Asda Dyce presents £1,000 Asda Foundation Grant to Dementia Charity ‘The Living Well Dementia Café’ in celebration of Asda’s 60th Birthday
An Aberdeen community project has been awarded a £1,000 grant by Asda’s charity, the Asda Foundation, to celebrate a decade working with people impacted by dementia.
The Living Well Project, which was established in 2010 to support isolated and vulnerable people in the north of the city, launched its Living Well Dementia Cafes five years later, providing much-needed social support for those affected by memory loss and dementia, as well as their families and carers.
The £1,000 grant comes as part of more than £60,000 of funding from the Asda Foundation that will be awarded to grassroots groups across the UK in celebration of Asda’s 60th Birthday.
The Living Well Project, which also runs a Befriending Service, will use the funding to host special events across its three Living Well Cafes to mark a10 years at the heart of their communities.
Jeanette Abel, Team Leader at The Living Well Project said: “People living with dementia can often feel isolated and on the edge of society. Our cafés offer a safe place where peer support is so important and where attendees can reconnect with people in their own communities.
We were delighted to be awarded a grant of £1000 as part of the Asda 60th birthday celebrations and this will be used to celebrate our own 10th birthday.
The cafes have grown since we started in 2015 and have become so important to those who attend as we are able to support carers as well as those living with the debilitating illness. Carers can meet others in similar situations, and they get support from each other.
Those with a diagnosis of dementia also get support in a different way as they have fun and get the opportunity to ‘live in the moment' and enjoy a happy afternoon.”
The team offers a range of activities at the cafes, with a strong emphasis on music.
Linda Rendall, Cafe Co-ordinator at The Living Well Project added: “It has been proven that music can have a positive effect on those living with dementia, providing a way to connect when verbal communication is difficult. The dementia community continues to grow locally as the prevalence of the disease escalates but it can be difficult for unpaid carers to find a safe environment to attend.
This year, as The Living Well Cafés celebrate their 10th birthday, we plan to use the funding received from the Asda Foundation to mark the occasion with celebratory events in our three dementia cafes. We will invite local entertainers and encourage people to dance and sing along to songs that are from their era and are familiar to them”
Fiona Cumming, Community and Customer Champion, Asda Dyce said: “I am honoured to present this funding on behalf of the Asda Foundation to the Living Well Project’s Dementia Café strand, as it has become a lifeline for many in our local community. The team offer not just a friendly face, but a vital sense of belonging and connection. In a world where isolation is all too common, places like this quietly change lives every day. Jeanette, the project’s Team Leader and Linda Rendall, the Café Co-ordinator are both retiring this year and have been the heart of this project for so long. Their compassion, dedication, and warmth have touched countless lives, and they will be deeply missed, although wonderful volunteers will carry the project on into the future.”