The whole town is on board.

Plans to make Bantry a dementia-friendly community are continuing apace, with a monthly event scheduled to help locals access important support and advice.

The town’s monthly Memory Cafe provides a warm, welcoming, and relaxed place where locals can meet others living with dementia or cognitive impairments, as well as health and social care professionals over tea and coffee.

According to the World Health Organisation, a dementia-inclusive community is one where people with dementia and their carers and families experience no stigma and discrimination “and fully enjoy participation, inclusion, empowerment, respect, dignity, equality, freedom, accessibility, independent living, and quality of life”.

Run in partnership with the Family Carers & Older Persons initiative at Local Link, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, the HSE (Bantry Primary Care Team, Bantry General Hospital & Cork South Community Work Department), Bantry Age Friendly Dementia Sub-group and other volunteers, the Memory Café will run on the first Wednesday of every month at The Library in the Maritime Hotel.

The next event is Wednesday, August 2nd from 11am to 1pm and everyone is welcome to drop by. You can contact Lorna on 087 4001763 for further details.