Christmas Carolling at St John's Church

Every year, Young@Heart Cafe holds a Christmas Carol Service, and 2025 was no exception. This year, our packed programme at St John’s Church included:

  •  Young@Heart Dementia Choir

  • Joe Corrigan, Musical Director for the choir and solo

  • St Joseph’s Primary School with children from Years 5 and 6

  • Aubrey’s Army, who led an Abba tribute

Everything was expertly woven together by the best festive double act since Morecambe and Wise - Christine Boyd and Maria Collins!

Attendance was maxed out at the Church, and everyone took part, with the entire audience on their feet by the end of the programme. Here’s some photos from the festice event:

 Aubrey’s Army

Formed in the summer of 2025, when leader Shaunni held a charity event in memory of a local girl called Aubrey, who was just 2 years old when diagnosed with brain cancer, and she died in 2025, aged 3 years.

Aubrey’s Army is a group of local people who decided to spread joy, happiness, love, and awareness of charity in the local Community.  The charity raised money for Abbie’s Army, which supports families of children diagnosed with DIPG brain cancer.

Shaunni held a dance challenge event in November, an evening of Mamma Mia. Some of those dance challengers are going on tour in 2026 to perform a shorter version of the show.

Aubrey was a shining star and loved to dance – and we were delighted to showcase this dance event at our Carol Service.

Maria’s Christmas Address

Here’s a summary of Co-ordinator Maria’s speech at the end of the event:

“Young@Heart is in its 9th year and continues to serve the local community and the needs of those who have a dementia diagnosis, as well as their family carers. We also reach out to others who may experience social isolation due to long-term health conditions.

2025 has been a busy year for us – we remain committed to building a dementia-inclusive community through our weekly Café and organising activities such as theatre trips, park picnics, festival participation, and special event celebrations.

We are going to apply for charitable status before Christmas, which will help Young@Heart establish a stronger foundation for the future and may make grants and funding more accessible to us.

A dementia diagnosis can have a profound impact not only on the person affected but also on their loved ones. The number of people diagnosed with dementia continues to grow, and June 2025 recorded the highest number of diagnoses in the UK since the pandemic.

Locally, places like Young@Heart are now more essential than ever, as shown by our first-ever waiting list. We will keep reviewing our services to ensure they meet guests' evolving needs ahead of our 10th anniversary in September 2026.”

Everyone was invited to join us afterwards at the Parish Centre for festive refreshments and mince pies, hosted by the always impressive Young@Heart Cafe volunteers.

The launch of our 10th Anniversary Keepsake

The keepsake was designed by one of Young@Heart’s very own volunteers, Theresa Gill.

Teresa has portrayed the history of the Café on a tea towel, inspired by the Twelve Days of Christmas. The tea towel could be mounted on the wall as a picture or even used to dry the dishes…

Save the date for 2026

Please save the date for Christmas 2026 (yes, we’re very organised!) - Saturday 12 December 2026 at St John’s Parish Church.  

Ian Christie