sessions taking place across B&NES, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, East London, Essex, Gloucestershire, Mendip, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, South Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Swindon, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. Find out where your local group is by clicking on the WHERE tab above.
GOLDIES recognises the issues of loneliness amongst the increasing older population. It gives vulnerable people a REASON to get out, to be with others, laugh, sing out, and to make new friends.
There is a dedicated website for Goldies in Wales with full details of sessions and much, much more!
www.goldiescymru.org.uk
A Gift from Sir Cliff!!
We are thrilled to announce that our Patron Sir Cliff Richard gifted our Goldies Charity with 4 tickets to his Blue Saphire Tour at Hammersmith Event in Apollo this November.
Felicity from South Somerset (pictured here) and Paul from Cardiff are the lucky winners, receiving 2 tickets each.
Felicity dropped us a line after attending the concert on the 12th November to say “What a wonderful concert! It was great and I am so lucky to have gone. Thanks to The Goldies charity for making it possible!”
Thank you to all our 200 entries, and sorry there weren’t tickets for everyone!
Felicity has done a lovely interview on BBC Radio Somerset if you’d like to listen… https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gktvcm - about 48 mins in – you may need to set up a BBC account.
Felicity from South Somerset (pictured here) and Paul from Cardiff are the lucky winners, receiving 2 tickets each.
Felicity dropped us a line after attending the concert on the 12th November to say “What a wonderful concert! It was great and I am so lucky to have gone. Thanks to The Goldies charity for making it possible!”
Thank you to all our 200 entries, and sorry there weren’t tickets for everyone!
Felicity has done a lovely interview on BBC Radio Somerset if you’d like to listen… https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gktvcm - about 48 mins in – you may need to set up a BBC account.
Goldies to host 5 Christmas BIG SINGs this December!!
We are excited to let you know that we will be hosting 5 Christmas BIG SING’s in England this year, bringing hundreds of people together for fun and friendship this December, details below…
Exeter
Thursday 30th November at Guildhall Exeter from 2pm - 4pm
Afternoon tea with quiz and a raffle
Bristol
Friday 1st December at Long Ashton Community Centre BS41 9DP from 11am - 2pm
A light lunch with entertainment from Northleaze Primary School, Sarah Wilde Chair Pilates/Dance and Bishopston Ukulele Group (BUG)
B&NES
Tuesday 5th December at Conygre Hall Timsbury BA2 OJQ from 12noon - 3pm
A light lunch with entertainment from Timsbury Primary School, SOSA Dance and the U3A Ukulele Group
Swindon
Thursday 7th December at Coleview Community Centre SN3 4AS from 2.15pm - 4.30pm
Afternoon tea with quiz and a raffle
North Somerset
Thursday 14th December at Nailsea Methodist Church BS48 2DS from 11am - 2pm
A light lunch with entertainment from the Kookie Ukes Ukulele group
If you’re local and would like to join us, please contact the Goldies office and we’ll book you in!! julie@golden-oldies.org.uk 01761 470006
The BIG SINGS Are Back!
Goldies hosted a jam-packed event in Chard on Thursday 6th July at Chard Guildhall from 11.00am-3.00pm. The event was completely FREE and OPEN TO ALL. There were lots of free taster activities, including Belly Dancing and Circle Dance, performances from Redstart Primary School and local ukulele band, the Chaffcombe Reservoir Dogs. There was also the chance to talk with other South Somerset Age Support groups and, of course... lots of fun Goldies Sing-alongs!! With over 100 people attending, a fabulous time was had by all.
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Goldies sing for THE KING!
Goldies' 'Sing & Smile' sessions across England and Wales celebrated the King’s Coronation weekend in April and May 2023 with a special booklet of songs filled with popular hits from the Kings memorable years, including some of his all-time favourite artists – like the Three Degrees who performed at his 30th Birthday party in 1978. Each group ran their own personalised events; a Royalty Theme with cakes and snacks to share, a Royal Quiz, red white and blue fancy dress, brought in Royalty memorabilia just to name a few Click HERE to find out more…
Cheryl Sings Out for Goldies
Wednesday July 6th 2022 - Forced by Covid to cancel all of its daytime FUN Sing&Smile sessions in 2020, the Golden-Oldies Charity took their FUN weekly singalongs online with www.goldieslive.com
“Such was the popularity of Cheryl’s singing that the Charity have produced a CD of her performing some of the popular melodies which are such a hit with our older folk,” says Charity Founder Grenville Jones.
