Alzheimer Scotland have been running a very successful pop-up café in Point’s Café
Roo, with support from community-owned wind farm Point and Sandwick Trust.
The monthly Forget me Not Café has been set up to support people living with dementia
and their carers, but welcomes everyone, in line with the aim to build a dementia-friendly
community across the Western Isles.
Offering live music from a different, local performer each month the 2-hour sessions
at community hub Aros an Rubha includes lots of familiar songs, friendly faces and
hot drinks with a slice of cake and have been growing in popularity since starting
in July this year.
Dementia advisor, Angela Macleod said, “As people may be aware, dementia is not a
normal part of aging, it is caused by diseases which lead to changes to the structure
and chemistry of the brain and describes a group of symptoms that may include memory
loss, difficulties with planning, problem-solving or language and sometimes changes
in mood and behaviour.
“Dementia is not just about losing your memory, although that can be one of the symptoms. Community outreach work is an important part of our work at Alzheimer Scotland, and we want to make sure that everyone knows about our local service here covering the Western Isles so that no one needs to face dementia alone”.
The monthly sessions finished the year with a Christmas extravaganza on 18th December and hosted local legend Iain ‘Costello’ Maciver who played lots of familiar classics and got everyone’s feet tapping.
PST general manager, DJ MacSween said, “We met with Angela to talk about her suggestion to launch a dementia café in the Point area earlier this year and were very happy to support the efforts of Alzheimer Scotland in their outreach work to build a positive, friendly community for people with dementia and their families.
“The sessions have become very popular and are a great chance for people to get together and enjoy local music and good conversation. We also offer use of our PST minibus for those with transport difficulties, if anyone wants to make use of our accessible transport option, do get in touch .”
Angela Macleod added, “We were met with enthusiasm, a positive supportive environment
and a £500 donation from PST to start what we hope will be the beginning of local
café meet-ups across the islands.
“We are also very fortunate that local musicians have so willingly agreed to support us and for that we are hugely indebted to Angus (Aonghasan) Macdonald, John (Tonkan) Macdonald, John Masterson, Emily Dawn Lawson, Murdigan Macdonald, DB Macleod, Margo Maclean, Cathey Macarthur and Costello”.
The Forget Me Not café will continue in Point in the New Year, dates to be confirmed in January.
Christmas cheer for dementia pop-
23 December 2024
