THE Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) opened a new Memory Café in Macroom on Monday April 22nd in The Next-Door Café in the Castle Hotel Macroom.
The project was spearheaded by Friends of ASI Macroom and Minister of State for mental health and older people Mary Butler TD officially opened the café.
This marks the next step in the ASI’s commitment to creating supports and services for people living with dementia and their families in Macroom.
In April 2023, the ASI’s Friends of ASI hosted a dementia-inclusive community event in Macroom which led to the creation of Friends of ASI Macroom.
Friends of ASI Macroom is a group of local leaders dedicated to creating a dementia-inclusive town.
The Friends of ASI is a dementia-inclusive programme.
It includes training, awareness, education, and services and aims to encourage people, businesses and services to create a more nurturing and accepting environment for people living with dementia and their families in the community.
People living with dementia are among the most marginalised in society and can often face social exclusion and stigma.
A Memory Café provides a warm and welcoming space for people with dementia, their family and friends and social and health care professionals to meet, exchange ideas and learnings. Usually, an expert speaker is invited each month to talk at the cafe about a topic of interest.
Marian Kelleher, whose husband Tadhg lives with dementia and accesses ASI services said: ‘It’s great for us to have a place to pop in and have a tea and talk to people going through the same situation. It’s really lovely, and it’ll give us an opportunity to socialise with people.’
Minister of State Mary Butler TD said: ‘As minister for older people with responsibility for dementia, I have been working to improve the community services and supports available to people with dementia and their families throughout Ireland.
I am delighted to continuously provide the Alzheimer Society of Ireland with funding to support the roll out of Memory Cafés and dementia-specific day centres.
The Macroom Memory Café will provide invaluable information on topics related to dementia, while also providing social contact and peer support to people with dementia and their families in a welcoming environment.
Currently we are striving to make Macroom a dementia-inclusive community and this Memory Café is another step towards reaching this goal.’ An estimated 7,509 people live with dementia in Cork, and 63% of people with dementia live in the community in Ireland.
