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The Living Well Cafés provide a welcoming, safe and supportive place for people living with dementia and/or memory problems and their caregivers.

The Living Well Café first opened at Ferryhill Parish Church on 20th April 2017 when we had 8 café users, 6 carers and 20 volunteers. The numbers vary each time, but we have had as many as 18 café users and 11 carers! We are happy to welcome residents from local care homes.

The Devana Living Well Café runs fortnightly on Thursdays from 1-3 p.m.

We try to have a variety of activities: some giving information, some to show what aids are available and some reminiscing. A lot of the time we have musical entertainment as music is a great medium for reaching memories and it allows everyone to participate. We encourage the café users to take part as much as possible by dancing, doing chair-based exercises, quizzes and group games, sing-alongs, boccia and of course the now famous Ferryhill Hokey Cokey! We concentrate on what people can do rather than on what they can no longer do.

We also signpost people to organisations who may be able to help them, and sometimes just a wee chat and to be able to unburden what their week has been like is a great help for the carers. We recognise the difficulties experienced by the carers and the need to provide support for them too is important. We like to have some fun and create a warm, welcoming environment and to provide an escape for the short time they are at the café.

We have a pool of wonderful volunteers, mostly from Ferryhill Church, but there are a few from other churches, or friends of our existing volunteers. This dedicated team work extremely well together and they make the café what it is.

For more information on The Living Well Project and it's Cafes, please click this link.