Welsh Culture visit to Conwy Castle

View from the top!

As part of the accreditation for the Welsh Language and Culture group we visited Conwy Castle. 

The group look happy :)

 The group enjoyed the visit welcoming the opportunity to explore the castle seeped in history.

Built in 1283 by Edward 1 Conwy Castle form part of an ‘iron ring’ of castles which were designed to quell Welsh uprisings. 

Today the castle is one of the best preserved castles in the whole of North Wales.

first aid training at the hub

first aid training at the hub 

ste on the left from st johns and three dummys 

Today we had are first aid training with ste from st johns ambulance showing the group different technics on saving a persons life . Everyone who attended really enjoyed the training and we are looking forward to ste coming back again soon to do the baby and toddler training course

There was a couple of people feeling a bit anxious when they first turned up but by the end of the course there mental wellbeing had improved .

Look what we all recieved 

Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!

The title translates to Let them eat cake! 

See the excerpt from Wikipedia at the bottom of this post.

The Flintshire KIM Her groups wished to take part in some seasonal activities. Sian thought this would be an ideal opportunity to bring the different drop in groups together, to step out of their comfort zones and learn new skills. Christmas cake decorating ran for 4 weeks and the feedback from this included; 'Really enjoyed it and had a go at something I wouldn't normally do. Getting out made me feel so much better!"

This article is about the phrase. For other uses, see Let them eat cake (disambiguation).

The phrase is commonly attributed to Marie Antoinette

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread. Since brioche was a luxury bread enriched with butter and eggs, the quotation would reflect the princess's disregard for the peasants, or her poor understanding of their situation.

While the phrase is commonly attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette,^[1] there is no record of her having said it. It appears in book six of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, his autobiography (whose first six books were written in 1765, when Marie Antoinette was nine years of age, and published in 1782). The context of Rousseau's account was his desire to have some bread to accompany some wine he had stolen; however, feeling he was too elegantly dressed to go into an ordinary bakery, he recalled the words of a "great princess":^[2]

At length I remembered the last resort of a great princess who, when told that the peasants had no bread, replied: "Then let them eat brioches."

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions

Rousseau does not name the "great princess" and he may have invented the anecdote, as Confessions cannot be read as strictly factual.^[3]

KIM at the Steve Morgan Foundation Conference

STEVE MORGAN FOUNDATION CONFERENCE

Our blog looks at all aspects of what KIM gets up to - here's a peek behind the curtain of how Annie, Amy and Andy worked with a key funder to continue our ongoing excellent relationship.

KIM were honoured this year to be invited by Steve's fantastic team to deliver a 15 minute presentation and a 50 minute workshop at the inaugural Steve Morgan Foundation Conference at Carden Park. You can find more out about the difference Steve is making here.  The foundation supports our volunteer programme - you can read more about eVOLution on Twitter.

Anxiety can touch everyone.......

Annie looking, er, 'pensive' before the conference. She was off her sick bed to!

I'm going to throw this out there. We are not robots - well Amy and Annie are not, my mum tells me she had me tested (Big Bang Theory fans). Attending a conference and speaking in front of a large crowd is nerve wracking. Annie feels anxious leading up to events and is a bag of nerves....until she starts to speak - then her charisma and passions oozes out. Amy brings her infectious laissez faire mask to hide behind. Sergeant Matthews comes over as mr organised and on a mission. Together we are stronger, together we have overcome many hurdles, together we have lifted the profile of third sector work, together we laugh, together we can achieve more. At KIM, it is always about the strength of our overall team...otherwise, Annie would still be anxious and would not attend workshops, Amy would be on a deck chair and Andy would be talking to airplanes.

We have some fantastic team members, volunteers and individuals at the KIM Hub...hopefully you will view the stories they share and see how we all work together.

15 minutes can feel like.....

Annie and Amy produced a wonderful presentation to the conference

No escaping for Andy, he was 'voluntold' to go on for the feedback session and rhyme the comments !

Workshop

We had a fantastic workshop in the lovingly named 'Shooting Lodge'.

Thank you to everyone that took part, some great conversations but, as ever, not enough time to unpick everything. As promised, I've posted our flip charts below and would welcome any comments you would like to add to this blog. We are really keen to get out and see as many of you as we can - there is some amazing work going on. Likewise, you are always welcome to call in to see is if you are ever cruising up the North Wales coast!

Sheet 1. 

Getting started on the 'why' people volunteer.

 Sheet 2

Some interesting topics emerging.

Sheet 3.

I wonder if we could craft a statement? I did my best to improvise at the feedback.

And finally.....

The smiles afterwards. Annie had gone back to her sick bed whilst Andy and Amy took part in a liquid debrief.

KIM Together River Boat Trip in Chester

Lady Diana Boat Trip 3rd October 2018

KIM 4 Him and KIM 4 Her Flintshire/Wrexham

Today we had 29 intrepid sailors board the Lady Diana for a 2 tour trip down the River Dee.

The Lady Diana is operated by the Chester Boat Company and something I have always wanted to do. Isn't it funny that we quite often don't do things that are right on our doorstep? We live in a beautiful part of the world and take so much of it for granted - I wonder what you can think of, that is near to you, and that you haven't visited yet. It's a good topic for discussion in the KIM groups and is a wonderful way of pooling our local knowledge and piquing  interest in others.

The vast majority of the groups arrived in good time for 2pm sailing. Some arrived a little later and nearly had to swim to the boat - I'm not naming names but I'm looking at you - MEN!!

Some people were anxious about getting on the boat, but with a combination of determination, team bonding and helpfulness from the Skipper you all come on board. A big thumbs up for overcoming the challenge - you can rightfully take confidence from this and draw on your feelings of overcoming an obstacle next time you are unsure. 

We had perfect conditions for the cruise, lovely sunshine and flat calm water. I knew hearing the Titanic theme on Classic FM on my way to Chester was not an omen!!

Everybody seemed to be chatty during the trip and tucking into packed lunches and on-board refreshments. What did you think of the prices to the riverside properties?? 400k for a shed....wow.

All in all, I felt it was a good trip out and people had some amazing outcomes.

A big thank you to Gail and Dave for organising with the groups. 

Thanks to the staff for attending it make it possible - Sian, Scott and, well, me!

Last of all, thank you to everyone that came along - think about what you got out of the day and let us know about it when we evaluate the group in November.

Photo Gallery on FLICKR

Ready to sail.

4 of the KIM staff ready to escape. Gail seems to have grown!

A view of the Groves from Handbridge.

Wrexham and ready!

Don't jump Dave!!

Captain Alan.