A new pop-up café at the multi-award-winning Victorian Pride Centre in Melbourne will offer a safe and inclusive space for people from LGBTIQ+ communities living with dementia as well as their carers.
Called the Memory Lane Café, this path-breaking initiative achieved through a collaboration between Dementia Australia, Lifeview, and the Victorian Pride Centre, seeks to address the impact of social isolation and stigma experienced by people living with dementia by providing a space that will enable participants to socialise while enjoying refreshments and entertainment.
The successful Memory Lane Café program led by Dementia Australia has been embraced across the country.
“The new Memory Lane Café – Victorian Pride Centre will provide a welcoming, relaxing and fun venue for people living with dementia and their carers to meet, interact and foster meaningful connections within the community,” Dementia Australia national patron Ita Buttrose says.
“Creating safe and inclusive social environments is tremendously important for all people impacted by dementia.
Dementia advocate Anne Tudor, 2021 Victorian Senior of the Year says: “It will provide much comfort for members of our community, young and old, to know the Café will be supported by kindred spirits at our Pride Centre.”
Victorian Pride Centre CEO Justine Dalla Riva says, “By establishing a Memory Lane Café at the Victorian Pride Centre, we recognise and highlight that there are members of our community both living with dementia or caring for someone with dementia.”
“As Australia’s first purpose-built centre for LGBTIQ+ people, we understand the power of creating spaces where people can share their lived experience and build connections in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
“We’re proud to collaborate with Dementia Australia and Lifeview on a project that addresses the barriers LGBTIQ+ individuals face when accessing mainstream spaces and bridges the gap of social isolation for those living with dementia in LGBTIQ+ communities.”
Lifeview CEO Samantha Jewell added, “Establishing a Memory Lane Café at the Pride Centre has long been a vision for us, especially as a Founding Major Partner of Pride Centre and Rainbow Tick accredited provider of residential aged care.”
“We are excited to see this vision come to life, and we welcome people living with dementia and their support persons to join us on this journey.”
Image: Victorian Pride Centre
