If you are living with someone with dementia, ensuring your home is as dementia-friendly as possible goes a long way in helping those with dementia to maintain independence while feeling (and staying) safe.
Read on for tips on how to create a dementia-friendly home. 80 years on from the D-Day Landings watch the new 30 minute film: 80 YEARS ON
Adapted from the novel THE KID ON SLAPTON BEACH by Island writer Felicity Fair Thompson WHEN? 3PM Wednesday 17th JULY WHERE? Alzheimer Café @ Parklands in Cowes ADMISSION: Donations at the door are welcome!
Alzheimer Café @ Parklands has been open for over a month!
We are still so overwhelmed by the support we received on the day of our grand opening, and by the number of people we've had through our door since! We continue to add to our services @ Parklands and are always working hard to ensure Alzheimer Café @ Parklands is exactly what our community needs it to be! Here's a short video from the day we opened our doors! Sandown Airport | Saturday 17th August | 10AM – 2PM | FREE entry!
We will be at @ Right at Home Isle of Wight Older Persons Good Living Show. Meet services, groups and listen to in-depth works every half-past the hour. Come and have a chat with us and see how we can support you! Alzheimer Café @ Parklands has been up and running for just over a month so we caught up with executive manager Donna White to see how things have been going! How would you describe the first month of Alzheimer Café @ Parklands? It’s been fantastic to welcome lots of new visitors to the Community Café and to our Wellbeing Club. We’ve met some amazing people in genuine need of support and can already see the difference Alzheimer Café @ Parklands is making. People on the Island now have a safe space to drop in, be themselves and leave with a little less weight on their shoulders. There has been a lot of laughter and fun, and one lady told me today, “I love it here; it’s the best day of my week and I can’t wait to come back”. What wonderful feedback and a real testament to the hard work from all the team here and in the background of this project! Have there been any surprises over the past 4 weeks? Alzheimer Café @ Parklands is an evolving service – every day brings a new dimension to what we are trying to achieve. The most important aspect is to offer the appropriate advice and support to help shape care plans that enable the best possible outcomes for people with a dementia and their families. Working with our partners, we will continue to think creatively to support all who reach out to us. What have been some challenges you’ve faced? We are currently in the thick of another renovation project as we move forward with the new lift installation. That has proven eventful at times as we navigate the noise and the occasional outage of power. We can’t thank our guests enough for their patience and understanding – it will make such a difference and we are ever nearer to completion, so we’ll be business as usual very soon! Things will always come up here and there, but our team is fantastic, and we’re always ready to face challenges head on! What has exceeded your expectations? The generosity of people who visit and leave having offered their support – whether this has been a donation for new equipment, an offer to come and volunteer or simply to keep coming back to the Community Café to support us. It’s so encouraging to see how much this service means to so many people living on the Island. We will always need people to come to the Community Café to sustain it and help it to grow! Remember, it’s a dementia friendly space but the café and all of our events and activities are open to anyone and everyone! And I have to say, the café food always exceeds my expectations, it really is a treat! What does the next month have in store?
Every week we see some progression with our vision for Alzheimer Café @ Parklands. We’ve been busy working with lots of other organisations offer everything people need under one roof. Regular social events are now running from the Community Café as well as external services holding drop-ins for support. We have a very busy July planned as we push to get all of upstairs completed to open our hair salon and gym! Are you still looking for volunteers to help @ Parklands? Yes, definitely! There is always so much to do, and we are completely reliant on our volunteers to help sustain this service. We need one last push on decorating upstairs and as our Wellbeing Club grows, we will need help more than ever, so I encourage anyone who has any spare time and wants to make a real difference to people living with a dementia to come and have a look around – it’s such a friendly and positive place to be! Come and meet our friendly Older Persons Mental Health Dementia Care Navigators who are here to offer support and advice to those living with and caring for people with memory problems.
Delicious refreshments available No need to book! Every Friday from 11AM -1PM @ Parklands Community Café Parklands Park Road Cowes For any enquires call 01983 220200 If you're feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed by filling in form after form, we can help.
You can now make appointments with our Citizen's Advice volunteer Gill Corby who will be based at Parklands every Thursday from 1.30 - 4.30. Gill can guide you through the (often tricky and confusing) process of filling in forms such as attendance allowance, Personal Independence Payments (PIP) council tax reductions, pensions credits and carers allowance, and more. email [email protected] or call us on 01983 220200 for more information or to book an appointment. Primary school children and people with dementia bond over childhood memories: A BBC story13/6/2024
The BBC recently covered a lovely story involving primary school children spending time with people in the early stages of dementia. It's heartwarming to see children wanting to understand more about what people might be going through, and spending time chatting and playing games with those with dementia.
"Dementia is like a bookcase - your newest memories would be on the top and then sometimes memories fall out," one pupil said. You can read the full story on the BBC website by clicking here As many of you know, we are always thinking of new ways to raise money for our Alzheimer Cafés around the Island, and for Alzheimer Café @ Parklands. With that in mind, we're excited to launch our virtual "shop" where anyone who wishes to donate can sponsor actual items for our café guests!
From sweet treats to mini bus hire, every sponsored item will go a long, long way in supporting our 7 cafés around the Island and Alzheimer Café @ Parklands. You can view our virtual shop by clicking here and all proceeds we raise will go directly back into Alzheimer Café Isle of Wight. As always, thank you for your continued support. Our Wellbeing Club provides opportunities for people to revisit hobbies or engage in new activities that interest them in a relaxed and enjoyable safe space, managed by experienced and trained staff and volunteers. Here's what a day at our Wellbeing Club looked like last week... Morning: Coffee and catch up. Newsround with the paper. Joined the mum & baby group in the cafe for cuddles Art work and reminisce Shopping trip to The Range Back to Community Cafe @ Parklands for lunch Afternoon: Games session playing ball games and darts Bingo in cafe Coffee and cake Ended the day with a pamper session and hand massage before home! We've had so much fun getting to know our visitors over the past few weeks, and we have space for more people to join us! If you are interested in joining us at the Wellbeing Club, we'd love to hear from you!
Tel: 01983 220200 Email: [email protected] Opening times: Monday – Friday 9.30 - 16.30 (except bank holidays) Parklands, Park Road, Cowes, PO31 7LZ |