Dementia-friendly Forget Me Not group welcomes £600 windfall

The Forget-Me-Not Memory Cafe in Wickersley, which marked its first birthday in May, received £600 from the Rotherham Charity Cup committee. 

The group, based at Wickersley Methodist Church on Bawtry Road, has built up a healthy list of volunteers eager to help out and holds sessions on the second Friday of each month.

People with all levels of dementia and their carers visit from across a large part of the borough, mainly Wickersley, Maltby and Bramley.

Sessions provide activities to stimulate dementia sufferers such as specialist jigsaws, special painting cards, entertainers, meals and trips away.

Memory care lead Jane Shore, who runs the cafe with her husband Philip, said the group aimed to provide stimulation and friendship for people suffering from dementia but it also helped those looking after them.

Mrs Shore said: “It’s as much for the carers as the people who have dementia. They can talk to other carers.

“It’s a lonely place if you are looking after someone.”

Mrs Shore said the group sessions usually had 14 or 15 people with dementia and their carers attending, although the number varies.

The memory cafe was kicked off by the Alzheimer’s Society and Wickersley Methodist Church asked Mrs Shore and other volunteers if they could run it.

The church now organises the free sessions each month.

Mrs Shaw said there were a number of memory cafes around Rotherham.

She added: “They are needed because there are so many people with dementia.”

Funding has come from various sources, such as the National Lottery and Wickersley Women’s Institute.

There are 24 volunteers who step up to help at Forget-Me-Not meetings.

To find out more about the group, contact Jane Shore on 07449 120051, email [email protected] or visit the Forget-Me-Not Friday Memory Cafe page on Facebook.