Tracey joined the friendly group at Parkinson’s Cricket. Today, however, cricket wasn’t on the agenda – to mix things up a bit Alex organised games of boccia and kurling for everyone to take part in. My main role was collecting the balls and “stones” and returning them to the players, but I finished off with a spot of washing up and a nice chat in the kitchen with the other helpers.

Tracey enjoyed her workout at the Parkinson’s Cricket session, chasing balls and bean bags thrown by the participants as they completed a series of challenges set by DCF’s community officer, Alex.

Tracey cycled along to the cricket club to help out at the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation’s Monday Mates session. We had the usual tea and biscuits and a general knowledge quiz, followed by some seated exercises and a sing-along. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and we’ll be back again next month for more fun.

Tracey cycled to the monthly Monday Mates dementia-friendly café. The tables in our usual room were set up for diners, so she stacked the knives, forks and serviettes away before the gang arrived. Everyone enjoyed tea, biscuits, a quiz, a game of boccia and a sing-along. Then, when everyone had left, the crumbs were brushed away and the tables were restored to their former settings.

Tracey and Gwyn met the gang at DCF's Parkinson's Cricket session. We had a pleasant surprise when Paul came with birthday cakes. we had a busy set of ball games before celebrating the big birthday! Special mention for Tracey, who you can see carrying equipment bags bigger than she is!

Tracey popped along to the T20 cricket match of Derbyshire Falcons versus Leicestershire Foxes to help out at the Family Day. She was part of the team looking after the inflatables, and was in charge of what seemed to be the most popular activity – Kick and Stick. People could aim Velcro footballs at a Velcro dartboard to give them a score. Some of the little children preferred throwing to kicking and were absolutely delighted to see the balls stick to the board. The hard part was retrieving the balls ready for the next customer; the dartboard was HUGE, with treble three being at about head height. Luckily there was a pole to help pull the balls down the board to a level where they could be reached. It all went well until someone hit double top, and then she had to call in for assistance from a helpful bystander, as it was just too high!

There were four busy hours, but unfortunately for the queue that had gathered, the afternoon heat turned out to be just too much for the generator keeping the inflatables inflated, and one by one they collapsed. Several attempts to adjust the generator resulted in only partial success, and the activities had to close down slightly early.