Sheena, 81, is a natural communicator having spent years in Cambridge as a tour guide and working in the library at Homerton College. Today she lives in Fife, Scotland, and is a member of the 'Jolly Fifers’ tea party group.

“I came up North in 2001 after my husband saw this house when he was in Fife doing a Scottish country dancing course. When he came home, he asked me to take a look and the rest, as they say, is history. It’s very peaceful here, but I still miss the tour guiding because I really enjoyed meeting new people and getting special access to the wonderful colleges of Cambridge to share their history. In 2007 I heard about Re-engage and decided to start volunteering as a tea party host and driver as it seemed like an opportunity to meet different people.”

Sheena’s husband passed away in 2017 but she continued volunteering and enjoyed the social interaction that tea parties bring.

“Nearly everybody has an interesting story to tell. One of our former guests, who has sadly died, was a driver during the war. She was a very brave lady from the stories we heard at her funeral. Another member of the group is a top dog breeder. It’s great to hear about people’s lives and to chat about life in general. It’s what the tea parties are all about.”

Sheena is now a guest with the group, but she hasn’t quite relinquished her hosting duties yet:

“I have hosted this year because we are looking for more volunteers to host tea parties once or twice a year. Our wonderful coordinator, Louise, works very hard, so I hope we can find more people to join our group as guests or volunteers.

"Volunteering is a lovely thing to do and it brings a lot of pleasure. As a guest, it’s wonderful to have this monthly reunion in the calendar and the chance to catch up on each other’s news. I think that’s what we like most of all and we all look forward to it a great deal.

“Relaxing and chatting with people of different ages is especially important to many older people, as those around us are so busy doing their own thing they forget that other people move at a slower speed. Giving the time to listen feels important. These days it feels like communication has to be instant, whether it’s on the mobile phone or internet, whereas we are from a generation of letter writers and I don’t know that many of the modern people can do that.

“Our afternoon teas feel very relaxed and you can never go wrong with a chocolate cake, although we’ve had some more unusual recipes over the years. At the last event, the host made a courgette and lime cake, which was surprisingly tasty.

“Personally, it feels very special to be invited into somebody’s home and see the effort that has gone into these wonderful tea parties. And we’ve enjoyed many entertainments including a trampolining display by a host’s daughter, a fun game of bingo and our Christmas host always puts on a spread of seasonal treats - she even gets a long-suffering work colleague to dress up as Santa Claus. We’re looking forward to Christmas again this year. In 2021 we were in lockdown but she roped her daughter and a friend into dressing up as elves and delivering Christmas goodies to all the guests, which was so thoughtful.

"The tasty spreads and the entertainment ideas are all very special, but the conversation is the most important thing, I think.”