A MEMORY café in Redditch forced to close by the pandemic, is set to reopen its doors again next month thanks to a successful volunteer drive and a new home.

The free monthly café, run by Redditch Kingfisher Rotary is set to relaunch on July 6 at Astwood Bank Club.

It will offer activities and support for people with dementia or memory loss and their families and carers.

Organisers say they are confident the facility, which first launched in 2018, will soon be used again by sections of the community and reach its previous levels of popularity.

The reopening follows a successful volunteer recruitment drive earlier this month.

It’s a cause that’s close to the heart of project lead and Rotarian, Amanda Watkin who has experienced dementia in her own family.

Amanda said: “My partner’s father had Parkinson's and then latterly developed dementia.

“So, we have a very personal connection with understanding what that's like for family and the support network around an individual and how that can be lost.

“Access to services is really challenging.

“To be able to provide a local centre where people can just have some time out from their home environment and meet with others is vital to wellbeing.

“It's having somewhere that people can just literally wander down the road with their support person, knowing that they are not going to a ‘white coat’ environment.”

People are invited to visit The Memory Café, on Dark Lane, Astwood Bank, between 2pm and 4pm on the first Thursday of each month.

Amanda, who has been a member of Rotary for more than 20 years, added: “The Redditch Kingfisher volunteers very much set the tone.

“They'll make themselves look silly, enabling people to have a giggle with them, and that's all part of the process of engagement.”