Sprowston Dementia Friendly Community and Community Dementia Cafe

20/08/2026

It was a magical morning with Mr Sam the Magician ([email protected]) who came along with a very funny magic show. The warm up was exactly that with 10 minutes of chair yoga delivered by Yoga with Lyn, who came in especially. Thank you very much Lyn. Everybody was laughing even before she'd finished. It was a great fun session which made the carers move into their separate counselling session much easier for our member living with dementia.
That was the cue for Sam to get started with his routine of distraction by humour before delivering faultless magic tricks. Audience participation was not optional as several members were "volunteered" to help with the tricks. They were brilliantly executed with jaw dropping precision. In fact they were so good I forgot to take lots of pictures this time. But everywhere I looked people were laughing and chuckling in their seats. Tears of laughter followed very frequently and it got quite noisy. The atmosphere was alive with joy. I'm sure we'll all remember the morning for many years to come. Tesco (Blue Boar Lane) have again supplied us with cakes and snacks for the event.

The Cafe is a community lead group of volunteers supported by the Sprowston Town Council and funded by donation. Guests sometimes ask how they can help with funding. If you'd like to support us with a regular small donation of just £1 per week you can by signing up for the Broadland Community Lottery at https://www.communityatheartlottery.com/support/sprowston-dementia-friendly-community-cafe. You don't have to live in Broadland to participate or attend our monthly Cafe.

16/08/2026

Our next cafe is this coming Thursday, 20th August. Looking forward to welcoming old friends and meeting new ones. No need to book, just turn up. Te, coffee and nibbles - all free.

Our next cafe will be this coming Thursday, 16th July at 10 am. It's summer party time and we will be entertained by Steve Allen accompanied by Margaret on the dance floor. We'll have some party nibbles so will finish at 1 pm. Hope to see lots of friends old and new.

16/07/2026

The sunshine and smiles came out for our Summer Party today. Our guests were smiling even as they came into the room which had been decorated with colourful bunting. It makes such a difference to the party atmosphere and we loved to see the look on everyone's faces. It really did set the scene for a wonderful party atmosphere (queue the Russ abbot song- if you can remember it). The music was supplied by Steve Allen & Margaret with songs that we all remember from the 1950s to the 1980s. It didn't take long for the regular dancers to get up quickly followed by many who we didn't think would ever get out of their seats. From twist to jive we had it all today. The Café was extended for an extra hour so that the carers could also enjoy the party after their regular side meeting.
In the carers group last week, the main topic of conversation was the AI system at one of the GP Surgeries locally. This is causing a lot of anxiety and we have agreed to follow this up with the surgery concerned to see how things can move forward. We also discussed the changing relationships when someone is diagnosed with dementia.
Also attending was Jody who is community engagement and recruitment coordinator for Home Instead, who support and enable people to continue to live in their own homes.
Lunch was supplied by Angie who must have got up really early to make all the sandwiches, which were very good as usual. We are so lucky to have so many really great volunteers who always spread fun and happiness every week. Also Sprowston Town Council who give unfailing support by giving us the room to use every month.

12/07/2026

Our next cafe will be this coming Thursday, 16th July at 10 am. It's summer party time and we will be entertained by Steve Allen accompanied by Margaret on the dance floor. We'll have some party nibbles so will finish at 1 pm. Hope to see lots of friends old and new.

18/06/2026

At our June Café we were entertained by the wonderful Strumsures Ukulele Band. It didn't take long for some to get up to sing and dance to the music they were making. As always there was plenty of laughter and good conversation with many stories being told and retold. This month we welcomed 7 new guests and their carers. You are all very welcome and we hope to see you next month when we have our Summer Party.

Today, in the carers group, we focussed the conversation on what it means to have a loved one taken into care using the legal process of 'Sectioning' and under the care of the mental health act. We were very lucky to have people who have been involved in this process and could talk first-hand about this. We discussed the process and the aftercare surrounding this.

The carers group is a very positive experience with people helping each other both peer to peer and through discussion with trained professionals. People attending the sessions have said that it's a very useful if sometimes unsettling session but they look forward to it every month as an opportunity to openly discuss their feelings, problems and often solutions to the issues they have faced. They also know that while they are in the group their loved ones are being well looked after and entertained by our volunteers. As volunteers we probably have as much fun as anyone else in the room. No one leaves without a smile!

05/06/2026

We hate ask but whilst the cafe is supported by Sprowston Town Council we rely on the generous donations of our members and regular top ups to our funds from this lottery to enable us to put on activities such as a performer and food for our party, the now annual river trip and Reminiscence East.
If you'd like to support us with a small regular donation please apply here. £1 a week would make a lot of difference. You may even win some money back!

Support Sprowston Dementia Friendly Community Cafe when you play Community at Heart Lottery - Community at Heart Lottery

Play the lottery from just £1 a week this May, and you could win a £1,000 IKEA Gift Card (or cash alternative) in our Super Draw on Saturday 30th May

03/06/2026

Good morning everyone,

The wonderful are hosting a Forget-me-not tea-party to raise awareness for the Alzheimer's Society . Why not come along have a chat, a cuppa and cake with us, maybe a bit of fun!

There is parking just past the church, please do not park on the road.

Good morning everyone,

The wonderful are hosting a Forget-me-not tea-party to raise awareness for the Alzheimer's Society . Why not come along have a chat, a cuppa and cake with us, maybe a bit of fun! We will also be joined by members of Broadland Chess Club if you fancy a little game of chess!

01/06/2026

22/05/2026

Our May 2026 Café marked the 10th Anniversary of the original start of the Café as part of Sprowston Dementia Friendly Community. It came out of an initial project called Sprowston Grow Your community which spawned a number of projects in Sprowston.
The Café was very busy with lots going on. We borrowed the big games from Broadland District Council's Broadly Active department which proved very popular, as usual. The Children from Cecil Gowing Infant and Nursery School came and really got to grips with the games and really enjoyed being with our regular guests too. I think blowing out the candles on our cake was the most popular job after singing "Happy Birthday" to the Cafe though.

We had a number of honoured guests including cllr Caroline Karimi-Ghovanlou, the outgoing Chair of Broadland District Council ,cllr Adrian Tipple the incoming Chair of Broadland District Council, cllr Cllr Natasha Harpley, Leader of the Labour Group at Broadland District Council, John Ward, who has been the County Councillor for Sprowston for many years & cllr Bill Couzens, Chair of Sprowston Town Council who has been a volunteer with the café since the start. Our MP, Alice Macdonald, was hoping to attend but was unable to for personal reasons. However she has been a strong supporter of the café and will attend future events.

This month in the carers group, we had Lucy from the Fire and Rescue Service to talk to us about fire prevention. She spoke to us about the importance of working smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Planning an escape route and what to do in the event of a fire. She also spoke to us about the home visits that the fire service offer, free of change including the fitting and supply of detectors free of change. Several of our folks booked a visit with Lucy.

I Couldn't find any pictures of our very first Cafes but there is an album of our Launch event which we held in October 2016 which you can find here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1550081841704202&type=3 there are some faces there that you may remember from that time including Hayley Howes and Sandra Hughes who were truely inspirational and brought a great deal of expertise to the cafe just when we needed it most.

I'd like to thank all the volunteers throughout the 10 years we've been in existence without whom we could not continue. Here's to the next ten years.