To read the full media release in Welsh and English Click HERE.
“Such was the popularity of Cheryl’s singing that the Charity have produced a CD of her performing some of the popular melodies which are such a hit with our older folk,” says Charity Founder Grenville Jones.
To read the full media release in Welsh and English Click HERE.
Hear Cheryl singing 3 of her popular Goldies Songs below:
We are always looking for new session leaders across England and Wales. If you would like to know more about being a Goldies session leader, then PLEASE, PLEASE contact our founder Grenville Jones - he would love to hear from you - glj@golden-oldies.org.uk
We ask everyone attending please to make a donation of £3 per session to help us sustain them and support our work with older isolated folk.
We ask everyone attending please to make a donation of £3 per session to help us sustain them and support our work with older isolated folk.
WHY OUR WORK IS SO IMPORTANT?
12% of older people feel trapped in their own home - 6% of older people leave their house once a week or less - Nearly 200,000 older people in the UK don’t get help to get out of their house or flat - 17% of older people are in contact with family, friends and neighbours less than once a week and 11% are in contact less than once a month - Over half (51%) of all people aged 75 and over live alone - 36% of people aged 65 and over in the UK feel out of touch with the pace of modern life and 9% say they feel cut off from society - Half of all older people (about 5 million) say the television is their main company - These statistics on loneliness and social isolation were taken from a report produced by the Campaign to End Loneliness.
Our Goldies Charity Shop is in Keynsham High Street, supporting our sessions in the Bath and North East Somerset area. Great bargains, special offers and much, much more... The next time you are in Keynsham, make sure you drop in to pick up a bargain. We welcome good quality donations and the shop telephone no is 0117 329 3910.
Study on Our Goldies Charity
A new Academic impact study was commissioned at the end of 2019 and the full report is now available (April 2020) This study was made possible the support of The National Lottery Wales and the Moondance Foundation. A number of Focus Groups took place and the conclusion statement includes a number of comments from those who attended. Here is just one of them: “It has totally changed my life. It brings me joy and peace. I struggled to cope with understanding the loss of my husband and found it hard to find any happiness. Goldies takes me out of depression and has helped me immensely.“
To access the full report CLICK HERE
To access the full report CLICK HERE
Chilcompton session with Mel Wittmaack
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MORE GOLDIES NEWS...October 2023 - New leaders for our lovely team
Goldies would like to welcome two new Sing&Smile session leaders. Jane will run our Stanton Drew Goldies on the fourth Wednesday of every month 11am – 12pm and Mel will run our Chilcompton Goldies every fourth Thursday of every month 10.30am – 11.30am. Good luck ladies! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 2023 - Goldies Wells group bring songs and smiles to Bishop's Palace
Click here for the full story -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 2023 - New leaders for our lovely team
A huge warm welcome to our two newest Sing & Smile session leaders, Christine and Lisa. Christine is running a session in Yatton and Lisa will be running sessions across our BANES area! Good luck ladies! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Time to Sing!
Our video shows the Holiday At Home for Over 65s event at St Michael’s Church at Stoke Gifford on 21st July
Songs&Smiles are back!
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July 2023 - Queen Camilla visits Cornwall
A surprise guest popped into St. Columb Memory Café, at the Oasis Centre, St. Columb on 13th July, where Emma Peck runs a popular Sing&Smile Goldies session. Everyone was very excited to see Queen Camilla join in with the afternoon activities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 2023 - Funding from the Masonic Charitable Foundation Goldies are delighted to announce funding from the Masonic Charitable Foundation which will be received in instalments over the next three years, supporting our activities in and around Somerset. We celebrated with members of the Somerset Freemasons at the Chard BIG SING on 6th July, (see photos left), and we’re planning some fun extra special events over the coming months… watch this space… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 2023 - Goldies sing for THE KING! The Goldies Charity, well known and loved for its popular fun social Sing&Smile sing-alongs across England & Wales, will be bringing communities together to celebrating the Kings Coronation in style this May! Goldies will be celebrating the Coronation weekend at all their groups with a special booklet of songs filled with popular hits from the Kings memorable years, including some of his all-time favourite artists – like the Three Degrees who performed at his 30th Birthday party in 1978 READ THE FULL STORY HERE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November 2022 - THIS THURSDAY, AN INVITATION
THIS THURSDAY ‘Goldies’, as it is more fondly known, celebrates its 10th birthday with a very special singalong taking place at Park End Church (Llandennis Road, Cardiff CF23 6EG) from 10.30am-12.30pm that’s Thursday November 17th, this week! “We are going to celebrate in style and welcome guests from the media to come along, meet us AND join in the singing!" READ THE FULL STORY HERE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 2022 - TIME TO SING!
