Sprowston Dementia Friendly Community and Community Dementia Cafe

18/10/2025

Wearing your Dementia Friends badge shows you care, you understand, and you’re helping to make your community more inclusive for people living with dementia.

So, pop your badge on, every time someone asks about it is a chance to raise awareness and share what being a Dementia Friend means to you!

Not a Dementia Friend yet? Sign up today at http://spkl.io/6183AVp4L

17/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1261651016002486&type=3
A bit of dirty business today as we decorated bowls with colourful stickers and planted bulbs ready for the spring. We’ll be keeping a careful eye on them to see who’s emerges first. The compost was donated by Sprowston Garden Centre. The bulbs and bowls were donated by one of our wonderful volunteers Juliet. The bulbs were Dwarf Narcissus so they should give a beautiful show sometime around March. Also Steven from Norfolk Trading standards was on hand to give advice the latest scams and offer assistance with a number of issues. One was a member who lives on their own who is vulnerable to telephone scams. He was able to offer a call screening device which will be fitted to her phone in the next few days to prevent anyone not on a preselected list from calling her. Norfolk Trading standards can be contacted either via the Norfolk County Council web site or telephone 0808 223 1133. Another popular visitor was Sue from Pets for Therapy who brought along her beautiful Greyhound Spotty Dog. Animals of all descriptions are always a welcomed attraction to our Cafe and Spotty Dog was a lovely size to stroke without having to lean down or get out of the seat. He was so gentle too. Tesco provided a selection of lovely cakes whilst Wiltshire Farm Foods provided more cakes, sausage rolls and pork pies to try. In the carers group today, we had Sophie from Wiltshire Farm Foods talk to us about nutrition and older people. We talked about the effects of malnutrition in the elderly and ways to help manage this. This led onto a conversation about how to help people with dementia stay nourished and drink adequate fluids. A very useful and interesting session.

16/10/2025

16/10/2025

17/09/2025

Hi everyone, I am a volunteer Dementia Friends Ambassador delivering face to face information sessions in the area. If you are a member of a group, or a school, parish council etc and would like to find out how you could make a difference in your neighborhood then why not get in touch.

Our incredible Dementia Friends Ambassadors are volunteers who encourage others to make a positive difference to people living with dementia in their community. They do this by running Dementia Friends Sessions where they give participants information about the personal impact of dementia, and what they can do to help.

Feeling inspired? Sign up to attend a Dementia Friends Session at dementiafriends.org.uk

02/09/2025

September is World Alzheimer’s Month, an international campaign to combat stigma and raise awareness, so that everyone knows the signs and symptoms of dementia and how to get support when they need it.

This month and always, we’re raising awareness and understanding of dementia and showing that it will take a society to beat dementia. We’re also introducing our new look and feel for Dementia Friends, but our core mission of raising awareness and changing attitudes to dementia remains the same.

Keep an eye on our social media during September as we'll be sharing more information about how you can show your support this .

22/08/2025

This site is not endorsed by us but may be useful.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BgjuUxCmm/

I've just finished reading Fiona Phillips' book, 'Remember When', about her Alzheimer's diagnosis (and caring for both her parents before that). Some of the chapters were written by her husband, Martin Frizell. Martin makes an extremely valid point that, unlike other illnesses, there is NO care pathway for people with dementia. The diagnosis is given, and carers (as we all know) are usually left to their own devices. We get given leaflets and left to cope. That was my experience, and it has been the experience of thousands of other carers. Yes, I know there's no cure but we all know how challenging it is to care for a loved one, and people with dementia have the right to a good quality of life.

Anyway, you can read my full review of the book in the upcoming issue of Dementia Help magazine – out soon. Sign up for your free copy here: https://dementiahelpuk.com/dementia-help-magazine/

18/08/2025

Our next cafe will be this Thursday, 21st August. If you care for someone with dementia do bring them along for drinks, cake and a chat.

Our new poster has been printed courtesy of Norwich Print Solutions.

17/07/2025

July was party time at Sprowston Dementia Friendly Cafe. So the School Room at the Diamond Centre in School Lane was suitably decorated with bunting and the cafe extended for an extra hour so that we could have lunch together. Mark’s wife Angie provided trays of freshly made sandwiches & Tesco provided trays of nibbles and sausage rolls. About 75 people came including volunteers and carers. The music was provided by Steve Allen and Margaret. A large area of the hall was kept clear for people to get up and dance, which many did, to all genres of music popular through the last 40 years. Lizzie brought her “Caring Dog” Douglas. He is such a friendly dog who loved mingling and looking for people to snuggle up to. He loved the attention as much as our visitors. Carol organised the tombola which raised £162 for cafe funds. Every month someone asks how we put on such an amazing event for free. It’s because we have a great bunch of volunteers and we get donations and money from our supporters via the Broadland Community at Heart Lottery. If you'd like to support us regularly you can apply here: https://www.communityatheartlottery.com/.../sprowston... Sprowston Town Council supports us by providing the room for free too. Last month one of our regular visitors, Alan, talked about his Velocette motorcycle which he had when he was younger and brought in a picture of it. This month Bill brought in his 66 year old Velocette Venom, Anthony, so that Alan could sit on it and hear it running. He was so pleased and it raised a lot of interest with other people who had similar or remember friends who had them when they were young.
In the carers group today, we had Sue from Vision Norfolk talking about their services and sight loss. Also Sophie from Wiltshire Farm Foods about their meals. Followed by general discussion about GP surgeries and general things. At next month’s Cafe we will have the big games from Broadland District Council’s Broadly Active scheme.