The Blue Flamingo Café, a specialist dementia charity, hosted a community hub event at Preston Grasshoppers on Thursday, 17th August.
It provided support and advice to carers and those living with the condition, and will hopefully be run monthly at the rugby club.
Erin Singleton, founder of the Blue Flamingo, established the charity while caring for her mother-in-law.
“I established The Blue Flamingo in response to my personal experience of caring for my mother-in-law, who is now in the late stages of dementia. As her condition worsened and our family’s caring roles increased, we felt that the options for places to socialise were quickly diminishing.
“I wanted The Blue Flamingo to be a place that offered support not only to those living with dementia but also to their carers. When a person receives a diagnosis of dementia, they are left to navigate those murky waters on their own and finding the way can be an incredibly difficult process. I aim to shine a light to make the path less difficult for others to navigate.”
The first session at Preston Grasshoppers took place on 17th August from 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm and will aim to run every month. Erin added: “This is our first satellite hub, and we’re hoping to launch other hubs in the future – focusing on different areas of Preston.”
The Blue Flamingo Café & Community Hub is a volunteer-based community group and is an outreach programme of St Michael’s and All Angels church.
Its mission is to provide a stimulating, inclusive, and welcoming social environment to vulnerable people in our community, particularly those living with dementia and their carers, those with other neurological impairments or otherwise isolated or lonely. The Blue Flamingo has a ‘no barrier to entry ethos, which means it aims to remove obstacles preventing people from attending sessions.
Neil Ashton, chairman of Preston Grasshoppers, concluded, “We are incredibly proud to support this worthwhile initiative. As a club, we are very keen to play our part in helping community programmes such as this.”
