Richard’s Six-Year Milestone and the Incredible Work of Saltash (DECAF) Memory Café
Our owners, Franco and Dianne, recently had the pleasure of celebrating Richard’s six-year anniversary with Home Instead Tavistock and Tamar Valley.
Over that time, Richard has become a familiar and much-loved presence within the local community, through something that has quietly made a profound difference to many people attending the café – his live music at the Saltash (DECAF) Memory Café sessions.
Through his music, Richard has helped create moments where people living with memory loss can reconnect with songs they know, rediscover familiar rhythms, and enjoy something meaningful with others in the room.
Music has a way of reaching places that words sometimes cannot. In the café setting, Richard’s performances have become a gentle thread running through each session—encouraging participation, easing anxiety, and bringing a shared sense of enjoyment.
Over the past six years, his presence has provided continuity, something many attendees recognise and respond to. His music is not just entertainment; it is part of the fabric of the café itself.
The People Behind the Welcome
The Saltash (DECAF) Memory Café thrives because of the dedication of those who quietly make it happen each week.
Liz Hewer, regional coordinator for the Methodist Homes Association, and James Jenkins, coordinator for the Methodist Homes Association and chair of Oaklands Community Centre, are instrumental to the café’s success – organising, shaping the sessions and supporting the wider community in so many ways.
Together, this small but committed team ensures that every gathering feels calm, structured, and welcoming, with plenty of laughter and connection. Their work underpins the café’s ethos of dignity, inclusion and community care.
What is the Saltash (DECAF) Memory Café All About?
At its heart, the café is far more than a regular meeting.
Held at Burraton Methodist Church in Saltash every Wednesday, it offers a consistent, friendly space for people living with dementia or memory loss, alongside their carers, to come together without pressure or formality.
It is a place where people are not defined by diagnosis, but by shared experience. Some come seeking conversation, many come for companionship, and others simply come to feel part of something familiar and reassuring.
The café also plays an important role in addressing loneliness among older adults in Saltash and the wider Plymouth and Tamar Valley area. For many attendees, it becomes a steady point in the week, with familiar faces and natural connection building over time.
Moments That Matter: What Happens Inside the Café
Each session is shaped around gentle, inclusive activities designed to encourage participation at every level.
There is live music, of course, led by Richard, alongside a variety of creative and social experiences that evolve naturally with the group.
Tables may be filled with crafts or seasonal activities, while at other times people gather around conversation or simple quizzes that spark memories and stories. Movement-based wellbeing activities such as “Love to Move” also bring energy and lightness into the room.
But often, the most meaningful moments happen in between the planned activities.
During something as simple as flower arranging or craft work, people begin to talk, help one another, laugh unexpectedly, or share memories prompted by a colour, a song, or a passing comment.
These are the moments that define the café – not structured outcomes, but shared human connection.
Supporting Carers as Well as Attendees
While much of the focus is on those living with memory loss, the café also provides invaluable support for family carers.
As well as providing formal and informal signposting to other agencies, it offers a space where they can step back for a short while, knowing their loved one is safe, engaged and welcomed.
Equally important is the opportunity to connect with others who understand the realities of caring. Conversations often develop naturally, offering reassurance, shared understanding, and moments of relief that come from simply not being alone in the experience.
This balance – supporting both attendees and carers – is one of the café’s greatest strengths.
A Place of Belonging in Saltash
The café meets at Burraton Methodist Church on Wednesdays from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. It welcomes anyone who feels they may benefit, with no referral required and no expectations beyond simply turning up.
What makes it so valued locally is not complexity or scale, but consistency and care. It is a space where people can arrive as they are, be met with familiarity, and leave feeling a little more connected than when they arrived.
In recognising Richard’s six years with Home Instead Tavistock and Tamar Valley, the café also highlights something bigger: the importance of regular acts of community care. Through music, conversation, and shared presence, the Saltash (DECAF) Memory Café continues to offer something simple but powerful – belonging.
If you would like to learn more about the support Home Instead Tavistock and Tamar Valley offers across Bude, Tavistock, Stratton, Holsworthy, Launceston, Callington, Saltash, Plymouth, Torpoint and surrounding areas – from companionship and personal care to dementia and live-in care – we’d love to hear from you. Contact our friendly team today on 01822 258292.
