6th April 2022
Sanctuary
A new Memory Café is starting up in Shiregreen.
The new regular event is held at Shiregreen Neighbourhood Centre (SNC) from 2–4pm on the first Thursday of the month. The café will be open to those with all sorts of memory issues, their friends and carers. Sessions will be held on a drop-in basis, with users welcome to pop in or stay for longer.
Free refreshments are provided, with coffee, tea and biscuits available. There are local papers to read, chat facilitated by the friendly volunteers and games of dominoes, crib or cards, while a half-hour chair aerobics session is open to anyone who’d benefit from a bit of guided movement and stretching.
Eric Dilger, deputy chair of the SNC and a café volunteer, said: “It was envisaged as a dementia group, as a lot of people in Shiregreen live with dementia. We wanted to give them somewhere to go for support, for social interaction, for a cup of tea in a safe, friendly environment.”
The project has received funding from Sanctuary and is part of a network of memory cafés across the northeast of Sheffield. Rosie Strathearn-Brady, dementia development worker from community charity SOAR, has been advising.
She said: “Memory cafés like this one are a wonderful way to meet people and get information about what support is out there around memory problems and conditions such as dementia.
“This group is open to anyone in the community who would like to come by for a chat and some fun, relaxed activities. The friendly volunteers have created a really welcoming space.”
According to research by the Alzheimer's Society, nearly half (46%) of people living with dementia reported that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health, with over one in three losing confidence in going out and carrying out daily tasks. The pandemic also had a strong negative emotional impact on carers, affecting their mental health and straining their relationships with loved ones.
Neighbourhood partnerships manager, Melanie King, said: “We think the Shiregreen community will really benefit from this friendly drop-in service. Not just those with memory issues, but also the wider community as well – friends, carers and families.”
