Cheshire's first dedicated Dementia-Friendly café celebrates success

25 Mar 2019 10:51
Published by: Kian French

Cheshire's seven day a week dedicated Dementia-Friendly café has celebrated its first birthday.

GIFT Café, set in the picturesque village of Puddington, is the brainchild of friends Cathrina Moore and Caroline Hutton.

Cathrina and her family are the owners of the neighbouring two care homes - Plessington Court and the Chapel House Care Home.

The pair set up the popular café in the Lodge on the site to provide a warm and friendly environment for visiting families to take their loved ones to share homemade food, seven days a week.

The Chapel House Lane café has also quickly become a popular destination for cyclists, walkers, dog owners and residents from the local are who come for its famous home-made soups, fresh sandwiches and cakes.

All of the staff in GIFT Café are 'Dementia Friends', it is a not for profit organisation and all profits are donated to projects tackling social isolation in the community.

Caroline Hutton said: "We wanted to set up GIFT Café in Puddington to help people who live with dementia and their carers to live as well as possible, for longer.

"People with dementia are often isolated and so are their carers. We have regular customers who see our café as one of the few places they can come where they are not judged. They love the idea of coming to a place in the community that welcomes them.

"All our staff are Dementia Friendly - our youngest is sixteen - which means they know exactly how to make a person with dementia feel comfortable.

"This can mean making sure the right music is played at the right volume, as many people with dementia don't like loud noises, or being on hand to give reassurance when it's needed.

"We often have three generations of a family coming for afternoon tea, as well as groups of cyclists from all over the North West popping in for barista-style coffees and full English breakfasts."

Paula Marsland, who makes home-made cakes and soups for the coffee shop, said: "GIFT Café is a really special place that is doing good in the community. I love seeing customers regularly coming in with their families, enjoying some quality time together over a cup of tea and tasty home-made food."

GIFT Café runs a series of events for the public including music evenings, Brums & Buns, a collection of vintage cars, sing-alongs and craft days as well as biscuit decoration days for young children.

It also welcomes dogs - even serving Scoop's Ice-Cream for dogs.

www.giftcafe.co.uk

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