Discover Wellness in the Lancaster District: The Adullam Programme

Hi, I’m Jenny and I am the Community Health Officer at Lancaster District CVS, responsible for administrating our fantastic community resource – the Digital Directory of Services – https://directory.lancastercvs.org.uk

Adult Social Groups for All Ages 

In our latest Health and Wellbeing blog ‘Discover Wellness in the Lancaster District’ we are focussing on one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing: Connect. It is the most important of the Five Ways (the others are Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, and Give) but these days it is not always easy to do.  Many of us feel lonely and isolated and are looking for new ways to connect with others and find our tribe.  

Just before Christmas we went along to Hope Church on Queen Street in Lancaster to visit Adullam’s “Coffee Time” group, which takes place every week on Tuesday morning.  

The group were already deep into wreath making guided by an expert hand using natural materials that they had foraged the week before on a trip out to Littledale. 

Adullam “offer people within the community an opportunity to build new friendships, learn new skills and receive help and advice for life’s challenges”.  

As well as their regular social Coffee Time Adullam also run courses such as “Living Life to the Full”, “Celebrating Recovery” and “Cooking on a Budget”.  

The Tuesday morning Coffee Time attendees are a real mix of people of all ages getting stuck into a task, enjoying a natter or just sitting back and listening. By coming along, they are getting out of the house and doing something positive. 

A regular coffee morning participant Zoe said:

“It’s the one thing that my family know, Tuesday mornings I go to my craft group at Adullam. It’s warm and friendly, I cant think of any other way to describe it, you just have to walk through the door, because nobody is a stranger.”

We are fortunate to live in an area with a huge range of social activities available. Much of it is free or provided at a very low cost, and it could be right on your doorstep.  

Some are aimed at a specific group of people like Lancaster Men’s Hub’s Elevenses sessions (women are welcome too), or A Spectrum Connection’s monthly social groups in Lancaster & Morecambe that are designed to be a safe space for neurodiverse adults to socialise.  

Then there are groups like East Meets West – their Community Lunch events involve a wonderful community of women who invite other women to join them over lunch cooked by one or two of their members. learning from each other’s diverse cultures.  

Sometimes a group might be focused a specific activity that provides a great excuse for a natter and a brew – for example the Body & Soul gentle exercise class at Slyne with Hest Church Hall that always ends with a cuppa!  

It is always worth looking at what is on offer at your local community centre, church or village hall as well. You might be surprised to learn what is going on right on your doorstep! A few examples include:  

• Friendly faces at Skerton Community Centre 
• Community Hub at Lune Valley Methodist Church in Brookhouse 
• Bingo at Ridge Community Centre 
• Board game club at Gregson community centre 
• Crafternoon at Stanleys community centre 

• Coffee & Cake at Marsh Community Centre  

You can use the directory to search for a specific activity (e.g. craft, music, football) or look more generally at our Community Centres or Adult Social Groups categories.  

There really is something for everyone out there. Our Community Health Officer, Jenny, says:  

“Every day I meet new groups, new people doing fantastic things in their local communities. These groups are waiting to be discovered and embraced by our communities. If we can help connect people via our digital directory, then we will achieve something massive and really help to reduce people’s feeling of isolation and loneliness.” 

So do not feel lonely – search for your tribe, it is just waiting to be found.  

Visit the Adullam’s directory listing for more information.

Watch our video below of our visit …

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If you’d like more information on how to include your organisation on the directory, or any general queries or feedback, we’d love to hear from you.  Please contact [email protected]