House debates

Monday, 24 May 2021

Statements by Members

Curtin Electorate: Memory Cafes

4:35 pm

Photo of Celia HammondCelia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Forget-me-not cafes are a great initiative where people can come together to support others with dementia and their carers. They provide a safe place for people to visit, socialise and interact with others. The founder of the forget-me-not cafes, Angi McCluskey, was named metropolitan WA's Senior of the Year in 2019. She's grown the cafes from one get-together in Roleystone to 16 cafes across Western Australia.

During a conversation with the chair of Alzheimer's WA, Warren Harding, I provided my support for a memory cafe at Floreat Forum in my electorate of Curtin. After collaborating with Alzheimer's WA in the town of Cambridge, the launch of the Cambridge memory cafe last week was a huge success. The Cambridge memory cafe provides an opportunity for people living with dementia in Curtin to maintain their community connections and help to address some of the challenges they face, such as lack of access to safe social activities. Further, the memory cafe helps to raise awareness and understanding of how we can all better connect with people living with dementia in our local community. It was truly inspiring to see the people of Curtin come together last week to support fellow Western Australians living with dementia.

I would like to express my thanks and congratulations to all involved in this amazing collaboration, including Warren and Alzheimer's WA, Diana and the team at Town of Cambridge, and the Coffee Club Floreat Forum.