Liverpool bakery and cafe launches memory club for dementia sufferers and carers

Catherine Braidy on Aigburth Road will run the club every Thursday afternoon, giving people with dementia and their carers somewhere to get together for a chat and activities.

The idea came from Cath Williams who owns the boutique cake parlour.

She has volunteered before at a dementia club and says it’s an opportunity for people to be able to get out and socialise, and to give carers some much-needed respite for a couple of hours.

She said:

“I’ve seen with friends whose parents have dementia and their partners are their primary carers how isolating it can be,”

“I think that happens in a lot of situations, where a husband or wife is the main carer, and I’m not sure how much support there is available for them, so I just wanted to put on an afternoon which would give them a chance to relax and do something nice together.”

The first memory club will be this Thursday (Oct 10) from 1pm to 3pm, but Cath says it’s something she’s been planning for a while.

She originally hoped to start it before Covid, but when lockdown came in the idea had to be paused.

Now, as well as a soundtrack of music to bring back some happy memories, she’s got all kinds of activities in the pipeline for people to get involved with, or not if they prefer to just have a quiet cuppa.

“I know looking at old photos can be a good thing for anyone with dementia and that’s something people could do together so I’m going to try and get hold of some old Liverpool local history books,” she adds.

“I’ve got some colouring books and materials and I’m hoping to get some jigsaws too. I put a shout out on social media to see if anyone had any 30-piece ones they could donate because so many are 500 or 1000 piece and most of the smaller ones are kids’ pictures. I have ordered a few already but it would be great to get some more.

“I thought it would be good to get some playing cards, and maybe giant ones so we could have a game of Play Your Cards Right! It’s something fun that everyone who wants can join in.”

Cath, who also opens Catherine Braidy on Christmas Day to host a community get together, says the idea is to make the memory club a regular weekly date which dementia sufferers and their carers can look forward to.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good response but if only one person and their carer comes along and they enjoy it then that’s good enough for me.”