By Noelle Williamson
Although the majority of readers of this article will probably be of retirement age or older, if
you’re one of the 500 or so under-65s in the Leeds area living with Early Onset Dementia, be assured that the memory cafes, and more, are also for you, although most are on weekdays.
You might doubt that anything described as for anyone over the age of 55, including people
with dementia and their carers, (the default profile on the Alzheimer’s Society’s excellent
website) has anything to offer someone in their forties or fifties, especially if you live alone
and are still able to work.
Before Covid 19, you would probably have been right, but Lockdown was a game changer.
On the one hand, younger adults who, before Covid, thought that the basic memory café formula (a safe, clean place to be, with refreshments, friendly people who won’t fuss and
maybe an enjoyable activity) sounded very nice – for your nan! – felt differently in the dazed aftermath of lockdown: suddenly, Nan’s café sounded pretty good.
On the other hand, leaders and volunteers alike were sensitive to the new mood, and
welcomed whoever came through their doors. Four years later, it’s worth keeping an open
mind and checking what’s on offer in your neighbourhood.
Almost every group has email and a phone number for queries, and usually responds promptly. (See below) If you are still working, the main issue will probably be opening times, rather than age group.
It appears that the Saturday memory cafés in Calverley and Farsley and a monthly cooking get-together through OWLS in Headingley are your only options at the moment.
If you are free during the week, there’s a quiz on Zoom. If you want to do Zumba Gold in
Bramley or Tai Chi in Horsforth, or go Crown Green Bowling in Headingley, or you need a lift to the supermarket from the Farsley or Horsforth pick-up points, as long as you can get
there, you’re welcome.
Farsley MHA Face-to-Face befriending, 1pm to 2pm might also work for you. Not everything is indoors, or tightly organised activities. If you want to be out of doors, with company and the security of numbers, people meet up near Hainsworth Park, in Farsley, on a Tuesday morning, and at Horsforth Park on Fridays.
One Friday in July, I hung around the entrance to Horsforth Hall Park till I decided that two ladies sitting talking on a low wall were also there for Walk and Talk.
That’s how I met Sheila and Dee, and then Maureen and Lyn, Kirpal, Gari – and Nicki and
Katherine from Horsforth MHA – and Roisin on work experience – and later 93-year-old
Phyllis, newly restored to health and walking faster than I could on a sultry morning – and
half a dozen more.
Although we set off together, we soon strung out into chatting pairs and clusters, with Gari
and me halfway between the tortoises and the hares.
It was a gorgeous walk along a tree- shaded path with a gentle rise, into the community garden where you could pick whatever was ripe, as long as you left some for someone else, then an easy circuit of the Japanese garden.
Doubling back, some took the shorter, shady route and some the longer one in full sun, then out by the gate we came in by, and across the road to Café Yoga, where we were greeted like old friends and all stayed for ages, talking about jobs and careers we’d left, places we’d been, all sorts.
I had never met any of these people before but it all felt so easy, and one of
these Fridays, I would love to go again.
The services of the NHS Younger People With Dementia Service, in Armley, are beyond the
scope of this article, but can be found here.
So, too, are The Young Dementia Leeds Hub’s services, at Inspire North, though they may be of interest. The Hub offers “day respite for younger people living with dementia, providing a structured programme of activities, taking a more creative, less traditional approach to day care.”
Typing Young Onset Dementia into the search bar at https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ brings
up around 170 items – a mix of information, advice and news: real life stories told mostly
from by family members; and printed Q&As with people living with Young Onset Dementia.
Strangely, typing Early Onset brings up only 128 items!
The Dementia UK website hosts My Life with Dementia – a Dementia UK podcast which is
well worth listening to. Also at Dementia UK, if you search Young Onset Dementia, or follow this link there are pages and pages of links to 466 items covering health, menopause, money, driving, Council Tax… written for you, whether you have Early Onset Dementia, or are caring for another person who has it.
There’s also a link to the dedicated Young Dementia Network, which was established in
2016 and is a collaboration between people affected by and working in the field of Early
Onset Dementia. The front page starts with the mission statement and ends with
links to resources and webinar.
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