Spelga Mews Connection Café

A great afternoon was had by all at the recent Community Connections Café - tea dance and social - in Banbridge Rugby Club. The event was hosted by Spelga Mews and open to the whole local community for individuals to come along and enjoy the music - providing both physical and emotional connections.

Our much-loved community groups on a Tuesday and Thursday have ceased (Memory café and Victoria Club) which has had a significant impact on our Residents as they found these groups enjoyable, and it helped them remain an integral part of their local community and boosted their social wellbeing.

From these groups ceased we have struggled to find a suitable alternative and that’s where the idea for the Connection’s Café was born.

Music has the amazing capacity to alter for the better the way we all feel at any given time. Familiar tunes can bring cheer, evoke memories, and provide comfort all of which can contribute to a positive sense of wellbeing.

This is an opportunity to provide some fun and social interaction all while promoting inclusion and belonging within the community.

Whilst the Connections café is open to people of all ages, young and old, we realise older residents can feel isolated and lonely – events / social gatherings are important to enable people to catch up with friends while connecting with new faces. Everyone has missed this over the past few years due to the huge impact of Covid 19, especially on residents with dementia and the added challenges of strict lockdowns and restrictions for individuals and their carers alike.

It was really very heartening to see so many people come to support our endeavours and the success of the event and turnout was phenomenal – it reiterates and supports the vital need for this in the local community.

We want to extend our warmest and heartfelt thanks to Banbridge Rugby Club for the use of their excellent facilities and the time taken to help us get this up and running, to David McKay – Tesco Community Outreach colleague who has supported us generously with this venture and to James Rodgers for providing the musical entertainment.

A special thank you to Spelga Mews Activity Coordinator, Nicola Dawson and Scheme Administrator, Sarah Maule, who have brought my vision to life.

Lastly, Spelga Mews would like to thank everyone who attended for their support and are already planning the next Connections Café tea dance and social on Tuesday 21^st November from 2-4pm. A warm welcome awaits and even a few treats and don’t worry if dancing isn’t your thing, there is plenty of chat and craic too.

Louise McConville – Registered Manager