We are inviting members of the public and local organisations to a meeting in the Club on Monday 25 April 2022, at 7pm, to hear about the excellent progress that has been made towards opening a Meeting Centre for people living with dementia in Forfar.
Meeting Centres are designed to support people with mild to moderate dementia and their families. They are well established in the Netherlands where they have been very successful in improving the quality of life experienced by their users and their families. The model has also proved itself in Angus through the work of the very successful Kirrie Connections Project.
Work towards establishing a Meeting Centre in Forfar began in the autumn of 2021, as part of a wider initiative to expand the number of Centres in Angus. Since then, volunteers, agencies and local businesses have been working together to help turn the Centre from idea to reality.
The work has been coordinated by Strathmore Cricket Club, but we very much see this as a collective community effort and are keen to involve as many people as possible.
The meeting on Monday 25 April will update people on work that has already been done to advance the project. It will also offer an opportunity for people to influence future development and have their input on some key decisions.
We are keen to see as many people as possible come along to the meeting.
We are approaching a very important stage in the development of the Meeting Centre. We hope to be open to the first members before the summer and need to be confident that the project is moving in the right direction.
One of the defining characteristics of Meeting Centres is that they are influenced by the interests and needs of the members – people living with dementia – and their family carers. Consequently, input from potential members is important from the earliest possible opportunity.
Shortly after the meeting on 25 April, we intend to be reaching out to people living with dementia and their carers and inviting them to consider whether becoming a Meeting Centre member would be a support to them. Before we do that, we would really appreciate input from potential members on the plans that we have. It would therefore by great to see them along at the meeting.
There is no formal need to book to attend the meeting, people can just turn up on the night and they will be made very welcome. However, we would like to have some idea of numbers likely to attend.
Although we are no longer operating under any formal COVID restrictions, we are very aware that the virus is still very much in our community and we want to manage the meeting safely. A sense of how many people are likely to attend will help us to do that.
Anyone intending to attend the meeting can let us know by emailing strathmorecc@hotmail.com. The same email address can be used for any information requests about the meeting or the Meeting Centre project more generally.
The meeting on 25 April 2022 represents an important landmark on the journey towards opening a Meeting Centre in Forfar and an opportunity to be part of the development. We hope that as many people as possible will come along to share in the achievements to date and contribute to further development.