Manchester Camerata entertains at the Dementia Cafe

The Dementia Cafe, on the second and fourth Friday of every month, very quickly became an important part of Willow Wood’s Dementia service, and is always extremely well attended.

Both those living with Dementia and their carers find it a huge support, not only from our wonderful team of Nic, Sandra, Emma and volunteers Eric and Pam, but from each other. As carer Kath said, “If I’m up in the middle of the night and struggling to cope, I’ll put a message out on our What’s App group. It’s almost inevitable that someone else will be in the same situation and we’ll end up laughing together. It’s a great support to know you’re not alone”.

Every cafe has a theme, or a special guest, and on Friday 13 September, volunteer Pam arranged for the Manchester Camerata to visit. The orchestra, themselves a charity, have their own ground-breaking Dementia programme ‘Music In Mind’, and really connected with the group.

Playing the clarinet, flute and cello, Lynne, Aine and Nancy played a number of tunes which soon had the audience singing along, while Heather distributed tambourines, finger cymbals, bells and more to encourage audience participation in the music-making. It finished with a song, jointly written by the group and audience.

The next Dementia Café is on Friday 27 September between 1-3pm.If you or a loved one is living with Dementia you’ll be very welcome; just drop in, there’s no need to book.