Holbeck Elderly Aid delivered a cultural gem of an event last week (Tuesday 7 October 2014). More than 50 people came to celebrate International Day of Older People at St. Matthew’s Community Centre in Holbeck. The brief was to deliver something which defined culture.
Elissa Newman Chief Executive of Holbeck Elderly Aid said;
“We wanted create a theme which covered different areas of culture, so we chose music. Music means something different to different people. We wanted to create an event which would bring people together and help to share memories. So it was music through the decades.”
Jennifer Armstrong, Activities Organiser (pictured below) suggested putting food in there too. She said;
“We always serve biscuits at social gatherings, so why not include that in some way as well?”
A CD with a selection of music hits spanning the 1930’s to 1980’s was kindly made by two members, Geoff and Sue. Then Jennifer got on to research the history of the UK’s top ten favourite biscuits and learnt some interesting facts along the way. Apparently Rich Tea biscuits originated in Yorkshire in 1627 and were a ‘light snack’ for the upper class. So we all felt in regal company as Jennifer offered the favourites around the room.
As the music flowed, everyone soon started swaying from side to side in their seats and singing to all the hits. The lovely Anne and Gloria provided us with the tea and coffee to ‘dunk’ our biscuits into. It was great to see how music relaxes people and opens them up to a mutual exchange of conversation. I was really surprised to learn so much about our biscuit culture. The diversity of textures between the ginger nut and the jammy dodger reflects the variety of the UK’s tastes. We were all really interested to know the top three; So Custard Creams came in third. Hob Nobs, second place and wait for it, the nations favourite number one is; The Digestive!
But what about the bourbon (my favourite?) 7th place I’m afraid, but it’s still in there, and enjoyed here.
Thank you Holbeck Elderly Aid for delivering this fantastic musical biscuit tasting event. Everyone including me was drawn by the title, and you did not disappoint. It was wonderfully organised and lots of people enjoyed sharing their memories in a friendly warm and sociable atmosphere.
Well done Lucy. Excellent blog.