Here at Home Instead, we run three Cafés within our local communities.
Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich is immensely proud of their significant role in serving local communities by managing three integral hubs – The Sunflower Café, The Rose Cafe, and the Butterfly Café.
Each of these establishments offers a welcoming environment for all, particularly those living with dementia and their caregivers.
The Sunflower Café, nestled in Streatham Library at 63 Streatham High Rd, London SW16 1PN, brings the community together every week on a Wednesday.
The Rose Café, conveniently located at the old library, 14-16 Knights Hill, Norwood, London SE27 0HY, operates on a Thursday every week.
Lastly, the Butterfly Café, located at King’s College Hospital Charity takes place on the 1st and 4th Tuesday each month.
Together, these cafés form a triad of communal spaces, each contributing to the mission of combating isolation and fostering connection and joy.
To help communities bounce back from the impact of Covid-19, Lambeth Council collaborated with Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich, to operate West Norwood’s Rose Café. The establishment of this dementia-friendly café was inspired by our other successful Café, The Sunflower Café in Streatham.
The purpose of the Rose Café is to reduce social isolation and provide a safe space for people to meet and participate in fun activities such as bingo, singing and arts therapy. Libraries are a hub of knowledge, a place of discovery and connection, mirroring our aspirations for the café.
Joining an established community, we thrilled to be part of a thriving network that includes the Norwood Pensioners’ group, carers hub and volunteer centre. In addition, we’re supported by West Norwood Picture House, which hosts dementia-friendly activities like film screenings. The Knit Wits knitting group from the Picture House also collaborates with us, leading stimulating and engaging sessions for our café members.
Elderly community referrals to us come through Lambeth Alzheimer’s Society and other projects geared towards the elderly community, including Sing4All, a group that uses singing as therapy for dementia patients.
We also host weekly art and music therapy sessions, that stimulate cognitive function, and chair- based exercises that are enjoyable and promote physical wellbeing, even for those who aren’t fond of traditional workouts. Monthly nature sessions are on our agenda, along with wellbeing talks which are hosted by guest lectures on a variety of topics (such as managing diabetes through diet and finding financial aid amidst a cost-of-living crisis). We also have monthly dementia friendly poetry sessions and a range of conversational starter sessions, which allows the elderly to reminisce about a range of topics.
As part of our vision, we aim to create more such spaces – we also run the Butterfly Café in collaboration with Kings College Hospital. The Butterfly Café, like its sister cafes, is a free, informal, dementia-friendly hub aimed at fostering joy, creativity, and hope for people living with dementia and their caregivers. It also serves as a hub for caregiver support and patient from the hospital wards are welcome to join us on the day.
Our café’s locations and session times are as follows:
Butterfly café
Time 2.30-4.30pm
Date: 1st and 4th Tuesday of each month
Venue: The Boardroom (Opposite Marks & Spencers) Hambleden Wing, Kings College Hospital Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS
Sunflower Café
Time: 2.00-4.00pm
Date: Every Wednesday
Venue: Mark Bennett Hall- Streatham Tate Library
63 Streatham High Road, London SW16 1PN
Rose Café
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Date: Every Thursday
Venue: The Old Library, 14-16 Knights Hill
West Norwood, SE27 0HY