The fun day time Sing&Smile sessions from the Goldies Cymru Charity are now back in full swing with more to be added in the weeks ahead, reaching further communities across Wales. “The demand for our FUN Sing&Smile sessions across Wales is wonderful,” says Cheryl Davies, the Cymru Programme Leader. “Older people across Wales have missed socialising and being together, especially our regular ‘Goldies’ attendees.” You can read the full story here ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 2022 - A wonderful time was had by folks attending the Holiday At Home for Over 65s event at St Michael’s Church at Stoke Gifford on 21st July. Goldies leader Emma was delighted to provide a Goldies Sing&Smile session as part of the entertainment.
You can watch the video on the LEFT. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 2022 - GOLDIES CELEBRATE THE QUEENS JUBILEE
What a lovely few weeks we’ve had celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee at our Goldies Sing&Smile sessions. Out thanks to St Monica Trust and McCarthy & Stone Foundation for supporting with small grants that enabled us to provide the festive decorations, delicious afternoon teas, lots of sing-along entertainment and transport for several groups. Our pictures show Larkhall in Bath, Salisbury & Downton celebrating together, Warminster trying out the new projector equipment, a party at Clevedon North Somerset, a party at Stoke Gifford in South Gloucestershire, and a Party at Pill in North Somerset. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday 10th March 2022 - GOLDIES FOR SONGS & SMILES
The Golden-Oldies Charity has restarted its Sing&Smile sessions in England - click HERE to read more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday 2 March 2022 - SONGS&SMILES ARE BACK!
With Covid rules relaxed across Wales the popular Goldies Cymru Charity has announced that it is bringing back its Songs&Smiles fun daytime sessions for older isolated people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday 18 November 2021 - BRAND NEW BOLLYWOOD GOLDIES
Fantastic brand new weekly East London Bollywood Goldies Sing&Smile session commenced in partnership with HASWA (Havering Asian Welfare Association) in October this year, taking place every Wednesday from 2.00pm with the talented Paramjit Ghuman. You can watch a video from our session HERE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday May 13 - GOLDIES CYMRU WELCOMES £12,000 BOOST TO HELP PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA THROUGH MUSIC AND SINGING
The Goldies Cymru Charity is celebrating after receiving £12,000 to continue its musical services for people living with dementia. The money will enable the Cardiff-based charity to reach out through Songs and Smiles across South Wales for people suffering with dementia to support their wellbeing. Click HERE to read more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday 18 February 2021 - St David’s Day launch for Goldies Cymru singing online in Welsh
A new online singing session in Welsh will be the next development from the Goldies Cymru Charity. Click HERE to read the full story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday 21 January 2021 - Staying active in your home
As Lockdown in Wales puts an even greater emphasis on the isolation and wellbeing of older people, the Goldies Cymru Charity is increasing its online content to include gentle exercise at home. Click HERE to read more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Goldies’ launches its 200th session in a Pub!
On Wednesday March 4 – the Golden-Oldies Charity launched at its 200th venue with a Sing&Smile FUN session in a community PUB. The special guest was local resident Briony Williams from The Great British Bake Off – and her gran, over 100 people who attend Goldies sessions across Bristol and South Wales attended. Since the charity started in 2008, there have been over 15,000 fun daytime sing and smile sessions. Briony brought a special 200 birthday cake for Goldies - See our pictures below. You can also watch a lovely video taken at the event by clicking HERE. To read the full story click HERE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB 2020 - Goldies announce new session at Kirkgate Centre, Shipley
A charity that puts smiles on the faces of older isolated people is launching at the Kirkgate Centre in mid-March with its FUN daytime Sing&Smile sessions on Monday March 9. Read more HERE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB 2020 - BOLLYWOOD GOLDIES
Thanks to an Awards for All Grant from Lottery Wales, we have introduced hugely enjoyable dance routines to a number of our Goldies Cymru sessions (pictured left). These have taken place at Cefn Glas, Pontardawe and Kenfig Hill and more are planned in the future. These are led by our brilliant leader Sarita Sood. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Company Number: 6369123 - Charity Registration Number: 1121600