The team at Remembering the Past are gathering again after their summer break (very well deserved) and there are lots of things planned between now and Christmas which we’ll be keeping you up to date with. Today I want to say thanks to the members of the Ho Ho Club* in Holy Saviour’s Church, Tynemouth for the warmth of their welcome and their hospitality yesterday when I did my first face to face talk to a group since March 2020. We’d tried three times before today to do this session but covid restrictions had put a stop to every attempt. It was a joy to finally get there.
I was a bit apprehensive beforehand. I had to relearn how to set up the projector, polish my presentation skills and be organised to be in the right place at the right time. I call this process getting rid of ‘covid rust’. I shouldn’t have worried – all the wires fitted together and we all enjoyed a sociable afternoon talking about high streets we could remember from our childhood.
*About Ho Ho: Ho Ho stands for the Hard of Hearing Organisation and encourages people with (and without) hearing difficulties to meet socially. Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month (except August) in Holy Saviour’s Parish Centre, next to the Church on the corner of King Edward Road and The Broadway, Tynemouth. They start at 2pm and finish about 3.30pm. Members enjoy meeting speakers on a range of subjects. You could hear a talk by an NHS professional, or local history, a famous person or even stories of foreign adventure.
To ensure that all hard of hearing people can understand what is said a loop system to help hearing aid wearers is provided and a typist types live what the speaker says as they say it. This text is displayed on the wall for people to read. Resources for people with hearing difficulties are also available.
Go to their website: www.hoho.org.uk to find out more.