Woodbridge welcomes new monthly community Dementia Café at Notcutts

Seckford Care in Woodbridge, Suffolk is working in partnership with charity Home Instead and Notcutts to run a new Dementia Café between 10am and 12pm on the fourth Thursday of each month, in the garden centre’s restaurant in the town’s Ipswich Road. A successful first session was held at Notcutts on 22nd June 2023.

The concept is that a person with dementia can enjoy coffee, cake and social interaction in the café, whilst their family carer has two hours of free time, either to do their shopping or to spend some time elsewhere in the café, perhaps to meet with friends or have a walk around the garden centre.

Anyone who is living with dementia or who is a family carer is welcome.

The Dementia Café has been set up following direct feedback from family carers who have been attending the recent community sessions hosted by the Woodbridge Dementia Project.

Cathy O’Brien, Head of Development and Communities at Seckford Care and Chair of Woodbridge Dementia Project, said:

“We hope that this initiative will provide an opportunity for individuals living with dementia to continue to feel part of their local communities and to have opportunities to socialise and engage with activities in the town.

“Seckford Care and Home Instead have worked in partnership on previous several ventures to raise awareness about dementia and offer a range of activities in the Woodbridge area. It therefore seemed a natural progression to collaborate again to provide a dementia café to those in and around Woodbridge.

“Our combined knowledge and expertise will help to provide valuable support to those in Woodbridge living with dementia and their carers. We are also delighted that Notcutts was keen to come on board and support the development of our new dementia café for the local community.”

Charity Home Instead supports community groups all over the UK with grants to fund activities that promote well-being and programmes to reduce and/or prevent isolation and loneliness. It has been instrumental in setting up a similar project in Ipswich.

Wendy Chard, Head of Community Engagement at Home Instead, commented:

“After the success of the partnership between Home Instead and Waitrose/John Lewis in Ipswich, where a dementia café is hosted once a month, this initiative is much-needed in other venues to support those living with dementia and their carers.

“To be a truly dementia-inclusive community, all activities and services need to think differently. With a few changes and help from volunteers, this type of facility should be available in all supermarkets, cafés and other communal spaces.”

The Woodbridge Dementia Café has been given a small grant from East Suffolk Council to help with start-up costs, with Notcutts providing the venue and refreshments free of charge.

Both Cathy O’Brien and Wendy Chard are working together to deliver the service, with the help of volunteers, who they are actively seeking to recruit and train.

The Woodbridge Dementia Café has started with six places initially, with the aim to increase to 10 places, subject to the level of volunteers available.

Darren Brooks, General Manager at Notcutts in Woodbridge, added:

“At Notcutts, we understand the valuable and amazing role that carers do and we want to support them in whatever we can.

“By hosting the dementia café, we can provide a safe place for those living with dementia, whilst their carers can enjoy browsing the store and visiting our nature walk.”

To book a place, please call Cathy O’Brien on 07342 058012.

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