Our Dementia Café

In April 2019, we hosted our first Dementia Café session at our Ray Hall Lane HQ to enable like-minded people with a passion for the game to have a coffee and discuss their memories and experiences within football, whilst thumbing through memorabilia and watching old match footage to help stimulate their memory.

Our Dementia Café takes place on the last Thursday of each month, with each session lasting for approximately two hours. The chance to talk football provides something different and is something the regular attendees look forward to each month.

Previously, European Cup winner with Aston Villa, Dennis Mortimer attended an event to share his journey in football, whilst October’s Dementia Café saw historian Jim Cadman deliver a session celebrating the contribution Duncan Edwards made to the sporting heritage of the Black Country. We hope to have more guests attend and provide insight at future sessions.

How Can You Get Involved?

To get involved in our Dementia Café, please contact: Joe.Robinson@BirminghamFA.com

There are other sessions around the County, like ours, which help support people living with Dementia and their carers. Albion Memories, Molineux Memories and Aston Villa Foundation all host sessions, with them taking place on a weekly basis at their home grounds.

For Albion Memories, please contact: Paul.Glover@AlbionFoundation.co.uk

For Aston Villa Foundation's Activity Café, please contact: Michelle.King@AVFC.co.uk

For Molineux Memories, please contact: RachelSmith@Wolves.co.uk

Our End Goal

Our end goal is for there to be more Dementia Café’s spread across the County, whether that be professional clubs, semi-professional clubs or even the local junior clubs hosting their own sessions.

This would help increase support, whilst making these sessions more accessible for those across the County. If this is something you would like to get involved with, we will help provide guidance and support through the set-up process.

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How Football Became Terry’s Lifesaver

One of the inspirations behind our Dementia Café was Terry Bryan, who now attends the monthly session with his wife Shelly. We worked with the former grassroots player to produce a short film highlighting the beneficial impact that being around the game delivers to somebody living with dementia.