Huge thanks to Janice & Jo @agescotland for today’s engaging “Supporting Older People to Age Well” session. Staff, volunteers & supporters from many orgs came together to share & learn about hydration, nutrition, brain health, activity & connection 💚 @JaniceAgeScot

The wonderful Camerados in their Public Living Room in Ardrishaig primary. Delighted to spend the afternoon with them, chatting, eating biscuits, playing games and drinking tea. 💛 #WeAreCamerados @camerados-org.bsky.social

Thank you Ardrishaig Primary School. We loved being alongside you all in your Public Living Room today. It was wonderful. You are all wonderful. Tea, biscuits, chat, board games and chat. Friends and purpose 💛 @camerados-org.bsky.social @

⸻ 🌿🎨 Today’s art class: wellbeing through nature & creativity. Using leaves and flowers, we made nature patterns and autumn wreaths 🍂 Inspired by seasons changing, one participant said: “Do we have to stop? I want to keep doing this!” 💚

Whoop Whoop! 🎉 John Jackson cycled 664 miles is 8 days from West - Ardnamurchan distillery ➡️ East - Southwold distillery 🚴‍♂️🥃 Raising awareness for our work & @MEResearchUK 🌟💚 Huge achievement – proud of you John! 🙌 Donate: givestar.io/gs/ardnamurcha…

Gentle breezes blow. Coloured hues of red and gold….. An Andrea Nelson inspired autumnal session this morning. We began with a guided meditation reading about leaves falling and letting go, before beginning our therapeutic art session and ended with some Autumnal poems.

⸻ Our 🌟 Super Snowdrops 🌟 joined in to back John Jackson’s epic 🚴 challenge! They took on: 🧩 Brain-boosting games 🎨 Creative challenges & quizzes 🚶 Indoor walking & sit-to-stands Cheering him on every pedal of the way! 💚 👉Support John here: givestar.io/gs/ardnamurchan-to-lowestoft-cycle

It has been our pleasure & privilege to have had the exquisite work of our Quiting Group on display at Artmap Argyll 2025 .We loved seeing both familiar & new faces coming through our door for the red dot trail. Thanks to @ArtMapArgyll for opportunity to be a Red Dot venue. 🔴🥰

Quilters from Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay coming together to share lunch, skills, stories, laughs and chat. Thanks to our visitors from Islay and Kintyre for joining our own Centre quilters today. Quilts on display as part of our Quilters Art Map exhibition are exquisite.

Some relaxing moments this week colouring positive affirmations and continuing working on our therapeutic reflective banner for the Lochgilphead Celtic and Pictish Festival with our Connecting and Creating group and our Wellbeing groups.

Today our ltc peer group took a reflective journey, looking deep into ourselves. We began our creative process with a meditation reading before drawing around our hands, reflecting on prompts given. Our hands then held our words, our thoughts, our stories.

Today our peer group went on a journey of self reflection, which began with introducing two excellent resources the @space2breathe Resilience Tree model and @copescotland.bsky.social Battery Dude. We then got creative (and messy as we played with pastels) creating our own resilience tree.

Just a small group today for our therapeutic art group. Group members arrived feeling a bit frustrated with their chronic pain and poor sleep so we decided on a mindful activity to calm busy minds, making neurographic style sunsets inspired by the work of Andrea Nelson.

Another creative connecting afternoon with folks from our Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday long term condition and recovery peer groups. All together to work on pennants for the local Lochgilphead Celtic and Pictish festival. Thanks to the festival committee for funding.

An emotive challenging therapeutic art session. We began with self portrait photos which most found difficult to look at, as all self critical. We discussed the face we show others versus the face we often hide. Everyone tackled this in unique ways producing some brilliant work.

Laurene’s Thursday class Such a hard working group, well done everyone. That was a tough workout today but you all did it and kept smiling. 💪💪 Always inspiring.

Art is truly a medicine.A quiet reflective peer session turned into hilarity. Some had low moods at start of session all had fun creating, connecting. If feeling low, disengaged, anxious give this a go. Everyone needs some funky roosters in their life. Thankyou ExpressiveMonkey for inspiration.

Proud of our Wellbeing Worker Laurene on achieving a qualification from @BritishGymnasticsFoundation to deliver their #LoveToMove programme aimed at people with neurological conditions & in later life. @meetingcentresscot.bsky.social @foundationscotland.bsky.social @sportingmemories.bsky.social

Our longterm conditions peer wellbeing group experimented with creating Cubist style self portraits today. A creative process which focussed minds, boosted concentration, gave time to pause from daily worries and anxious thoughts.

Our Tarbert Gather group in the sun was another brilliant one - exercise in the barn at the back followed by coffee out the front in the sun 😎 #movement #Hydration #socialconnection The Gather thanks for having us on our Tuesdays, we love it.

What an incredible community we have in Lochgilphead, being alongside others in our PublicLivingRoom in the 🌞 #MixWithFolkNotLikeYou #dontfixjustbealongside #ItsOkayToBeABitRubbish #WeCanDisagreeRespectfully #ToBeSillyIsToBeHuman #IfSomeoneIsStrugglingAskThemToHelpYou @camerados-org.bsky.social 💛

We have been donated loads of wool recently, way way more than 3 bags full so decided to use some for yarn art. We embraced the perfectly imperfect way of working that we’ve been doing over recent weeks and enjoyed the process of making to calm a busy mind helping us be present. Very mindful.

