The Redbridge Rhymesters
It's happened again - all my good intentions to keep writing a regular (well, at least once a week) post for this blog has fallen by the wayside, but on the occasion, I have a good reason for the delay.
For the past 17 years, I have run a poetry group called The Redbridge Rhymesters; we meet quarterly at the Allan Burgess Centre in Wanstead, which is part of Age UK Redbridge, and is open for people aged 55+. Apart from an excellent lunch provided every weekday, there are various activities on offer, from Bridge and Art clubs, to Yoga and helpful advice sessions, and many other interesting avenues to explore.
Many years ago, I recorded one of my poems, "The Last of the Old Victorians," for Age UK England; it was about my Grandma, Alice Woods, and a lady who ran the website asked me if she could publish my poem there as well.
I was delighted to agree, and after it was up and running, I then got a call from AgeUK Redbridge, asking if I'd be interested to hold a poetry session at the Allan Burgess Centre. Of course I said "Yes!" and the meeting went so well, I was asked if I could make it a regular feature.
I was so thrilled to be asked, and to be part of a great surge to interest people in poetry, and thus The Redbridge Rhymesters poetry group was born.
At the time, because we were also looking after Mum, I couldn't do more than quarterly meetings, but from its early beginnings, the group grew, with many faithful poetry lovers coming along to each session.
There was no pressure for people to write their own poems for the meeting, but if anyone had a poem they had written, but was too shy to read it themselves, I was always happy to perform it for them. They could bring along a favourite poem, or else just sit with us and enjoy the morning. It was a case of "great oaks from little acorns grow," and soon we had the added pleasure of being joined on some occasions by children from the near-by Snaresbrook Junior School, which also had various fund-raising schemes on the go to benefit AgeUK; there was double pleasure in it for everyone.
Then came the great interruption of the pandemic - pre-virus, the last meeting was held in October, 2019, with the theme of Hallowe'en:
but after that last great Hurrah, everything stopped with lockdown, and we didn't get going again until January, 2022.
During the two and a half years when we couldn't meet, some of our lovely members had gone on to do other things; some had developed medical and mobility problems and, inevitably, sadly some people had died. It felt like we were starting from scratch.
Unfortunately, the January day chosen was freezing cold, with icy pavements and a bitter wind blowing. With folk still hesitant about getting out and about again, and nervous about slipping on the way to the Allan Burgess Centre, we only had a handful of poets join us; but at least we were on our way again.
It has been a slow start, but gradually people are getting to know we are back! and it's encouraging to see numbers building up again. The imagination and inspiration are still there, and everyone is encouraged to write and perform, and just enjoy what we're doing.
And the best part? At our last meeting on 21 March this year, we were joined again by the children from Snaresbrook Primary School, and it was wonderful to hear them perform the poems they had written. Their teachers are terrific, encouraging everyone to love poetry, and the children had also been taught how to present their work: to speak up, speak clearly, and not rush their recitation, so that the entire audience could hear every word properly. The older poets also had much to contribute, with some very tender and poignant pieces: on this showing, the future of poetry is safe and well!
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