Dementia cafe hosted by Baptist church 

A dementia cafe hosted by a Baptist church in Yorkshire and run in partnership with the Alzheimer's Society has officially opened

The Mexborough Memory Cafe had its first session on Tuesday, 11 October at Mexborough Baptist Church and Community Centre when the Civic Mayor of Doncaster, Cllr David Nevett declared it officially open. 

The Mayor stayed for the afternoon, chatting with people living with dementia and their relatives and carers. One of the Mexborough councillors, Andy Pickering, also attended, as did the Revd Mary Taylor, Regional Minister of the Yorkshire Baptist Association.

There were about 40 people there - users of the cafe, staff and volunteers from the Alzheimer's Society, invited local dignitaries and representatives of the church.

The Memory Cafe will be a monthly event, run by the Alzheimer's Society, to provide an opportunity for people living with dementia and their relatives/carers to meet together for activities, conversation and mutual support. Essentially the church is providing the venue and the Alzheimer's Society is providing their trained staff and volunteers to run the cafe. 

'The dementia cafe came about by networking really,' explained Paul Lancaster, secretary for Mexborough Baptist Church. 'Eileen, one of our members, had been to a social group in Denaby and there met an Alzheimer's sufferer and his carer. 

'The carer said to Eileen that she really wished there was something similar in Mexborough, specifically for Alzheimer's sufferers. Eileen mentioned this to someone else, who mentioned the local Alzheimer's Society, and Eileen then realised that she knew the local co-ordinator from something else that they had both been involved in. 

'Eileen contacted Shaun and arranged a meeting between the three of us. There are a number of dementia cafes in the Doncaster area; Shaun had identified that there was a need for one in Mexborough as well and was beginning to look for a venue.

'The church members agreed that this was a good thing for the church to support.'