What a lovely crafting and connecting session in the sun. Looking out for one another while relaxing the mind creating clay pieces and finishing off abstract canvases. As the weather is so good we will have an outdoor Lochgilphead Public Living Room on Friday. @camerados-org.bsky.social

Delicious looking, sadly undunkable biscuit coasters. In true Blue Peter style -here are some I made earlier. Come along to our #PublicLivingRoom and get crafty with clay and paint to make your own for £1 to go towards the @camerados-org.bsky.social crowdfunder Mondays 12pm

@camerados-org.bsky.social Our fabulous crocheters have been making trauma teddies to donate to local emergency services who give them out to any children they come into contact with to reassure and calm. The teddies hearing that #CameradosIs10 decided to celebrate and have a birthday picnic.

Lochgilphead Crocheting Camerados made little trauma teddies & dolls to donate to local emergency services to calm children they come into contact with. Today the teddies wanted a picnic and just magically formed themselves into a 10. How apt when #CameradosIs10 @camerados-org.bsky.social

Great work all, well done to our Thursday class for working so hard. 💪💪 We are gonna need a bigger room 😀

#stressawarenessmonth Day 1 Understand what stress means to you personally. We are all unique, what are your stress triggers? It may not be one thing, it may be many micro stressors. Becoming aware of the source of our stress can help us then explore strategies to reduce or manage it.

A fun, yet mindful afternoon with our Tuesday peer, Connecting and Crafting group helping brighten up the windows with stained glass style Easter eggs.

Alright, #Camerados - here's the deal: If we get enough interest, Maff will record an audiobook of Friends and Purpose! You've heard the powerful snippets we've been posting on socials. Now imagine hearing the whole thing. If you want this drop a comment below! #FriendsAndPurpose #WeAreCamerados

Looking at some old local photos today generated good conversations. Newcomers to the town enjoyed hearing stories and memories from those born and bred in Mid Argyll.

#ToBeSillyIsToBeHuman St Patrick’s Day fun at our @camerados-org.bsky.social #PublicLivingRoom today.

@camerados-org.bsky.social I moustache you lot in the shed a question. My splendid Zine arrived Apparently I was due to receive a spiffing free disguise? So come on Where is it? I’ve looked everywhere. I hope I don’t embarrass myself and discover that it is right under my nose. 🕵️‍♂️

Happening today at 12:30 All welcome to hear about Meeting Centres

Well done to our Super Snowdrops today for giving chair based yoga a go. Always game for a physical challenge, such an inspiring group. 💪💪

Feeling a bit stressed? Maybe a bit overwhelmed? Not sleeping as well as you want to be? Maybe becoming a bit burnt out? Get yourself out, find some rocks and water, settle down, be patient and get ready for some otter therapy. 😁👌

All welcome, next Thursday 13th March.

Working on an abstract piece today has been more challenging than anyone anticipated. An interesting, explorative creative personal journey. Each piece holds between paint layers the words we want to use to describe our future selves. Do these words describe us now? Do we have to change?

Meditative art today , a challenge for some who strive for perfection to instead mindfully calm the mind and create perfectly imperfect freehand circles, focussing on the process rather than the finished result.

Thank you Hilda @copescotland.bsky.social for sending out these self care cards for us to distribute, we will distribute to participants of the recent self care learning exchange, as well as complete daily ourselves 🥰

Team workshop (covering movement, therapeutic art, meditation; stress coping tools) as we know the importance in our roles of looking after our own wellbeing, to prevent burnout. We used own knowledge and tapped into excellent resources from @copescotland.bsky.social @space2breathe

Good idea @copescotland.bsky.social like others we are hanging on to a platform we don't want to be on, as there are folks we want to remain connected to, who haven't made the jump yet. Meanwhile pondering is it better to stay and try spread some rays of light, in an increasingly dark toxic space?

Thank you Michael for another super relaxing Sound Bath Session. Thanks to all joined us today. Such a lovely way to end the week. Michael will be in the Centre every Friday offering one to one tuning fork sessions. Every 2nd month Michael will offer a group sound bath.

Well done to our Thursday movement class for working so hard every week with Laurene. We are so proud of each of you for consistently giving it your all and making positive progress every week on improving and maintaining your whole health. You are all stars. 🌟🌟🌟💪💪

Today we ended our therapeutic art session with some bilateral art warm up exercises and some bilateral mirror art with a partner. The aim of this process is to activate our whole brain and calm a busy mind. @Argyll_ButeTSI @MHFScot @FoundationScot @TNLComFundScot @NeuroTherapyNet @COPEScotland

A powerful art activity this afternoon preventing downward spirals of wellbeing. ' Feedback incl' A bit lost when I came in. After activity my mood had lightened. I felt better. ''Loved doing the bright side but couldn't believe how' angry' I was feeling doing the 'dark' side. Enjoyable class.

Another therapeutic art session today, focussing our attention on our breath through some meditative readings before and after creating nature inspired or rainbow striped art. All participants felt calmer at the end. @copescotland.bsky.social

Thanks to Storm Éowyn our Rabbie's day for local men who attend our Pie & Pint (alcoholic free) was postponed until today. The haggis was piped in, addressed, poems read, songs played and our Scottage pies (Layered haggis, neeps and tatties) enjoyed. Rabbie Burns would have approved.

Thanks for sharing @copescotland.bsky.social 💚