The First Ever Grantham Unkept Club meet.
Something great came out of the first one. It was meant to be!
After feeling as if I was the only adoptee in the village, i.e Grantham, and not being very successful in finding any adoptee peer support groups, I approached The BHive to help me get one running.
For those that are unaware of what they do, this is from the H.A.Y. Lincolnshire website...
"Community Wellbeing Hub provide grassroots-level mental health support. Hubs are supported by Community Connectors who provide free, confidential support and advice and signpost you to other services in the local area."
They say, "Bhive Community Hub is a community-based project, providing support groups, learning and signposting for your mental wellbeing in a friendly and accessible environment.”
The Bhive hosts a number of groups every weekday. Come and join us at any of our group sessions, and enjoy a bottomless supply of tea, coffee and biscuits for just £3.00 per person.
We offer a range of support and advice, including specialist benefits help as well as activities such as our gardening club and arts, crafts and laughs group." I thought this sounded like the perfect place for my group.
We agreed that Saturday, the 29th November 2025, would be our first session. I created a poster, and a couple of group introduction videos for social media and for a few days, all I seemed to see on Facebook was my face popping up as content was being liked, shared and commented on, all in the affirmative.
The day of this first group session attracted a modest turnout, but this was the first of many, hopefully, and I was thrilled to see anyone there at all.
Amazingly, I met a lady who hadn't actually been an attendee of my group, but was using the BHive Hub that day. She turned out to be a social worker in Lincolnshire County Councils adoption team. Not only that, she had been following my Who's Wally content online. We were both quite excited to make the connection, and she has offered to attend future SESSIONS, as well as potentially working together on other projects.
Life has a strange way of putting you in the right place at the right time.
As Christmas is now approaching rapidly, the next sessions will begin in the new year, on Saturday, the 10th of January. Drop yourself a reminder on your 2026 cat calendars. 1 pm - 3 pm
Thank you to all who attended the very first Grantham Unkept Club meet-up. I'm looking forward to more of the same, such a positive experience.
For more information, see the group page on the website.
Image © Andy Wallis
