November and December 2014

The lead up to Christmas is always a great time to be in London, and our members wanted to make the most of it! Over November and December, we got festive during a trip to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, followed the one mile enhanced walk around Kew Gardens, enjoying front row seats at Cinderella and threw some very impressive dance moves at the Christmas Rise Up disco. Keep reading to hear about what we got up to in a bit more detail...

Curry night – 6th and 13th November

It seems the smell of a good curry spreads fast.  Since our first curry night in September, we’ve had 14 members tell us they wanted to join in next time round.  We kept it local, and headed to Clapham on the 6th and then Tooting on the 13th. Both were relaxed evenings, where people seemed to genuinely enjoy being out the house and treating themselves to a tasty meal with their friends.

Winter Wonderland – 22nd November

A group of us got that festive feeling at Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland, one of the most popular destinations in London to embrace the Christmas spirit! This was a trip that everyone had been really looking forward to and Winter Wonderland certainly lived up to our expectations! Everyone had a different plan for the day, so we broke off into smaller groups so we could explore to our hearts content.

Charlotte and Andrew braved the Ice Rink and did a great job of staying on their feet the whole time - what an achievement! Lawrence, Maitre and Gail had a leisurely ride on the big Ferris wheel, they reported that the views were amazing! Joe and Daniel took more of a laid back approach and enjoyed a leisurely stroll, chat and drink by the fire pit. Joyce, Harish and Lisa tried out a couple of rides and went Christmas shopping, whilst Trevor satisfied his need for adventure by going on one of the biggest rollercoasters in the park. Peter and John enjoyed getting in the festive spirit by simply wondering around and having a cheeky dance here and there! This trip truly got all the ‘Go Anywhere, Do Anything’ members ready for Christmas. We took lots of photos, so have a look here.

Kew Christmas – 27th November

We all know that Kew Gardens is a beautiful place to go during the day time, and it turns out it is pretty spectacular on a cold winter evening too! Joined by our social buddies Joe and Tirsa, the group were set for an evening of fun and laughter from the beginning. Our members loved following the beautifully lit one mile trial around the park, it really was an enchanted magical experience that got us all in a festive mood.

Bowling – 30th November

Three of our most dedicated bowlers, Michael, Roxanne and Peter took to the bowling alley once again to enjoy a game with friends. This time Trevor joined us, along with Darren, Ali and Courtney, three of our social buddies.

Rise up disco - 4th December

Here at GADA we love all things London, including keeping things local. In the borough of Wandsworth we are blessed with a huge array of great things to do on our doorstep – from sampling the culinary delights of Tooting to getting creative with the Battersea Arts Centre. We also like to tap into local community events and we love the parties that Rise Up throw; they know how to organise a club night with great music and great people!

We had a great turn out of GADA members at this Christmas night out, and you can see that a good time was had by all. You can find out more about the events Rise Up hold by clicking here.

Cinderella Panto - 6th December

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a festive trip to the theatre. This year GADA members headed to the Wimbledon Theatre to enjoy a magical performance of Cinderella, staring Linda Gray (from the hit TV show, Dallas).

Angela, Amal, Laura, Roxy and Doddy were joined by friends Lucy and Zhihan in the front rows of the performance. We enjoyed mince pies, falling snow, spectacular renditions of our favourite songs from the year, lots of giggles (courtesy of Mathew Kelly and Mathew Rixon playing the ugly step-sisters) and a heart-warming love story. Highlights of the afternoon were almost certainly the shimmering rendition of Frozen’s ‘Let It Go’, which had us all singing along, and the fantastic 3D ghostbuster experience which sufficiently spooked Amal (and the rest of us) into screams of both terror and laughter!

We had a great time. Roxy summed it all up nicely by leading the audience in a standing ovation (followed by lots of cheering, whooping and dancing!). 

More social buddies...

In November, we also inducted four new Social Buddies to our amazing group of volunteers, a big welcome to Joe, Courtney, Lucy and Michael!