A WINCHESTER charity helping older people to live well has opened its second memory wellbeing centre to support its dementia service.
St John’s Winchester launched the centre at Barchester’s Shawford Springs Care Home in Otterbourne Road.
Expanding on the success of its existing Memory Wellbeing Centre in partnership, with Everyone Active, St John’s is working with Barchester Healthcare to create a safe and stimulating environment for people facing the challenges of dementia, while supporting their families and carers.
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The centre, which opened on Wednesday, January 24, is designed to be a social hub where those with dementia can gather, take part in different activities, talk to other members, and receive personalised support from the St John’s dementia support team.
The team said: “We have found that bringing people together who are affected by dementia enables them to connect with other people in similar situations to form their own community. By doing this, new friendships are formed, and people are enjoying life again, rather than feeling isolated and alone. We have found that the people we have supported through our service and Memory Wellbeing Centre are living life better.”
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Cassie Munnoch, general manager of Shawford Springs, said: “We are delighted to be able to host the Memory Wellbeing Centre at our newly opened home. At Shawford Springs, all our staff are dementia trained as part of the high-quality person-centred care that we offer. We welcome the opportunity to be able to help to support all those whose lives are affected by dementia in our local community.”
The new centre will run every second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 10am to 12.30pm. Due to the centre’s location, the team has a maximum capacity of members and carers that they can support and will be running sessions on a rolling six-month basis.
Anyone interested should contact the St John’s Dementia Support team as soon as possible to join their waiting list by emailing dementiasupport@stjohnswinchester.co.uk.
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