On the afternoon of Tuesday 31 July, Bedfordshire held their first ever Memory Café at Flitwick village hall!
We had a huge turnout of people we support within the local area; some from our Registered Care and Supported Living services, some who use our Lifelong Learning service.
We started with people signing in, choosing somewhere to sit and choosing a huge piece of cake and a drink!
There was background music whilst we got ourselves organised and talked over tea and cake.
We played some games; a firm favourite was a game of ‘higher, lower’ with giant playing cards….very “Play your Cards Right”!
We introduced the picture bingo game that the Milton Keynes café use and this was popular with everyone shouting out for more games. The prizes of sweets were popular too!
Some time was spent talking about future café’s and what people would like to happen at them.
The afternoon ended with a ‘guess the musical’ game; there was singing, lots of dancing and everyone seemed to have a great time.
As a team we have taken away lots from the afternoon; we have reflected and know we need to have a more structured agenda, we need better raffle prizes, to set tables up differently and to round up some volunteers (as I was stuck in the kitchen for the best part of the afternoon!).
But all in all it was a great first Memory Café. People we support got together and made it great. They were all so enthusiastic and we are all looking forward to next time.
The afternoon really showcased what we do well; using the 10 facilitation skills… I observed them all (from the depth of the kitchen)!
Bedfordshire Memory Cafés are held on the last Tuesday of every month 1.30-3.30pm at Flitwick Village Hall.
Debs Ibbetson
Area Manager, Bedfordshire
