“Memories” Dementia Cafe now open at Thame Barns Centre
Since March 2019 and the increase in The Thame Senior Friendship Centre waiting list, it became apparent that whilst we support the elderly community of Thame there had been a significant increase within our local communities of individuals and families living with dementia.
In view of this, Thame Senior Friendship Centre opened a dementia café on Monday 13th September at 10 am.
The cafe will be open every Monday morning from 10am to 1pm and will be run by the staff and volunteers of TSFC.
We will provide activities for those attending and will help with any issues you have and try to help in any way we can.
There will be a minimal charge of £5 for tea/coffee/biscuits which will be provided whilst you are with us.
The Dementia Adviser for Oxfordshire, Katie Smok, joined us for our opening and will be attending every second Monday in the month to answer any questions you may have and where to get help if required.
Katie will be attending on the following dates:
- October Monday 11th
- November Monday 8th
- December Monday 13th
- January Monday 10th
TSFC opened once again on 18th May to the delight of our members who were able to meet with their friends once again. If you wish to join us at TSFC or the dementia café then please contact Kate on 01844 212080.
Official Opening of Thame Senior Friendship Centre
August 2021
Thame Senior Friendship Centre had its official opening on Tuesday 17th August at Thame Town Cricket Pavilion. We were previously known as Thame & District Day Centre
We were joined by many individuals from the local community including the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Imam Monawar Hussein who officially opened Thame Senior Friendship Centre.
Left to Right: Paul Cowell, Mayor of Thame, Alison Champken-Woods, Chair Board of Trustees, Kate White, TSFC Manager, Imam Monawar Hussain High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.
We also received an award from the High Sheriff for all the work we have continued to do during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We moved into the new Cricket Pavilion in March 2019 having worked closely with the Cricket Club for some considerable time to ensure we were on a more secure footing for a sustainable service for our elderly and vulnerable population not only in Thame but surrounding villages within South Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
We were then hit with Covid -19 in March 2020 when we closed. To ensure we continued for the long term it was decided a name change was the right thing to do to bring us into the 21stcentury, something we did during lockdown.
We have worked continuously to ensure we had all the relevant policies, PPE and equipment required to facilitate re-opening as and when restrictions were lifted. Training was undertaken by all staff and volunteers on the wearing of masks and washing of hands and the importance of social distancing. We were also successful in securing funding from the government coronavirus fund which was a lifeline for our members as we were able to:
- Purchase insulated bags for delivering hot food
- Supply fish and chips once a week to our members from November 2020 until 14thMay 2021
- Provide a Christmas hamper to our members
- A voucher to our volunteers who would not claim for travel/deliveries
- A cream tea and Easter Egg to members at Easter
- Activity packs to our members weekly
- A student from Abingdon provided a weekly fact sheet as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Our involvement in the webinars with Oxford Association of Care Providers, Oxford Community Foundation, Skills for Care, Office for Civil Society, Public Health England and other organisations we were able to open in October/November 2020 for 4 weeks as we were Covid secure. A big thank you for all your help, support and advice.
We re-opened on 18th May with all the relevant policies in place, we have a new manager and we have just taken on a new member of staff via the DWP ‘Kickstart’ scheme.
Due to the increase in our waiting list during the pandemic and those who are now affected by dementia we are also opening a dementia café on September 13th in the Barns next to the cricket Pavilion which will run every Monday from 10am to 1pm.
A big thank you to staff, volunteers, Board of Trustees, Cricket Club, Town, District and County Councils and the community of Thame for their continued support without whom we could not continue.
Fish and chips for our members during the lockdowns
2020-2021
The Thame Senior Friendship Centre was awarded funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund. This funding has helped us to continue to support our members remotely during both lockdowns. The funding on the latest lockdown is allowing us to provide fish and chips free of charge to all our members once a week.
A big thank you to Kate (our Manager) and all of the volunteers who have been delivering the hot fish and chips to our members from Smarts on a Tuesday and Friday.
Also, a very big thank you to the Government for making this possible.
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50 Christmas hampers have been delivered to our members
December 2020
Thank you to our Manager Kate and volunteers for delivering the hampers. Thanks also to Hiren and Vanessa at Tesco Broadfields, Aylesbury who went above and beyond all our expectations when helping with the stock for the hampers. Well done Tesco!
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